dagblog - Comments for "In Praise of the Late Term Paper"

I'd like to add something

artappraiser — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 21:42:10 +0000

In reply to Thanks for this; it's been

I'd like to add something that is sort of off topic but I want to share it. The one thing I remember most from grading exams in particular, not papers, is how astoundingly, jaw-droppingly smart and talented some people are under pressure, way way above everyone else. You're going along reading the same essay answer over and over and over, some clearly have studied a lot and others clearly haven't, and then you get that one, the one that is so far above the others that it just knocks your grading curve all out of wack....

Thanks for this; it's been

artappraiser — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 21:26:04 +0000

In reply to In Praise of the Late Term Paper

Thanks for this; it's been ages since I was one of those students but it's still good to have it, better late than never.

I should add, though, that when I was a T.A. I did see the other side. And I'll say this: you've got to admit that some of the excuses are hilarious and one wants to share them because of that.

And grading papers (along with some tough love from initial profs in grad school) made me learn about myself that I was one of those eternal researchers who wasn't made to draw myself a deadline where I have to sit down and write up what I learned. Still have this trouble doing appraisal reports (see comment upthread.) Getting it perfect takes as long as it takes. Perfection takes until you're beyond fluent in whatever you're doing, it takes almost until you're bored with the topic, that's the thing....

Appraisal reports work the

artappraiser — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 21:15:17 +0000

In reply to In my early days as a

Appraisal reports work the same way. Eventually you have to stop answering their phone calls in order to finish their report....then they leave messages that they are ready to sue you and you ignore these...then you finally Fed Ex the report, thinking that maybe they'll pay and maybe they won't....and they become:

blissfully happy....they have never seen such a fine job...they never expected this....they are going to recommend you to all and sundry, etc....

P.S. This all happens because they inevitably change the job from how they explained it at the start. If the job was as they explained it when they first contacted you, then you would have been able to complete it within the time you estimated. But the latter never happens; they always add more stuff or don't have what they said they had or don't exactly need what they said they need, but something different.....and you think: if you could charge correctly for your time when things change like attorneys do, you would be well off and not broke like you are...

In my early days as a

Donal — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 20:10:58 +0000

In reply to In Praise of the Late Term Paper

In my early days as a draughtsman, I learned that clients would pester you for drawings: "I don't care if they aren't perfect, we need whatever you've got, right now!" They would shake your hand and smile as you handed them the bluelines. A few hours later it was phone call after phone call, "Where's this? Where's that? These are no good!"

If you took the time necessary to think it all through, and double-check everything, they would complain and complain until drawings were delivered, but then you'd get some peace and quiet as you rushed to finish the next job.

Well, the ones who won't take

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:46:32 +0000

In reply to The hard workers. Unless I

Well, the ones who won't take an extension are a subset of the people who could use one. Some do ask.

The ones who don't ask identify themselves on deadline day by not turning anything in. (Of course, some total flakes do the same thing.) I can't offer unasked extensions to selected students in advance, but I can be quick to chase down the good students who haven't given me something.

The hard workers. Unless I

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 18:58:25 +0000

In reply to Which ones? The ones who need

The hard workers.

Unless I misunderstood you, it sounded like the hard workers often didn't ask for an extension because they didn't feel entitled to it--but then took more drastic ways out.

How do you let them know that they can have an extension if they need one to finish their paper?

I guess, in the beginning, you don't know, but later, you can make some good educated guesses.

In college, I was very proud

Flavia — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 17:33:50 +0000

In reply to In Praise of the Late Term Paper

In college, I was very proud of never asking for an extension, ever. (They were given out pretty freely.) One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in graduate school was that turning something in on time was not, in and of itself, a virtue. Doing quality work was more important--assuming you were acting in good faith and negotiated something reasonable and mutually-acceptable with your instructor (a few days, a week).

Yes, ideally you should meet every deadline with great work. But a great paper turned in a couple of days late is better than a half-baked one turned in on time. This idea infuriates some people, for reasons I don't quite understand (see the recent tempest here), but as your post notes, the primary point of a major college-level assignment isn't to train you to be a dutiful rule-follower but to inspire you to learn, grow, and improve, and that doesn't always happen on a schedule.

Which ones? The ones who need

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 17:04:29 +0000

In reply to How do you pick them out from

Which ones?

The ones who need to be chased down are obvious if you look. They didn't hand in work, and they haven't said boo about it. The trick is to go talk to them before you have to turn in an F grade.

The ones who need an extension because they're working harder don't get extensions I wouldn't offer to other people. (If someone wanted to write a minimal-effort paper and ask for an extension to write it, I would probably grant that extension. But if I got a nothingburger paper a week late, I wouldn't go especially easy on it.)

But at the end of a semester you usually do have a sense of how students approach their work if there have been a number of earlier writing assignments. People who put real intellectual effort into the first two papers are likely to take the final paper seriously, too.

How do you pick them out from

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 16:43:45 +0000

In reply to In Praise of the Late Term Paper

How do you pick them out from the crowd, Doc?