Illiteracy at college level, how can they make it that far?

[ed629]

One of my classes had a research paper, which we were also required to do an oral presentation on, and provide the class with a synopsis of it, this is what a girl actually handed in, I can only imagine what her actual paper read like.

This documentation which each and everyone have in their possession is an attempt to show that the current energy sources mostly used worldwide are very inappropriate cost and effective wise. This goes on to further prove that biomass has been discovered to be very effective by a few nations particularly emerging economies, the ones effective in powering numerous homes easily without causing any environmental damage. Particularly, with the amount of time put into this research paper I could comfortably say at this point, time, and place I know a lot on this topic. I can diligently make whatever assumptions I want too where necessary. Arguments made saying emerging economies have taking the lead in its consumption means it is therefore ineffective giving the size of the world power nations. This leads me to strongly justify my argument that in a few years to come, the current means or sources of energy will be obsolete. Hopefully, by the time this presentation is over I would be able to make the minds of everyone seating in this room able to take up the fight in paving the way for biomass against tomorrow’s future.

Not only did most of the class struggle to keep from laughing, but so did the professor.... and the part where she said "I can diligently make whatever assumptions I want too where necessary." opened her up to other students asking questions to fuck with her, none of which she was able to answer. The professor let us go on for a while until she stopped us, and even then she looked amused at our questions.

 

[Lt. Brannigan]

That... is interesting to say the least. And if I was the least bit unsure of the origin of this, I would say it's a joke. A blonde joke at that.

 

[ed629]

That... is interesting to say the least. And if I was the least bit unsure of the origin of this, I would say it's a joke. A blonde joke at that.

It's very real, but I do agree, if I saw it without knowing it was actually turned in for a grade, I would think it was fake too.

 

[Kestra]

I don't think it's that bad, honestly. Not college level material but not illiteracy either.

 

[Marten]

She's trying to hard to keep it formal, it's perfecly possible that she can write other things.

 

[CorporalClegg]

It's all relative.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

That is unacceptable at 9th grade. I can't believe she wrote that for a college level class.

 

[JonathonWally]

She used first person in a research paper, that should be a failure right there.

 

[Canadave]

She used first person in a research paper, that should be a failure right there.

No, the first person is perfectly acceptable in a university-level research paper. You just have to use it properly.

 

[RoJoHen]

I don't think it's that bad, honestly. Not college level material but not illiteracy either.

It would be fine for a 5th grader.


A friend of mine was a TA when she was in grad school, and I helped her grade her students' essays one night. I was absolutely astounded at how bad these kids were at writing. I couldn't understand how they were in college at all. How the fuck did they even graduate middle school?

My friend told me, "Just look for the content. Don't even bother grading grammar; it's just going to make you angry."

 

[RJDiogenes]

No, they should grade these things mercilessly. It's probably not entirely her fault-- she may have come from yet another useless school system. But it never ceases to amaze me how acceptable low standards have become in school, work, professional publications et cetera....

 

[RoJoHen]

No, they should grade these things mercilessly. It's probably not entirely her fault-- she may have come from yet another useless school system. But it never ceases to amaze me how acceptable low standards have become in school, work, professional publications et cetera....

I agree. If I were the professor, I would grade the fuck out of these essays. If I have to go back and teach these 20-year olds the proper way to use a comma, I'll do it.

I need to get a job as an editor. I love that kind of stuff!

 

[scotpens]

I don't think it's that bad, honestly. Not college level material but not illiteracy either.

Not illiterate in the strict sense of the word -- after all, this girl CAN write. She just can't put together a cogent English sentence or a coherent paragraph. She also doesn't understand the difference between seat and sit or between to and too, and the use of the possessive apostrophe.

This level of writing was unacceptable from ninth-graders 40 or 50 years ago. Any college student who writes like that should be required to take at least a year of remedial English.

 

[auntiehill]

God, I see crap like this all the time. Of course, in my case, it's usually from people who don't speak English very well.

I feel sorry for the professor who has to try to undo 12 years of crappy education for this student.

 

[Lord Garth]

Was this a community college? Because the best and worst thing about them is that they have an open admissions policy.

Great for people who did horribly in high school but grew up and take school seriously now and deserve a second chance. Bad for people who still aren't serious about school and don't know what the Hell they're doing or why they're doing it.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

In my legal writing class in law school, my professor told me that I was one of the few students who had a good grasp of proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. I don't know how everyone else managed to not only graduate from college, but be accepted to law school without those skills.

 

[MetalPants]

Oh, this brave new world that we live in.

 

[SeerSGB]

Reads like she strung together a list of notes and bullet points without trying to convert them into a coherent document.

 

[ancientone51]

They get to college because the high schools can;t flunk all of them...the back up and low performance numbers would kill the whole school system.

No one is held accountable because we are supposed to make them feel good and be their friend not hold them accountable and actually teach. Besides, they know everything and can look up what they don't on their phone.

 

[auntiehill]

^Ah. You're obviously familiar with the Texas Educational System.


All those years of scoring the TAAS and the TAKS still give me nightmares.

(how are you, by the way? Haven't seen you around much)