TOEFL TPO -1 Academic Discussion Writing Sample: Your professor is teaching a class on business management. Write a post responding to the professor’s question.
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Doctor Achebe
Next, we'll be discussing the future of higher education, focusing on proposals for making postsecondary education (education after high school) more efficient and more accessible. One such proposal is to make class attendance optional. For instance, under an optional-attendance policy, university students could choose not to attend classes but instead study the course materials and acquire the knowledge on their own time. Their grade would then be based entirely on exams or papers. What are your thoughts on this approach?
Claire
I like the idea of optional attendance. University students have a lot going on, and sometimes it's difficult to make it to class. As long as students are held accountable for the information they're supposed to learn, I don't see why they should have to attend every class session, especially for classes that meet multiple times a week.
Andrew
I have to disagree with Claire. I think that class attendance policies foster another important kind of accountability. They teach discipline and responsibility. Many of the jobs that university or trade school students will pursue after graduation have their own attendance policies, so students should see class attendance as good preparation for entering the workforce.
User Samples & Evaluation Results
User Sample
I concur with Claire's prespective that potional attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient and accessible. Firstly, with the development of technology, online calss, class recording and different kinds of e-books are accessible to students. So that they don't need to only rely on the materials learned on classes, and they could spend more time and enery to explore what they truly needed and which approach they really fit in. However, if attendance is necessary, students should be forced to take atted even if they don't interested about the content tought in classes, wasting their time. Secondly, the real important thing is how much knowledge the students learn instead of how many attendance in their records. So exams are better than attendance.
Evaluation Result
1. Sub Scores
Relevance and Contribution to Discussion: 4.0 Clarity and Elaboration of Viewpoint: 3.5 Language Use and Grammar: 3.0
2. Estimated Scores
Estimated Score: 22 (3.5)
3. Task completeness
The essay addresses the task by expressing an opinion on optional attendance in postsecondary education and providing some support for that opinion. However, the essay could be improved by elaborating more on the reasons for supporting optional attendance and providing specific examples or evidence to strengthen the argument. Additionally, the response should focus more on contributing to the discussion with original ideas.
Suggestions for improvement:
-
Provide specific examples or evidence to support your viewpoint.
-
Elaborate more on your reasons for supporting optional attendance.
-
Contribute more original ideas to the discussion.
Examples:
- "For instance, a study conducted at XYZ University found that students who were given the option to attend classes online performed just as well as those who attended in-person classes."
- "Moreover, allowing students to choose their preferred learning method can lead to increased motivation and engagement in their studies."
4. Essay structure and organization
The essay has a basic structure with an introduction, body, and conclusion. However, it could be improved by having clearer transitions between ideas and paragraphs, as well as organizing each paragraph around a specific point with supporting details.
Suggestions for improvement:
-
Use clear transitions between ideas and paragraphs.
-
Organize each paragraph around a specific point with supporting details.
Examples:
- "Firstly, with the development of technology..." could be improved by adding a transition like "One reason why optional attendance is beneficial is that..."
- Instead of jumping straight into another point after discussing technology, consider starting a new paragraph with a clear topic sentence such as "Another advantage of optional attendance is its focus on learning outcomes rather than physical presence."
5. Grammar
I concur with Claire's prespectiveperspective(misspelling) that potionaloptional(misspelling) attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient and accessible. Firstly, with the development of technology, online calssclass(misspelling), class recording and different kinds of e-books are accessible to students. So that they don't need to only rely on the materials learned on classes, and they could spend more time and eneryevery(misspelling) to explore what they truly needed and which approach they really fit in. However, if attendance is necessary, students should be forced to take attedattend(misspelling) even if they don't interestedinterest(After auxiliary 'do', use the base form of a verb) about the content toughtthought(misspelling) in classes, wasting their time. Secondly, the real important thing is how much knowledge the students learn instead of how many attendancemany attendances(Possible agreement error: 'many/several/few' + singular countable noun) in their records. So exams are better than attendance.
Display title: 6 Revised Essay
I agree with Claire's perspective that optional attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient and accessible. Firstly, advancements in technology have made online classes, class recordings, and various e-books readily available to students. This allows them to explore the resources they truly need and find the learning approach that best suits them, rather than solely relying on in-class materials. Mandatory attendance may force students to attend classes they are not interested in, wasting their time and energy. Secondly, the true measure of a student's success should be based on the knowledge they acquire rather than their attendance records. Therefore, assessments such as exams and papers are more appropriate indicators of a student's progress than mere attendance. (121 words)
I concur agree with Claire's prespective perspective (changed "concur" to "agree" for a more conversational tone, and "prespective" to "perspective" for correct spelling) that potional optional attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient and accessible. Firstly, with advancements in technology (rephrased "with the development of technology, technology" for better flow) have made online calss, classes, class recording recordings, and different kinds of various e-books are accessible readily available to students. So This allows them to explore the resources they truly need and find the learning approach that best suits them (rephrased for clarity), rather than solely relying on in-class materials. Mandatory attendance may force students to attend classes they don't need to only rely are not interested in (corrected grammar and phrasing), wasting their time and energy. Secondly, the true measure of a student's success should be based on the materials learned on classes, knowledge they acquire (rephrased for clarity) rather than their attendance records. Therefore, assessments such as exams and they could spend papers are more time and enery to explore what they truly needed and which approach they really fit in. However, if appropriate indicators of a student's progress than mere attendance is necessary, students should be forced to take atted even if they don't interested about the content tought in classes, wasting their time. Secondly, the real important thing is how much knowledge the students learn instead of how many attendance in their records. So exams are better than attendance.(clarified meaning).
Display title: 8 Mind Map
- Optional Attendance
- Efficiency
- Online classes
- Class recordings
- E-books
- Accessibility
- Personalized learning approach
- Time management
- Mandatory Attendance Issues
- Wasted time and energy
- Uninterested students
- Success Measurement
- Knowledge acquisition
- Exams and papers
Display title: 9 Key Words
| Word | Phonetic Symbol | Part of Speech | English Definition | English Translation | Sample Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| postsecondary | /poʊstˈsɛkəndəri/ | adjective | relating to education after high school | postsecondary | Claire believes optional attendance could improve postsecondary education. |
| advancements | /ədˈvænsmənts/ | noun | developments or improvements | advancements | Advancements in technology have made online classes more accessible. |
| mandatory | /ˈmændəˌtɔri/ | adjective | _required by law or rules; compulsory | _mandatory | _Mandatory attendance may force students to attend uninteresting classes. |
| acquisition | /ˌækwɪˈzɪʃən/ | _noun | _the act of acquiring or gaining possession | _acquisition | _The true measure of a student's success is their knowledge acquisition. |
| assessments | /əˈsɛsmənts/ | _noun | _the evaluation or estimation of something's nature, quality, or ability | _assessments | _Exams and papers are more appropriate assessments of a student's progress. |
| indicators | /ˈɪndɪˌkeɪtərs/ | _noun | _a sign or signal that shows something exists or is true | _indicators | _Attendance records are not accurate indicators of a student's knowledge. |
| efficiency | /ɪˈfɪʃənsi/ | _noun | _the state or quality of being efficient; accomplishing something with the least waste of time and effort | _efficiency | _Optional attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient. |
| accessibility | /əkˌsɛsəˈbɪlɪti/ | _noun | _the quality of being easy to obtain or use | _accessibility | _Optional attendance could increase the accessibility of postsecondary education. |
| personalized | /ˈpɜrsənəˌlaɪzd/ | adjective | designed to meet the needs or preferences of a particular person | personalized | Students can find a personalized learning approach through optional attendance. |
Display title: 6 Revised Essay
I agree with Claire's perspective that optional attendance could make postsecondary education more efficient and accessible. Firstly, advancements in technology have made online classes, class recordings, and various e-books readily available to students. This allows them to explore the resources they truly need and find the learning approach that best suits them, rather than solely relying on in-class materials. Mandatory attendance may force students to attend classes they are not interested in, wasting their time and energy. Secondly, the true measure of a student's success should be based on the knowledge they acquire rather than their attendance records. Therefore, assessments such as exams and papers are more appropriate indicators of a student's progress than mere attendance.
How Academic Discussion Is Scored
The TOEFL Academic Discussion task is evaluated based on the official ETS scoring rubric. AI evaluation analyzes each response across multiple dimensions.
Relevance & Contribution
Does the response address the question and contribute meaningfully to the discussion?
Language Use
Grammar accuracy, vocabulary range, and sentence structure quality.
Development & Support
Are ideas well-developed with specific examples and clear reasoning?
Common Patterns Across Responses
Based on analysis of user submissions for this task, here are common patterns observed in student responses.
Many students provide clear opinions but lack specific supporting examples.
Strong responses directly reference the reading passage and other speakers' viewpoints.
Higher-scoring responses use varied sentence structures and academic vocabulary.
Time management is a key factor — responses that feel rushed tend to score lower on development.
Learning Tips
Read the prompt carefully and identify all parts of the question before writing.
Reference the reading passage and the other students' opinions in your response.
Use specific examples to support your main point — avoid generic statements.
Aim for 120-150 words. Longer responses are not always better; clarity and focus matter more.
Practice timed responses (10 minutes) to build fluency under exam conditions.
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