Alex Bryant

A genuine #pedagogy question, esp. for #AcademicPhilosophy:

It is reasonable to ask for the style of paper assignments we do given the expected audience for the paper is precisely 1 (namely, the person grading it)?

I find myself occasionally giving feedback to students about how to approach writing within the style of the philosophy essay, and sometimes I think, "this approach with e.g. the introduction, is that just for my sake isn't it? Is that like stapling on the top left?"

Dec 28, 2022 at 4:52amWeb
Show threadAlex BryantDec 28, 2022

For instance, I find that often undergraduate students are expected to write to a style that hopes to see them write in a way that's as mark-dense.

That is, if they spend time meandering or they spend too many words on something trivial, it's an opportunity cost. They might have otherwise filled out that space with more rich, more important argumentation that would serve the aims of the paper. I see why this might be useful, but then, sometimes I mark so many papers in a row I wonder if it is.

Show threadAlex BryantDec 28, 2022
I admit it's somewhat like saying a word over and over again until it feels derealized from the object (like saying "apple" until it sounds meaningless). Sometimes I grade so many things I start the already tenuous connection between the assessment goals and method assessment start to drift apart with the undergraduate philosophy paper.
Show threadAlex BryantDec 28, 2022
Part of what I have in mind is also that these papers aren't going anywhere afterward. I am of the opinion that having undergraduate students draft and then revise drafts is fruitful, but it's always struck me as somewhat wasteful that these students must be writing dozens of argumentative over their degree that just go nowhere while we're asking them to act as if they are engaged in something larger. I know it's just an exercise, but I don't think we talk to them about #writing that way.
Show threadRoberta Millstein 🌎🌱🐩🏊🏼‍♀Dec 28, 2022
@alexbryant I guess it depends on which aspect of the assignment you are concerned about. Philosophy papers typically advocate for a straightforward intro that sets out the thesis and how it will be argued for. This gives practice in succinctness and clarity and forces the writer to have a structure to their paper, being able to show how the parts fit together. All of these are worthwhile skills that extend beyond philosophy, IMO.
Show threadCorey DethierDec 28, 2022

@alexbryant

There are definitely stylistic differences across disciplines and settings that we should be aware of when marking. So if you're telling students things like "never use a personal pronoun in your writing" or "always start with a personal anecdote," then I'd suggest ... not doing that.

But I think many of lessons of paper writing can carry over into other settings. Ultimately, the pedagogical point of asking students to write a clear introduction with a thesis statement isn't to produce a paper with that style, but to get them in the practice of thinking about what their central claim is and tailoring their writing to account for that. There are, of course, probably better and worse ways of getting that kind of lesson across, but I think ideally that's the takeaway --- not anything specific about style.