huh. or: why kids like this should not strive to be economists
so a student comes in the last day of classes to work on his senior econ capstone. all semester stella and i have worked with students in this class. they've had the assignment for 15 weeks. it's a big deal. they can't graduate without it. it's a formal research paper on an economic theory. some of the papers have been pretty interesting. this particular one? scary. seriously scary.
of course dude's hat is on backwards and he's got his flip flops and mentions his frat brothers not once, not twice, but like sixteen times. i notice, in flipping through his paper, that it's pretty short and lacks any sign of documentation and integration of sources. when i ask what kind of help he needs, he says, "well, uh, i mean, a lot. it's due tomorrow." this i know. i press him for some specifics. "well, uh, the analysis. and my teacher made comments like he wants me to do more or something." i give a cursory look at the professor's comments - yep, he definitely wants more, as in 'explain x' and 'describe how z fits into y' and 'i think this paper needs to be more theory based.'
okay. dued is on board with this one, he sees he needs to develop his ideas further. great. adding sources, i suggest, would help, since it seems as though he hasn't cited at all.
"well, no, not really, i mean essentially i'm just dealing with general knowledge in my paper, and you don't gotta cite general stuff." he's getting ready to graduate and all. he's been busy.
i stare for what, i realize now, is an uncomfortably long time. many thoughts run through my head. none of them are appropriate. finally i sigh. this is your capstone, i remind him. you know, your senior research project. you really need to use sources. they need to be integrated into your paper.
"you think? really?"
i smile. uh huh. i think.
"how long is this gonna take me to do this all, do you think?" he asks at the end of our 50 minutes together. we've made it through a page and a half.
when is it due?
"oh, dude, like tomorrow."
i smile.
seriously? dude is like going to join the working world any second now? as someone with a econ degree?
of course dude's hat is on backwards and he's got his flip flops and mentions his frat brothers not once, not twice, but like sixteen times. i notice, in flipping through his paper, that it's pretty short and lacks any sign of documentation and integration of sources. when i ask what kind of help he needs, he says, "well, uh, i mean, a lot. it's due tomorrow." this i know. i press him for some specifics. "well, uh, the analysis. and my teacher made comments like he wants me to do more or something." i give a cursory look at the professor's comments - yep, he definitely wants more, as in 'explain x' and 'describe how z fits into y' and 'i think this paper needs to be more theory based.'
okay. dued is on board with this one, he sees he needs to develop his ideas further. great. adding sources, i suggest, would help, since it seems as though he hasn't cited at all.
"well, no, not really, i mean essentially i'm just dealing with general knowledge in my paper, and you don't gotta cite general stuff." he's getting ready to graduate and all. he's been busy.
i stare for what, i realize now, is an uncomfortably long time. many thoughts run through my head. none of them are appropriate. finally i sigh. this is your capstone, i remind him. you know, your senior research project. you really need to use sources. they need to be integrated into your paper.
"you think? really?"
i smile. uh huh. i think.
"how long is this gonna take me to do this all, do you think?" he asks at the end of our 50 minutes together. we've made it through a page and a half.
when is it due?
"oh, dude, like tomorrow."
i smile.
seriously? dude is like going to join the working world any second now? as someone with a econ degree?
posted by lynda at 8:07 PM
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