I wonder if kids are getting stupid or if it’s just changing. Are we losing something when we can’t write papers?
Boston Globe Online: Writing term papers has become a lost art:
Although some students and critics contend that teachers are lazier than in the past, many educators say they can’t grade piles of papers for overcrowded classes while trying to meet the increased demands of standardized testing, many of which involve multiple-choice questions. Other teachers believe that term papers are meaningless exercises, because the Internet has made plagiarism more common and difficult to spot. And many say long (10- to 15-page) research papers are pointless, because many students’ basic writing skills are weak and are more likely to improve with shorter and more frequent assignments.
A report released recently by the National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges, a panel of academics gathered by the College Board, found that 75 percent of high school seniors never receive writing assignments in history or social studies. The study also found that a major research and writing project required in the senior year of high school ”has become an educational curiosity, something rarely assigned.” In addition, by the first year of college, more than 50 percent of freshmen are unable to analyze or synthesize information or produce papers free of language errors.
The commission chairman, C. Peter Magrath, blamed societal changes. ”We don’t write letters anymore, because we use telephone and e-mail and watch television,” he said.
They must not have asked my high school or college…I had to write tons of research papers! Maybe I’m just a dying breed.