Start preparing for those exam essay and writing questions now! Here’s how to do it in seven easy steps.
In economics, being able to draw and label a great graph is a core skill. Undergraduate students often focus so much of their energy on graphs and charts, that they don’t spend enough time writing the explanations of those great graphs, or composing descriptions of the intuitions it supports, or the graphs’ limits while using economics terms and concepts. Ke (Catherine) Wang confronted her writing limitations and overcame them. She agreed to share the advice and knowledge of useful tools to help other students succeed in improving their writing. Catherine went from a grade of 72% on her first writing assignment for ECO200 to 85% on her second.
“I was very disappointed in the results of my first writing assignment in ECO200,” Catherine remembered. “I reflected on which parts I needed to put effort into for the next writing assignment and asked Professor Khazra for advice. She gave me some suggestions to help me improve.”
After examining her own situation, the New College student came up with seven key points for key points that helped her improve.
- Ensure you understand the writing prompt
When you are dealing with new concepts that explain economic phenomena, it’s very easy to get distracted by the vocabulary, instead of the connections between the vocabulary and the realities of economics as you see them in the world and how you back them up with formulae.
“I carefully read over the writing prompt and identified the keywords and expectations based on the syllabus,” Catherine said. “This helped me stay on topic and meet the requirements.”
- Brainstorm and organize ideas
Once you understand the question, brainstorm ideas about your approach and your content.
” If multiple ideas are related, I use conjunction words to convey them together, Catherine said. “If they contrast, I use transition words. This makes the writing flow more smoothly and coherently.”
- Free thinking from all angles
What Catherine calls free-thinking from all angles is a journalistic approach to prioritizing information according to the 5-Ws and H. Who, what, where, when, why and how are always useful devices and, when composing an exam essay response, for example, makes it easier to refer to learning in lectures and tutorials.
“This approach helps me think more critically and analyze topics in a more comprehensive way,” Catherine explained.
- Draft outlines
A solid writing plan and content outline help to ensure you’ve captured and expressed all the ideas from your brainstorming session.
“This step helps me outline the source in a logical way,” Catherine said. “This step is really important for organizing my thoughts.”
- Start with body paragraphs
Explore your evidence before you hint at what you are going to conclude and why.
“Professor Khazra advised me to always start with the body paragraphs of an essay answer,” Catherine said. “Sometimes, when you write the introduction first, you might find that the body paragraphs contradict it or are difficult to argue. Starting with the body paragraphs makes the thesis statement more concise and connected to the ideas in the body once you’ve written out the evidence and explanations.”
- Ask for feedback of AI sources
Professors and TAs love office hour visits. The writing centre at your college also has appointments available. It is also true that scheduling conflicts and demand can make in-person feedback difficult to obtain. While you cannot use AI bots to create essays for you, using your own work from ChatGPT or other AI bots for feedback and suggestions for improvement is an ethical use of the tools that doesn’t threaten your academic integrity.
“I use ChatGPT for feedback, which is free and available anytime,” Catherine said. “It gives me objective, detailed feedback that helps me improve my coherence and logic.”
- Self-reflection
After examining the feedback on your work, take the time to think about integrating it into your writing.
” I self-reflect on the main mistakes I made in my essay and identify the most important areas I can improve,” Catherine explained. “I create a comprehensive plan to improve those areas. This helps me develop a strong foundation for how to think like an economist who writes.”
The feedback coupled with what the professors and TAs tell you gives you an approach to economics questions and helps you develop a strong foundation for how to think like an economist who writes.”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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