(A question about UoL assessment.) What does this mean?

"BA History
Assessment

At Level 1, each half unit will be examined by one two-hour unseen written paper, except for 'Introduction to ancient philosophy' and 'The birth of Christian Europe' which will be examined by one two-hour seen written paper..."

Seen?
Unseen?

Does "seen" mean in a testing center?
Does "unseen" mean at home? (If so how does the 2 hour thing work?)

Any light shed on this would be appreciated.

 

I'm not sure I'm correct in this but my guess is that "seen" means that you know the question or the specific essay assignment prior to the two hour writing period (allowing for some preparation) and that "unseen" means it's a complete surprise.
Jack

 

I thought it may have something to do with (seen) being open book and unseen means no notes, no books.

 

Over here, an "unseen" paper always refers to an examination paper where you've never seen any of the questions before you go into the examination room. You will not be allowed any aids in the examination, so in US terms it is a "closed book" exam. Normally, for a two hour exam, one would expect one of: a couple of short answer questions and an essay; two essays; or possibly three essays (I've seen (and set) all three).

A "seen" paper is one where you know the questions in advance. However, it will still be timed and will not have aids allowed in the exam room.

Angela

 

Thanks for the UK definitions, Angela. So all my MBA exams from Heriot-Watt were 'unseen' exams. Now I know.