God is a Stakeholder; or, How Freshman Composition Papers get Read

[Setherick]

We had our portfolio assessment today for the FYC program at the university I teach at. During the assessment, which is supposed to be a blind assessment by the way, my colleague Meredith turns to another one of the instructors and says: "There is a lot of God in your student's paper." Apparently the student had written a paper about how religious moral teaching have been replaced by secular (amoral) legal codes of conduct. The paper didn't make it into my reading pile, so I'm paraphrasing from discussion.

What Meredith prompted was exactly how God fits into the Goals and Outcomes for our research writing course. One of these goals is to identify stakeholders and address their concerns. The following picture - which was written on the marker board - is the result of this conversation. I should note, and Ross and Tom can vouch for this, that I am very much an atheist.

[clockworkjoe]

I taught a basic writing class to college freshmen. The first paper was about the usefulness of reading and writing and how students used in their daily lives. One student wrote about how he learned better Pokemon strategies by reading stuff on the Internet so he could win tournaments and beat kids who hadn't read up on Pokemon. The student was at least 18 and he was talking about how he beat elementary school and junior high age kids at Pokemon.

Another student - in his 40s - once wrote a paper about a life experience, which consisted of getting drunk on the 4th of July, shooting fireworks while driving and getting arrested for DUI.

[dragonshaos]

I taught a basic writing class to college freshmen. The first paper was about the usefulness of reading and writing and how students used in their daily lives. One student wrote about how he learned better Pokemon strategies by reading stuff on the Internet so he could win tournaments and beat kids who hadn't read up on Pokemon. The student was at least 18 and he was talking about how he beat elementary school and junior high age kids at Pokemon.

Another student - in his 40s - once wrote a paper about a life experience, which consisted of getting drunk on the 4th of July, shooting fireworks while driving and getting arrested for DUI.

ha...haha...Hahaha...HAHAHAHA!

[Tadanori Oyama]

During a district writing test in high school I let my mind wander and ended up writing a paper about how writing stories made me feel god-like.

I was one of like two hundred people who retook the test.

[Boyos]

I taught a basic writing class to college freshmen. The first paper was about the usefulness of reading and writing and how students used in their daily lives. One student wrote about how he learned better Pokemon strategies by reading stuff on the Internet so he could win tournaments and beat kids who hadn't read up on Pokemon. The student was at least 18 and he was talking about how he beat elementary school and junior high age kids at Pokemon.

Another student - in his 40s - once wrote a paper about a life experience, which consisted of getting drunk on the 4th of July, shooting fireworks while driving and getting arrested for DUI.

Is it wrong that I have done both of these things in my life?

[Shallazar]

I dunno, I 4pointed my term paper for my 300lv English class...

And incidentally it was also my first DnD Adventure.

[codered]

I wrote a 10 page philosophy paper on  good and evil and what is good in one place may not be good in another.
The best term paper I have hear of was from a friend that wrote about how white people bread intelligence and other traits that make you a driven person out of the black race through slavery. His teacher tried to get him kicked out but he couldn't because it was an open topic paper and it was a legitimate research paper.

[Shallazar]

Yeah teachers need to RP more, then they'd know the importance of railroading.

[Murph]

I read this topic as "God is a skateboarder; or how Freshman Composition papers get rad"

I have to say I'm disappinted were not talking about an essay where God has an adventure shredding the gnarly tubes or whatever you young kids call it.  Cowabunga dude!

[Setherick]

I read this topic as "God is a skateboarder; or how Freshman Composition papers get rad"

I have to say I'm disappinted were not talking about an essay where God has an adventure shredding the gnarly tubes or whatever you young kids call it.  Cowabunga dude!

If a freshman student of mine wrote that paper, I wouldn't even comment on it. I would just give it an A.

[AmishNinja]

We had our portfolio assessment today for the FYC program at the university I teach at. During the assessment, which is supposed to be a blind assessment by the way, my colleague Meredith turns to another one of the instructors and says: "There is a lot of God in your student's paper." Apparently the student had written a paper about how religious moral teaching have been replaced by secular (amoral) legal codes of conduct. The paper didn't make it into my reading pile, so I'm paraphrasing from discussion.

If the student is a Christian, then I'm impressed he actually recognized that there is such a thing as secular morality.