I get email messages like this on a regular basis ...
Hi Mr. Moran, My name is XXX and I am a student at YYY and I would like your help in my English Research Paper.I wonder how his teachers define "research"? Back in the olden days we used to read books and articles in order to prepare to write a research paper. Some of you may be familiar with books.
My task is to write a research paper about something that matters in America today, and I believe the situation surrounding the ID movement is something that really matters. I was wondering where would I be able to get the best information pretaining to the anti-ID, and I thought, why not get it from talk origins?
So Mr. Moran, I would greatly appreciate you helping me in my research paper by outlining and detailing why ID should not be allowed in classrooms or directing me to some one who can.
Thank you for your time, it is greatly appreciated.
Why have things changed? Why do today's students think they can ask someone else to do all the work for them? Has it got something to do with entitlement, or is it more closely related to intelligence?
Students just want to get things over with as quickly and painless as possible; they don't much care about understanding the subject. And the current educational systems promote this culture and make things difficult to reverse. This is the sad reality in many "developed" countries today.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK things are deteriorating fast, and it is indeed a matter closely associated with intelligence. Students go through the lower grades with no effort, and they reach university level with huge gaps in basic mathematics and use of English! Not to mention less fundamental subjects!
The internet and dedicated thesis-writing or project-implementing services make the situation worse. Plus, copying and pasting is much easier than doing your own research, right?
I had students that not only paid to have their Computer Science courseworks done, but they hilariously forgot to remove the "signature" of the one that did it for them! So, yes, it is becoming a matter of intelligence (or lack thereof :-))
At least she's making some effort to do the project. I knew a girl where I once worked who'd just get essays off line and copy/paste. She said she'd never read a book for school yet. My eyes nearly fell out of my head.
ReplyDeleteAnother time, same job, I wound up explaining to a cashier how to take 10% off 19.99. "I'm failing math!" she said, laughing. And they let you handle the money?
I don't know how far kids like that are going to get before reality smacks them a good one.
I can see where emails like this can get annoying. But there are many ignorant people out there - and I don't mean ignorant in personally condescending way. We're all ignorant. How would you feel if you were in a strange land and you asked someone for directions, and they sneered, "fuck you, idiot. Buy a map." Or if you asked someone to recommend a good restaurant, and they said, "what do I look like, a chef?".
ReplyDeleteWe don't have to be nation of Basil Fawltys. I think this is what Obama talks about in his speeches, when he suggests that maybe we should be our brother's keeper - just a bit. It makes for a much more pleasant culture. So when someone asks for directions, give it to them. If a homeless person asks you for a few dollars, give it to them, no questions asked. If a student asks to be directed to a source of information, give it to them. If it happens frequently, have a template prepared. Is it really that hard?
I'm certainly not going to defend that particular email request from an English student for a full essay outline, but…
ReplyDeleteI *do* encourage my Bio students to talk to (not email) experts whenever possible. One major problem for young students doing research is the sheer volume of possible sources. Students new to a field have a hell of a time evaluating the validity and reputability of sources.
One of the best skills a person can have is the confidence/humility to ask an expert for help or information. Matt Meselson waxes poetically about his excitement at walking into Max Delbruck's office and being invited as an equal to discuss the Watson-Crick '53 papers.
So what I'm saying is that there is a significant difference between "Please Help Me with My Homework" and "I've Already Done Some Research - Do you have a free moment to evaluate my sources or suggest some alternatives?"
While you may be inundated with the former, keep an sharp eye out for the rare example of the latter - it may be the next Meselson or Moran.
While asking an expert is a good approach - it certainly isn't suitable for pre-tertiary (and most undergraduate at that) studies in any shape or form.
ReplyDeleteIt is simply not a scalable way to do things, and experts are usually busy talking to their peers. And why should it be any different?
If every teacher was lazy and told their students to ask the experts, isn't that just shifting their work to the experts?
Maybe this student, instead of basically saying "do my homework for me," should've structured the email as a series of interview questions. Interviews are acceptable for English research papers, and having a set of good questions to ask an expert indicates the student gave it some thought and preparation. But this approach the student took was really bad.
ReplyDeleteI think its closely related to entitlement, and a shallow view of things. These days its seen as routine to cut corners to the end goal. So why not have someone else do your homework for you as long as the end result is you have something to turn in? Also culture has gotten quite a bit more shallow than it used to be. Instead of valuing hard work and getting the right answer yourself, what's valued is simply getting an "A" or a piece of paper (aka degree) regardless of how you got there. The degree matters, not whether or not you really have the knowlege of a physicist, engineer, mathematician or whatever. Pretty sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteThe western world awards status and money to slick talk, fancy presentations and pieces of paper and for the most part ignores knowledge. Consequently we see political candidates and others in decision roles whose education focused on titles and flash rather than knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI think it has something to do with the internet being so pervasive as a research tool. Even if the info is erroneous most of the time, and unverifiable at others, books can be the same. People want to speak to a mind, someone with training so they have confidence what they hear is true. This comes from our educational policy to tell children what to think rather than how to think. Do you concur?
ReplyDeleteSuch questions might be disguised traps from pro-ID, actually.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the creationist questions disguised as a search for information usually ask things as 'please tell me how complexity arose' or 'I'm told the mind evolved: now, where is it situated?'.
I've been on the job for about 30 years. For the entire time I have received the occasional call, "I have a project due tomorrow--can you explain hydrogeology/geology/paleontology/etc. to me?" The main difference today is that more frequently a class gets an assignment, and our entire staff receive emails from each student asking the same questions.
ReplyDeletehello my name is kirsten and i have a social studies project due tomorrow afternoon but i havent even had the chance to start it you know i have alot of things to do and i really need your help with it if you have the time.thank you so much!!!
ReplyDelete