[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I went to HS in the 60s and probably wrote half a dozen term papers. Some for Government and History courses and others for English. I had one on Capital Punishment that was 30 pages, with charts, maps (done by hand) and attached interviews. Upon entering college, I still had a somewhat rude awakening regarding my writing. I can't imagine how a college student with no experience in writing papers would manage college English.

[Thywillnotmine]

It's called 'dumbing down' the curriculum. One can't expect as much from them. You see, the courses are divided into 'reading' and 'writing'. The reading ones can demand that the students read up to 12 novels in a full-year course, but they would write exams or short pieces in preference to essays -- perhaps do 1 essay per term. The 'writing' courses can demand more essays, but I don't think anyone does more than 2 in a half-term, and lots of little pieces to develop skills.

[Thywillnotmine]

There is certainly an extent to which the prof. kowtows to the STUDENTS, especially if h/she is not tenured... student evaluations can mean the difference between being hired or not. I don't profess to be a great teacher, or even a good one. I think the good ones are few and far between. To my shame, I try to teach contented students, so we meet somewhere in the middle, between their desire to do very little work, and my desire to have them approach the issues thoughtfully and coherently.