Today I spoke at length with several students whose research papers I failed because of plagiarism or obvious misunderstanding of what a research paper IS. When I graded the papers, I felt angry and insulted because I had been working with these students for eight weeks to help them write an original paper with correct in-text citations corresponding to a valid Works Cited list. The documents these students had produced made me wonder if they had paid any attention to the in-class work at all. Their documents leading up to the research paper had not been failures, so I was surprised and disheartened to get such a poor result when the actual papers were submitted. Not ALL the students failed -- most did a decent job. But several failed miserably. After talking with these students, I discovered that past experiences with writing courses had left them misinformed. Perhaps the professors in those other courses did not check the research papers as thoroughly as I always do: I not only make sure that each in-text citation is matched by an entry in the Works Cited list; I examine the titles of the sources to make sure they are relevant to the in-text material. It is easy for a student to write a paper and insert citations at random points throughout the text, without even having used material from those sources. Thus they produce the appearance of a research paper, but not the substance. One of today's students said, "This paper is not like the paper I wrote in my last course" -- that is, the requirements for my paper seem very different. But I don't require anything that is not typical of a research paper. The class I'm teaching is for international students. They come from various parts of the globe, and often their language systems differ starkly from English. I can understand writing problems arising from second-language differences. What I don't understand is what on earth went on with the research papers in their past courses. I'm teaching a second-semester course; the first-semester course is supposed to give these students basic research training. I feel angry at past professors who did not demand enough precision of understanding from the students. Those professors set several of my students up for failure in the future. |
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CategoriesBalanchine-related postsFocus: Gangs General Joining the Battle against Racism and Colorism Reine Duell Bethany drawings Reine Duell Bethany's Poems Reine Duell Bethany's Short Stories Reine Duell Bethany's Songs The Boneheads (cartoon series) The Shu Factor Unlocking the Writer in Every Student Village of Hempstead |
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