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[professor_bluesman]

A couple of years ago, we had a graduation speaker who told the crowd that 90% of life is just "showing up."  I always tell my students that what that idiot should have said is "90% of life is just showing up prepared." 

Unfortunately, I feel that I'm guilty of "showing up" thinking.

My freshmen had annotated bibliographies due this past week.  5 sources.  4-6 sentences of annotation.  MLA style.  Easy-peasy.  Not. at. all.

I was absolutely STUNNED by the sheer lack of even trying.  Grading these things, I'm giving zero after zero.  The sad truth is that if a student uses a regular serif font (12 point), double spaces, and formats a hanging indent, I'm giving very high grades, actually citations and annotations be damned.  All the absolute slack-asses make the vast herd of mediocrities look intelligent. 

So, I guess that stupid graduation speaker was right after all.

Have I lost my mind?  Or is formatting really all that important?  I tell my writing students that issues of formatting are issues of credibility:  if a writer can't take the time to format the document correctly, why on Earth should I (or any other reader, for that matter) take the time to read said document?

Is this an undergraduate phenomenon?  Do grad students blow off MLA, as well?  What about you profs in other disciplines?  Does formatting/document design matter to you?

[systeme_d_]

If you are serious about formatting (which I am), don't grade the papers.  Give them back.  Refuse to grade them until they are properly formatted.

And yes, I do this in my 100-level classes.  I have to, so the students learn that I am serious.

[karmie]

I feel for you. I teach composition and MLA style is something that students are supposed to learn over the course of the course.  Reading research papers this weekend is making me think they sat there and didn't hear a single word I said. 

Since you're giving so many zero's, I recommend you write a note to detail the reason for the grade (if you aren't doing so already).  Experience has taught me that students need to see the gross negligence on their part spelled out loud and clear before they'll entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, they had something to do with the reason they did so poorly on the assignment. 

I also try to cover my a$$ and (hopefully) point out the behavior they need to exhibit to be a successful student.  Some students are honestly so clueless they don't realize it's their responsibility to seek tutoring/help in the subject if they're doing badly - they really do sit and wait for you to ORDER them to do it (I used to write "I encourage you to visit the writing center." Yeah - no one went. I had to make it mandatory for them to do it).

So try writing something similar to what I've been writing over and over this afternoon:

"Student,

There is not a single instance of a correctly cited source in your assignment.  I went over numerous examples in class, passed out handouts, and made links available online to resources demonstrating how to properly attribute sources.  I encourage students to see the writing tutors in the Writing Center or to e-mail their assignment to the tutors online because any writing instructor would have immediately noticed your lack of parenthetical citations and would have brought it to your attention.  I have announced frequently in class that I am willing to read rough drafts of assignments.  You have yet to take advantage of my offer this semester.  If you wish to discuss your performance on this assignment in further detail, please bring the notes you have taken in class to me so we can discuss and correct any misunderstandings or confusion you have. "

Another irk of mine: NO ONE takes notes. They cross their arms, lean back in their chairs, and listen to me talk (when they're not texting or talking to their buddies). 

I'm HUGE on correctly formatting assignments. Have you told your students that employers will NOT look at resumes that are incorrectly formatted? Publishing houses will throw out manuscripts without reading them if they do not conform to the format requirements.  Spend ten minutes (or more) discussing why it's important to format documents correctly.  Try to get your students to realize that it makes them look like bungling, lazy, irresponsible idiots to supervisors, employers, colleagues, etc, without actually saying it yourself.  The recession is doing wonders for my formatting lecture.  Students will be applying to four year institutions (if you teach at a CC) and/or job hunting.  Explain to them that for every job opening that is advertised, hundreds of resumes are sent.  People are going back to school in droves - but a university can admit only so many students per year.  The EASIEST way to cull down the massive amount of applications is to toss out every one that is incorrectly formatted. 

*Sorry if I was a bit long-winded. You brought up a topic near and dear to my heart.

[educator1]

Although I am in a field that seems far from this thread (statistics), I am convinced that students need to know how to write the results of their analyses in a manner that will communicate to others. This includes the proper use of tables, graphs, and coherent sentences.
One thing that i have found to be extremly successful is to post many examples of outstanding reports (in pdf fprmat). I find that my students do an excellent job of utilizing the table and graph formats and language styles that I model for them. For those that don't, I use syteme-d's approach. I give them back ungraded.

[karmie]

If you are serious about formatting (which I am), don't grade the papers.  Give them back.  Refuse to grade them until they are properly formatted.

Do you give them back immediately (i.e. make the students wait while you look at each and every paper and return ones that aren't up to par) or return them during the next class?

[systeme_d_]

When I have been given paper copies, I return them at the next class meeting.  But this is for classes at the 200-level and above.

Students in the huge 100-level class submit their papers online, so in that case, I just tell them their papers are unacceptable and they must fix the formatting and resubmit in two days.  And then their papers are docked (slightly) for lateness.

[changinggears]

If part of your course objective is to teach the research process and the correct way to write a research essay, then you are obligated to make them as concerned about formatting as any of their future instructors will be.  I give my students a take-home quiz with examples of different types of sources that they must put in correct MLA format.  I let them resubmit it as many times as they like by a predetermined deadline.  Not until everyone has pretty much gotten the basics right on this quiz do we continue on with annotated bibs.  I provide a checklist when I grade these with a scale of their level of achievement on 5 criteria: relevancy to research question, reliability of sources, cogent summary of sources' main ideas, sentence clarity/grammar, and MLA formatting.  I placed a bolded note on this checklist that anything less than the minimum required sources will receive an automatic "F."  I also allow them to revise these once. 
I, too, stress the importance of correct formatting.  I explain that it's not just about instructors being picky, but it's a lesson in paying attention to the details and being as accurate as possible, which is a skill that is pretty much required in ANY field that they may be going into. 

[mended_drum]

I've started to suspect that, for many students, formatting citations (or formatting at all) falls under the "good enough" category.  In other words, they often seem to figure that if they get the sources down somewhere, they've done enough so that the professor will accept the paper and take off few points compared with what they would lose for other elements of the assignment.  Because formatting a works cited page or a bibliography takes attention to detail, as well as the ability to use a handbook or other guide when they switch from one field's system to another, they just slap it down any old way.  In other words, the reward they receive for correct citation format is not great enough to justify the time and attention it takes to get it right.

I do as suggested above:  I don't great incorrectly formatted work, even from freshmen.  I give it back and impose the standard late penalty until they get it back to me in the correct format.  This does actually work.  The only exceptions are the students using the auto-bibliography/citation programs.  They're often outraged that I expect them to actually master the program and proofread the paper to make sure that the final product is up to date and accurate. 

[jacaranda_]

I, too, stress the importance of correct formatting.  I explain that it's not just about instructors being picky, but it's a lesson in paying attention to the details and being as accurate as possible, which is a skill that is pretty much required in ANY field that they may be going into. 

Exactly.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to come to this wisdom after all these years of teaching, but this is the thing that really will matter the most for all of them, no matter what they choose to do with their lives after they graduate. 

I have worked in publishing, advertising, consulting, and a bunch of other things.  I would venture to say that in nearly every single employment situation (with the exception of, perhaps neurosurgery), these two skills are of paramount importance:

(1) quickly and accurately learning the "system" or "process" for whatever work takes place (that's true even for working in a law firm, which I found astonishing)
(2) attention to detail

Virtually none of them will need to know proper MLA formatting after graduating.  But learning how to do this accurately and with attention to detail is a very useful exercise in "practicing" these two paramount skills.