Tuesday, December 13, 2005

G.R.A.D.I.N.G.

The grading pile doesn't seem to be shrinking very quickly. Yesterday I returned a set of papers, only to be rewarded with that classes' final exams to now grade. Still 2 more exams to give this week .....and then grade. Oh well, exams do grade much faster than research papers.

On the topic of research papers:
Hats off to my students who actually followed directions and kept up with me during the semester working on each section of their paper near the time we discussed the section topic in class. Way to go! I'm seeing great work that demonstrates a real understanding of how it all fits together.

Raspberries to those students who thought they could write their first ever research proposal the night before it was due. You are doing silly things like: eliminating variables through sampling, citing the actual point of your study as a threat to validity, failing to consider the ethics of your study, not demonstrating any potential impact or importance of your study, failing to show how your study builds on prior research, and running short on time (I hope this is your excuse) and lifting entire sentences from published research in your attempts to summarize other peoples research. [FYI: This is PLAGIARISM.]


Now...back to the stack of papers and the comedy of errors....I just wish I were laughing.

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