Grade Inflation Measures Called
Necessary
Orem, UT (ULP) In a surprising but overall welcomed move today, UVSC English Department
adjunct faculty member Shaun Roundy announced that all students in his four 2010 courses
would receive an automatic bonus on the Multi-Skill paper, recently turned in by students.
10% of the paper score would be added directly to the paper score, while the same point
value would be added to participation and preparation points, another major component of
the final course grade.
Roundy called the bonus "necessary" to reflect the fact that "students
are learning more in this 2010 course than what they'd likely get in another
section." He also stated that the reforms won't stop there. "The participation
and preparation component of the grade was designed to let students earn much of their
grade through effort instead of only performance, when in fact, the effort just to write
several unique paper assignments deserves such recognition and reward."
While minor adjustments are in the planning stages in order to lessen the workload
outside of the papers themselves, Roundy declined comment on what those changes would be
until they are finalized.
Critics immediatly criticized Roundy's move, citing concern over grade inflation.
"Not only has B become the average grade rather than C as originally dictated, but
many of our students have grown accustomed to relaxed educational standards leading to
lower scholarship, performance, self esteem, earning potentials, assignments with stars on
them hanging on refrigerators, and the danger of the United States losing their edge of
one of the leading countries dominating English prose," stated a detractor who
requested anonymity.
"It's ridiculous!" agreed a student and mother of two school-age children.
"My kids come home and tell me they can raise their grade from a B+ to an A just by
bringing cookies to class!"
But such agreement in principle did not necessary correspond to disagreement in this
particular instance. "He(ck) no! We've worked da(rn) hard and we deserve it! It was
the right thing to do," she stated.
Following the announcement, classes entered spirited debates regarding the upcoming
Persuasive Paper, taking sides and defending them passionately, demonstrating their
ability to address the complexity inherent in such issues in the process. "This is
what democracy is all about," explained one student, "a group of people getting
together and disagreeing."
Barriers/Purpose & Audience Paper Make Up Opportunity Final Details
When: you have till April 5 (next Monday,
Tuesday the 6th for section 28) to take part in this if you want.
Who: Anyone who wants to make up one of the
first two papers.
What: Rewrite one of these papers following the specific organization
specified.
How: Instructions for exact format for the barriers paper was sent in a
previous email. Find it at www.uoflife.com/uvsc
in the email archives if you've lost it. Find instructions for P&A below.
What else: Make ups are graded pass/fail. If it follows
the instructions and succeeds, the student gets the grade right between the original and
100. If not, they keep the old grade.
I'll make the instructions very specific this time so you won't have to think
about it as much. Choose from one of the following three (3) options:
A. Page One (yep, only 1, not 1.5) persuades someone you know to apply
for a specific job where you work or worked in the past (may be fictional). Depending on
who that person is, adjust the style (casual, formal) and content (what's in it for them,
values, etc.) appropriately. Page Two recommends this person to the boss. If Page One was
casual, make this one formal or vice versa.
To succeed, each person must clearly see the values of the proposition, each person's
values must be addressed (what's in it for them) enough that they'd be interested in at
least looking into it, and the writing style must be clearly distinct in each page.
Hints: casual may be like an email sent to a friend BUT it must still be all to the
point (even if there's a tiny tangent tossed in here and there). Formal has clear
organization, development of ideas, is more objective, etc.
B. Write two pages (one page to each person) to set two people up on a
blind date. In this case, you are working on hopes that "opposites attract."
Address each person according to their personalities, values, etc., and make them very
distinct - for example, setting up a motorcycle gang member (may be a nice one, like a
b.a.c.a. member) with a home economics major (or whatever they call that now).
To succeed, each paper...well, pretty much the same as with the last one. It can be
funny, but once again each individuals' values get addressed and the writing style fits
them.
Hints: these might not be necessarily formal/casual, but one should probably be *more*
casual or formal than the other. If there's no clear formal/casual distinction, implement
another style variation. Here are a few examples: sarcastic/sincere, pressure and
manipulation ("you're not getting any younger, you know!")/excited &
enthusiastic, vulgar/proper, etc.
C. You're trying to get out of your housing contract, but to do so,
you must convince your current roommies to accept the new person, and vice versa. Once
again, these groups are very different like in option B.
To succeed...pretty much the same as the last one.
If you want more structured requirements than that, here's a suggestion:
Paragraph 1-2: the big proposal "Have I
got a deal for you!"
P2-4: list supporting ideas, reasons why your
idea would be so great. Develop them with some concretes.
Last Paragraph: conclusion. appeal to action
or something.
Persuasive Paper Suggestion:
If you get stuck choosing a topic (we'll discuss this again Tuesday/Wednesday) or doing
your original development, please talk to me (or classmates) soon! This isn't a good place
to spend lots of time and energy!
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