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TOEFL integrated writing task 2023 | Examples and sample essay.

Want to excel in the toefl writing task elevate your skills with the most up-to-date examples, carefully crafted sample essays, and insights in 2023. maximize your potential to succeed in the integrated writing task., table of contents, introduction, toefl integrated writing task structure and format , toefl writing task topics , toefl writing task sample , toefl writing task pdf and other resources , strategies for toefl integrated writing task , scoring criteria for toefl writing task , key tips for success , example 1: environmental conservation , example 2: technological advancements in medicine , introduction: , body: , key takeaways .

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a critical stepping stone for students who aspire to study in English-speaking universities. The TOEFL writing task is one part of this examination that can often become a cause for concern. It not only tests your ability to understand English but also your ability to express thoughts, ideas, and opinions in a clear and precise manner. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore various aspects of the TOEFL writing task, including topics, samples, format, and specific answers to common questions. The information provided is tailored to the 2023 edition of the test, ensuring relevance and applicability to your preparation. So, if you’re planning to take on this challenge in 2023, let’s begin by understanding the structure and requirements of the TOEFL writing task. 

The TOEFL integrated writing task is the first of the two writing tasks in the TOEFL exam. It’s designed to assess your ability to combine listening and reading skills to write a coherent and well-structured essay. Here’s a detailed breakdown: 

• Reading passage : A passage around 200-250 words long is provided. You’ll have three minutes to read it. 
• Listening clip : A short lecture related to the reading passage is played. You’ll be given time to take notes to remember the content better. 
• Writing task : You will have 20 minutes to write a response of about 150-225 words, summarizing the points made in the lecture and explaining how they relate to specific points in the reading passage. 

The topics for the TOEFL integrated writing task are generally academic and range from subjects like history, science, art, and social sciences. Here’s an example of how the topics will be given: 

• Reading passage : An excerpt will be provided about Renaissance art and its influence. 
• Listening clip : A lecture discussing a specific Renaissance painting. 
• Writing task : Compare and contrast the information in the reading passage and the lecture.

Practicing in advance by working on such topics will help you write and format your writing tasks better. Here’s a sample for you to practice: 

• Reading passage: Brief description of climate change and its effects. 
• Listening clip : A lecture discussing various solutions to combat climate change.
• Writing task : Summarize the solutions from the lecture and relate them to the problems mentioned in the reading passage. 

To support your preparation, TOEFL writing task PDF materials, containing practice questions and samples are available online. These resources often include: 

• Guides on TOEFL writing format 
• Collection of TOEFL writing samples with answers PDF 
• TOEFL writing task 1 sample answers and TOEFL writing task 2 sample answers 
• Practice tests for TOEFL writing task 2 

These materials are instrumental in understanding the pattern and honing your skills to succeed in the TOEFL writing task. 

• Understanding the structure : Familiarize yourself with the TOEFL writing format, including reading, listening, and writing phases. 
• Time management: Allocate time for reading, note-taking, and writing, keeping in mind the 20-minute time limit for the writing task. 
• Note-taking skills : Practice jotting down crucial points from both the reading passage and the listening clip. Focus on the main ideas, supporting details, and the relationship between the reading and listening parts. 
• Creating an outline : Before diving into writing, create a rough outline to organize your thoughts. This helps in maintaining coherence and connection between various sections of the essay. 
• Practicing with samples : Utilize the TOEFL writing task sample, TOEFL writing task 1 sample answers, and TOEFL writing task 2 sample answers for regular practice. 

Understanding the scoring can guide you in preparing effectively. The TOEFL integrated writing task is scored on a scale of 0-5 based on the following criteria: 

• Content : Accuracy, completeness, and connection between reading and listening. 
• Organization : Logical progression, clear introduction, body, and conclusion. 
• Language use : Grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, and overall fluency.
• Use transitional phrases : Transitional words like “however,” “in addition,” and “therefore” can help in maintaining the flow. 
• Avoid repetition : While using keywords is vital, avoid unnecessary repetition. Make sure your content is varied and engaging. 
• Proofread : Reserve some time at the end for revising and correcting errors.
• Access Quality Resources : Consider TOEFL writing samples with answers PDF, TOEFL writing task PDF guides, and practice tests for well-rounded preparation.
• Tables, quizzes, and other interactive elements: Incorporating tables and quizzes can be an excellent way to enhance the learning experience. For instance, a table comparing different TOEFL writing task topics or a quiz testing understanding of TOEFL writing format can be included in online learning platforms or books. 

Examples of TOEFL integrated writing task 

The TOEFL integrated writing task presents a unique challenge to assess your ability to analyze information from both a reading passage and a lecture. In this task, you must demonstrate your comprehension of the material and your capacity to connect ideas between the text and the spoken content. To give you a clearer picture, let’s dive into a few illustrative examples of TOEFL-integrated writing tasks:

Reading passage : Description of deforestation and its impact on biodiversity.

Listening Clip : A lecture discussing various conservation methods employed globally. 

Writing task: 

• Reading: The passage highlights the critical loss of forests, leading to a decline in biodiversity and environmental balance. 
• Listening: The speaker introduces multiple conservation techniques such as reforestation, wildlife corridors, and legal enforcement. 
• Essay: The essay must summarise the conservation methods mentioned in the lecture and relate them to the problems of deforestation and biodiversity loss detailed in the reading passage. 

Reading passage: An overview of the traditional medical practices and their limitations. 

Listening clip: A lecture elaborating on recent technological advancements in medical diagnostics and treatments. 

Writing task : 

• Reading: The passage outlines traditional medical practices, emphasizing their limitations in accuracy and efficiency. 
• Listening : The lecturer elaborates on cutting-edge technologies like AI-powered diagnostics, robotic surgeries, and personalized medicine.
• Essay : The essay should connect the advancements discussed in the lecture with the limitations outlined in the reading passage, showcasing how technology is revolutionizing medical practice. 

In-depth Analysis of a Sample Essay | Environmental conservation 

The essay must have a good flow and cohesiveness. This makes it easier to understand and leave a good impression. Here is the in-depth analysis of an essay on environmental conservation.

“The loss of forests and biodiversity has long been a global concern. However, modern conservation methods, as described in the lecture, offer promising solutions to the challenges outlined in the reading passage.” 

• Paragraph 1: Discuss reforestation, its importance, and how it directly addresses deforestation. 
• Paragraph 2: Explore wildlife corridors and their role in preserving biodiversity. 
• Paragraph 3 : Explain legal enforcement, international agreements, and their impact on conservation efforts. 
• The TOEFL-integrated writing task involves reading, listening, and writing. Understand the flow and practice each part. 
• Make use of TOEFL writing samples with answers PDF, TOEFL writing task PDF guides, and various other materials for practice. 
• Your essay should logically connect the reading and listening parts, maintaining a clear and concise structure. 

The innovative conservation techniques described in the lecture provide a comprehensive approach to combating the grave issues of deforestation and biodiversity loss mentioned in the reading passage. These methods signify hope and progress in environmental preservation. 

We hope you found this article insightful. If you have any more queries please reach out to us and get them solved quickly!

Liked this blog? Read: TOEFL requirements 2023 | Documents and minimum requirements guide. 

1. How much time do I have for the TOEFL Integrated Writing Task? 

Ans. You have 3 minutes to read the passage, a listening time for the clip, and 20 minutes to write the essay. 

2. Can I take notes during the listening part of the TOEFL Writing Task? 

Ans. Yes, taking notes is allowed and advisable during the listening portion.

3. What types of topics are covered in the TOEFL Writing Task Topics? 

Ans. Topics are typically academic, ranging from history, science, art to social sciences. 

4. Where can I find TOEFL Writing Task 1 sample answers and TOEFL Writing Task 2 sample answers? 

Ans. Various online platforms, prep books, and official TOEFL guides provide these samples.

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TOEFL Writing Task 1: The TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task

The TOEFL Integrated Writing Task requires you to read a passage that is about 250-300 words long. You then must listen to a lecture that is 2 to 2.5 minutes long. The lecture will challenge or disagree with the ideas in the reading passage for TOEFL Writing Task 1.

Because this task is so test-specific, it’s difficult to find authentic practice with TOEFL Integrated Writing topics, outside of official TOEFL prep materials that take questions from the real test. But you can find reading passages and audio for TOEFL Integrated Writing in the official TOEFL Writing practice sets . Additional free prep for this task can be found in TOEFL Quick Prep (the tasks all come with reading passages, but some of them have transcripts rather than audio).

You can also find practice for this TOEFL Writing task in the official TOEFL books from ETS . Last but not least, you can sharpen your TOEFL Writing skills by practicing a TOEFL Integrated Writing task from Magoosh, free of charge, right here in this post! Near the bottom of this page there is a TOEFL Writing Task 1 practice exercise with a sample answer.

Before we get to that mock test, though, let’s talk about a few basics of TOEFL Integrated Writing. Click the table of contents below to navigate these basics, and hop down to the practice exercise.

Table of Contents

• TOEFL Integrated Writing Topics: What to Expect
• Structuring Your TOEFL Integrated Writing Task
• Difficult Integrated Writing Tasks: What to Do
• Free TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task
• Model Answer for the Free TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task
• Additional Practice and Resources for TOEFL Writing Task 1

What should you expect from TOEFL Integrated Writing topics?

Since you’ll still be wearing headphones after the Speaking section, the Writing section begins with the integrated task, for which you’ll need to keep your headphones on.

So what do TOEFL Integrated Writing topics look like? Well, the materials you’ll be using to answer the question are a reading passage and a lecture excerpt. Both of these will be longer than the ones you encountered in the Integrated Speaking questions—the reading passage will give you three minutes to read, and it will go into more detail than the one in the Speaking section did.

Whereas other integrated reading samples have served mainly to define a key concept, the one in the Writing section will describe a process or defend a position. The lecture (actually, it will be a short part of a lecture) will then expand on this information by offering examples, explaining in greater detail, or, most likely, describing conflicting viewpoints on the topic introduced in the reading passage. The author will use reasons that respond directly to the ideas in the reading passage.

The question will follow one of several formulas. The question you answer will probably be almost identical to one of these:

• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on specific points made in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge specific claims/arguments made in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to specifically explain how they answer the problems raised in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to specifically explain how they support the explanations in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to specifically explain how they strengthen points made in the reading passage.
• Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to include specific reasons that they strengthen points made in the reading passage.

The first two are by far the most common; usually, you will hear a lecture that contrasts with the reading.

Altogether you will have 20 minutes to plan and write your TOEFL Integrated Writing essay. The essay will not be long—most responses are between 150 and 225 words—but there’s still no time to waste, and you’ll want to keep your writing skills sharp. Remember that your organization and content are just as important as your language use. Your essay needs to have a clear structure with separate points and specific examples that transition smoothly. Most of all, it’s very important to draw from both the reading passage and the listening passage. If you only reference the written passage, the very best score your essay can get is a 1. In many ways, the integrated essay is a summary of the lecture that you heard, but be sure to mention both sources.

You can take notes as you read and listen. With enough practice you will be able to identify the important points in the reading passage that will most likely be discussed in the lecture, and your notes should reflect that. Then, when you listen, it will be easy to take notes that relate to the ones that are already on your paper. Make as many connections between the two as possible while listening. If you have trouble with this, it’s okay—you can take a minute to connect information before you start writing, after the lecture is finished.

Typical TOEFL Writing Task 1 topics will be scholarly, the kinds of things that you’d read about or hear lectures about in an academic setting. Typical topics include things such as the spending habits of American consumers, lectures on history or classic literature, scientific debates, and so on. Topics will seldom be contemporary. For example, you are unlikely to see TOEFL Integrated Writing topics that focus on social media, cell phone use, contemporary popular culture, etc. These more modern topics are far more common in the TOEFL Independent Writing task that follows this one.

As you can see, success in TOEFL Integrated Writing is not just a matter of writing, but also comes down to reading and listening. For additional tips on these two skills in TOEFL Writing Task 1, read the following blog posts:

• Good Reading Practice for TOEFL Integrated Writing
• Listening Practice for TOEFL Writing Task 1

How should you structure your TOEFL Integrated Writing task?

Even though the 20 minutes you have to write the integrated essay will fly by, it’s still worth taking a minute or two to write an outline of your own prior to beginning your response (the test proctor will provide as much scratch paper as you need). Even jotting just a few lines that connect parts of your notes and circling the main examples you want to cover will give you the guidance you need to stay on task when writing your response.

Below I’ve written an outline that demonstrates an effective structure to use on the exam when responding to TOEFL Integrated Writing topics. I highly recommend that you practice writing with this outline as your guide, at least at first. Once you’ve gotten some feedback and have some good practice under your belt, you can deviate from it. At first, though, it’s good to know the rules before you break them, and to have a structure you can rely on when test day comes.

Note that this outline template involves a lot of paraphrasing. Before you get started on making a practice outline of your own, be sure to check out Magoosh’s tutorial on paraphrasing in TOEFL Integrated writing .

A. General statement about the relationship between the resources you heard and read.

B. Short description of the structure of the lecture

A. Paragraph on first point

1. Paraphrase the professor’s point

2. Contrast/compare with the reading

3. Give extra detail and additional specific examples on the professor’s point (optional)

B. Paragraph on second point

C. Paragraph on third point

III. Conclusion

Note that you don’t have a conventional essay structure here. There is no thesis statement, and the difference between a body paragraph and introductory paragraph is less pronounced. When responding to TOEFL Integrated Writing topics, you also don’t have a concluding paragraph per se. If you’re having trouble picturing exactly what this looks like, you can see an example task and model answer at the bottom of this post. You can also see some sample essays for this task in the official TOEFL Writing practice set PDF from ETS . (And this PDF contains TOEFL Writing samples for task 1 as well!)

Above all, remember that the key to a good essay here is simply to take good notes on what you read and hear, and translate those notes into a full essay. For more info on the best ways to do that, see my post on note-taking and organizing your answer in TOEFL Integrated writing . Those tips can help you even when you encounter a particularly challenging Independent Writing task. And for more advice to help you through harder prompts, see the section immediately below.

Dealing with an Extra Hard TOEFL Writing Task

In all of the years that I’ve been tutoring the TOEFL, the part of the test that seems to inspire the most extreme reactions in students is the TOEFL Integrated Writing task. Students either happily breeze right through it or get very stressed out. Why? Because the difficulty levels on this task can vary so much! This, combined with the general complexity of the task, makes TOEFL Integrated Writing challenging for the average TOEFL test taker.

Ultimately, the TOEFL Integrated Writing task may be the hardest part of the TOEFL. This task requires not only keen English language skills, but also good analytical abilities. You need to bring together different, opposing ideas from the lecture and passage. This is a complicated job. And to make things even harder, the task comes almost at the very end of the test, when most test-takers are exhausted.

Some TOEFL Integrated Writing topics are harder than others. And if you get a hard Integrated Writing Task, you could be in danger of “blowing” your whole TOEFL IBT Writing section—doing badly on both tasks! An unusually difficult Integrated Writing task can leave you so tired and frustrated that you aren’t able to focus on the easier second TOEFL Writing Task.

So if you come across a harder-than-usual Integrated Writing Task on test day, make sure you handle it carefully. With the right strategies, a really tough TOEFL Writing Task 1 doesn’t need to hurt your TOEFL score at all.

Early detection of hard TOEFL Integrated Writing Topics

The worst thing you can do is not notice how hard an Integrated Writing Task is. If you mistakenly think an Integrated Writing task is relatively easy, you won’t plan for it correctly.

So try to immediately notice how complicated a task is. You should be able to tell just by looking at the reading passage, since the passage is the basis for the lecture. If the passage seems unusually complex, make note of this and proceed carefully. Don’t miss anything important, and don’t lose track of time. It’s really easy to leave out key facts or run down the clock in TOEFL Integrated Writing.

When you come across a potentially hard Integrated Writing Passage, start trying to mentally paraphrase the passage right away. Figure out whether you are able to paraphrase the passage effectively. Paraphrases should be shorter than their source, and should change the original wording significantly. If you are having a lot of trouble doing this, the passage may be too difficult for you to paraphrase.

Strategies once you’ve found a hard TOEFL Integrated Writing Task

If the ideas in the passage are really hard to paraphrase and shorten, don’t panic. For these more difficult Integrated Writing passages, there’s a simple solution: put less of the passage information into your essay. If necessary, put nothing directly from the passage into your essay.

This advice may sound strange. After all, the official TOEFL Writing Rubrics , which are used for scoring on the real test, say it’s important to include all the big ideas from the passage and the reading. But for a harder Integrated Writing Task, it really does pay to adjust your approach in this way.

Think about it. If the passage is really complex, then the lecture that follows will also be complex. And if the passage and the lecture are both very complicated, it can become almost impossible to correctly summarize them both. You won’t have enough time, and it’ll be too hard to focus on absolutely everything in the prompt. The lecture will need to be the main focus, since the task itself asks you to focus on the way that the lecture challenges the passage.

The lecture will of course contain ideas from the passage, since the lecturer is challenging the key points from the reading. So paying attention to what the lecturer says will allow you to indirectly use parts of the passage. And with this approach, you run less of a risk writing an unfocused or incomplete essay.

How this strategy can affect your score

Also remember how the TOEFL scoring system works . If you get a task that is harder-than-average, the TOEFL will adjust your task score upwards at least a little. Relying only on lecture content might hurt your score a bit. But you have a good chance of recovering those lost points when ETS adjusts your score. On the other hand, if you try to take on all of the complicated content in the task and fail, your score could really suffer, even with ETS’s score adjustments for difficulty. Ultimately, getting a high score on TOEFL Integrated Writing is a matter of balancing your priorities and focus, regardless of the difficulty level of a given individual task.

A Free TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task

I have written and recorded a task for you that closely follows the real TOEFL Integrated Writing Task in length, content, and format. Read the passage, listen to my lecture and follow the instructions for an (almost) authentic TOEFL writing practice experience. To prepare, you may want to read some of Magoosh’s advice on this task. The official TOEFL Integrated Writing Rubric (page 2 of the linked document) may also be useful. And at the bottom of this post, you’ll be able to view a sample response to this task.

TOEFL Integrated Writing Task Practice

Directions: Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.

The “comics medium” includes newspaper comic strips such as Dennis the Menace and comic books such as Spider-Man. Scholars around the world agree that comics are a uniquely American art form.

The first commercially successful comic strip was Hogan’s Alley , a comic strip from the 1890s. Hogan’s Alley featured the Yellow Kid, the world’s first popular cartoon character. This strip and its character marked the beginning of comics and was American in every respect. Set in a low-income neighborhood in New York City, Hogan’s Alley dealt with the lives of ordinary Americans. It was written and drawn by American cartoonist R.F. Outcault. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, two famous and influential American publishers, printed the comic strip in their newspapers.

The first popular comic book in the world was also American. Action Comics , a series that is still in print today, was initially released in 1938. It featured Superman, the world’s first superhero. Like Hogan’s Alley , Superman was American-created.

Americans invented comic strips, and Americans have exported their unique art form to the rest of the world. Japanese comics, called manga , were inspired by the comics that Americans brought to Japan after World War II. Popular European comics series such as Smurfs and Asterix are influenced by Disney comic books. Today, American-created Disney comic characters are more popular in Europe than ever.

The comics medium started in America. While it has spread around the world, even comics that aren’t created by Americans have an undeniable American influence. This is why so many art and literature scholars recognize the comic strip as a truly American art form.

Directions: Summarize the main points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage. You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage.

Listen to the lecture here:

  Once you’ve completed the practice task, you can assess the quality of your answer by comparing it to this sample answer . Good luck!

Ready for a Full Writing Test?

If you’re ready to try the independent and integrated tasks together under test-like conditions, check out our full-length video Writing Test!

And if you want more writing practice, download the FREE TOEFL Practice Test PDF .

Plus, Magoosh TOEFL online prep has six practice tests with sample answers, video explanations, strategies and tips for the every TOEFL speaking question!

TOEFL Integrated Writing Task: Model Answer

I have written a level 5 answer, which you can read below. This answer is followed by some commentary on why this response would earn the full five points.

Model level 5 TOEFL Integrated Writing answer

In the passage, the author argues that comics are an art form that is very unique to the United States, but has been borrowed by other countries. The speaker corrects many things the author wrote about comics being an American art form. Although the writing says all scholars agree that comics are uniquely American, the lecturer says that in modern times, very few scholars agree with that.

The speaker then points out that, contrary to the writing, the first popular comic strips were not American. According to the speaker, 100 years before the first American comic strip, there were popular comic strips in Europe. The lecture also states that Hogan’s Alley , the 1890s comic strip described as American in the article, is not completely American because the comic characters were not Americans. Moreover, the publisher and creator of the comic were immigrants from other countries.

Additionally, the speaker disagrees with the article’s claim that American comic book Superman was the first popular comic book. Instead, the lecturer says the Belgian comic book Tintin was popular before Superman. Also, the author points out that Superman’s creator is Canadian, not American as the article says.

Finally, the speaker disagrees that American cartoon art influenced international comics, as claimed in the writing. He says that popular European comics have a uniquely European style. He also argues that Japanese comics are influenced more by traditional Asian art. Finally, the speaker notes that even American Disney comics characters are drawn by European artists.

Per the official TOEFL Integrated Writing rubric , this answer would get a score of 5. It outlines all the main points from the lecture. It explains how each main point contradicts or challenges the main ideas from the reading. It is organized well, with good transition words for each paragraph. It has no major errors, using correct grammar and vocabulary . Look at this model answer and the rubric linked above as you write your own answer to the sample task . If you need some extra help, you can find a writing template for your own response here .

I also have some resources specific to this essay prompt. For a guide on how to paraphrase as you respond to this specific prompt, see my article “ How to Paraphrase in TOEFL Integrated Writing .” And for advice on how to reise your TOEFL writing, using this model Integrated task as a specific example, see “ How to Revise TOEFL Writing .” All of this advice is applicable to other TOEFL Integrated Writing essays as well! (And it can also be applied to Task 2!)

Follow-up TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice

For more TOEFL Integrated Writing tasks from Magoosh, check our the additional free TOEFL Integrated writing practice task found in Magoosh’s complete guide to TOEFL Writing samples . You may also want to consider signing up for Magoosh TOEFL (you can try a free trial of Magoosh TOEFL prep without entering any payment info, and then “go premium” if you like what you see).

You can also go to “the source”—official TOEFL Integrated Writing practice from ETS. This free TOEFL Integrated Writing task , which focuses on the ecological practices of American companies (a typical Integrated Writing topic) is a good place to start if you’re looking for some quick official practice that you don’t have to pay for. Unfortunately, this readily accessible official practice task is flawed: it has a transcript of a lecture, rather than lecture audio. The only free official TOEFL Integrated Writing task with an actual sound clip for the lecture is the one in the official online TOEFL mock test .

David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he’s helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in many scholarly articles , his Master’s Thesis is featured on the Reading with Pictures website, and he’s presented at the WITESOL (link to PDF) and NAFSA conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru. Come join David and the Magoosh team on Youtube , Facebook , and Instagram , or connect with him via LinkedIn !

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45 responses to “TOEFL Writing Task 1: The TOEFL Integrated Writing Practice Task”

u shud have atleast given a sample answer for us to compare our answers to.

Really that you are complaining? This is a great exercises. Just be grateful!

They have given it under the audio. Can’t you see that?

Hello Rabia,

That’s a good point and an excellent request. To meet your request, I’ll write up an example answer ASAP and make a blog post about it. My post will include an explanation of my writing approach, and reference to the TOEFL Integrated writing rubric. As soon as my example is up and posted, I’ll link it to the comments here.

Have a great day, David

Still waiting for the example answer.

You can find the sample answer here: https://magoosh.com/toefl/2015/toefl-integrated-writing-practice-task-model-answer/ 🙂

thanks for share.it helps me.

Thank you so much, I found a PDF file that was so useful.

You’re welcome! 😀

This is a very helpful integrated writing practice, especially with the sample answer. However, I can’t seem to figure out what question the essay should answer. The directions just say to write a response, but they don’t give any direction as to what is expected in this response. Is this typical of TOEFL integrated writing questions?

Hi K.C. The essay question is in this post, but I think I know why you can’t see it— I’ve just realized it’s kind of oddly placed. Or rather, the lecture track is oddly placed in this post. The lecture audio link appears right below the directions and right above the question, so that the question itself is easy to miss. But look carefully below the audio and you’ll see:

“Summarize the main points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific points made in the reading passage.”

This specific task is typical of the TOEFL, but the confusing screen layout is not. The layout was likely my mistake when I wrote and uploaded this. I’ll check with my editor about fixing that. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

Hmm…And now I do not see an audio link. Thank you for making the task more visible, though.

Hmm, indeed. I seemed to be having some issue with the external link. I just hosted the file locally, and the sound file should be playable now.

hello sir/Mam I have a question regarding the integrated writing task….will the passage reappear even after the listening part?

Yes, the passage reappears on the screen after you listen to the audio track, and the passage remains available the whole time that you write your response.

Hello Can you please introduce a good source for practicing integrated writing task.

Sadly, there aren’t a lot of good materials out there for TOEFL Integrated Writing tasks, compared to Independent Writing. This is because it’s a lot harder to create an Integrated Writing Task— it requires writing a complete passage and recording a lecture. Still, you get one Integrated Writing Practice task in each and every exam in ETS’s official TOEFL books and materials. And Magoosh TOEFL subscribers get access to quite a few of these practice tasks too.

I’m also happy to tell you that I’ll be putting up a few more Integrated Writing Practice tasks in the next few weeks! Watch this space, Mazdak. 🙂

how to download the given audio? I need to download and copy it in the pen drive so as i can practice when internet connection is not available.

There’s a version of this track on Soundcloud that’s available for download. You can find the link to the track here: https://soundcloud.com/david-recine-1/comics . You’ll need to create a SoundCloud account if you don’t already have one. ( Registering for SoundCloud is fast, easy and free.)

i m not good listening practice and also i have problem in matching and choosing the correct point to reading passage how can i improve score

OK, if I understand correctly, you’re having trouble with the questions that come at the very end of a reading passage question set? The text insertion and prose summary ones? I recommend checking out our blog’s tutorials on those two question types. Here is our guide to TOEFL Reading prose summary strategy , and here’s our tutorial on TOEFL Reading text insertion . 🙂

The reading and the lecture are both about comic medium, which includes newspaper comic strips. The author of the reading believes that the comics are of unique American art form and that scholars all over the globe agree on this. The lecturer casts doubts on the claim made in the article. He thinks that when more study was done, scholars realized that the comic mediums were not uniquely American.

First of all, the author of the reading claims Hogan’s Alley to be the first commercially successful comic strip having first popular cartoon character. He believes that Hogan’s alley focused mainly on the lives of ordinary Americans and that the people involved in making it were all Americans. This point is challenged by the lecturer. He says that Hogan’s Alley was not the first successful comic strip with first famous cartoon character. He adds that during 1790’s many popular comic strips and popular comic character were from Europe, especially from Britain and Switzerland. He adds that the characters and publisher were not uniquely American but were immigrants as well. The publisher of Hogan’s Alley, Joseph Pulitzer was himself an immigrant from Hungary.

Secondly, the author states that the first popular action book comic was American which involved Superman – The first Superhero. He argues that the first popular action comic was American. The lecturer rebuts this argument. He suggests that 16 years before action comic was prevalent, Adventure of Tintin comic from Belgium was popular and it predates superman. He elaborates on this by mentioning that the artist of Superman was not from America but from Canada.

Finally, the author mentions that Americans devised and transferred the art form all around the world. He is of the opinion that Japanese comic strips were influenced by comic from America and that Americans created Disney character that was popular in Europe. The lecturer, on the other hand, feels that Japan and Europe were influenced by various other art forms. He says that Japan was highly influenced by the traditional Asian art and that the Disney characters popular in Europe were drawn in European style and art. He puts forth the idea that the comic strip is from all around the world and not only America.

Normally I don’t approve comments like this, since there isn’t time to review every sample essay that students try to post here. However, in this case, I’ve decided to approve this essay and give some feedback. Sanjay, I think this essay of yours can help other students who read the comments, for two reasons: First, it’s fairly well-written overall. Second, the mistakes you make are common ones. So let’s look at your strengths and weaknesses of this essay.

This essay is incredibly well organized! Sanjay, you did a great job of moving through both the lecture and the essay point-by-point. Also, the grammar and spelling is quite good— you do have a few mistakes in these errors, but the mistakes are so minimal, they’d have little or no impact on your TOEFL score.

WEAKNESSES Your biggest weakness is paraphrasing. Sometimes your wording was way too close to the original source material, so much so that your writing might be judged as plagiarism. This is especially noticeable in the second paragraph. (For more info, see my post on avoiding plagiarism on the TOEFL .) At other times, you misinterpreted information from the sources. For example, Superman was not the first successful action comic; “Action Comics” is the name of a publication, not a description of a kind of comic book.

Your transitions are a bit weak as well. Ideally, TOEFL scorers want to see transitions that are more descriptive— not just numerical words like “first” and “second.” For examples of more varied transitions, see the Magoosh TOEFL Writing Templates ebook, and check out Kate’s tutorial on TOEFL Writing transitions , and mine .

All in all, I’d put this essay in the 3.5-4 point range, per the official TOEFL Writing rubrics . Address those weak points, and you could get your score all the way up to a 5.

how many words should this part have?

The TOEFL doesn’t set any strict, official rules for word count in the TOEFL Integrated Writing Essay. However, ETS reports that most top-scoring Integrated Writing responses are between 150 and 225 words long.

Hey there David or Rachel….I don’t know with who am I talking with …:-) 🙂 But I wanted to ask you about the listening and reading sections. Do paragraphs appear while attending the question ?

Yes, you should be able to see the text (or a relevant portion of the text) when answering questions. 🙂

The passage claims the idea that the comic medium is popularly American, However professor refutes each of the claims by saying that comic medium is not popularly American it is influenced by the whole world.

The passage claims that Hogan Alley the most popular comic of 1890’s was the first successful comic and was developed by Americans, However professor refutes this claim by saying that Hogan Alley was not the first successful comic , In 1970 many comic strips were originated in Europe which were popular and successful.

The passage states that Action comic series which introduced superman as a character was the first popular comic series developed by Americans in 1938, However professor refutes the claim by saying that in 1922 Tin-Tin published in Belgium was the most popular comic ever.

The passage posits that The Japanese comics which are popular throughout Europe are influenced by American art and literature, however professor refutes the claim of the passage by stating that Asterics the most popular Japanese comic was influenced by Canada not from US.

Thus the professor refutes the reading by illustrating some facts and states that the Comic medium is influenced by al over the world it is not popularly American.

Can you please rate this answer

Hi Aakash! Unfortunately, at the moment, we don’t offer a TOEFL essay review service. However, to help you evaluate your response, I recommend the following. First, check out David’s sample essay here . You can compare your structure and the points you make with what David wrote in his essay 🙂 Also, I highly recommend that you check out this page , where we provide some guidelines on how to evaluate your own essays. I hope this helps, at least a little!

One question regarding scoring: although the TOEFL OG recommends essays of 150-225 words for the Integrated Essay, do you think that length correlates with score?

My point is all things being equal (coherency, grammar, vocabulary), would a longer essay tend to score higher than an average one?

In other words, do you think it is worth it to push it to the 250+ words in order to try to get a higher score?

Thank you so much!

Hi Sebastian,

Once again, my statements regarding your identical question for the independent essay apply. In addition, on the integrated essay, including too much (say writing 350 words and covering 6 main points) can demonstrate a lack of concision and an inability to distill the most important points from many. As this test is aimed at demonstrating your ability to handle academic-style writing, you want to showcase this in addition to grammar, argumentation and organization.

I hope that helps! 🙂

Great! I will follow your piece of advice! Apologies for repeating the question. I jut thought that since they were two different tasks, they could yield two different tactics and maybe scoring system. I just wanted to post each question in the appropriate post.

Have a great week and thank you as usual!

No worries, Sebastian! I’m sure these comments will be useful for future students 🙂

Best of luck as you continue studying!

Call me petty, but I would just appreciate Americans like you being totally accurate with facts that you feel you can confidently, expertly provide as subject matter for something that should feel as authoritative as a “lecture”. Joe Shuster was Canadian half by birth and grew up in Canada right into his teens. This time also included his first exploits as a writer for a publication. So it would be nice not to see folks like you casually whitewashing Superman as a wholly American creation. If I tried to claim conversely that Superman was actually just a Canadian creation in basically the exact same way, I’m sure there’d be no end to the uproar. We also helped to give the world the phone and basketball, just in case you planned on overAmericanizing those facts in other tasks too…

Jeffrey, I definitely hear you on that, and I tried to touch on that in the lecture. FYI, although I wrote both the passage and the lecture script, the lecture– which refutes the idea that comics are a purely American art form– reflects my own personal opinions a bit more. On an additional personal note, many of my favorite comic books– and many comics I feel have had some of the greatest influence on the medium worldwide– are made by creators from Canada and other places not in the USA. 🙂

This example has made my day, I’ve spent all evening trying to understand the difference between the lecture and the reading and it has made it more clear than all materials i consulted . Thank you so much, Very helpful.

So glad this tutorial and sample lecture helped, Denis. I had fun putting it all together too. 🙂

Thank you so much Mr. Recine! This example was spot-on! 🙂

Thanks for this sample test. Where can i get more task 1 practice test for my students?

TOEFL Writing Task 1 practice can be a little hard to come by, since it takes a lot of time to put together a proper Writing Task 1 (a passage and a recorded audio lecture). For fast, free TOEFL Writing Task 1 prompts, I recommend TOEFL Quick Prep . The first volume of TOEFL Quick Prep has a Writing Task 1s that come with transcript only, and no actual audio. Fortunately, Magoosh has made unofficial audio for all of the transcript-only lectures in both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Quick Prep. (See our unofficial audio for TOEFL Quick Prep Vol. 1 and TOEFL Quick Prep Vol. 2 .) You can also get access to some additional free Task 1s if you enroll in ETS’s free official online TOEFL course .

Beyond those resources, there are some good paid resources out there, such as ETS’s official TOEFL books: Official TOEFL iBT Tests Vol. 1 , Official TOEFL iBT Tests Vol. 2 , and The Official Guide to the TOEFL . TOEFL Preparation Online (TPO) is another potential source of high quality official ETS Writing Task 1 practice, although it’s a bit expensive.

Last but certainly not least, consider a subscription to Magoosh TOEFL , if you haven’t already. 🙂 We offer six practice TOEFL Writing Task 1s to our Premium students, as well as many other practice questions and video lessons for the test as a whole.

The lecture challenges the points made in reading passage that comics strips and comics books are original art form from America, they started in America and comics created around the world are influenced by American comics.The lecture disputes the following claims made in the passage. First claim made in the passage is that the first famous comics strip was Hogan Alley and was published in 1890, however the lecture claims that it was not the first and further gives example for a comics published in 1790 in Europe. The characters in the Hogan Alley were immigrants and cartoonist RF Outcalt himself was an immigrant which means that the origin of the comics comes from another country. Second claim in the passage is that the first adventure comics published was in 1938 and was about Superman, lecture refutes the argument by giving example of comic book “Adventures of Tin Tin” which as Belgium origin and it predates Superman. Third claim made in the reading passage is that Japanese comics manga was influence by American, but the lecture contradicts it by claiming that it was influenced traditional Asian comics The last claim made in the passage is that European comics is also influenced by American comics, the lecture clarifies that by the example that even though the disney characters are famous in Europe but these characters are written as European disney characters by the Europeans. In conclusion, the lecture says that comics art were not first originated in America but they did exist in the world much before the comics became famous in America and that the comics around the globe is not influenced by American comics.

The passage and the lecture are both about the originality of comics. The author of the text states that all comics have been influenced by early American art forms. The lecturer, however, strongly disagrees with this idea. To begin, the text points out that the Japanese version of comics, called ‘manga’ were derived from the American comics. They had been taken to Japan after World War two. The lecturer contradicts this claim. He says that the manga relates more to Asian arts than American . Secondly, the author details how Disney inspired the many famous European comic series. He gives examples of Smurfs and Asterix, and how they are very popular. To this, the lecturer differs explaining how the writings, like hash-tag are European styled. Finally, detailing the studies made by scholars on America’s role in early comic industry, the author stamps comics as America’s undeniable creations. Despite this, the professor shuts down these data as rubbish. He explores the history of comics, and how there were many European comics before the start of American ones. In addition, he says that many original American comics were created by immigrants.

Both the reading and the lecture discuss the real origin of comic books and their history. The auther of the reading suggests that comics originally are an amercican art. However the proffesor explains that comics medea is an art actually shared by the whole world. First of all, according to the reading hongn’s aley is the fist popular strip figure disigned by an american. But the lecture opposes to this statement and explains that in fact alley was not the firt influencial strip caracter know world wild but actually lots of caracters made by imigrants from switserland had been there befoor him Secondly, the reading states that popular action comics books were invented by americans. Though the lecture points out that exion comics such as tintin, written in 1922 predated befoor the outcomming of for example spiderman. Finally, the author suggests that american comic strips as for example disney inspiered the creation of mangas on the other side of the world. Oposing to this, the speaker explains that disney had american caracters but the comics are actually made by europeens and traditional asian art developd on its own

Hi, would like to have some feedback. Here’s my response: The reading and the lecture are about comics. The reading as well as the lecture have specific mentions and opposing views about the origin and spread in popularity of comics The writer of the passage puts forth the point that comics are a purely American art form. In contrast, the lecture provides proofs against this idea. Firstly, the passage mentions the first commercially successful comic strip Hogan’s Alley. According to the passage, it dealt with ordinary Americans, was set in New York and published by American publishers. However, the lecture mentions that it was not the first commercially popular comic strip and that its publisher was an immigrant from Hungary. Second, the passage refers to “Action comics”, which featured Superman, as the first popular comic book in the world. The lecture refutes this point by saying that “Action comics” was not the first popular comic book. Tintin was published in Belgium 16 years before it and it is still popular. Also, even the artist of Superman was from Canada. Lastly, the passage mentions that comics were invented in America and then exported to the rest of the world. But the lecture opposes this idea by saying that traditional Asian art has more influence on comics than any other art has. Moreover, though the Disney characters were written in America, they were written and drawn by European creators. Thus, they were not truly American. This is how the lecture refutes the key points in the passage.

Hi Rk! Unfortunately, at the moment, we don’t offer a TOEFL essay review service. However, to help you evaluate your response, I recommend the following. First, check out David’s sample essay here . You can compare your structure and the points you make with what David wrote in his essay 🙂 Also, I highly recommend that you check out this page , where we provide some guidelines on how to evaluate your own essays. I hope this helps, at least a little!

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Integrated essay!

In this above set of materials, both reading and lecture highlight’s the steps or process involved in “Problem Solving”.

According to the reading, while solving a problem: The first and foremost important step is to identify the problem itself. Identifying problem is complex step and should be dealt carefully with precision. It involves screening the information concerned with the problem from unessential data. The writer of passage mentions about “Functional Fixedness” which refers to the biased preconceived notions which one might have while sorting out a problem on a particular topic. The next step involves the solution of problem. In this step, the method which has best accuracy and result shall be applied. Other probable solutions of the problem should be eliminated. During this step also, tendency of prejudice should be avoided. Thinking and performing again on a particular problem has the chances of getting higher accuracy in results.

The Professor in the listening mentions about an important phenomenon, “Brake”. This may help in solving problem as it provides a rest from the problem. During break, one may get sleep or remained relaxed but awake. In fact, this strategy has provided fruitful results in research. kekule predicted the structure of benzene by taking a break. This scientist got an intimation of the solution of his problem in his dream. The break provides a change of frame or a different view point for the analysis of the problem.

Hence both reading and lecture part explains about the complex phenomenon of “Problem Solving”.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between two students (1)

According to the reading, while solving a problem: The first and foremost important step is to identify the problem itself. Identifying THE problem is A complex step and should be dealt WITH carefully AND with precision. It involves screening the information concerned with the problem from unessential data. The writer of THE passage mentions about “Functional Fixedness” which refers to the biased preconceived notions which one might have while sorting out a problem on a particular topic. The next step involves the solution of THIS problem. In this step, the method which has THE GREATEST accuracy and BENEFICIAL result shall be applied. Other probable solutions of the problem should be eliminated. During this step also, A tendency TOWARD prejudice should be avoided. Thinking and performing again on a particular problem has the chances of getting GREATER accuracy in results.

The Professor in the listening mentions about an important phenomenon, “BREAK”. This may help in solving A problem as it provides a rest from the problem. During A break one may get sleep or REMAIN relaxed but awake. In fact, this strategy has provided fruitful results in EARLIER researchES. Kekule predicted the structure of benzene by taking a break. This scientist got an intimation of the solution of his problem in his dream. The break provides a change of MIND-SET(,) or a different view point for the analysis of the problem.

Hence both reading and lecture part explains about the complex phenomenon of “Problem Solving”. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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TOEFL Integrated Writing – Top 3 Tips

Overview of integrated writing in toefl writing, tip 1 – in the toefl test, make sure you answer the question, tip 2 – organize your response for toefl writing, tip 3 – check for language errors for a high toefl score, more help with toefl writing.

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In the TOEFL Integrated Writing task (Writing Task 1), you’ll read a passage about a topic and then listen to a short lecture on the same topic but from a different perspective. You’ll then be asked to summarize the points made in the lecture and explain how they relate to specific points made in the reading passage. You’ll have a total of 20 minutes to plan and write your response.

Our TOEFL course is the best way to train all the skills required for the latest version of the TOEFL iBT test and increase your confidence on test day.

In this post, we’ll cover our top 3 tips to help you do well in the Integrated Writing task and boost your overall TOEFL score. If you’re wanting to improve in your Writing for an Academic Discussion task, click here .

It may sound obvious, but you need to make sure you answer the question. Here’s a sample question.

The first part of the question will always be the same. It will always ask you to summarize the lecture . So, note that you’re not summarizing the reading passage – it’s the lecture you need to summarize. The wording of the second part of the question will vary, but you’ll always be asked to present the points made in the lecture in relation to points from the reading passage. Most often, the lecturer will challenge the points made in the reading passage, but it’s possible that the lecturer will support them.

In the official scoring criteria, how well you answer the question is referred to as accurate development . The score range for the TOEFL Integrated Writing task is 0 to 5. If you leave out one of the key points made in the lecture, you won’t be able to get more than 3 out of 5. If you significantly misrepresent points made in the lecture, the maximum score you can get is 2 out of 5. If you only write about points in the reading passage, you’ll score 1 out of 5.

As you can see, it’s very important to understand what’s required in the TOEFL Integrated Writing task to give yourself the best chance of getting a high score.

The second scoring criterion for TOEFL Writing Task 1 is organization . If your response is well organized, it will be easier for the reader to follow your ideas without becoming confused. Here’s a sample response.

Notice that this response is quite difficult to read. The writer is summarizing the three main points made in the lecture and how they relate to the points from the reading passage. However, since there’s just one long paragraph and very few linking words and phrases, it isn’t clear where one point ends and the next one begins. Now read this sample response.

Notice that the paragraphs allow the writer to separate their points. The use of linking words and phrases such as also , then , and Lastly make it even easier to follow what the writer is saying.

The final scoring criterion for TOEFL Integrated Writing is language use . This means it’s important to check your response for grammatical and vocabulary errors, including issues with spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. You can make some minor mistakes and still get a high score, but you should still try to make as few mistakes as possible.

Easy things to check for:

• spelling mistakes
• subject–verb agreement
• mistakes with singular and plural forms
• incorrect punctuation

Read the paragraph below. There are 5 language errors. Can you find them?

Scroll to the bottom to check your answers.

Need more help with TOEFL Writing? We have you covered! For help with the TOEFL Integrated Writing task in the TOEFL test, head to our TOEFL login page and sign up for free to access method lessons, TOEFL practice tests, live classes with expert teachers and more. We have everything you need to help you quickly achieve the score you desire in your TOEFL exam.

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• The Ultimate Guide to Write Effective Problem Solution Essay
• Mastering The Art of Academic Essay Writing With Examples

Problem-solution essay is a common type of expository essay in academic writing. These essays are usually assigned to students in higher levels of education because they require effective research on the topic before providing foolproof solutions to the problems.

Table of Contents

• What is a problem-solution essay
• Structure of a problem-solving essay
• Introduction element:hook
• Introduction element:background brief
• Introduction element: thesis statement
• Introduction element: outline
• Body paragraph of a problem-solution essay
• Conclusion of a problem-solution essay

If you are also a student, there are possibilities that you will also get the task of writing an essay for a college/school assessment. Most probably you have gotten one and that’s why you are here we guess.

Besides, we know that researching and writing a problem and solution essay can be a head-scratcher sometimes. Moreover, students often get confused with the structure, thesis statement, and what to write in the body paragraphs of a problem solution essay. Lack of proper knowledge in writing a good problem and solution essay could result in lower credits.

However, before writing a problem solution essay, it is essential to identify the right problem that needs to be discussed in the essay. For this, you need to effectively brainstorm some of the ideas and then choose the right problems to address unless the topic is already assigned by your professors.

Now that you have effectively chosen a good topic for writing, you must go through a stepwise approach for writing an impressive problem solution essay. So, before starting to write an essay, it is essential to know what exactly is a problem-solution essay.

What is a problem-solution essay?

As the name suggests, a problem solution essay offers the solutions to a specific problem discussed in the essay. The problem solution essay intends to present either multiple solutions to a single problem or one ideal solution to the problem discussed in the essay.

In the book, Fusion: Integrated Reading and Writing (2016), the author Dave Kemper defined a problem-solving essay, “This sort of essay involves argumentation in that the writer seeks to convince the reader to take a particular course of action. In explaining the problem, it may also need to persuade the reader concerning specific causes”. To understand the problem-solving essay more comprehensively, let’s have a look at some of the example topics of problem-solving essays.

• Elaborate on some of the effective solutions to reduce poverty.
• Describe solutions to the problem of rising drug abuse in adolescents.
• Elucidate the measure that can be taken to prevent human trafficking.

To continue, as seen in the above examples, some critical social problems are addressed and effective solutions need to be presented. Problems can be complex social issues like drug abuse or environmental problems like climate change that concern the entire planet. In most problem-solution essays, the problems are peculiar and have large scale implications.

But in order to effectively present a problem and its foolproof solutions, it is necessary to follow the right structure of writing a good problem solution essay. So, let’s get started with the structure.

How to structure the problem-solving essay?

Giving the right structure to an essay is an important aspect of writing a good essay because the better the structure, the more easily your reader or audience can navigate through your essay. In the case of a problem or solution essay, the structure is even more important because through the right structure only, your audience would be able to understand the given problem and your provided solutions more effectively.

In the problem solution essays, the structure is quite similar to the other essays that start with an essay introduction and is followed by body paragraphs and conclusions. To simplify, the standard structure of a problem solution consists of four paragraphs in which the introduction usually starts with asking a question that reflects the main problem. Along with this, the introduction also consists of the outline and the thesis statement of the essay.

Following the introduction, as per standard structuring, there will be two body paragraphs in which one will talk about the problem while the paragraph will present the solutions. The number of paragraphs containing the problem and solution can be extended as per the desired length of the essay. In the end, the conclusion of the essay will be provided that will sum up the key arguments. Let us delve into the introduction of a problem- solution essay.

How to write the introduction of a problem-solving essay?

An introduction is an important aspect of an essay because through an impressive introduction only, you will be able to convince your readers to read your essay till the end. In the case of a problem-solving essay, your introduction should be engaging enough to give a clear idea to the readers about the given problem/situation and whom the problem majorly impacts.

However, while writing an introduction there are a few other important aspects that need to be taken into consideration.

The crucial aspect is that your introduction should always contain

• Background information
• Thesis statement

That being said, the further sections will deliberately explain all the elements one by one to give you a clear picture of writing essays. Besides, every section will contain a sample element of the essay topic: Elaborate on some of the effective solutions to reduce poverty.

Explanation through an example will assist you in better understanding how to write each element meticulously. So, let’s move ahead without further ado.

Introduction element: Hook of a problem-solving essay

A hook is a very first and crucial element of writing an engaging essay introduction. Its presence in the introduction of the essay will assist you in intriguing the curiosity of the reader that will encourage them to read till the end.

Besides, the hook in the introduction of a problem-solving essay could be of various types. It can be a fun fact/claim or an astonishing statistic that directly points toward the problem which will assist in grabbing the attention of the reader from the very beginning.

Besides, in the case of a problem solution essay, you can also create a hook by asking valid questions related to the problem discussed in the essay to involve your reader in your essay as well. As per our example, the sample hook is given below.

Sample hook

Approximately 85% of the world is currently living on less than $30 per day. More than two-thirds of the same lives on less than $10 per day. Moreover, every 10th person survives on less than $1.90 per day (Roser & Ortiz-Ospina, 2022).

After hooking the readers on interesting information, it is time to give background information about the problem.

Introduction element: Background brief of a problem-solving essay

The background information will be provided to make your readers understand the context of the essay. In the case of a problem solution essay, you will provide background information about the problem that will clearly answer a few of the given questions below.

• What is the problem?
• How big is the problem?
• Whom does the problem majorly affect?

Background information will assist the readers in understanding the urgency of the problem and will also highlight the major reason behind the need for highlighting the problem. In accordance with our example, the sample background information is given below.

Sample background brief

Poverty is becoming a global issue and every coming day; the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. Hence making progress against poverty is becoming one of the most urgent goals of the globe today. People lying in the poor category often face challenges like hunger, less access to education, sanitation issues, and much poorer health.

After giving the readers the background information, it is now time to give the thesis statement of the problem solution essay.

Introduction element: The thesis statement of a problem-solving essay

The thesis statement refers to the brief summary of the central idea of the essay that is usually included at the end of the introduction before the outline of an essay. A thesis statement in a problem solution essay can be of two to three lines but irrespective of the length of the thesis statement, your thesis statement needs to clearly include,

• Why is it a problem?
• How does this problem impact the readers?
• Why does this problem need to be solved?

Moreover, the thesis statement should naturally highlight a brief summary of the solutions that would be highlighted later in the discussion. However, the thesis statement does not need to present detailed solutions. In the case of our example of the sample essay, the thesis statement in the problem solution essay is given below.

Sample thesis statement

Poverty is still a problem because it brings other problems such as malnutrition, and sanitation issues along. It also hinders the growth of developed and developing nations which directly impacts the lives of other people as well. Alleviation of poverty will ensure enhanced living standards for the people and will provide them with better growth opportunities.

Following the thesis statement, the last paragraph highlights the outline of the essay.

Introduction element: Outline of a problem-solving essay

The outline of the essay is the last paragraph of the introduction that will deliberately guide your readers toward the main body paragraphs of the essay. In the case of a problem solution essay, it is a kind of roadmap that will further guide your readers on the given problem and solutions they will encounter in the body paragraphs of the essay respectively.

However, it is essential to note that the outline should always summarize the solutions rather than discuss them in detail.

Sample outline

In this essay, firstly different problems that occur from poverty will be discussed in the essay, along with some of the statistics validating the issue. Secondly, the essay will possess some of the main causes of the problem. Lastly, different solutions will be discussed in the essay that can assist in reducing global poverty.

After the meticulous explanation, comes the body paragraphs of the essay.

How to write the body paragraph of a problem solution essay?

Body paragraphs are the cornerstone of the essay that requires the utmost research and attention to detail. There can be multiple paragraphs or even more depending upon the overall length requirement of the essay. You can choose to present the body paragraphs in two ways, block or point-by-point.

The block method in a problem solution essay refers to describing the problem first and then presenting all the required solutions. Whereas the point-by-point method in a problem-solution essay refers to presenting all the problems and solutions simultaneously rather than going through all problems and all solutions separately. In writing the body paragraph of the problem solution essay, you need to keep the 3 Es in mind which stands for explain, expand, and example.

To elaborate, in each paragraph you will start by explaining the topic sentence. This topic sentence will underline the problem or the solution that will be discussed in the paragraph. After explaining the topic sentence, you will elaborate your point by validly expanding the topic sentence and supporting the topic sentence by giving evidence (if possible).

For example, if you are describing the problem, you will use some statistics or research to validate the problem. Other than that, if you are providing a solution, you will use stats or research to validate how your given solution is the most effective remedy. Lastly, you can provide examples in the cases to explain the topic sentence more effectively.

Besides, the last line of the paragraph will be the transition sentence forming cohesion between the current paragraph and the next paragraph describing whether your next paragraph will present another aspect of the problem or will discuss the solution.

Following the example of our topic, below given is the example of a body paragraph using the chain method explaining poverty as a problem, first.Following the example of our topic, below given is the example of a body paragraph using the chain method explaining poverty as a problem, first.

Sample body paragraph

Poverty is a concept that is more than about lack of income and productive resources to ensure that are required to ensure good and sustainable livelihoods. Poverty also brings along poor mental and physical effects like hunger, malnutrition, and limited access to education. Along with this, poverty also brings ensures humans depriving of basic services access which has also resulted in social, political, and economic discrimination. This burden of poverty has excluded many people and deprived them of participating in various decision-making processes. Hence, it is essential to discuss the various possible solutions and act upon them to eradicate poverty effectively.

How to write the conclusion of a problem solution essay?

Lastly, the conclusion is the last paragraph that will wind up your whole essay in the end. While writing the conclusion, firstly, you will restate the thesis statement. Further than that, in a problem solution essay, it is always better to conclude with an intriguing statement that leaves your reader thinking more about the problem further and makes an impactful ending.

Sample conclusion

To conclude, sometimes all it takes is a small effort from external factors to kickstart the alleviation of poverty by giving some cashflow maintenance to the people living under the poverty line. Hence, the need is to effectively understand the problem and make small changes to implement the solutions and make the world free of poverty.

To encapsulate, if you keep all the above-given tips and tricks given in the guide in mind before writing the problem-solving essay, we are sure that you will be able to write a problem-solving essay like a pro.

Recommended readings

How to write cause and effect essay

A complete guide to writing a narrative essay

Copyright © 2023 CrowJack. All Rights Reserved

• Open access
• Published: 26 October 2023

Rater cognitive processes in integrated writing tasks: from the perspective of problem-solving

• Wenfeng Jia 1 &
• Peixin Zhang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2258-0451 2  

Language Testing in Asia volume  13 , Article number:  50 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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It is widely believed that raters’ cognition is an important aspect of writing assessment, as it has both logical and temporal priority over scores. Based on a critical review of previous research in this area, it is found that raters’ cognition can be boiled to two fundamental issues: building text images and strategies for articulating scores. Compared to the scoring contexts of previous research, the TEM 8 integrated writing task scoring scale has unique features. It is urgent to know how raters build text images and how they articulate scores for text images in the specific context of rating TEM8 compositions. In order to answer these questions, the present study conducted qualitative research by considering raters as problem solvers in the light of problem-solving theory. Hence, 6 highly experienced raters were asked to verbalize their thoughts simultaneously while rating TEM 8 essays, supplemented by a retrospective interview. Analyzing the collected protocols, we found that with regard to research question 1, the raters went through two stages by setting building text images as isolated nodes and building holistic text images for each dimension as two sub-goals, respectively. In order to achieve the first sub-goal, raters used strategies such as single foci evaluating, diagnosing, and comparing; for the second sub-goal, they mainly used synthesizing and comparing. Regarding the second question, the results showed that they resorted to two groups of strategies: demarcating boundaries between scores within a dimension and discriminating between dimensions, each group consisting of more specific processes. Each of the extracted processes was defined clearly and their relationships were delineated, on the basis of which a new working model of the rating process was finalized. Overall, the present study deepens our understanding of rating processes and provides evidence for the scoring validity of the TEM 8 integrated writing test. It also provides implications for rating practice, such as the need for the distinction between two types of analytical rating scales.

Introduction

The purpose of language testing is to use scores to infer the underlying language ability of candidates (McNamara, 1996 ; Bachman & Palmer, 2010 ). For most high-stakes and large-scale writing assessments, it is still a common practice to employ human raters to produce scores. Under these circumstances, scores are resultant of interaction between raters, rating scales, and compositions (Green, 1998 ; Weigle, 2002 ), and the raters’ cognitive process is the crux of the matter. Rater cognition has both logical and temporal priority over scores, and without a thorough and detailed description of the raters’ scoring process, it is impossible to argue for the scoring validity of a writing test (Heidari et al., 2022 ). According to Knoch and Chapelle ( 2018 ), one warrant for backing the scoring validity is the alignment between the raters’ cognitive processes and the writing construct to be tested in writing tasks.

However, there is usually no definitive procedure for rating compositions. DeRemer ( 1998 ) claims that rating is a process of problem-solving. Typically, due to the vagueness of the rating scale, the problem of scoring is considered to be “ill-structured,” and therefore, raters have to come up with creative solutions for this problem. In one article exploring what the rating criteria really meant to the raters, Lumley ( 2002 ) notes that “[t]he rules and the scale do not cover all eventualities, forcing the raters to develop various strategies to help them cope with problematic aspects of the rating process.” In this way, raters are better identified as problem solvers in the process of rating writing scripts.

In the recent two decades, integrated writing tasks have increasingly been adopted in both large-scale language test and classroom-based writing assessments (Knoch & Sitajalabhorn, 2013 ; Cumming, 2014 ). According to Knoch and Sitajalabhorn ( 2013 ), a writing task can only be called integrative if three requirements are met. First, the task input must contain materials of written texts. Writing tasks with only pictures as input rather than words are not integrative writing tasks. Second, the writing prompts must clearly indicate how the source materials are to be integrated into the writing. Third, the rating scale must reflect the integration requirements. Following this trend, the writing module of TEM8 (Test for English Majors, Band 8), a nationally standardized English proficiency test in mainland China, also replaced the independent writing task with a writing task based on reading in its latest reform in 2016, which meets the three requirements above (see Supplementary I ). Since its first administration, it has been “welcomed by teachers and students in various colleges for its authenticity” (Liu & Fan, 2020 ). Surprisingly, however, little research has been conducted to investigate raters’ cognitive processes on this new type of writing task.

Compared with other rating scales widely used in language testing, the TEM8 rating scale has three distinctive features (see Supplementary II ). Firstly, the scoring criteria or dimensions are quite broad, with each criterion containing a large number of descriptors. The three criteria are content, organization, and language use, and the first dimension contains more than 10 descriptors. This feature makes the TEM8 rating scale rather “thick,” which is in contrast to the rating scale whose criterion includes only one descriptor, such as the scale of STEP in Australia (Special Test of English Proficiency) in which each criterion includes only one descriptor (Lumley, 2005 ), or the scale of STAP (Spanish Test for Academic Purposes) in which each criterion corresponds to a very specific construct, such as cohesion, grammatical accuracy, and so on (Mendoza & Knoch, 2018 ). Secondly, the score distribution of the rating scale of TEM8 is uneven, with dimensions of content, organization, and language use receiving 10, 3, and 7 points, respectively, which is in contrast to most other scales with the same scores for each dimension, for example, in the ESL Composition Profile (Jacobs et al., 1981 ). Thirdly, the rating scale of TEM8 juxtaposes the descriptors for assessing both summary and argumentation in three dimensions as one requirement of an integrated task. In a word, the rating scale of TEM8 is quite unique and we still do not know how raters cognitively use this type of scale to produce scores.

To address this gap, the present study will focus on raters’ cognitive process in the TEM8 integrated writing rating environment from the problem-solving perspective, i.e., how raters cognitively solve the problem of rating. This study is expected to advance our knowledge of raters’ cognitive processes, particularly in relation to integrated writing tasks with an analytic rating scale. In addition, the findings will contribute to our understanding of rating validity for the TEM8 integrated writing task.

Literature review

Problem-solving in cognitive psychology.

In cognitive psychology, Frensch and Funke ( 1995 ) contend that a problem is not defined by the task itself, but by “the interaction between task characteristics and person characteristics” (p.28). In this sense, a problem only exists if there is a distance between the task situation and the solvers, and Ormrod ( 2012 ) emphasizes that problem-solving involves “deliberate and controlled mental processes” (p. 402). Similarly, Anderson ( 2015 ) defines problem-solving as “goal-directed behavior that often involves setting sub-goals to enable the application of operators” (p.183). Specifically, the problem-solving behavior is clearly organized toward an overarching goal. However, the problem is not solved in one fell swoop; instead, it is decomposed into sub-goals of different states, which is a representation of the problem in degree of solution. With the help of the operators, mainly acquired by discovery or by direct instruction, one problem state is transformed into the next problem state until the whole problem is solved. Although in each state, there are many ways the problem solver can choose to change the state, and the problem solver tends to adhere to the principle of difference-reduction. As stated by Anderson ( 2015 ), problem solvers are defined as “choosing operators that transform the current state into a new state that reduces differences and resembles the goal state more closely than the current state” (p.192). According to Ormrod ( 2012 ), apart from these procedures, problem-solving also involves a step of looking back, i.e., evaluating the overall effectiveness of problem-solving efforts in order to learn some lessons for possible future use.

Existing models of rater cognitive processes

As stated by DeRemer ( 1998 ) and Lumley ( 2002 ) above, there is no clear procedure for raters to follow when they are rating compositions, and thus, they are best regarded as problem solvers, who rely mainly on themselves for solutions. In the research field of the rating process of raters, Freedman and Calfee ( 1983 ) were among the first who noticed that raters can be regarded as problem solvers and they put forward the first model that symbolized the rating process. In applied linguistics, models consist of definitions of categories or processes and their relationships (Flower & Hayes, 1981 ) that are important for understanding cognitive activity. Building process models based on inferring the cognitive process from the collected data is also essential for researching problem-solving activity (Kluwe, 1995 ). In the model of Freedman and Calfee ( 1983 ), three stages of processes were identified as crucial in rating a composition: (1) reading and comprehending text to create a text image, (2) evaluating a text image and storing impressions, and (3) articulating evaluation. Text image is defined as the mental representation of essays, which is the prerequisite for scoring. Subsequently, Cumming et al. ( 2002 ), Wolfe ( 2005 ), and Lumley ( 2005 ) also constructed models as simple and symbolic representations of rating procedure. In the following, we will outline the three models mentioned above, followed by a critical commentary on both the models and other recent studies, until we come to the two research questions of the present study.

The model of Cumming et al. ( 2002 )

The model of Cumming et al. ( 2002 ) consists of the proto-typical decision sequence for scoring TOEFL essays and the descriptive framework for decision-making, represented by the coding schema in Table 1 . The rater went through three stages for rating: scanning the composition for surface, engaging in interpretation strategies, and articulating a scoring decision. Table 1 further instantiates the cognitive stages by listing both what raters experienced cognitively and the textual features to which they attended. All cognitive processes in Table 1 can be divided into two broad categories: interpretation strategies and judgment strategies. Interpretation strategies consist of reading strategies aimed at understanding the essay, whereas judgment strategies are evaluation strategies aimed at formulating a rating or score.

This model had a strong influence on other related research. In particular, the coding scheme for evaluation processes in Table 1 became the main source for coding verbal protocols in subsequent research, for example, Barkaoui ( 2007 , 2010 ), Li and He ( 2015 ), and Heidari et al. ( 2022 ), which aimed at comparing the rating processes across different rating contexts, mainly using a holistic and analytic rating scale. Their general conclusion was that rater cognitive behaviors are flexible and malleable, being subject to the specific requirement of rating scales. Relatedly, Cumming ( 1990 ) himself used a similar coding scheme to compare the rating processes of expert and novice raters and found that, in general, experts used a wider range of cognitive processes and more frequently than novices.

Wolfe’s model ( 2005 )

Wolfe’s model is based on his generalizations from the analysis of raters’ verbal protocols, as shown in Fig.  1 . His model emphasized the interaction between the text image and the rating process. According to it, raters read texts written by students and formed mental images of the text. Of course, the text images formed might differ from rater to rater because of their different experiences. Once the text image was created, evaluation (including monitoring, reviewing, and deciding) and justification (including diagnosis, rationale, and comparison) were functioning for articulating scores.

Wolfe’s model of rating process ( 2005 )

Similar to Cumming et al.’s ( 2002 ) model, Wolfe’s model was also contextualized using a holistic rating scale. The merit of this model lies in a clearer explanation of the role of building text images and its relationship to other rating processes. Related to this model, Wolfe et al. ( 1998 ) demonstrated that groups of raters with different levels of expertise differed cognitively in the following three aspects: raters with high expertise tended to cite more general features of compositions, to use more of the language provided by the test developer in the descriptors, and to use a top-down approach to essay scoring; whereas raters with low expertise tended to focus more on specific features, to use more self-generated descriptive words not found in the rubric, and to use a bottom-up approach to essay scoring.

Lumley’s model

In contrast to the two models above, Lumley’s ( 2005 ) model was contextualized by the use of an analytic rating scale in the Australian test of STEP. His model was also derived from verbal protocol analysis, as shown in Fig.  2 . According to Fig.  2 , raters went through three stages before producing a score, namely initial reading, scoring, and summarizing. It has been mentioned in the “ Introduction ” section that the STEP scale is rather “thin” in that each rating dimension contains only one descriptor. Closely related to this, raters in Lumley’s study were expected to map the quality of writing in a more rigid way with the descriptor, in order to seek “transparency” in the scores. Under these circumstances, the text image was considered to be subjective and unfavorable. For this reason, a text image is not explicitly shown in this model.

Lumley’ model of the rating process (abridged)

In a more general perspective, it is found that rater cognition can be boiled down to two fundamental issues: building text images and strategies for articulating scores. Building text images is regarded as a prerequisite for scoring (Freedman & Calfee, 1983 ; Cumming et al., 2002 ) and is most clearly expressed in Wolfe’s model ( 2005 ) as above. As to the strategies for articulating scores, these models are also informative. For example, scoring strategies such as balancing and arbitrating are listed in Lumley’s model (Fig.  2 ). Based on these two core issues, we can find some parallel correspondence between the above models. Specifically, the stage of interpretation strategies in Cumming et al.’s model, the interpretation stage in Wolfe’s model (see Fig.  1 ), and reading for general impression in Lumley’s model (see Fig.  2 ) all embody how raters build text image in rating, and they are counterparts to each other. On the other hand, the stage of articulating strategies in Cumming et al.’s model, the Justification in Wolfe’s model (see Fig.  1 ), and the Justification and Conclusion in Lumley’s model (see Fig.  2 ) are all embodiments of how raters articulating scores and they are counterparts of each other. In a nutshell, although different models used different names for describing processes, the two shared core issues are building text images and strategies for articulating scores.

In addition to the three models, there are two more recent studies tapping on the cognitive processes, but they do not construct models. Zhang ( 2016 ) studied the raters’ cognitive process in the context of CET 4 rating and extracted about 10 categories of processes, including comparison, diagnosis, and monitoring. Yan and Chuang ( 2023 ) extracted 17 categories of cognitive processes, such as commenting on the thesis statement, commenting on the use of sources, and commenting on the severity of errors. These three classic models and related recent studies have contributed to our general understanding of raters’ cognitive processes in variant contexts of rating compositions. However, we still can identify research gaps when the following two aspects are considered.

Firstly, it is obvious that all the above three models and recent studies are aimed at a different rating context, and for a new rating context such as rating TEM8 integrated compositions, it is necessary to construct a new working model. On the one hand, the models of Cumming et al. ( 2002 ) and Wolfe’s ( 2005 ) were designed to explain the rating processes of using a holistic rating scale, and therefore, they are not suitable for the TEM8 situation with an analytical rating scale. For example, the coding schema as shown in Table 1 that was widely followed by other research is not fit for the TEM8 writing task as one integrated writing task. On the other hand, although Lumley’s ( 2005 ) model is indeed based on the analytic scale of the STEP writing test, the form of this analytic scale is quite different from that of TEM8, as mentioned in the “ Introduction ” section. Neither, Lumley’s ( 2005 ) models is far from suitable for the TEM8 assessment context. The studies of Zhang ( 2016 ) and Yan and Chuang ( 2023 ) were based on CET4 in China and a placement test in an American university, using a holistic rubric and a holistic profile-based rating scale respectively. Again, their rating process taxonomies are not suitable to explain that of TEM8.

Secondly, from the perspective of problem-solving theory, the expressions for the above models are not without room for improvement. Clearly, viewing the rating process as a problem-solving activity means that rater cognitive behavior is characterized by the general features of problem-solving activity, such as decomposing the task into sub-tasks, setting sub-goals, and choosing operators to shorten the distance between the status quo and the final state, as elaborated by Ormrod ( 2012 ) and Anderson ( 2015 ) above. However, it seems that certain concrete rating processes in the above models are not arranged in a strict chronological order. For example, in Lumley’s ( 2005 ) model as shown in Fig.  2 , although evaluation and justification as a whole can be regarded to follow the stage of interpretation, the specific sub-processes such as monitoring, reviewing, and justifying were arranged in such a way without considering their order. As a result, the readers are unclear about their chronological relationship. This is not consistent with the problem-solving theory, in which one problem will enter into a new stage after the sub-goal of the last stage is realized and there is a strict linear order between them. This situation is partly due to the fact that this theory was not fully taken advantage of by these studies since no specific references on it were included in their studies, although some earlier researchers such as DeRemer ( 1998 ) and Freedman and Calfee ( 1983 ) used to talk about it.

In view of the above, it is necessary for us to initiate research on raters’ cognitive processes that are specifically grounded in the specific rating context of TEM 8 from the perspective of problem-solving theory. More specifically, we are urgent to know how raters build text images and how they articulate scores for TEM8-integrated compositions. To this end, the categories or labels of the rating process should be extracted from the field data rather than directly transplanted from other research. In short, the two research questions for this study are.

Q1: How do raters as problem solvers realize the sub-goal of building text images in the TEM8 rating context? Or what operators are used for this sub-goal?

Q2: How do raters as problem solvers realize the sub-goal of articulating scores for text images in the TEM 8 rating context? Or what operators are used for this sub-goal?

Based on the results of these two questions, a model that is more in line with problem-solving theory is expected to be finalized. To this end, the present study relies on the verbal protocol analysis (VPA) methodology (Green, 1998 ; Charmaz, 2014 ), which is a qualitative method in which persons are asked to ‘think aloud’ and the researchers infer the cognition from the verbalization. This method is also highly recommended in cognitive psychology to describe the operators for solving the problem (Frensch & Funke, 1995 ).

TEM8 samples and profile of rating scale

We collected the writing scripts from 139 fourth-year undergraduate English major students from five intact classes in two national key universities in China. The course teachers were contacted and their students were assigned a timed reading-to-write task of the TEM8 test (see Supplementary I ). As mentioned in the “ Introduction ” section, the TEM8 writing task meets the requirements of an integrated task. The candidates were given two excerpts on perfectionism over 350 words in total, one entitled “Headmistress Tells Pupils Not to Fret about Exams” and the other “The Pursuit of Perfection.” They were asked firstly to summarize the main arguments in the excerpts and then to express “your opinion on perfection, especially on whether aiming for perfecting matters in whatever you do.” They were allowed to use information from the excerpts to support themselves again in writing the argument section.

As most writing rating scales (Weigle, 2002 ), the descriptors of the highest level for each dimension of the TEM 8 rating scale reflect the full-fledged features of writing performance, while the other levels of descriptors remain the same substance, but the modifiers and qualifiers gradually decrease in degree. For example, the first descriptor in the content dimension of level 10-9 is “can accurately express the theme of the excerpts” while the 8-7 level is “can express the theme of the excerpts,” and the level 6-5 is “can roughly express the theme of the excerpts.” However, the TEM8 rating scale has three distinctive features as mentioned in the “ Introduction ” section, which can be shown in Supplementary II . It is by using this specific scale that the six raters completed their rating work.

Convenience and purposive sampling methods (Miles et al., 2014 ) were used to recruit study participants. Six highly experienced raters (five females and one male) agreed to participate in the study. They were from the School of Foreign Languages at two major universities in China. As shown in Table 2 , four of them held Ph.D. degrees and two owned Master’s degrees. Their average years of teaching experience was 19 years (min = 18; max = 23; SD = 2) with similar academic expertise (English pedagogy).

Procedure of VPA for the present study

In VPA method, a distinction in procedures for data collecting is often made between concurrent “think aloud” and retrospective “think aloud” (Green, 1998 ). Given the research questions, the present study adopted the former mode. It is believed that thinking in working memory is just available for only a very short time after it is experienced; thus, concurrent rather than retrospective “think aloud” data were collected (Barkaoui, 2011 ; Lumley, 2005 ). Prior to the “think aloud” experiment, all raters were informed of the purpose of the study and had an average of 10-min one-on-one training (see Supplementary III ), during which they were trained to keep themselves from explaining or interpreting their thinking during reporting (Barkaoui, 2011 ). During the session, each rater was required to score 10 same writing samples and they could freely use either English or Chinese for reporting. After a concurrent “think aloud” experiment, we then conducted the interview. The three questions were listed in Supplementary III and were designed to elicit retrospective verbal reports of how they used the different points on the rating scales, for providing supplementary data of concurrent “think aloud” data (Green, 1998 ). As Table 3 shows, the average duration of the concurrent verbal report was 95.8 min (min = 81; max = 119; SD = 17.2), and the average duration of the retrospective interview was 16.7 min (min = 7; max = 23; SD = 6.0). We translated all the oral materials into text, and the length of the whole text was 103,977 Chinese characters and 25,802 English words.

Rating quality based on quantitative data

After the “think aloud” experiment, the six raters were asked to independently rate the remaining 129 samples within 4 h. For the scores of all the 139 writing samples generated by the six raters, we used the Multi-Facets Rasch Measurement (MFRM, Linacre, 2005 ) to analyze the fitness of the data, the purpose of which was to assess the quality of their rating work. The main indices were as follows: (1) The separation index for students’ ability was 4.57, indicating that students’ abilities could be divided into five levels and the chi-square test results showed that (chi-square = 158.6, p  < 0.001) there was a significant difference in the ability of the examinees. These results proved that the raters had the ability to discriminate the competence of the candidates. (2) The Infit MSq for all six raters were all within the range of 0.5 to 1.5, demonstrating good intra-rater reliability (Linacre, 2005 ) for all six raters, which demonstrated that for each individual rater, they could apply the same standards during the whole rating process consistently. (3) Exact agreement reflects the inter-rater agreement coefficient between raters, which is on the consistency of them in scoring the same composition (Linacre, 2005 ). In this study, the full agreement of the six raters was 36.8%, which was slightly lower than expected from the model (37.5%), indicating that the six raters had good inter-rater agreement but were independent of each other (Linacre, 2005 ). In addition, according to the results of the Kendall’s Coefficient of Harmony analysis, except for the language dimension (Kendall’s W  = 0.193), the raters showed moderate correlation in content (Kendall’s W  = 0.317), structure (Kendall’s W  = 0.361) and total score (Kendall’s W  = 0.303), which further indicated that the consistency among the raters was reasonable. It was proved that they were competent raters, being able to discriminate ability levels of candidates and to rate consistently.

Immediately after they completed the rating, they were asked to finish the Confidence Level Questionnaire for Articulating Scores (Supplementary IV ). The necessity of this questionnaire was twofold. On the one hand, the rating process validation framework (Knoch & Chapelle, 2018 ) asserts that the more confidence raters have, the more valid the rating process. On the other hand, from a problem-solving perspective, it is also necessary to know the extent of confidence, as it can tell us how problem solvers assess their problem-solving effectiveness (Ormrod, 2012 ). The questionnaire required the six raters to respond from 1 (not confident at all) to 4 (very confident) to show their confidence level. The result showed that raters expressed the highest confidence when rating organization (mean = 3.86; min = 3; max = 4; SD = 0.32) and almost similar levels of confidence when rating language use (mean = 3.53; min = 2; max = 4; SD = 0.63) and content (mean = 3.30; min = 2; max = 4; SD = 0.65). In general, they were positive about their efforts with high confidence in their work. Overall, the above results of both the Multifaceted Rasch analysis and questionnaire proved that they were rather qualified raters. Therefore, the verbal protocol report produced in this working environment could be an authoritative reflection of the rater’s cognitive process, generalizable to raters of similar situations.

Data analysis

All the transcriptions (103,977 Chinese characters and 25,802 English words) were qualitatively analyzed for emerging themes. The data analysis could be divided into two phases. The first phase was segmentation where the transcription was divided into different segments, each of which represents one single process as a “unit of meaning” (Green, 1998 ). In this study, the two researchers were also assisted by the pauses in the reporters’ speech flow, which provided cues for segmentation boundaries. The two researchers first independently segmented the transcription of the first rater, and their consistency coefficient reached 0.85, which met the requirements for qualitative analysis (Green, 1998 ). On this basis, the two researchers each did half of the rest of the segmentation work. In total, 943 segments were identified.

In the second phase, the two researchers repeatedly read these fragments with the aim of generalizing and extracting themes that reflect the scoring processes. To this end, the researchers used a combination of top-down and bottom-up methods. Top-down means that the researchers considered the rating processes as operators or strategies to realize the sub-goals of the rating activity as a problem: building text image and articulating scores for text image, by following the principles of problem-solving theory of cognitive psychology. Bottom-up means that in determining the names of specific strategies or processes, the researchers were not constrained by the process names in models listed in the literature review, but followed the principle of direct induction from field data. Although some names might be similar to the models in the literature review, their connotation and denotation would be different in the present study. The extracted names and definitions on their own are the research result of qualitative analysis since they themselves have theoretical value (Charmaz, 2014 ), which is the main concern for a qualitative research of language testing by using the VPA method (Green, 1998 ). At the same time, in order to describe more patterns of rating behavior, we added up the frequencies of segments indicating different processes.

Operators for sub-goal I: building text images as isolated nodes

Qualitative analysis revealed that the sub-goal of building text images was realized by the raters by decomposing it into two sub-goals: building text images as isolated nodes and building holistic text for each dimension. In order to realize the first sub-goal, raters resorted to three operators or strategies: (i) single foci evaluating, (ii) diagnosing, and (iii) comparing, as shown in Table 4 . Single foci evaluation means raters attended to a series of specific features of text, in which various nodes of isolated text images were built, without being further processed. Diagnosing is defined as identifying the shortcomings of compositions by pointing out how it should have been written by invoking theories of experts or raters’ own knowledge of writing instructions. Comparing is defined as the process in which the text image of one composition is contrasted with the image of another.

From the 646 segments indicative of the process of single foci evaluating, we further extracted 18 specific categories or processes indicating the specific aspect of textual features attended to by raters in the TEM8 rating context, as shown in Table 5 . From Table 5 , we can see that these processes can be grouped into three broader categories, each corresponding to the dimensions of the TEM8 rating scale: content (processes 1–7), organization (processes 8–13), and language use (processes 14–18), respectively.

Operators for sub-goal II: building holistic text image for each dimension

After realizing the sub-goal of building text images as isolated nodes, raters entered into a new stage where they presented a new problem. According to the requirement of the rating scale, raters were expected to assign scores for three dimensions (i.e., content, organization, and language use) rather than for each text image as single nodes. To shorten the distance between the current situation and the goal state, raters set a new sub-goal for this new state: to build the holistic text image for each dimension. In order to realize this sub-goal, raters resorted to two operators: (i) synthesizing and (ii) comparing, the exemplar segments and frequencies of which can be shown in Table 6 . Here, synthesizing is defined as the process of deciding one dominant opinion for each dimension by weighing and integrating the text image as isolated nodes built in the last stage. From the exemplifying segment in Table 6 , we can infer that through the synthesizing process, the rater transcended the boundaries among specific nodes and formed one holistic affirmative evaluation of content dimension as a whole. In this state, the process of comparing was also adopted but it was used for building holistic text images for each dimension rather than for text images as isolated nodes.

Q2: How do raters as problem solvers realize the sub-goal of articulating scores for text images in the TEM rating context? Or what operators are used for this sub-goal?

After raters built the holistic text image for each dimension, they entered into a new stage. Faced with the lack of specification on the alignment between the score band and the specific kind of holistic text image, they had to think about creative ways to solve the problem of articulating scores for the holistic image of each dimension. To fulfill this sub-goal, they mainly adopted the following two groups of operators, as strategies for articulating scores: (i) demarcating borders between scores within one dimension and (ii) discriminating among dimensions for scoring, the definitions, exemplar segments, and frequencies of which can be shown in Table 7 . Altogether, 91 segments indicative of the two groups of strategies as a whole were identified. According to Table 7 , demarcating borders between scores refers to the strategy by which they purposefully allocated scores of the whole range to the holistic text image constructed by themselves. It includes three specific strategies: setting the baseline for articulating scores, classifying samples into level groups, and avoiding extreme scores. Discriminating among dimensions was adopted where raters had difficulties with disentangling the relations among the three dimensions. It also includes three strategies: differentiating between dimensions; simplifying and balancing.

Up to now, the two main questions of the present study have been answered. By arranging the above sub-goals, operators for the sub-goals, and their relationship into one organic whole, a finalized diagram reflective of how raters cognitively solved the problem of TEM8 rating activity was drawn, as shown in Fig.  3 .

Working model for the TEM8 rating process from the perspective of problem-solving

The most striking feature of the new model as in Fig.  3 is the much clearer representation of the linear relationship between processes, which is more in line with the problem-solving theory. As shown in Fig.  3 , the raters, as problem solvers, generally divide the task into three successive states or stages, each with clear sub-goals and operators. After realizing the first sub-goal (building text image as isolated nodes), the raters enter the next state by setting another new sub-goal (building holistic text image for each dimension) before entering the last state with another sub-goal (articulating scores for holistic text image). The first state paves the way for the second state, which in turn becomes the starting point for the third state. By realizing each sub-goal in each state, raters continually reduce the difference between the status quo and the final state (Anderson, 2015 ).

Firstly, the research findings on Q1 deepen our understanding of the role of building text images. As mentioned above, the concept of text image could be traced back to Freedman and Calfee ( 1983 ), and in their model, the three stages were represented as (1) reading and comprehending text to create text image, (2) evaluating text image and storing impressions, and (3) articulating evaluation. Literally, what was emphasized were: reading, understanding, evaluating, and articulating, rather than the text image itself, which put the function of the text image in a backstage position. In Wolfe’s ( 2005 ) model, the text image element was highlighted as an element connected to all other cognitive processes by arrows, but their interrelationship was not fully explained. In Lumley’s ( 2005 ) model, the element of text image formation was even omitted, as analyzed above. Unlike them, the present study finds that the process of building text images should be viewed more analytically, in which building text images as isolated nodes and building holistic text images should be viewed as two distinct sub-goals of two different stages. These two stages are chronologically distinct and the sequence between them is irreversible, as shown in Fig.  3 .

This new treatment on building text images represents one originality of the present study, which is due to the introduction of problem-solving theory in cognitive psychology. Cumming et al. ( 2002 ) coding scheme placed all language-focused judgment strategies on the same level, as shown in Table 1 . However, the last strategy named as rate overall language is not necessarily at the same level as the others, since it mainly serves to build a holistic text image, while the others serve to build text image as specific nodes, as suggested by the result of the present study. Similarly, the taxonomies on processes for building text images in Yan and Chuang ( 2023 ) also neglected the synthesizing process, a crucial link between text images and scores. In this sense, the present study provides a more complete picture of the mental process of rating. In addition, compared to the findings of Wolfe et al. ( 1998 ) that expert raters focused more of their attention on general text features while novice raters focus more of their attention on specific text features, we add that raters’ cognitive behavior is more conditioned by the requirements of the type of rating scale. As shown in Fig.  3 , even more competent raters as in this study have to experience the states of attending to specific textual features by single-focus rating, without which, it is impossible to move to the next state. For TEM8 composition raters, the mental process of attending to specific features of compositions is mandatory rather than optional.

Secondly, the research findings on Q2 deepen our understanding of the strategies used to articulate ratings. Compared with the classification of strategies on articulating scores (Lumley, 2005 ; Zhang, 2016 ), it is the present study that firstly makes a distinction between two main groups of articulating strategies: strategies aimed within a rating dimension and strategies aimed between dimensions, as shown in Table 7 , which is reasonable and brings convenience for future research. With regard to the second group of strategies, Cumming ( 1990 ) used to mention that it posed a great challenge for raters to disentangle the different rating dimensions, and Marsh and Ireland ( 1987 ) even doubted that raters were actually able to discriminate between textual features of different dimensions, as a counter-argument to the use of analytical rating scales. From the perspective of rating cognition, the present study provides additional evidence that raters do indeed have the ability to discriminate between writing quality of different dimensions, as shown in Table 7 . In addition, the processes defined as simplifying and balancing in the present study, which were ignored in the previous study, are a more sophisticated reflection of the raters’ ability to discriminate between rating dimensions, which is partly caused by the unevenness of the scores for each dimension as a feature of the TEM8 rating scale. Raters are very agile in dealing with this particular rating context.

Thirdly, one of the merits of the newly constructed model is setting the relationship between processes in a more linear stage as shown in Fig.  3 , which was not fully expressed in the previous models. As mentioned in the literature review, readers are unclear about the sequence of the specific processes in Wolfe’s model ( 2005 ). This limitation is largely remedied in the new model. In addition, although the process of comparing was included in Wolfe’s model ( 2005 ), its role was not elaborated. On the contrary, the present model elaborates the function of comparing from two aspects: as operators for the sub-goal of building text images as isolated nodes and building holistic text images for each dimension, respectively. Besides, compared to Lumley’s model ( 2005 ), the present model is more generalizable for describing the rating processes using analytical rating scales, since the analytical rating scale used in TEM 8 which includes many descriptors in one rating dimension is more common than the one used in STEP in Australia, as explained in the Introduction.

Fourthly, the present study provides evidence for the scoring validity of the TEM 8 integrated writing test in terms of the alignment between the raters’ cognitive processes and the writing construct. On the one hand, what the raters paid attention to in state I (constructing the text image as isolated nodes) is quite consistent with theories of writing ability. For the six processes in Table 5 (numbered as 2, 3, 5, 12, 16, and 17), each of their frequencies exceeds 40, accounting for about 60% of the total frequencies, which represent the bulk of the cognitive activity used to evaluate the textual features. Their names as shown in Table 5 reflect a high degree of alignment with integrated writing skills as specified in the discourse synthesis theory (Spivey & King, 1989 ; Plakans, 2008 ; Gebril & Plakans, 2013 ), which include selecting, organizing, connecting, and expressing thoughts with appropriate vocabulary and grammatical forms. This alignment between them supports the scoring validity of the task (Knoch & Chapelle, 2018 ). On the other hand, the proportional relationship between the categories shown in Table 5 is consistent with the characteristics of presumed writing ability intended by the scale developers. According to the result of Table 5 , if we add the frequencies within each broad category, we find that the total frequencies of processes in content, organization, and language use are 324, 167, and 155, respectively, with a corresponding proportion of 50.2%, 25.9%, and 23.9%. This result indicates that raters invested half of their cognitive effort in constructing textual images as isolated nodes in aspects of content. This result is in line with the intention of the developers of the rating scales: they considered content to be the most important dimension for judging writing ability by allocating half of the total score (10/20) to this dimension. In a nutshell, research into raters’ cognitive processes provides valuable evidence of the scoring validity that cannot be obtained by solely relying on quantitative analysis of scores.

Implications

Firstly, based on the present study, we believe that it is high time to make a distinction between the two types of analytical rating scales: the analytical scale represented by TEM8 and the analytical scale represented by STEP (Lumley, 2005 ) and STAP (Mendoza & Knoch, 2018 ). In writing test research, the traditional distinction between holistic and analytical rating scales has been well established (Weigle, 2002 ; Fulcher, 2010 ; Bouwer et al., 2023 ), to the extent that the analytical rating scale was regarded as internally monolithic. On the contrary, the present study reveals that a paramount distinction should also be made between two types of analytical rating scales. In the former type, the rating criteria are quite broad, a criterion such as content including more than 10 descriptors, whereas in the latter type, a criterion usually consists of one descriptor. Because of these differences, these two types of scales are contrasted in terms of the scores meaning and functions of the scores. For the TEM8 analytical scale, the scores articulated by the raters for each dimension should be seen as indicating the holistic ability of the candidates for each dimension as a whole, because it is the holistic text image formed by the synthesizing process rather than the image of isolated nodes that are assigned scores by the raters, as shown in the present study. Functionally, therefore, such dimensional scores are not suitable for diagnostic purposes. For example, if a candidate receives a score of 5 in the language use criterion, it just represents the level of general ability of using language, but it does not correspond to any specific aspects such as vocabulary as a single construct or grammar as a single construct. On the contrary, in analytical scales such as STEP and STAP, the meaning of the dimensional score can be seen as representing a more specific textual feature, and thus, the scores have a more diagnostic function. In practice, analytical scales of the former type are more suitable for large-scale language proficiency testing, while the latter type is more suitable for classroom-based formative assessment. In short, this distinction has great value for writing assessing practices. In determining the meanings and functions of scores, test practitioners should have in mind the types of analytical rating scales.

Secondly, the present study allows us to explain rating competence by combining qualitative and quantitative results. On the one hand, we can claim that for each single rater, they have the ability to construct the text image and adopt the strategies for articulating scores, by which they can discriminate the competence of the candidates in a self-consistent way. This is the underlying reason for the quantitative data analysis result of indices such as separation ratio, separation index, and Infit MSq (see rating quality based on quantitative data in  Methods section). On the other hand, the holistic text images constructed by different raters for the same composition are not necessarily the same (Wolfe, 2005 ), and furthermore, the strategies for articulating scores are unique for each rater, which makes them produce related but different scores for the same composition. This is the underlying reason for the fact that there is a moderate Kendall’s coefficient of harmony shown in the “ Methods ” section. On this basis, the empirically constructed working model shown in Fig.  3 can provide a reference for taxonomies describing the components of rating competence, skills that can be acquired by novice raters through training (Yan & Chuang, 2023 ). For example, we can list the competence of diagnosing, the competence of synthesizing, the competence of demarcating borders between scores, etc., for a more complete description of rating competence.

In general, this paper fills the gap that we lacked knowledge about how raters cognitively solve the problem of scoring compositions of TEM8. For research Q1, we have found that the goal of solving the problem of building text images was decomposed into two sub-goals: building text images as isolated nodes and building holistic text images for each dimension. To realize these sub-goals, raters mainly resorted to the following processes: single foci evaluating, diagnosing, comparing, and synthesizing. For research Q2, we have found that the goal of articulating scores for a holistic text image was realized by two operators or groups of strategies: demarcating boundaries between scores within a dimension and discriminating between dimensions for scoring, each involving more specific strategies. Based on these findings, a working model symbolizing the rating process of TEM8 integrated writing was finalized.

To the best of our knowledge, the model constructed in Fig.  3 is the first to be designed for the scoring context of an integrated writing test with an analytical scale such as the TEM 8 style. Through these findings, we have enriched our knowledge in this field in several aspects. For example, the rules and functions of building text images are elaborated more systematically than in previous research; a more systematic classification of score articulation strategies is extracted in the present study. In addition, the validity of the scores was supported by the results of qualitative analysis. The present study implies that a clear distinction should be made between two types of analytical rating scales, which have long been overshadowed by the distinction between holistic and analytical scales. Besides, the implications for rating competency were provided.

This study is not without its limitations. One limitation is the uneven granularity of labels for analyzing the verbal protocol data, in that for the single focus rating segments, we further divided them into 18 categories, but synthesizing as a process is rather broad without further decomposition, which can be resolved by future research. More raters from heterogeneous groups are needed if future comparative studies of rating processes are to be undertaken. In addition, a large number of raters will be needed if quantitative analyses are to be carried out in the future to test this newly constructed model, for example, to test the validity of the model by using the method of confirmatory factor analysis.

Availability of data and materials

The data associated with this study would be available upon request.

Abbreviations

College English Test band 4, China

College English Test band 6, China

English as a foreign language

English as a second language

International English Language Testing System

Special Test of English Proficiency, Australia

Test for English Majors Band 8, China

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to all 6 raters who kindly helped with data collection in this study.

This work was supported by Fujian Province Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (FJ2021B113).

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Dr. Jia was involved in the data collection, analysis, and writing of the early drafts. Dr. Zhang also participated in the data analysis, and her main job was to revise the earlier drafts. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Dr. Wenfeng Jia is a lecturer at the College of Translation Studies at Shandong University, China. His research interests include writing assessment and English pedagogy. His recent publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Modern Foreign Languages , Foreign Language Testing and Teaching , and Journal of Sichuan International Studies University .

Dr. Peixin Zhang is currently an associate professor in the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Xiamen University, China. Her research interests are in the areas of translation assessment, writing assessment, and research methods. Her recent publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Assessing Writing , Target , Foreign Language Teaching and Research , and Modern Foreign Languages . She is the author of A Study of Analytic Rating Scale for Chinese-to-English Translation Competence Test in Translation Teaching (Xiamen University Press, 2017). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2258-0451

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Supplementary Information

Additional file 1: supplementary i..

The TEM8 integrative writing task. Supplementary II. Rating scale for TEM8 integrative writing test. Supplementary III. Instructions of concurrent TAP & interview questions. Supplementary IV. Confidence level questionnaire for articulating scores.

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Jia, W., Zhang, P. Rater cognitive processes in integrated writing tasks: from the perspective of problem-solving. Lang Test Asia 13 , 50 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-023-00265-x

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The Research Trajectory/Proposal

Picking a topic.

Think about what problem would you like to see solved. You should pick something that will be motivating to you, something that you are passionate about. Why? For one, it will make it easier for you to research and to keep yourself motivated to do the research. For another, it will make it easier for you to write on and make your paper more engaging for others to read. Your paper and the research it documents should be impactful to those who read it.

Important: make sure that you pick a problem that really has possible solutions. The same considerations apply to picking a topic for this paper as for any other -- the topic can't be too broad or too narrow, and it has to be something that can actually be researched. For more information on choosing a topic, check out this webpage on finding problem topics and useful ways to approach finding solutions to those problems .

Forming research questions

Not sure what to research for your topic? Take the topic you have selected and turn it into a research question. For instance, if your topic is "obesity in America," you could frame that into research questions like "What are measures that prevent weight gain?" or "What are the most sustainable diets for weight loss?" (Tip: Avoid search terms like "best" or "worst" because they are very vague and subjective. Choose terms that are more specific and quantifiable in meaning.)

Still stuck on how to create a research question? Check out this video for more help:

Researching your topic

Now that you have a research question, do some preliminary research to give you direction on breaking your problem down in to feasible solutions. Choose more specific Browse the library's databases, skim through a book, or search the web for possible information.

Keep these questions in mind as you search:

• What type of information is available on your topic?
• Where did you find this information?
• Who are the experts, and what do they have to say about your topic?

Creating a thesis and presenting your proposal

Using the research you gathered from your research question(s), create a claim indicating what solutions you plan to propose in your paper. What three solutions are you proposing to the problem? The topic you submit in your proposal cannot be changed, but the research process is still ongoing, so your solutions may change if you find better ones in your ongoing research. This is a tentative thesis; you can make some changes to it later if you need to.

Now that you have taken some time to seriously think about and research your topic, you are ready to present your trajectory/proposal (intentions) for the research project. The proposal must contain your final subject/topic for the research project.

Not sure how to put together a thesis? Watch this helpful video that breaks it down for you:

Outlining a Problem-Solution Paper

A problem-solution paper is exactly what it sounds like. First, an issue or obstacle is posed, then a solution or series of solutions is suggested to resolve that issue or obstacle.

Problem-solution essays can be structured differently depending on the nature of the topic. (For instance, if there is important historical information to your problem that is a bit too long for your intro, then you might want to spend a paragraph between your intro and your solution body paragraphs to give your audience that history.) Most essays, however, follow this basic formula:

I. Introduction: Communicating the Problem

• Paint a vivid picture of the problem. Focus on the how and why: how did this become a problem? why is it (still) a problem? why is it important / why does it need to be fixed? 
• End your intro with a thesis statement recapping the problem and providing a preview of the solution(s) you will offer in the rest of your paper.

II. Body: Communicating the Solution(s)

• Cover each potential solution to the problem in its own paragraph, or cover each step of a multi-step solution with each step having its own paragraph.
• Each body paragraph should have a clearly stated claim that is distinct from, though connected to, the other paragraphs.
• Support each solution or solution step with several pieces of evidence from authoritative sources of information. (Best to go to the library catalog and article databases for these.)
• Cite each source used to support your claims correctly according to MLA citation format , using an in-text citation that corresponds to an entry in your works cited page.

III. Conclusion: Reiterating Importance

• Recap your thesis statement (problem + brief overview of solution)
• Close out your paper by emphasizing the importance of solving the problem you have covered.
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• Section 3. Defining and Analyzing the Problem

Chapter 17 Sections

• Section 1. An Introduction to the Problem-Solving Process
• Section 2. Thinking Critically
• Section 4. Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique
• Section 5. Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Development
• Section 6. Generating and Choosing Solutions
• Section 7. Putting Your Solution into Practice

• Main Section

The nature of problems

Clarifying the problem, deciding to solve the problem, analyzing the problem.

We've all had our share of problems - more than enough, if you come right down to it. So it's easy to think that this section, on defining and analyzing the problem, is unnecessary. "I know what the problem is," you think. "I just don't know what to do about it."

Not so fast! A poorly defined problem - or a problem whose nuances you don't completely understand - is much more difficult to solve than a problem you have clearly defined and analyzed. The way a problem is worded and understood has a huge impact on the number, quality, and type of proposed solutions.

In this section, we'll begin with the basics, focusing primarily on four things. First, we'll consider the nature of problems in general, and then, more specifically, on clarifying and defining the problem you are working on. Then, we'll talk about whether or not you really want to solve the problem, or whether you are better off leaving it alone. Finally, we'll talk about how to do an in-depth analysis of the problem.

So, what is a problem? It can be a lot of things. We know in our gut when there is a problem, whether or not we can easily put it into words. Maybe you feel uncomfortable in a given place, but you're not sure why. A problem might be just the feeling that something is wrong and should be corrected. You might feel some sense of distress, or of injustice.

Stated most simply, a problem is the difference between what is , and what might or should be . "No child should go to bed hungry, but one-quarter of all children do in this country," is a clear, potent problem statement. Another example might be, "Communication in our office is not very clear." In this instance, the explanation of "what might or should be" is simply alluded to.

As these problems illustrate, some problems are more serious than others; the problem of child hunger is a much more severe problem than the fact that the new youth center has no exercise equipment, although both are problems that can and should be addressed. Generally, problems that affect groups of people - children, teenage mothers, the mentally ill, the poor - can at least be addressed and in many cases lessened using the process outlined in this Chapter.

Although your organization may have chosen to tackle a seemingly insurmountable problem, the process you will use to solve it is not complex. It does, however, take time, both to formulate and to fully analyze the problem. Most people underestimate the work they need to do here and the time they'll need to spend. But this is the legwork, the foundation on which you'll lay effective solutions. This isn't the time to take shortcuts.

Three basic concepts make up the core of this chapter: clarifying, deciding, and analyzing. Let's look at each in turn.

If you are having a problem-solving meeting, then you already understand that something isn't quite right - or maybe it's bigger than that; you understand that something is very, very wrong. This is your beginning, and of course, it makes most sense to...

• Start with what you know . When group members walk through the door at the beginning of the meeting, what do they think about the situation? There are a variety of different ways to garner this information. People can be asked in advance to write down what they know about the problem. Or the facilitator can lead a brainstorming session to try to bring out the greatest number of ideas. Remember that a good facilitator will draw out everyone's opinions, not only those of the more vocal participants.
• Decide what information is missing . Information is the key to effective decision making. If you are fighting child hunger, do you know which children are hungry? When are they hungry - all the time, or especially at the end of the month, when the money has run out? If that's the case, your problem statement might be, "Children in our community are often hungry at the end of the month because their parents' paychecks are used up too early."

Compare this problem statement on child hunger to the one given in "The nature of problems" above. How might solutions for the two problems be different?

• Facts (15% of the children in our community don't get enough to eat.)
• Inference (A significant percentage of children in our community are probably malnourished/significantly underweight.)
• Speculation (Many of the hungry children probably live in the poorer neighborhoods in town.)
• Opinion (I think the reason children go hungry is because their parents spend all of their money on cigarettes.)

When you are gathering information, you will probably hear all four types of information, and all can be important. Speculation and opinion can be especially important in gauging public opinion. If public opinion on your issue is based on faulty assumptions, part of your solution strategy will probably include some sort of informational campaign.

For example, perhaps your coalition is campaigning against the death penalty, and you find that most people incorrectly believe that the death penalty deters violent crime. As part of your campaign, therefore, you will probably want to make it clear to the public that it simply isn't true.

Where and how do you find this information? It depends on what you want to know. You can review surveys, interviews, the library and the internet.

• Define the problem in terms of needs, and not solutions. If you define the problem in terms of possible solutions, you're closing the door to other, possibly more effective solutions. "Violent crime in our neighborhood is unacceptably high," offers space for many more possible solutions than, "We need more police patrols," or, "More citizens should have guns to protect themselves."
• Define the problem as one everyone shares; avoid assigning blame for the problem. This is particularly important if different people (or groups) with a history of bad relations need to be working together to solve the problem. Teachers may be frustrated with high truancy rates, but blaming students uniquely for problems at school is sure to alienate students from helping to solve the problem.

You can define the problem in several ways; The facilitator can write a problem statement on the board, and everyone can give feedback on it, until the statement has developed into something everyone is pleased with, or you can accept someone else's definition of the problem, or use it as a starting point, modifying it to fit your needs.

After you have defined the problem, ask if everyone understands the terminology being used. Define the key terms of your problem statement, even if you think everyone understands them.

The Hispanic Health Coalition, has come up with the problem statement "Teen pregnancy is a problem in our community." That seems pretty clear, doesn't it? But let's examine the word "community" for a moment. You may have one person who defines community as "the city you live in," a second who defines it as, "this neighborhood" and a third who considers "our community" to mean Hispanics.

At this point, you have already spent a fair amount of time on the problem at hand, and naturally, you want to see it taken care of. Before you go any further, however, it's important to look critically at the problem and decide if you really want to focus your efforts on it. You might decide that right now isn't the best time to try to fix it. Maybe your coalition has been weakened by bad press, and chance of success right now is slim. Or perhaps solving the problem right now would force you to neglect another important agency goal. Or perhaps this problem would be more appropriately handled by another existing agency or organization.

You and your group need to make a conscious choice that you really do want to attack the problem. Many different factors should be a part of your decision. These include:

Importance . In judging the importance of the issue, keep in mind the f easibility . Even if you have decided that the problem really is important, and worth solving, will you be able to solve it, or at least significantly improve the situation? The bottom line: Decide if the good you can do will be worth the effort it takes. Are you the best people to solve the problem? Is someone else better suited to the task?

For example, perhaps your organization is interested in youth issues, and you have recently come to understand that teens aren't participating in community events mostly because they don't know about them. A monthly newsletter, given out at the high schools, could take care of this fairly easily. Unfortunately, you don't have much publishing equipment. You do have an old computer and a desktop printer, and you could type something up, but it's really not your forte. A better solution might be to work to find writing, design and/or printing professionals who would donate their time and/or equipment to create a newsletter that is more exciting, and that students would be more likely to want to read.

Negative impacts . If you do succeed in bringing about the solution you are working on, what are the possible consequences? If you succeed in having safety measures implemented at a local factory, how much will it cost? Where will the factory get that money? Will they cut salaries, or lay off some of their workers?

Even if there are some unwanted results, you may well decide that the benefits outweigh the negatives. As when you're taking medication, you'll put up with the side effects to cure the disease. But be sure you go into the process with your eyes open to the real costs of solving the problem at hand.

Choosing among problems

You might have many obstacles you'd like to see removed. In fact, it's probably a pretty rare community group that doesn't have a laundry list of problems they would like to resolve, given enough time and resources. So how do you decide which to start with?

A simple suggestion might be to list all of the problems you are facing, and whether or not they meet the criteria listed above (importance, feasibility, et cetera). It's hard to assign numerical values for something like this, because for each situation, one of the criteria may strongly outweigh the others. However, just having all of the information in front of the group can help the actual decision making a much easier task.

Now that the group has defined the problem and agreed that they want to work towards a solution, it's time to thoroughly analyze the problem. You started to do this when you gathered information to define the problem, but now, it's time to pay more attention to details and make sure everyone fully understands the problem.

Answer all of the question words.

The facilitator can take group members through a process of understanding every aspect of the problem by answering the "question words" - what, why, who, when, and how much. This process might include the following types of questions:

What is the problem? You already have your problem statement, so this part is more or less done. But it's important to review your work at this point.

Why does the problem exist? There should be agreement among meeting participants as to why the problem exists to begin with. If there isn't, consider trying one of the following techniques.

• The "but why" technique. This simple exercise can be done easily with a large group, or even on your own. Write the problem statement, and ask participants, "Why does this problem exist?" Write down the answer given, and ask, "But why does (the answer) occur?"

"Children often fall asleep in class," But why? "Because they have no energy." But why? "Because they don't eat breakfast." But why?

Continue down the line until participants can comfortably agree on the root cause of the problem . Agreement is essential here; if people don't even agree about the source of the problem, an effective solution may well be out of reach.

• Start with the definition you penned above.
• Draw a line down the center of the paper. Or, if you are working with a large group of people who cannot easily see what you are writing, use two pieces.
• On the top of one sheet/side, write "Restraining Forces."
• On the other sheet/side, write, "Driving Forces."
• Under "Restraining Forces," list all of the reasons you can think of that keep the situation the same; why the status quo is the way it is. As with all brainstorming sessions, this should be a "free for all;" no idea is too "far out" to be suggested and written down.
• In the same manner, under "Driving Forces," list all of the forces that are pushing the situation to change.
• When all of the ideas have been written down, group members can edit them as they see fit and compile a list of the important factors that are causing the situation.

Clearly, these two exercises are meant for different times. The "but why" technique is most effective when the facilitator (or the group as a whole) decides that the problem hasn't been looked at deeply enough and that the group's understanding is somewhat superficial. The force field analysis, on the other hand, can be used when people are worried that important elements of the problem haven't been noticed -- that you're not looking at the whole picture.

Who is causing the problem, and who is affected by it? A simple brainstorming session is an excellent way to determine this.

When did the problem first occur, or when did it become significant? Is this a new problem or an old one? Knowing this can give you added understanding of why the problem is occurring now. Also, the longer a problem has existed, the more entrenched it has become, and the more difficult it will be to solve. People often get used to things the way they are and resist change, even when it's a change for the better.

How much , or to what extent, is this problem occurring? How many people are affected by the problem? How significant is it? Here, you should revisit the questions on importance you looked at when you were defining the problem. This serves as a brief refresher and gives you a complete analysis from which you can work.

If time permits, you might want to summarize your analysis on a single sheet of paper for participants before moving on to generating solutions, the next step in the process. That way, members will have something to refer back to during later stages in the work.

Also, after you have finished this analysis, the facilitator should ask for agreement from the group. Have people's perceptions of the problem changed significantly? At this point, check back and make sure that everyone still wants to work together to solve the problem.

The first step in any effective problem-solving process may be the most important. Take your time to develop a critical definition, and let this definition, and the analysis that follows, guide you through the process. You're now ready to go on to generating and choosing solutions, which are the next steps in the problem-solving process, and the focus of the following section.

Print Resources

Avery, M., Auvine, B., Streibel, B., & Weiss, L. (1981). A handbook for consensus decision making: Building united judgement . Cambridge, MA: Center for Conflict Resolution.

Dale, D., & Mitiguy, N. Planning, for a change: A citizen's guide to creative planning and program development .

Dashiell, K. (1990). Managing meetings for collaboration and consensus . Honolulu, HI: Neighborhood Justice Center of Honolulu, Inc.

Interaction Associates (1987). Facilitator institute . San Francisco, CA: Author.

Lawson, L., Donant, F., & Lawson, J. (1982). Lead on! The complete handbook for group leaders . San Luis Obispo, CA: Impact Publishers.

Meacham, W. (1980). Human development training manual . Austin, TX: Human Development Training.

Morrison, E. (1994). Leadership skills: Developing volunteers for organizational success . Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books.  

• The Writing Process
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• Originality
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• Introduction to Academic Essays
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• Introduction Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs
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• Example Essay 2
• Timed Writing (The Prompt)
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• Process Essay Example 1
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• Writing Skill: Unity
• Revise A Process Essay
• Timed Writing (Choose a Position)
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• Comparison Essays
• Comparison Essay Example 1
• Comparison Essay Example 2
• Writing Skill: Cohesion
• Revise A Comparison Essay
• Timed Writing (Plans & Problems)
• Integrated Writing (Word Choice)

Problem/Solution Essays

• Problem/Solution Essay Example 1
• Problem/Solution Example Essay 2
• Writing Skill: Summary
• Revise A Problem/Solution Essay
• Timed Writing (Revising)
• Integrated Writing (Summary)
• More Writing Skills
• Punctuation
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• Compound Sentences
• Complex Sentences Part 1
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• Using Academic Vocabulary
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In this chapter you will write a problem/solution essay. To write a problem/solution essay, think about a problem that you have experienced and how it could be fixed.

A problem/solution essay is written to explain the solution(s) for a problem. This essay can describe multiple solutions or one “ideal” solution to the problem you describe.

This content is provided to you freely by BYU Open Learning Network.

Access it online or download it at https://open.byu.edu/academic_a_writing/problemsolution_essa .

Integrated task- Problem solving

The reading explains that problem solving is a four-step process. It beginnings with the problem identification, then followed by finding alternative solutions, selecting an strategy, and finally by action. The steps can be repeatedly done until an effective solution solves the problem. The professor discusses the role of break in the problem solving procedure.

First of all, she indicates that a break may help the brain to deliberately analyze the problem. It can be considered as an incubation period. She illustrated her point by telling the story of a chemist who dreamed about the snake and found out that the chemical structure of Benzene will be spiral. This is in agreement with the passage that says functional fixedness will hinder the brain to abandon the preconceived ideas about the problem.

Second, the professor relates the break to the possibility of receiving new information. Therefore, in a break period that the brain is not forced to focus on the problem, a piece of information will be incidentally noticed, which will lead to taking a new strategy. The passage also highlights that people has a tendency to stick to a mental set. Thus, they cannot see alternative solutions.

Finally, she asserts that break may interfere with an inflexible pattern of thinking. This is in agreement with the passage that says when a certain strategy does not answer properly, it is time to opt a new method or go through the four steps again until the problem is solved.

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Full essay evaluations

Sentence: It beginnings with the problem identification, then followed by finding alternative solutions, selecting an strategy, and finally by action. Description: A pronoun, personal, nominative, 3rd person singular is not usually followed by a noun, plural, common Suggestion: Refer to It and beginnings

that people has a tendency that people have a tendency

Attribute Value Ideal Score: 26 in 30 Category: Very Good Excellent No. of Grammatical Errors: 2 2 No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2 No. of Sentences: 14 12 No. of Words: 246 250 No. of Characters: 1209 1200 No. of Different Words: 135 150 Fourth Root of Number of Words: 3.96 4.2 Average Word Length: 4.915 4.6 Word Length SD: 2.765 2.4 No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 89 80 No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 74 60 No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 44 40 No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 34 20 Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0 Avg. Sentence Length: 17.571 21.0 Sentence Length SD: 8.902 7.5 Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.5 0.12 Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.341 0.35 Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.547 0.50 Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.099 0.07 Number of Paragraphs: 4 4

Test Resources

TOEFL® Resources by Michael Goodine

Sample toefl independent essay – approach to problem solving, the question.

When you face a difficult problem in life, what do you feel is the best way to solve it?

• asking someone with more experience for advice about the problem
• finding information about the problem using the Internet
• taking a long time to think about the problem

Use specific details and examples in your answer.  Do not use memorized examples.

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The Sample Essay

             We all face difficult problems in life, and everyone has their own approach to handling them.  When I am dealing with a serious dilemma, my preferred solution is to talk to an older and more experienced person about it.  There are two reasons why I feel this way, which I will explore in the following essay.

           First of all, most of the problems people have are not particularly special and there are many individuals who have already dealt with identical issues.  Therefore, when we have a crisis, there is always an older person in our life who has gone through the exact same thing. Not only that, but they have lived with the consequences of the actions they took to deal with it.  My personal history is a compelling example of this. When I was a university freshman ten years ago, I once found myself falling terribly behind on one of my assignments. I could not decide between asking my professor for an extension, which may have made me look lazy in her eyes, or submitting poorly done work, which could have made me look like a terrible student.  Fortunately, a sophomore in my department explained that most professors are happy to provide extra time when students ask for it in a polite manner. Moreover, he told me that none of my professors would view me as lazy for making such a request, as they all understood the pressures faced by students.

          Secondly, simply vocalizing our problems can help to put them in perspective.  Merely having someone to listen to our problems can help us to solve them, even if that person does not have a lot of advice to give us.  For instance, after talking to my father about a problem I was having with my girlfriend last week I realized that it was not the end of the world.  Just by talking about the fight we had out loud, I realized that I was overthinking it and that my girlfriend would eventually calm down. Additionally, when I explained to my father that we were fighting about a purchase I made that cost just $50, I realized that we would both get over it pretty quickly.  This came to me even before he voiced his opinion on the matter.

         In conclusion, my approach to problem solving is to talk to someone about my problems.  I do this because there are many people in my life who have endured the same things, and because vocalizing my issues helps me overcome my worries. (422 words)

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Problem Solving Essay

Problem solving essay generator.

Facing problems and obstacles on a smaller or larger scale happen to most people. It could be a day-to-day problem affecting only an individual. On the other hand, it could also be a problem that affects numerous people. That said, people must hone their ability to provide solutions to problems. One way to do this is to incorporate it in your essay writing by composing a detailed problem solving essay.

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What Is a Problem Solving Essay?

A problem solving essay is a piece of writing where you provide detailed information about a problem and include paragraphs proposing solutions to the topic. The subjects in this type of academic essay  include personal issues and organizational difficulties. Also, those that are contributing to global warming. Universities and business corporations require you to write this paper.

How to Compose a Thorough Problem Solving Essay

An essay providing solutions to a problem is a necessary document. That is why various schools let you practice it as early as middle school. They also further enhance your skill during college by letting you compose numerous college essays . That said, it is not something you can do in a rush. For this kind of paper to be effective and serve its purpose, you need to undergo a lengthy and meticulous crafting process. 

1. Study Your Problem

Your professor or superior may provide you with a problem statement . If not, you have the freedom to choose from existing problems in our community. Before brainstorming about the possible responses to your problem topic, you should ensure that you know enough about it. That said, you must first conduct intensive educational research . Consider all factors to avoid having loopholes in the solutions that you will propose. 

2. Construct a Checklist of Possible Solutions

After knowing enough about your topic, now is the time to create a checklist of the solutions you generated. Your topic checklist will act as a form of a draft. Detail your ideas on your list and omit the ones that show a sense of ambiguity. After this, write down your thoughts on a topic outline to decide your problem solution essay flow.

3. Compose a Powerful Introduction

When reading a piece of writing, people often doubt whether or not the composition is worth their time. To persuade them, you should begin your paper with a captivating introduction. Secure their attention by incorporating a hook. Also, do not forget to state your thesis statement in your introductory paragraph. This sentence should give an overview of the content of your whole document.

4. Structure Your Essay

Most literature essays follow proper formatting and structure. Aside from your introduction, you should also organize a body and your conclusion. If your assignment did not require a fixed number of paragraphs, you should go for at least three essay paragraphs for the content of the body. Detail your solutions in each of them and support them with reliable evidence. In your conclusion statement, you should opt for a sentence that would make the readers want to take action and take part in solving the problem. 

What are examples of topics for a problem-solving essay?

Choosing your topic depends on what issues you want to tackle the most. If you select to resolve political troubles or social problems, you can choose from a numerous list of subjects. Some topics that will be compelling include bullying issues, water pollution, and ways to make classrooms more conducive for learning. The key to choosing the perfect topic sentences is to talk about subjects that make you passionate.

What are the elements of an impressive problem topic?

Even when given the freedom to select a topic, you can’t just choose anything that comes to mind. You should consider several elements beforehand. First, you should ask yourself it’s timely and relevant. In addition, you should also narrow it down and ensure it addresses a specific issue. Also, don’t forget to clarify the cope of the problem you’re proposing to resolve. Take note of these elements on your evaluation checklist. This list will be helpful in the process of analyzing your topic.

What are the steps to problem-solving?

The first step in the process is to identify and analyze your problem. You should highlight necessary information and facts about that particular issue. The next step involves researching the root of these problems and developing an action plan for your response. It is also helpful to include a budget plan if it is possible.

The readers of your paper will read your essay with a critical eye, especially if it is a teacher or a superior evaluating the quality of your writing. That said, you should secure that your problem solving essay does not have a weak spot. When crafted well, you can expect to receive an award certificate recognizing your efforts and skills in solving problems. 

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Write a Problem Solving Essay on addressing climate change at a community level.

Discuss strategies to improve mental health awareness in schools in your Problem Solving Essay.

• The Writing Process
• Addressing the Prompt
• Writing Skill: Development
• Originality
• Timed Writing (Expectations)
• Integrated Writing (Writing Process)
• Introduction to Academic Essays
• Organization
• Introduction Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs
• Conclusion Paragraphs
• Example Essay 1
• Example Essay 2
• Timed Writing (The Prompt)
• Integrated Writing (TOEFL Task 1)
• Process Essays
• Process Essay Example 1
• Process Essay Example 2
• Writing Skill: Unity
• Revise A Process Essay
• Timed Writing (Choose a Position)
• Integrated Writing (TOEFL Task 2)
• Comparison Essays
• Comparison Essay Example 1
• Comparison Essay Example 2
• Writing Skill: Cohesion
• Revise A Comparison Essay
• Timed Writing (Plans & Problems)
• Integrated Writing (Word Choice)

Problem/Solution Essays

• Problem/Solution Essay Example 1
• Problem/Solution Example Essay 2
• Writing Skill: Summary
• Revise A Problem/Solution Essay
• Timed Writing (Revising)
• Integrated Writing (Summary)
• More Writing Skills
• Punctuation
• Simple Sentences
• Compound Sentences
• Complex Sentences Part 1
• Complex Sentences Part 2
• Using Academic Vocabulary
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In this chapter you will write a problem/solution essay. To write a problem/solution essay, think about a problem that you have experienced and how it could be fixed.

A problem/solution essay is written to explain the solution(s) for a problem. This essay can describe multiple solutions or one “ideal” solution to the problem you describe.

This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/academic_a_writing/problemsolution_essa .

ChatGPT: Disruptive or Constructive?

Thursday, Jul 18, 2024 • Jeremiah Valentine : [email protected]

What is Chat GPT?

ChatGPT is a popular emerging technology using Artificial Intelligence. GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, which describes an AI program that looks for patterns in language and data learning to predict the next word in a sentence or the next paragraph in an essay. The website has a friendly interface that allows users to interact with AI in a n efficient conversational tone . ChatGPT provides another opportunity for students, instructors, researchers, workers, and others to find practical solutions to everyday and complicated problems.

At the root of this conversation is Artificial Intelligence. I plan to explore applicable uses of AI and ChatGPT in the classroom , entrepreneurial potential uses, and applications in industry .

Everyday Uses of Artificial Intelligence

The use of Artificial I ntelligence varies based on the user and their end goal. While many individuals will use certain programs or websites to meet specific objectives , many companies and apps have begun to utilize this emerging technology to better meet their customer's needs.

Duolingo is a popular foreign language learning application that I use to supplement my Spanish studies . The app uses Artificial Intelligence to assess users' knowledge and understanding as they interact with the program , thus streamlining users learning outcomes.

As another example, Khan Academy is a free online resource that helps teachers and students learn any level of math or other grade school topics for free. They have created Khanmigo , using AI. The model acts as a tutor that helps work through a problem while not directly providing the answer. It can assist in writing an essay or solving a complex math problem step by step.

These everyday applications continue a trend of companies implementing this new technolog y into students and teachers' lives . . This new AI technology also allows business professionals to enhance aspects of their processes.

Entrepreneurs, A.I. and the Advantages

While AI already provides companies and organizations with new ways to interact with and better support their customers, AI could also provide emerging industries and entrepreneurs with new paths to business success. 

According to Entrpreneur.com, most businesses currently use AI for customer service purposes , however , AI could also help entrepreneurs create effective spreadsheets cataloging useful data with accuracy that can be incredibly specific or broad. Specifically with customer service, AI can quickly find what a customer needs and solve their problems efficiently. It could also analyze how effective marketing campaigns are influencing customers’ purchases.

As I researched for more information about this topic, I found an article in The Journal of Business Venturing Insights published in March 2023, sharing different techniques business students can use ChatGPT as an asset to generate entrepreneurial business pitches. The article titled “ The Artificially Intelligent Entrepreneur” written by Cole Short, an Assistant Professor of Strategy at Pepperdine University, and Jeremy C. Short, a UTA alumni and Professor at the University of North Texas at Denton, showcased different elevator pitch scenarios.

Students and entrepreneurs study CEOs who have impacted an industry dynamically; the CEO's mentality is an asset . I had the opportunity to question Dr. Jeremy Short on how he arrived at the initial question of using AI as a CEO archetype business consultant. An archetype is a symbol, term, or pattern of behavior which others have replicated or emulated.

He responded, “ We used this existing framework and selected a CEO from each archetype and used ChatGPT to create elevator pitches, social media pitches, and crowdfunding pitches. The strength of ChatGPT is based largely on the creativity of the prompt, which is where we aim as authors.”

CEO Archetypes and Prompt Engineering

ChatGPT allows the user to understand the archetypes of successful CEOs and collaborate with entrepreneurial styles. These archetypes are accessible options to consult with AI. Let ’ s break down different CEO archetypes students used during this study:

Creator CEOs are typically serial entrepreneurs and serve during the growth stages of developing new businesses. These individuals are risk takers recognizing opportunities that others don ’ t see. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter is the creator archetype.

Transformer CEOs are created by climbing the ladder of a successful business and adding new ideas . They have a firm understanding of the company's culture and work to dramatically change the company, separating it from missteps in the past. Indra Nooyi CEO of PepsiCo is the transformer archetype.

Savior CEOs rescue businesses on the verge of failure with disciplined actions, unique experience and insights they forge a successful path forward for declining businesses. Lisa Su, CEO of AMD is the savior archetype.

ChatGPT was prompted to write an elevator pitch in the style of the previously listed CEOs. 

The response for Elon Musk included language about “ building” a product with “ cutting-edge technology.” 

Indra Nooyi ’s response included phrases like “ the world is changing” and making “ a positive impact in the world.” 

Lisa Su's response produced a pitch speaking about being “ accountable, tough and disciplined” with an emphasis on “ a strong focus on efficiency and performance.”

However, I believe these positions can help entrepreneurs develop their own successful business practices; creating a product your former employer could use to gain an advantage over the competition is disruptive. B uying a company on the brink of bankruptcy that has been mismanaged is a scenario entrepreneurs have explored and practiced .

Prompt engineering is the description of a task AI can accomplish , with instructions embedded in the input. Using prompt engineering, users can fine-tune their input to achieve a desired output incorporating a task description to guide the AI model. 

Conversation around ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence

I asked Dr. Short about how students could use this technology as an asset that guides their learning and, additionally, how instructors can use this as well. He spoke about an assignment he is currently using in his classes. “ Chat GPT might be valuable in helping create a recipe for material that students can then refine. For example, in my social entrepreneurship class students create crowdfunding campaigns for either DonorsChoose , a platform that caters to public school teachers or GoFundMe , a service which allows a variety of project types to a larger userbase . I plan on students using ChatGPT to create a ‘rough draft’ to show me so I can see how they refine their responses for their particular campaigns this upcoming fall.” Th is approach allows students to take advantage of popular technology in a constructive way.

The journal article provided some notable conclusions about ChatGPT , i ncluding “ quality control is essential when using automated tools; a hallmark of success for large language models is their vast associative memory, this strength can also be a weakness. Specifically, models such as OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 are capable of confidently generating “ hallucinated” output that appears correct but, it is incorrect or completely fabricated. ChatGPT serves as an emerging tool that can efficiently and flexibly produce a range of narrative content for entrepreneurs and serve to inspire future research at the intersection of entrepreneurship and AI.” ChatGPT ’s limitations and potential applications are continually being explored.

Industry Application

After researching various applications of AI, I spoke with Dr. George Benson, Professor and Department Chair of the Department of Management at The University of Texas at Arlington, about AI and ChatGPT from an industry perspective. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence with Human Resource Management .

Dr. Benson told me that Artificial Intelligence is being invested heavily by human resource departments who are looking to automate hiring practices. Specifically, he mentioned “ HR is using this as a market opportunity. AI is a useful tool to sift through potential applicants by scanning their resumes for qualifications and experiences. Allowing professionals to hire applicants faster.”

This application allows the technology to handle low-level tasks, but the results generated are being handed to a human to review and act on. He spoke about the potential of A.I. “ There are a lot of unknowns, but the technology is new and getting better.” Looking towards the future, technology is already being applied in different ways . These applications are being explored in the classrooms of UTA as well.

Exploration of AI at UTA

The College of Business conduct ed a survey to understand the faculty’s attitude towards A I in the classroom. It was a part of the “Teaching with Chat GPT” workshop on Friday February 9 th , which focus ed on how to integrate Chat GPT and other AI platforms into teaching . 

Dr. Kevin Carr, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing at UTA, was a part of the workshop ; he currently teaches Advanced Business Communication . I talked to him about the purpose of the workshop and what he hopes to gain from the group's sessions. 

Dr. Carr explained "The point of the workshop is designed to give faculty ideas for instruction and to develop classroom activities to work with students . Our goal for th e workshop is to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a teaching tool for faculty, including showing what AI can do potentially in the classroom. We are going to be very open to faculty’s direction, in terms of ongoing discu ssions and meetings.”

Personal Take

Artificial Intelligence or Chat GPT , in my view, is another useful tool in the toolbox of technology. It will take the air out of certain industries, and it will change jobs, yet every major technological advancement has the potential to do so. The automobile was considered radical, the use of plastic, computers in the workplace, and alternative energy have been impactful on society. 

Alternative energy was headlined as the end of oil use. The automobile changed the way cities were formed and led to the creation of a national highway system. Society has always found a way to adapt and overcome major technological innovations, artificial intelligence is not any different.

AI is the technology of tomorrow. It reminds me of something Dr. George Benson said , “ It's cool software that is a sophisticated search engine.” Google, one of the most popular search engines, reshaped the internet, as you search for resources, it is a natural starting point. AI and ChatGPT are an evolution, for students it is a tremendous resource consulting a CEO archetype, creating business pitches, and most importantly shaping the future .

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In this chapter you will write a problem/solution essay. To write a problem/solution essay, think about a problem that you have experienced and how it could be fixed.

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