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Report: Long Writing Assignments Now Less Common at US Colleges

时间:2018-09-23 17:32:14

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Higher education can test a person’s academic abilities in many ways. Most study programs require research, class discussions1, presentations and group projects, to name a few.

Yet if you asked almost any professor or student, they would likely tell you that writing is one of the skills most often examined at colleges and universities. In the United States, writing long essays about complex subjects has been, in many cases, a major part of higher education for years.

However, a new study suggests that many current college students have never experienced2 the challenge of writing very long papers. And some experts argue this may not be as necessary a requirement for their success overall3.

The higher education research company Primary Research Group published the findings4 of its study in late July. It includes data gathered from 1,140 students at four-year colleges and universities in the U.S.

The students were asked about the kinds of long-form writing they had done and the amount of writing training they had received. Nearly one third of them had never been required to write an essay of ten pages or more in length.

James Moses is the president of Primary Research Group. He says, ten pages might seem like an unnecessarily large amount of writing, especially for students in fields like math or science. In fact, he argues, many students avoid longer papers by choosing subjects in which they are less likely to be required.

Moses says students are likely attracted to those fields because they see many of today’s highest paying jobs are at big technology companies.

But he says that many young people fail to understand that there is still great demand for skilled5 writers in the job market. And long form writing assignments do more than measure how much or for how long a person can write about any given thing.

“More than anything else, a long paper teaches you planning and organization, to a much greater extent6 than most other exercises that I can think of in higher education,” he told VOA.

University of California, Davis writing teacher Dan Melzer agrees. He says long form writing assignments can teach skills that are useful even in fields that may not seem to be related7 to writing.

For example, engineers often have to write long, detailed8 proposals9 for building projects. Businesses require well-written business plans to get bank loans10 or money from private investors11.

Both Melzer and Moses agree that there is a deep lack of writing instruction, at all levels of education. The Primary Research Group study found that about 40 percent of college students were not receiving any writing training.

This is not surprising to Melzer, He says it is common for colleges and universities facing financial difficulties to make cuts in such programs. And he says professors often expect students to be well trained in long form writing, from their high school studies or earlier.

But Melzer says that is not fair to students, especially those whose educational experiences were centered on skills other than writing. So, he says, professors of subjects that are not heavy in writing should find ways to include the skill in instruction.

“If your teachers are only giving you exams and you’re cramming12 for the exam and kind of spitting out real short answers…you’re not really doing in-depth thinking or critical thinking,” he said. “You’re not really using your mind to the fullest.”

Elaine Maimon is the president of Governors13 State University in University Park, Illinois. She also helped establish the Writing Across the Curriculum14 movement in the 1970s. This was an effort to get professors in fields like science, technology, engineering15 and mathematics to make greater use of writing in their classes.

Supporters of the movement seek to train such professors in writing instruction. They also help professors share successful writing assignments with each other and show them how best to criticize16 students’ written work.

Maimon shares the opinions of Melzer and Moses that writing instruction is highly17 important. Still, she is not as concerned about the lack of longer assignments. She agrees that in some cases, these long assignments can challenge students in a helpful way. But length is not the only quality that is important, she says.

“Counting pages,…that’s not the way to assess18 whether students are learning19 to be writers,” said Maimon. “If you say, ‘We have a great program and the students have to write five ten-page papers,’ what you’re going to get is a lot of filler. So students aren’t going to be learning how to write, rewrite, rethink. And when should something be brief instead of long? We want to make sure students understand that, too.”

I’m Pete Musto. And I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education

essay(s) – n. a piece of writing that tells a person's thoughts or opinions about a subject

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem

page(s) – n. one side of a sheet of paper especially in a book, magazine or essay

attract(ed) – v. to cause someone to like or be interested in something

assignment(s) – n. a job or duty that is given to someone

extent – n. used to indicate the degree to which something exists, happens, or is true

cram(ming) – v. to prepare for a test by learning a lot of information quickly

spit(ting) out – p.v. to say or write something without thinking about what is being said or written

assess – v. to make a judgment about something


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 discussions 48ee344d9a540894650ce4af27e169dd     
n.讨论( discussion的名词复数 );商讨;详述;论述
参考例句:
  • Discussions are held on an informal basis within the department. 讨论限于在本部门内非正式地进行。
  • Her specialist input to the discussions has been very useful. 她在这些讨论中提供的专家建议很有助益。
2 experienced ntPz2t     
adj.有经验的;经验丰富的,熟练的
参考例句:
  • Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
  • Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好,你比我更有经验。
3 overall vJQxS     
n.工作服,工装裤;全面的,全体的
参考例句:
  • The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
  • How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱?
4 findings 4tYzV9     
n.发现物( finding的名词复数 );调查(或研究)的结果;(陪审团的)裁决
参考例句:
  • It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
  • Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
5 skilled 7iTzD3     
adj.(in)熟练的,有技能的;需要技能的
参考例句:
  • Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
  • She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟,足以翻译小说。
6 extent rmVxT     
n.程度,范围,限度;广度,宽度,大小
参考例句:
  • The new race track is nearly six miles in extent. 这条新跑道将近六英里长。
  • What's the extent of the damage? 损坏的程度如何?
7 related vkGzSv     
adj.有关系的,有关联的,叙述的,讲述的
参考例句:
  • I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
  • We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
8 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
9 proposals c81858101b134a23eb7a0df15e102f4d     
n.提议( proposal的名词复数 );推荐;求婚;赞成提案
参考例句:
  • The director has given her assent to the proposals. 负责人已表示同意提案。
  • The police gave the proposals their full backing. 警方对这些提案给予全力支持。
10 loans f806527a4b4ecb554edad98174334a70     
n.借出物,借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出,贷与(尤指钱)( loan的第三人称单数 );出借(贵重物品给博物馆等)
参考例句:
  • They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
  • Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
11 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
12 cramming 72a5eb07f207b2ce280314cd162588b7     
n.塞满,填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 );填塞;塞满;(为考试而)死记硬背功课
参考例句:
  • Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午,禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 governors 63b4a6b84b5c5969ebf6bee3461844f0     
主管( governor的名词复数 ); 理事; (美国的)州长; (学校、学院、医院等机构的)董事
参考例句:
  • The teachers have the full backing of the school governors. 老师们获得校董的全力支持。
  • The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。
14 curriculum cYKzO     
n.课程,(学校等的)全部课程
参考例句:
  • Is German on your school's curriculum?你们学校有德语课吗?
  • The English curriculum should stress both composition and reading.英语课程对作文和阅读应同样重视。
15 engineering vtyzmS     
n.工程,工程学,管理,操纵
参考例句:
  • The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
  • It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。
16 criticize wOyzL     
vt.批评;批判,指责;评论,评价
参考例句:
  • Whenever you criticize him,he always has an excuse.你批评他,他总有说头儿。
  • You are free to criticize my work.你可以随意批评我的工作。
17 highly XdFxR     
adv.高度地,极,非常;非常赞许地
参考例句:
  • It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
  • The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。
18 assess kODyv     
vt.对…进行估价;评价,评论
参考例句:
  • They assess his house at 15000 yuan.他们给他房子的估价为15000元。
  • We should equitably assess historical figures.我们应该公正地评价历史人物。
19 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

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