conjugate
Compulsive punster and insatiable reader, and
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Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 16,690
Tends to have warped sense of humor
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« Reply #300 on: November 02, 2009, 08:46:14 PM » |
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And in class, I find myself repeating and repeating, "read what is there, not what you think ought to be there!"
You so you don't feel alone, I give a version of this to my students as well, for mineral and rock ID labs. I keep telling them, write down what you actually see, not what the lab manual tells you might be there. I've seen the samples, kiddies. I know what they show and what they don't. It's interesting that this is cross-discipline. I yell at mine about this all the time. They see the vocab words and sort of take the meaning out of it, but case endings and even part of speech go out the window. From vocab only (not grammar or syntax) they guess at what's going on and put that together. It doesn't work. You have to translate what the sentence is, not what you want it to be. They do the same thing in math. I give them the set-up of a problem that, depending on instructions, might be done two or three different ways. (As an analogy, consider writing a sentence and then asking students to underline all examples of a particular part of speech. The question might ask for nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs, etc. This is a math problem like that; one set-up, many possible tasks). Rather than read the directions, they immediately attempt whichever kind of problem they are most afraid of, or which they studied most, or something. They often get answers that make no sense whatever, but that doesn't slow them down. |
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Unfortunately, I think conjugate gives good advice.
∀ε>0∃δ>0∋|x–a|<δ⇒|ƒ(x)-ƒ(a)|<ε |
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magistra
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« Reply #301 on: November 03, 2009, 01:10:23 AM » |
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Oooh, I do that on exams! They don't like it. It's amazing how many of them can translate fairly well, but can't pick out the direct objects to save their souls.
Really, we ought to write a book.
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First it was Wolfram and Hart, now it's Blackboard. There's not much moral difference, if you ask me. -- Malcha
Grammar is the chocolate in the buttery croissant of life. -- Yellowtractor
Okay, so that was petty. Today, I feel like embracing pettiness. -- Mended Drum
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fosca
Peripatetic Professor
Senior member
Posts: 596
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« Reply #302 on: November 03, 2009, 08:55:05 AM » |
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And in class, I find myself repeating and repeating, "read what is there, not what you think ought to be there!"
You so you don't feel alone, I give a version of this to my students as well, for mineral and rock ID labs. I keep telling them, write down what you actually see, not what the lab manual tells you might be there. I've seen the samples, kiddies. I know what they show and what they don't. It's interesting that this is cross-discipline. I yell at mine about this all the time. They see the vocab words and sort of take the meaning out of it, but case endings and even part of speech go out the window. From vocab only (not grammar or syntax) they guess at what's going on and put that together. It doesn't work. You have to translate what the sentence is, not what you want it to be. They do the same thing in math. I give them the set-up of a problem that, depending on instructions, might be done two or three different ways. (As an analogy, consider writing a sentence and then asking students to underline all examples of a particular part of speech. The question might ask for nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs, etc. This is a math problem like that; one set-up, many possible tasks). Rather than read the directions, they immediately attempt whichever kind of problem they are most afraid of, or which they studied most, or something. They often get answers that make no sense whatever, but that doesn't slow them down. I actually tell my students "Answer the question as written, not what you THINK it says". Then again, given that most of my students can't read at a 10th grade level, they often can't understand the question anyway. |
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They equate learning with "understanding magically everything that [the professor] teaches us because it's all so easy" not "expanding their knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge to new situations and problems." |
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marigolds
looks far too young to be a
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Posts: 6,278
if it ain't ruff it ain't me
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« Reply #303 on: November 03, 2009, 12:02:18 PM » |
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Benito Cereno takes place in "a deserted area with little sea traffic and a “mute and clam” sea."
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"You and your mom are hillbillies. This is a house of learned doctors."
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big_giant_head
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« Reply #304 on: November 03, 2009, 01:59:43 PM » |
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Benito Cereno takes place in "a deserted area with little sea traffic and a “mute and clam” sea."
Hey, at least it's not a "mutant clam sea." |
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carthago can haz delenda
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bibliothecula
Academic ronin
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 3,727
like Bunnicula, only with books
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« Reply #305 on: November 03, 2009, 02:02:25 PM » |
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Benito Cereno takes place in "a deserted area with little sea traffic and a “mute and clam” sea."
Hey, at least it's not a "mutant clam sea." That might make it more interesting. |
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I came. I saw. I cited.
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tee_bee
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« Reply #306 on: November 03, 2009, 05:01:44 PM » |
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And that is all they would remember. They get an optimistic, individualist message from Dick Gregory's "Shame," they get it from Langston Hughes' "Salvation," they get it from Twain's "Reading the River" for crying out loud. They seem to have been conditioned since high school to believe that any reading they're assigned in college must be exhorting them to try ever harder and never give up, and that if they do so they will achieve their wildest dreamings in the end. So this is what they see, no matter what the words actually say.
And in class, I find myself repeating and repeating, "read what is there, not what you think ought to be there!"
Ooh! Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce! I'd love to see one of them get an optimistic upbeat message out of that! Sophocles' Oedipus Rex? Tom Godwin's The Cold Equations? I'd really like to see their reaction to that. But it's sufficiently a downer that I can't read it myself very often. How about Shirley Jackson's The Lottery? "The most random people get unlucky." Or "I would not feel so all alone; everybody must get stoned." (Sorry, couldn't help it.) |
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thrillcheese
Award-winning Alpha Bitch. Yes, I really have a medal for that.
Senior member
Posts: 468
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« Reply #307 on: November 03, 2009, 09:20:48 PM » |
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How about Shirley Jackson's The Lottery? "The most random people get unlucky." Or "I would not feel so all alone; everybody must get stoned." (Sorry, couldn't help it.)
I just laughed loud enough to startle the parrot. |
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My tuition dollars pay your salary, you know! And stay out of the liquor cabinet. (post-functional)
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fosca
Peripatetic Professor
Senior member
Posts: 596
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« Reply #308 on: November 04, 2009, 09:19:40 AM » |
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"We tryed doing one hand push up's and it was much harder to do with the off hand the the mane hand. "
This after telling them over and over and over again to proofread their posts. Unfortunately, the student probably saw nothing wrong with this sentence.
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They equate learning with "understanding magically everything that [the professor] teaches us because it's all so easy" not "expanding their knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge to new situations and problems." |
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big_giant_head
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« Reply #309 on: November 04, 2009, 10:04:11 AM » |
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"We tryed doing one hand push up's and it was much harder to do with the off hand the the mane hand. "
This after telling them over and over and over again to proofread their posts. Unfortunately, the student probably saw nothing wrong with this sentence.
Um...the sentence may actually be fine. Does the student actually have hairy palms? Perhaps this is TMI rather than poor proofreading. |
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carthago can haz delenda
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mystictechgal
Happy in my "full, rich adulthood", and as a
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 9,403
One step at a time
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« Reply #310 on: November 04, 2009, 01:02:06 PM » |
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"We tryed doing one hand push up's and it was much harder to do with the off hand the the mane hand. "
This after telling them over and over and over again to proofread their posts. Unfortunately, the student probably saw nothing wrong with this sentence.
Of course it was harder to do with the off hand. The mane hand was supported by the horse's neck, at least. |
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If a pouting pluot ploughman planted pluots in a plot, and the plot were ploughed on Pluto, would his pluot ploy play out?
"Is all the same, only different" -- Dr. H. L. |
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anthroid
Proud yod dropper
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 15,781
No happy socks because nobody gets Manitoba.
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« Reply #311 on: November 04, 2009, 01:22:46 PM » |
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"We tryed doing one hand push up's and it was much harder to do with the off hand the the mane hand. "
This after telling them over and over and over again to proofread their posts. Unfortunately, the student probably saw nothing wrong with this sentence.
Of course it was harder to do with the off hand. The mane hand was supported by the horse's neck, at least. I have this image now of MTG in a sparkly bathing suit with thick flesh colored tights and high heels, wearing a tiara with a green plume of ostrich feathers and bright green eye shadow and red lipstick, riding a pony bareback. |
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Do you hail from Planet Hello Kitty? It's like an action movie, but boring.
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mystictechgal
Happy in my "full, rich adulthood", and as a
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 9,403
One step at a time
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« Reply #312 on: November 04, 2009, 01:57:25 PM » |
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"We tryed doing one hand push up's and it was much harder to do with the off hand the the mane hand. "
This after telling them over and over and over again to proofread their posts. Unfortunately, the student probably saw nothing wrong with this sentence.
Of course it was harder to do with the off hand. The mane hand was supported by the horse's neck, at least. I have this image now of MTG in a sparkly bathing suit with thick flesh colored tights and high heels, wearing a tiara with a green plume of ostrich feathers and bright green eye shadow and red lipstick, riding a pony bareback. Okay, where did you find that picture? I got it pulled from all the sites I was aware of. Guess I must have missed one. Darn! |
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If a pouting pluot ploughman planted pluots in a plot, and the plot were ploughed on Pluto, would his pluot ploy play out?
"Is all the same, only different" -- Dr. H. L. |
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melba_frilkins
Doing laundry.
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 6,155
Ok, I'll tell you a little secret if I don't run o
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« Reply #313 on: November 04, 2009, 02:55:36 PM » |
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I did not have time to sit at my desk all day working on this minuet detail.
Choreography can be so frustrating.
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Nothing to see here. Move along, folks.
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airball
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« Reply #314 on: November 04, 2009, 02:57:47 PM » |
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Benito Cereno takes place in "a deserted area with little sea traffic and a “mute and clam” sea."
Hey, at least it's not a "mutant clam sea." That might make it more interesting. |
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History would kick your ass around the Bodleian Library, and then it would smile and laugh.
-scheherazade
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