TOEFL TPO 2 Academic Discussion Writing Sample: Your professor is teaching a class on education. Write a post responding to the professor’s question.
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Doctor Gupta
This week, I want you to discuss assessment criteria. Some schoolteachers give high grades (marks) only to those students who perform well on their homework assignments and tests. Other teachers, however, may give high grades to students who have worked very hard on their assignments but have not performed so well. Which approach do you think is better: Giving grades based only on performance, or grading students not just on performance but also on their effort?
Kelly
I think grades should be based on performance only. It’s a matter of fairness. I’d be really upset if another student got nearly the same grade that I did when I turned in work that was almost perfect and the other student’s work had incorrect answers or unclear ideas. It wouldn’t matter to me if they worked harder.
Paul
Sure, evaluation should mainly be based upon the student’s performance, but hard work should count for something. A student who works hard, even when the final grade isn’t the highest in the class, builds character, which will benefit the student later in life when they go to university or apply for a job.
User Samples & Evaluation Results
User Sample
I believe the grading should cinsider both test scores and daily performances. To be more specific, the hardwork and effort students paid on studying will establish a more comprehensive imagine of what does the student do. At the same time, students could learn valuable lessons through mistakes they make in the tasts. For instance, I did not do well on my biology assessment about ecology in biozone, but I spent 2 hours per day on this test, and doing all of my assignment carefully. And I learned why I did not do well from correcting my test. My teacher still gived me an A and it encouraged me a lot. Still, some people claim that the considering of daily performance is not fair for the students who did well in the tests. But the encouraging of improving and focusing on only the test score might lead to grievous exam-oriented education. And make student lose their passion
Evaluation Result
1. 子项得分
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Relevance and Contribution to Discussion: 4.5
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Clarity and Elaboration of Viewpoint: 4.0
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Language Use and Grammar: 3.5
2. 预估分数
24. 3 任务完成度
你的文章在回答问题方面做得不错,表达了自己的观点,并且提供了一些支持。但是,为了更好地完成任务,你可以考虑以下建议:
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更详细地解释你的观点,例如为什么认为将成绩和努力结合起来更公平。
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在文章中引用阅读材料中的观点,并对这些观点进行评价或扩展。
示例1:考虑到学生在课堂上的努力和参与程度,可以让教师更全面地评估学生的学术能力和进步。
示例2:尽管凯利认为只根据表现给分是公平的,但我认为我们还需要关注学生在学习过程中付出的努力,以培养他们克服困难和持续改进的品质。
4. 文章结构与组织
文章整体结构清晰,包括引言、正文和结论。然而,在组织方面还有一些改进空间。以下是一些建议:
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在引言部分明确提出你的观点,以便读者更好地理解文章的主题。
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在正文部分,使用主题句来引导每段的主要观点,并在段落中提供支持细节。
示例1:在引言中,可以这样表达:“在评估学生的表现时,我认为应该综合考虑学生的考试成绩和日常表现。”
示例2:在正文中,可以使用类似这样的主题句:“首先,将努力纳入评分标准有助于激励学生克服挑战并持续改进。”
5. 语法批改
I believe the grading should cinsiderconsider(misspelling) both test scores and daily performances. To be more specific, the hardworkhandwork(misspelling) and effort students paid on studying will establish a more comprehensive imagine of what does the student do. At the same time, students could learn valuable lessons through mistakes they make in the taststests(misspelling).
For instance, I did not do well on my biology assessment about ecology in biozone[No Replacement Word Found](misspelling), but I spent 2 hours per day on this test, and doing all of my assignment carefully. And I learned why I did not do well from correcting my test. My teacher still givedgave(misspelling) me an A and, and(comma between independent clauses) it encouraged me a lot.
Still, some people claim that the considering of daily performance is not fair for the students who did well in the tests. But the encouraging of improving and focusing on only the test score might lead to grievous exam-oriented education. And make student lose their passion
Title: 6 文章修订
I firmly believe that grading should take into account both test scores and daily performance. Specifically, evaluating the hard work and effort students put into their studies can provide a more comprehensive understanding of their overall abilities. Additionally, students can learn valuable lessons from the mistakes they make on tests.
For example, I did not perform well on my biology assessment about ecology in the biozone. However, I dedicated two hours per day to preparing for this test and completed all of my assignments diligently. After reviewing my errors, I understood why I did not excel in the assessment. Despite this setback, my teacher still awarded me an A, which greatly encouraged me.
While some may argue that considering daily performance is unfair to students who perform well on tests, it is important to recognize that focusing solely on test scores can lead to an unhealthy exam-oriented education system. This approach may ultimately cause students to lose their passion for learning and hinder their long-term development. (169 words)
I firmly believe the that grading should cinsider take into account both test scores and daily performances. To be performance (Changed "cinsider" to "take into account" for a more specific, the hardwork natural phrase). Specifically, evaluating the hard work and effort students paid on studying will establish put into their studies can provide a more comprehensive imagine understanding of what does the student do. At the same time, students could their overall abilities (Reworded to improve clarity and flow). Additionally, students can learn valuable lessons through from the mistakes they make in the tasts. on tests (Corrected "tasts" to "tests").
For instance, example, I did not do perform well on my biology assessment about ecology in biozone, but I spent 2 the biozone (Rephrased for clarity). However, I dedicated two hours per day on to preparing for this test, and doing test and completed all of my assignment carefully. And I learned assignments diligently (Improved sentence structure). After reviewing my errors, I understood why I did not do well from correcting my test. My excel in the assessment (Revised for clarity). Despite this setback, my teacher still gived awarded me an A and it A, which greatly encouraged me a lot. (Changed "gived" to "awarded" for proper grammar).
Still, While some people claim may argue that the considering of daily performance is not fair for the unfair to students who did perform well in the tests. But the encouraging of improving and on tests, it is important to recognize that focusing on only the solely on test score might scores can lead to grievous an unhealthy exam-oriented education. And make education system (Improved sentence structure and clarity). This approach may ultimately cause students to lose their passion for learning and hinder their long-term development (Corrected "make student lose their passionpassion" for proper grammar and improved readability).
8 思维导图
- Grading
- Test scores
- Assessments
- Exams
- Daily performance
- Hard work
- Effort
- Assignments
- Comprehensive understanding
- Overall abilities
- Learning from mistakes
- Example: Biology assessment
- Preparation and dedication
- Reviewing errors and improvement
- Counterargument: Unfairness to test performers
- Exam-oriented education system drawbacks
- Loss of passion for learning
- Hindered long-term development
9 关键词
| Word | Phonetic Symbol | Part of Speech | English definition | Simplified Chinese translation | Sample sentences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grading | /ˈɡreɪdɪŋ/ | Noun | The process of evaluating a student's performance. | 打分 | Grading should take into account both test scores and daily performance. |
| Assessment | /əˈsesmənt/ | Noun | The evaluation or estimation of something. | 评估 | I did not perform well on my biology assessment about ecology in the biozone. |
| Comprehensive | /ˌkämprəˈhensiv/ | Adjective | Including all or nearly all elements or aspects. | 全面的 | Evaluating students' hard work can provide a more comprehensive understanding of their overall abilities. |
| Diligently | /ˈdiləjəntlē/ | Adverb | - Careful and persistent work or effort | - 勤奋地 | - I completed all of my assignments diligently. |
| Setback | /ˈsetˌbak/ | Noun | A reversal or check in progress. | 挫折 | Despite this setback, my teacher still awarded me an A, which greatly encouraged me. |
| Unfairness | /ʌnˈfernis/ | Noun | The state of being unfair or unjust. | 不公平 | Some may argue that considering daily performance is unfair to students who perform well on tests. |
| Exam-oriented | /ɪɡˈzam ˈôrēəntəd/ | Adjective | - Focused primarily on exams and test scores | - 以考试为导向的 | - Focusing solely on test scores can lead to an unhealthy exam-oriented education system. |
| Passion | /ˈpaSHən/ | Noun | - Strong and barely controllable emotion | - 激情 | - This approach may ultimately cause students to lose their passion for learning. |
| Hindered | /ˈhindər/ | Verb | - Create difficulties for (someone or something) | - 阻碍 | - An exam-oriented education system may hinder students' long-term development. |
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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