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This morning, after students submitted a homework assignment (a 200-word evidence-based argument paragraph), I asked them to annotate a printout of the instructions (including a rubric), had them peer-review their own submission, and then had them write additional annotations on the assignment sheet, in which they stated what changes they now realized they needed to…
I felt like a capitalist, buying in bulk on the cheap and selling individual books for $2 (about a 20-cent profit, per book, but I’m really rounding up so I don’t have to deal with change). Students will spend time in class annotating printouts and writing in their copybooks. They’ll still do online activities but…
In the halls of power at Amazon, busy executives have no time for PowerPoints. At the start of a meeting, everyone gets a printed 6-page memo, and spends 20-25 minutes reading it silently and marking it up. After the discussion, the printouts (typically with detailed hand-written comments) are handed back to the person who called…
When I went off to college to be an English major, my father (who passed last December at 90) told me a story about how his respected professor at Northwestern University spent a whole lecture on the seven levels of symbolism in Melville’s Moby-Dick. Being of an analytical mind and precise mind, my father copied…
When I ask my students to use the library database to find scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles, some students stick with the search methods they’re already familiar with, and they submit works cited lists that include articles written by undergraduate interns, or articles from low-value pay-to-publish ecosystems like “Frontiers.” While I don’t read every article students…
What have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are collaborating on a Google Doc that’s coming together very nicely before our eyes. Similar:Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Minecraft Stylehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti…AestheticsDr Jerz I think your microphone glitchedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPqnXF7A…Academia11 Compound Word Errors that Might Make You Look like a Numbskull You might wonder why we flip out…
Predatory publications are not concerned with writing quality (or even coherence), and thus also do not care about writing tools (although we could, perhaps, include generative AI as a tool that replaces those used by human authors). The rules change pretty radically as the predatory version does away with nearly all of the rules in…
Touched up and created an infographic for a web page that I first posted in Nov 2000. Similar:Ambiguous language in journalism: Monkey Pox and Camel Privates Amazing lead: A veterinarian prescr…AmusingThat 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest TicketWhat kind of boss hires a thwarted actre…AcademiaAvoiding Spoilers Gives You a Superficial Appreciation of ArtI…
It’s unlikely to be at the forefront of the former president’s mind as he reflects on the verdict, but one immediate consequence is that Trump will probably lose the honorific title of “Mr” in the news pages of the UK’s Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph’s style guide states: “Defendants in criminal court cases … are to be referred…
Rewatching ST:DS9 A nervous Morn sniffs a flower and presents it to a woman who accepts it warmly. At the replimat, Odo and Sisko chat about the forthcoming O’Brien baby and the risks of interspecies love. Worf’s jealously and aloofness is played for laughs against Dax’s open friendliness as they discuss a trip to Risa…
Here’s the underlying problem. We have an operating image of thought, an understanding of what thought is and how to make thought productive of knowledge and truth through the use of various methods. This image and its methods are, of course, products of human history. They change over time, in different cultures, and so on.…
How to Disagree Academically: Using Graham’s “Disagreement Hierarchy” to organize a college term paper. Similar:Fake Graph: The Actual "Dunning-Kruger Effect" Is NOTHING Like I Thought It WasFor years, I’ve been teaching a fake gra…AcademiaValid for any new yearEthicsKids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class. Twelfth-grade reading scores are a…BooksFormer Setonian editor-in-chief Amanda…
Gotta love how this reporter worked the spelling variations into the story. Meet Ben F orgers (we wish we were making this up). The founder of the accounting firm hired by Donald Trump’s social media group has used 14 variations of his name in filings with the industry regulator, far more than any other US…
Some 2300 years ago in ancient Greece, Plato wrote a dialogue featuring his mentor Socrates, who argued that the ability to churn out the longest written compositions on trivial topics or the shortest compositions on important topics is a shallow skill that has nothing to do with human understanding, much like demonstrating that you can…
I’ve felt a bit like this guy the last few times I’ve been to in-person academic conferences. I certainly enjoy the panels and the keynotes and seeing the poster presentations, but in between sessions I just drift around and think about what I would be doing right now if I were at home, and missing…
What is a double-entry research journal?
Reading with a highlighter in your hand encourages you to agree with or ignore what you read. That’s a very limited way to engage with a text.
By contrast, double-entry notes are a way of making complex connections between different things that you read.
My students often tell me that when they take good double-entry notes, they get a much better paper when the time comes for them to start actually churning out the paragraphs.
Rewatching ST:DS9 On a bustling morning in Quark’s, Rom sours his brother’s good mood by ordering human cuisine — O’Brien’s favorite breakfast. Bashir commiserates after he accidentally killed the plants Keiko entrusted to O’Brien. Little Molly tells her daddy, “You’re in trouble.” Keiko seems strangely unmoved by the news. “They’re just plants.” When Keiko tells…
Medical doctors and scholars Raneem Bader, Ashraf Imam, Mohammad Alnees, Neta Adler, Joanthan ilia, Diaa Zugayar, Arbell Dan, and Abed Khalaileh are shortly going to be very surprised how many people are viewing their article, “Successful management of an Iatrogenic portal vein and hepatic artery injury in a 4-month-old female patient: A case report and…
This is not only powerful material for thought, it’s also compelling storytelling. At the time, only a handful of published medical studies had documented deathbed visions, and they largely relied on secondhand reports from doctors and other caregivers rather than accounts from patients themselves. On a flight home from a conference, Kerr outlined a study…
MLA In-text citations: Writing that got you through high school won’t do in college. Similar:Price History Chart of The Associated Press Stylebook 2013 (Associated Press Stylebook and…The AP Stylebook jumped in price by more…AcademiaDani Girl (Oct 1-3, 2015) at the Geyer Performing Arts CenterVinnie Tresco, Carolyn Jerz, Matthew Hom…CultureGo Forth and Conquer, but Postpone…