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Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?
Psychology Today ^ | February 21, 2014 | Azadeh Aalai, Ph.D

Posted on 02/21/2014 5:24:09 PM PST by Zeneta

Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?

Is it just me, or are student competencies like basic writing skills in serious peril today? Granted, I am about a decade in to my teaching career, but even within this fairly short span, I have noticed a startling decline in the quality of written work turned in by my students, regardless of which institution (community college, private, four year school) the papers are coming from.

It’s not just that students aren’t demonstrating critical thinking skills in their writing, basic competencies like proper syntax, spelling, and even proper structure like paragraph indentation and how to cite sources are being done very poorly. Teachers have been reporting anecdotally that even compared to five years ago, many are seeing declines in vocabulary, grammar, writing, and analysis (e.g. Westin, 2013; Bloomberg News, 2012). Moreover, on an international scale, our standards in literacy is similarly on the decline (McGuire, 2014).

There are only so many times you can correct a “their” that is meant to denote “there” before wondering, when was the last time this college student’s writing abilities were actually assessed? As a psychology professor, I am starting to feel like an English instructor, because so much of my feedback on these papers is focusing on such basic writing skills, that the coherency or theoretical merit behind the content is getting lost in the shuffle.

Snip

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-first-impression/201402/why-can-t-college-students-write-anymore

(Excerpt) Read more at psychologytoday.com ...


TOPICS: Education; History; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: dumbingdown; writing
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To: rey

Bingo!

When you read you pick up things without even realizing it. They should do a test on these students for reading comprehension.


61 posted on 02/21/2014 6:26:36 PM PST by fuzzylogic (welfare state = sharing consequences of poor moral choices among everybody)
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To: Zeneta

The key to writing correctly is writing that is corrected. Starting in the sixth grade, the pupil should be required to hand write a 150 word essay every day, with the length of the essay increased at every grade level. If a word is misspelled, or there is a grammatical error, the error should be pointed out and the pupil required to find the correct word, then re-write the essay with the error corrected. This forces the pupil to look up any words or grammatical constructions he is not completely sure of.


62 posted on 02/21/2014 6:26:44 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
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To: rey

Yes. I was taught that to learn to write I needed to read. And read a lot. Who reads anymore?


63 posted on 02/21/2014 6:31:01 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious! We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone!)
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To: JRandomFreeper
They will leave knowing the steps required to turn flour into bread.

It's the yeast you can do for them.

Unless, of course, all they want to do is loaf around.

I knew that would get a rise out of you...

Q: What did the dough sing to the baker?
A: "As long as he kneads me..."

A little rye humor never hurt anyone.

64 posted on 02/21/2014 6:31:02 PM PST by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: Zeneta

” Please understand”

?????

LOL

Understand whut???

I have no idea what they are saying half the time and it’s pathetic this high skrewel dropout gives lessons on writing for business and accounting practices for sales....

Well, I tested out of high school @ 15 and went to college but, them peeps iz idjuts .....

Thur Bare Lee Smawtuh than my phone....

And my phone is wicked smawt ....


65 posted on 02/21/2014 6:31:40 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: UCANSEE2
The 'trick' is not to let them run things.

Yep and I blame no one but us most of all. Maybe not you or I personally, but overall conservatives have been pretty pathetic when it comes to the whole war. The marxists fight every battle and we fight the convenient battles.

We've ceded entire cultural segments to the left with virtually no fight whatsoever. Art, music, science, history, entertainment. All have gone to the left with no meaningful fight from us.

I also think we should look at tactical changes where warranted. Black history month is an intentionally divisive subject but I think we lose by fighting it directly. I've recently decided that conservatives both black and white should claim our rightful place in "black history month". Rather than honoring the same old left wing civil rights icons we honor people like George Washington Carver, Calvin Coolidge, Frederick Douglass and start dragging it back to true American history.
66 posted on 02/21/2014 6:36:46 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Zeneta
We need to gain a better understanding of “How” the left “thinks”

I tend to see that as the way madness lies. Every time I try to understand them, they just end up contradicting themselves. They'll commonly deny their own previous claims. You try to use reason, they'll counter with irrationality. At some point you have to realize that there is no hope of bringing order out of chaos.
67 posted on 02/21/2014 6:37:39 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: Zeneta

Sad to say, this professor who ostensibly is teaching college students does not have top-notch writing skills himself. Subject-verb disagreement and ending sentences with a preposition are just a couple of the mistakes I see. Each generation of teachers teaches the next, and they get worse and worse over time.


68 posted on 02/21/2014 6:39:46 PM PST by informavoracious (Open your eyes, people!)
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To: Nepeta

Just for more giggles, ask a kid which is smallest

a. .19
b. .090
c. .009
d. .0091

For some strange reason about 20% or more will get it wrong and tell you, “Everything works backwards to the right of the decimal.” Whatever that means.


69 posted on 02/21/2014 6:45:08 PM PST by ladyjane
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To: chajin
I'll restrain the punch down comebacks. ;)

/johnny

70 posted on 02/21/2014 6:52:06 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

You seem to be the first person on this thread that has understood the issue.

Madness.

Yes, but why ?

Why is the left so at ease with their own contradictions and hypocrisy ?

I suggest that they have been conditioned to embrace uncertainty. Objectively, I see a culture that ridicules certainty, unless it is “their” certainty of uncertainty.

I know it may seem crazy. I’ve watched, listen and studied them. I’ve lived with and debated with them.

They have built their foundation of knowledge on “uncertainty”.

These are their “scientific leaders” in academia.

Watch.

Listen.

No Science, No Logic and No Morality: Atheism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxz84kS8k4U


71 posted on 02/21/2014 6:55:05 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

No, the rot started before texting. College writing programs are hotbeds of political correctness and leftist sentimentality. They actively teach bad writing in the name of having an “authentic voice”, and spend more time on writing autobiographical anecdotes and opinion pieces (the latter graded mostly on how politically correct they opinions expressed are, and how “authentic” the “voice” is, rather than on things valued by the oppressive whitemale heteronormative society like grammar, pronunciation or sound rhetoric) than on writing scholarly essays with proper formal style and textual apparatus.


72 posted on 02/21/2014 6:58:16 PM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know...)
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To: Zeneta

It’s considered raaacist to insist on proper English.


73 posted on 02/21/2014 7:00:20 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Zeneta

bfl


74 posted on 02/21/2014 7:04:47 PM PST by gaijin
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To: rey

They do not read and when asked to write a paper all most do is cut and paste. They are very good at plagiarism


75 posted on 02/21/2014 7:08:46 PM PST by Nifster
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To: Zeneta

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


76 posted on 02/21/2014 7:09:53 PM PST by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: Zeneta

On the positive side, maybe I won’t be forced out of the workforce in 20 years when I’m unable to retire. This old geezer will look pretty good compared to the illiterates we’re producing.


77 posted on 02/21/2014 7:12:29 PM PST by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: Zeneta

http://tinyurl.com/k6d54o4


78 posted on 02/21/2014 7:14:35 PM PST by Misterioso ("There are two potential violators of man's rights: the criminals and the government." Ayn Rand)
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To: Steve_Seattle; gaijin; The_Reader_David; FreedomStar3028; Telepathic Intruder; JRandomFreeper; ...

I suggest you take 13 minutes out of your life to gain a better understanding of our enemy.

No Science, No Logic and No Morality: Atheism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxz84kS8k4U


79 posted on 02/21/2014 7:15:13 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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To: Misterioso

“The distinction between the metaphysical and the man-made is not merely unknown to this mentality, it is incommunicable.”

From your link.

Nice.


80 posted on 02/21/2014 7:18:36 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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