UP - I intend to do that assignment.

But I was just writing something else and thought of something for this thread.


The point of an assignment in school is to see how well a student performs within certain parameters. (iow, the topic of an essay would give the teacher a rough model of expectation which would help them determine how 'well' or 'not well' a student performs.

In the case of an essay about the war, there would be several possible assignments.
1. Write a pro-war essay.
2. Write a anti-war essay.
3. Write a pro-war AND an anti-war essay
4. Write either a pro-war essay or an anti-war essay.
5. What do you think about the war?


We've already said why 1 and 2 are bad.
3 seems the most unbiased (even you had to write an essay you didn't believe in, you'd stlll get to write one you did believe in... the only downside being that more than likely, you would recieve one thought-out, passionate essay and one essay that is weak and lifeless and probably just a list of the opposite points in the other essay. (and this would get you a bad grade ;P )

Choice 4 then seems the best but this just has the reverse problem. If the students can't be asked to write something they don't believe in, then the teachers
can't be asked to grade something they don't believe in. They should be unbiased, but they're only human after all.

For all we know this teacher might have created the assignment this way because she didn't want to be biased.
And she thought that setting a topic - limiting the range of thought so that each student would be writing the essay about the same thing would help her grade the QUALITY and not the BELIEFS of the paper.
(Thus only being biased in her concepts of 'good' and 'bad' writing.)

Of course, her decision was still bad teaching I suppose. And this takes us to point 5.
Each writer could just write their honest thoughts on the war. But then, you can't say that their thoughts are only a D. Beliefs aren't gradeable, except based against other beliefs. And that would be bias grading.


Still, it's better to hear someone's real thoughts but the only grade you can give them is Completed or NotCompleted.

And somehow, that seems somehow fair to me.


Ok.. i'm gonna stop talking

[Edited on 27-3-2003 by quango]

[Edited on 27-3-2003 by quango]

Originally posted by quango
Is it an abuse of power for a teacher to make an assignment?
We're talking about a college-level speech class, which probably involves debate, public-speaking and speech writing...

A *viable* assignment would be to have the students write *two* letters, each showing the opposite viewpoint...Then debate them in class. No, that teacher has only assigned for a one-sided argument with no room for the other side to enter into discussion or education purposes.

Originally posted by MidnightDStroyer

Originally posted by quango
Is it an abuse of power for a teacher to make an assignment?
We're talking about a college-level speech class, which probably involves debate, public-speaking and speech writing...

A *viable* assignment would be to have the students write *two* letters, each showing the opposite viewpoint...Then debate them in class. No, that teacher has only assigned for a one-sided argument with no room for the other side to enter into discussion or education purposes.

But don't forget she asked them to write an anti-war letter to the President too.

We know all that her * problem * is coming from the fact that she's left biased.

She was wrong ! Case closed !

I have to admit that I was wrong. It is much harder than I imagined to write something I don't believe in. In order to think of something to say, I would try to think of an argument I had heard someone say, and try to put it into my own words. But to paraphrase it, I had to think about it, and when I thought about it I couldn't think about it without seeing my own opinion. Therefore I could not form the words I needed to be able to write in support of it.
Does that make sense?

Drop my cred 1 point

[Edited on 6-4-2003 by quango]

First, it was only an essay on a point of view. She was not forcing the students to change their views, only to look from a different perspective.

The assignment was to write an anti-war essay. Not to write an essay on your beliefs or your parents beliefs.

Say that I am a babtist (or some other creationist, fundamentalist christian cult) in a biology class. Would it be wrong to make me write an essay on evolution? Or if I was in a physics class, to write a paper on the big bang?

Or an extreme case: Say I was born to a family that was a member of some obscure cult. This cult believes that the universe was created the in what we would see as the 1920s, with the advent of television. We worship Quack the duck god of spam, and believe that Earth revolves around a giant lightbulb and that the moon is not made out of green chese, but a slightly moldy, white cheddar. If, in school I was asked to write an essay about the Romans would I have to? The romans dont exist in Quack's world so why should I write an essay on something I don't believe in.

If they let these kids get off, it will only lead to more slacking in class "Teacher, writing an essay on the civil war goes against my beliefs, I dont have to write this!"

On second thought, I hope these kids get away with this, I'll never have to write an essay again. Hey, if I don't believe that kids should have to go to school, do I have to?

Come on think clearly, don't let your political views get in the way.

XAOS

what no one to refute my argument?

after all that venom toward this teacher you just peter out?

Come on, you have more than that.

XAOS

Originally posted by quango
Does that make sense?

Yes, it make sense. If I had to writte something that I don't support, I'd have the same problem as you.

xaos that has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard.

The teacher should have said "Write a letter to bush that is either for the war, or against it. You must include reasons why you think such, and add references. Overall your letter can only be 2 pages long and should get your point effectively across to bush so that he can understand how you feel his administration is handling things."

You get real...we live in a free world, don't make me say that you have to go back to Nazi Germany.

But I think you do.

First, school is not a free world. It is more like nazi germany than the US. Have you ever gotten to vote on an assignment that you didn't like? Have you ever voted for what teacher you wanted? Have you ever voted for the school rules? If you had been able to school would have been a much different place than it was. The teacher decides the assignments, and if you don't like it you can drop out and serve fries at mcdonald's. To say that kids can not do an assignment because they don't agree with it is ridiculous.

Thank you, powerpuff.

XAOS

Not really xaos.

My history teachers were idiots and I knew more history than they could ever dream of.

And these were the best history teachers public school had to offer.

So I would hand in the opinions I wanted, I would write in the full version of history, not that abrieviated crap.

I'd give the history book it came from.

And they had no choice but to pass me because I passed the exams.

Consequently I graduated in 2.5 years.

All while maintaining my freedom of thought.

Just because you gave up so easily, doesn't mean you have to teach the future to do the same.

Gave up so easily? I'm a sophmore in high school.

XAOS