blue book exam
{{Short description|Type of examination in the United States}}
A blue book exam is a type of test administered at many post-secondary schools in the United States. Blue book exams typically include one or more essays or short-answer questions.{{Cite web |last=Ropek |first=Lucas |date=2025-05-27 |title=AI Cheating Is So Out of Hand In America's Schools That the Blue Books Are Coming Back |url=https://gizmodo.com/ai-cheating-is-so-out-of-hand-in-americas-schools-that-the-blue-books-are-coming-back-2000607771 |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-US}} Sometimes the instructor will provide students with a list of possible essay topics prior to the test itself and will then choose one or let the student choose from two or more topics that appear on the test.
History
Butler University in Indianapolis was the first to introduce exam blue books, which first appeared in the late 1920s.[https://uvamagazine.org/articles/blue_books "Blue Books — The agony and ecstasy of final exams"], UVA magazine, Spring 2013. They were given a blue color because Butler's school colors are blue and white; therefore they were named "blue books".Kingsbury, Alex. [https://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2010/08/16/road-trip-butler-university.html "Road Trip: Butler University"], U.S. News & World Report, 16 August 2010.
Starting in 2024, blue book exams experienced a significant resurgence in popularity within higher education as a direct response to the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, for academic cheating.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Ben |title=They Were Every Student’s Worst Nightmare. Now Blue Books Are Back. |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/chatgpt-ai-cheating-college-blue-books-5e3014a6 |access-date=29 May 2025 |work=WSJ |date=May 23, 2025}}
See also
{{Wiktionary}}