Tuesday, December 19, 2006

End of Semester Reflection

Finished the typical marathon of grading that goes along with the end of a semester. 210 pages of chemistry homework, 21 chemistry exams, 75 biology exams, 6 physics exams, 20 8-page research papers, 20 in-class essays and 1 1/2 red pens later, I'm done. Only took 20 hours, off the clock of course.

A couple of thoughts

1 - allowing biology students to right their own semester final is time consuming but gives much better student results

2 - chemistry students still haven't learned the difference between writing down a correct answer in homework and learning material

3 - small class sizes (8 or less) is so much more enjoyable for the teacher and I assume for the students

4 - need to seriously revamp the research paper assignment in anatomy class
a - I really appreciate the proofreading and writing skills drilled into me by my high school English teachers!
b - the internet has destroyed (not enhanced) students' research skills
c - it is nearly impossible to assess a student's understanding of science if they are unable to compose a complete and coherent sentence (I feel like a grammar instructor more than a science teacher)

5 - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I get to start my Ecology class after break. It includes cladistics and phylogeny, Blue Planet, E.O. Wilson and most importantly bird identification!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chad, you rock. It's so good to see somebody so smart actually imparting that wisdom.

And I couldn't agree more on appreciating the grammar/syntax/etc. education compliments of Emoor et al. Of course, it's the basis of my little side editing business, but the basis of any coherent thought.

Also agree that the Net is wreaking havoc on research & writing skills. I once edited a masters' thesis where about a third of the reference citations were web pages. A thesis!!! Egad.

Soldier on, my friend.

Vandalhooch said...

The problem for me is that my students don't have access to a library capable of supporting meaningful research. They have to use the internet for all their research. It quickly becomes apparent that they might have grown up with the Net but they don't have the slightest clue how to use it effectively. So many people I meet in education simply assume that all teenagers are brilliant hackers out of WarGames. This simply is not accurate.

Anonymous said...

I agree, the problem is access. But what a lot of folks don't realize is that the Net can help you access the text of the real academic literature, that can then be cited just as if you had the journal in front of you. Instead, they end up citing a thousand-character "http://blahblahblah" that just makes them look lazy. The Web is a wonderful research tool, as long as you don't abuse it or let it make you complacent.