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Kaj_Sotala comments on A philosophy professor elicits college students' reactions to Less Wrong - Less Wrong Discussion
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Comments (77)
Nisan's description sounds more like elementary school or high school than college to me. That said, the comments also looked more like something that I'd have expected from high schoolers than college students...
As an American college student, I'm shocked by how poorly some of my peers write; I suspect that many American high schools didn't put enough emphasis on writing.
This example seems to support that conclusion, but then again, these are comments on a blog rather than formal essays, so maybe the students were told not to worry about grammar or spelling.
And yet, somehow, we seem to manage basic grammar, spelling and word choice on this blog, even though there's more anonymity and less incentive.
This is a fact about the map, not a fact about the territory. You just need to calibrate your expectations downward.
I think the karma system has a lot to do with this, along with the fact that good grammar and style are community norms here.
ETA: The most important thing, though, is the instructions the students were given--if the professor advised them not to worry about grammar, then that's what the students will do.
Agreed, and I have drastically adjusted my expectations since I started reading my peers' work. Upon reflection, what I really meant by "I'm shocked by how poorly some of my peers write" is "I used to be surprised at how poorly they write, and even though I have come to expect it, it still bothers me." Sorry if this was ambiguous or misleading.
Grades aren't equivalent to the karma system? Good grammar and style aren't community norms in a college philosophy class? Edit: Well, maybe it's just me, but I'd be embarrassed to make such basic grammar errors in any situation, whether I was 'advised not to worry' or not.
Now this I agree with. I had the unfortunate experience of an entry-level English class that practiced peer review / cooperative editing; it can be effectively summed up as this repeated fifteen or so times over the course of a semester.
Same here, but I've observed that this just isn't the case for a lot of other students. I took a philosophy class last year, and I quickly learned that some people just don't care.
I strongly agree, and I've had a few similar experiences (though not as bad the one as you described).
Well, this is an introductory class, so a lot of the students probably started their first semester of college this month. That said, I've done peer editing for graduating seniors whose work I would have been ashamed to hand in in middle school.
Anecdotally, I've heard that European college students are more mature than American college students.