[lit-ideas] Re: lit-ideas The Shadow Scholar
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:48:40 -0800
On Nov 16, 2010, at 7:26 AM, John Wager wrote:
> 1. There are quite a few reactions on "Slashdot" to this story. You can
> follow them here:
>
> http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ZrcuFv28xwI/story01.htm
Several hundred! I like the tales of Feynman doing a student's exam, and the
fellow who had a grad student stand on a piece of paper, because for me the
whole fuss misses the point. There are cheats in sports too. They win this or
that match or game. They may even become rich as a consequence of cheating.
Good luck to them..if that's how they want to live...it takes all sorts to make
the world.
Yesterday in class I could see one or two students wondering how they might
cheat. I gave up tests and quizzes long ago. To me it matters very little
that someone can remember when this or that event happened, or what the three
causes of the First World War might be. Each week my students (all upper
division) write an analysis of what they have read. They know they may be
asked to read this aloud in class. If someone says, "I haven't got any
writing," I say, "Fair enough, but remember that you have to produce a
substantial paper at the end of the semester, which is based on this writing.
If you let too many weeks pass, that task will be harder. It's far easier to
reduce thirty pages of writing to fifteen good ones, than it is to write
fifteen good pages on a short deadline." Good students figure out this system.
Yesterday it suddenly dawned on those few who are still adrift that they will
have to come up with a substantial paper in three weeks and that it will have
to reflect in-class discussions, on which they have taken no notes, readings
they haven't done, and conclusions they haven't yet reached. Tough spot to be
in. I'm anticipating complaints to the dean that I "haven't been clear," or
negotiating tactics of that ilk.
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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