Opinion
February 13, 2014
page 7
Last-minute completion of assignments stunts self-pride, hinders overall potential for personal, academic growth nonsense” sort of guy. But listen, I get it: some classes can be coasted through, whether lright, it’s 11 p.m. Wednesday the coursework is easy or it’s not night. You had a long day: your cup of tea. Sadly, those classes class at 9:30 and lunch in the tend to fall under the umbrella of Marketplace, where you nearly the humanities, or what society had to stab someone to get a seat; would stereotypically label “liberal you decide screw it, hanging out arts” or “useless,” and chances are and having fun is way better than you’re taking it for Core, so why doing school work at school, so would you care? But for a guy like one thing leads to another and me, who is afflicted with having now it’s 11 p.m. And you have a nearly every one of his majorfive-page paper due tomorrow at required courses being offered as 8 a.m. for your Humanities core Core, it’s actually borderline cruel class, the one you forget to go to and unusual punishment. The sometimes, because what in the intellectual apathy that pervades world is a Nicarry? our campus, where students are required to take courses that aren’t piquing their interest, causes the quality of the classroom experience to suffer for people who actually want to be there. Why i s t h at ? A n d we c an point fingers and say it’s because colleges now only care about pre-professionalism, there’s more money in particular fields than others (which obviously makes them superior), or maybe so-andso shouldn’t teach such-and-such course because he or she can’t present things in a universally interesting way. I don’t know and I don’t care, because I, as a student, can’t change the way things work within the administrative system or on the faculty level. But I can control me. And I can look within myself and find some way to make a class work, even if I’m staring down the barrel of comparative politics. I’m (my parents are) paying money to go here, and I might as well get as much out of this as possible. Photo: Stephen Hajcak We all should, because if I see While many students are proud of their ability to complete assignments with minimal effort in a last- #HowMuchDoWePayToGoHere minute fashion, other students take pride in their diligence.We are entitled to choose our own approaches. one more time, I’m going to throw
by ANDREW HERM
A
You pop open SparkNotes, get some caffeine in your system and load that paper up with enough malarkey to make an Irishman’s head explode. Turn it in. Get an A. We all know this story, and sometimes we’re even the star. On top of that, we all know the rush that comes with pulling it off: I didn’t care, I put in the minimum, got the maximum and that poor girl who spent a week on the same paper I sneezed out the night before it was due got a lower grade than I did. Is it fair? Furthermore, is it fair to our classmates, teachers, the subject itself or even more “whoa that’s, like, deep” — is it fair
to ourselves? I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the few things that Bruce Wayne and I don’t have in common is that I have parents. Even more importantly is that my parents, for whatever reason, continue to think that I’m worth funding, at least until my time at Etown comes to an end. So, for me, my abhorrence of mixing poppycock — nonsense, malarkey — with school work comes not only from a mixture of my not wanting to disappoint my parents or become a poor investment, but also with my busy schedule of fighting crime in the evenings I’ve grown into a “no
“The intellectual apathy that pervades our campus, where students are required to take courses that aren’t piquing their interest, causes the quality of the classroom experience to suffer for people who actually want to be there.” a computer. So at the end of the day, it’s about personal pride. “What if I’m proud of my ability to get by without working hard?” I can barely hear you mumble from behind all of your swag, and you’re right. It’s all subjective; it’s where your moral lines fall. I’d love for you to read this, nod your head vigorously and say, “You know what, he’s right! No more hokum and reindeer games when it comes to schoolwork for me!” But that’s up to you, because who knows? Maybe I wrote this two hours before it was due. So do what you want, but keep in mind that every time you don’t care about that one William Carlos Williams poem you’re reading for WCHcore, there’s an English major alone somewhere, crying into a book. And that thing costs money.
Do self-evaluation assessments in classroom settings add unnecessary stress on students or make them partners in learning experience? by SYDNEY NESTER
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hen walking into a college classroom, most students do not expect to have to grade or rate themselves. This is usually something that the teacher or professor is expected to do, but when the roles are reversed, how do the students feel? Many students see this is as an opportunity to give themselves whatever grade they want, requiring them not to do as much work or quality work that they may have been capable of. Not all college professors allow their students to have this chance, though, which raises the question of whether giving students this option is beneficial or detrimental. I think that giving students the chance to grade or rate themselves within a classroom setting is unfair and not a good idea for both the teacher and student. I believe this because an overwhelming number of students would take this as an opportunity to do less work and end up with whatever grade they want. On the other hand, the selfevaluation stresses out the student. I think a personal evaluation should be included with the grade, but it should be between the teacher and student. It is a reflection of how that student did within the class. This idea gives both the teacher and student the ability to express how they think they did throughout the class and the ability to be open about themselves. I think that self-evaluation throughout the course is a good way to reflect on work that has been handed in or graded. This gives the students an opportunity to say how they feel that the class has been going. It also gives students an idea of their progress throughout the semester. I think that the biggest issue at hand
would be that students may not be able to know whether the grade itself was appropriate in comparison with the work that they had done. “I believe it’s very important for students to think about how well they’re preparing and how actively they are participating, because I think this helps them to understand how much they are partners in education, not just passive receivers of information,” Dr. Louis Martin, professor of English, said. Martin is one of few professors at the College who implements the idea of selfevaluation and believes in it strongly. The collaboration of student and professor for a combined grade makes it possible to come to a conclusion about the work that was done, see how hard the student worked
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and what that student can then work on in the future. “I have students ass ess t heir ow n preparation and participation on a weekly basis, and I review their assessments and hand them back. They write down the points that they think they deserve, and I either confirm or change the number of points. I more commonly have to add points than take them away, as students don’t give themselves as much credit sometimes as I think they deserve,” Martin said. Although Martin employs self-evaluation for all of his classes, many students on campus have never had a professor ask them how they feel about the quality of the work that they completed throughout the semester.
Sound Off
“I think you’ve got something on your face. It’s called ‘beautiful.’” Kevin Ferguson ’17
“I don’t like to do self-evaluations in class, because I feel uncomfortable giving myself a good evaluation; but at the same time, it is a part of my grade, and I want it to be good. I always feel stuck, and I never know what to do,” sophomore Sarah Nolen said. Due to the pressure of not knowing how to grade yourself and what the teacher expects of you, I do not believe that self-evaluations are very effective. Many students do not even have professors that have them reflect on themselves. It stresses the students out to try to make the right decision. I do not think students would rate themselves appropriately under the pressure of not knowing what is right and wrong and how their teacher feels about them.
What is your best pick-up line for Valentine’s Day? Compiled by STEPHEN HAJCAK
“Are you dynamite? Because you’re blowing my mind!” Jordan Kulp ’17
“Were you forged by Sauron? Because you’re precious.” Ryan Perez ’15