This is a continuation of the widely popular "Words Students Don't Know" discussion topic on the Chronicle of Education's old forums.
https://www.chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,55222.0.html
I has someone ask me this week (during an exam) what "hoarded" meant.
I sincerely hope that english is not his primary language.
From my friend who teaches anatomy: shin.
My wife recently left the glamorous world of cosmetics and skin care to take a retail management position at our university bookstore. She supervises a number of student workers and was suprised to learn that one of the young men didn't know the word "band." She told him, "band these items together." He didn't know what that meant. "You know, like with a rubber band?" "I don't know how to do that."
Words students don't know: full
As in, that lab section is full. No, you cannot attend/enroll in/stop by to participate/take the quiz in that lab section because it is full.
Drab.
Stu Dent: "What is that word?"
Me: "Drab? It means dull."
Stu Dent: "What does dull mean?"
Me: "Are you messing with me?"
Quote from: RatGuy on February 06, 2020, 10:58:38 AM
My wife recently left the glamorous world of cosmetics and skin care to take a retail management position at our university bookstore. She supervises a number of student workers and was suprised to learn that one of the young men didn't know the word "band." She told him, "band these items together." He didn't know what that meant. "You know, like with a rubber band?" "I don't know how to do that."
Huh. Never heard it, either!
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 06, 2020, 01:30:00 PM
Words students don't know: full
As in, that lab section is full. No, you cannot attend/enroll in/stop by to participate/take the quiz in that lab section because it is full.
zomg, yes. I'm so, so,
so tired of the begging and pleading, even after I've repeated for the fourth time that the section--and classroom!--is completely full.
Over seven years, no students (of all ages)know the meaning of "qualifications" in the sense of I believe this view without qualifications. No one. They only know the other meaning of the word.
Another word is "nature" as in the nature of politics or whatever.
It is easy to find students and other people who do not know certain words. I have loads of examples. How about whole classes?
Mercurial.
Protean.
In order to minimize this lack of vocabulary, professors ought not assume they know much, including ordinary words. I never did this when I began teaching and now I wish I did, at least with beginning students, 19-21 years old. Stop expecting too much. They are nowhere close to your level. Don't even expect they know what the senses are. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell. This is not dumbing down. I taught mostly in affluent areas with good high schools, very multicultural. Most adults do not know some of these words.
Here's an example. When I was a freshman I wen to a counselor to drop a class. She asked me if I could salvage the class. I did not know what the word meant. No idea...but I said yes for some reason. Well, I stayed in the class, unhappily. But I learned the meaning of salvage.
How many words or academic terms faculty not know? No one will admit it, even in their own subject.
I was once doing a unit on euthanasia. I was simply asking the students to come up with pros and cons. It was very frustrating for all of us. And then one of the students simply said, "We don't know what 'euthanasia' is." Ooooooohhhhhh....
In this same class the students asked what "Klingons" were after I used them in a writing example. My explanation that they were characters from Star Trek confused them even more.
yardstick
Quote from: sinenomine on February 17, 2020, 05:50:16 AM
yardstick
Was this in the US? If so, have they never seen one??? In Canada, since we've had metre sticks for several decades it would be more understandable.
Basic 10th grade-level English vocabulary is usually what most professors are expecting.
The basic vocabulary assessed from most middle school, junior high and high school placement tests are usually what most professors are expecting.
Quote from: marshwiggle on February 17, 2020, 06:28:13 AM
Quote from: sinenomine on February 17, 2020, 05:50:16 AM
yardstick
Was this in the US? If so, have they never seen one??? In Canada, since we've had metre sticks for several decades it would be more understandable.
When I was a kid, our classrooms had both. Naturally, we scoffed at the dinky yardstick.
parity
Slide rule.
Well, that's not exactly a word, but a concept and a physical item. There is NO reason they need to know it, but it's a pity that the slide rule world is gone. Frankly, it made me think more about keeping track of exponents and significant figures and estimating than any calculator or smartphone does for today's cohort.
I still have mine. And, yes, there are incomprehensible scales on it, but I still can multiply/divide and do squares and cubes and associated roots. Not that I need to do much of those last two in retirement. "Multiply/divide"? Tax time is coming. I wonder if the IRS will validate figures from slide rule work?
Heifer.
In a class of students who thought they were going to become veterinarians.
My dad had a slide rule and tried to show me how it worked, but I could never figure it out.
Slide rules are magical.
Apparently, anything involving data is magical, and to be feared.
I have a slide rule my dad gave me, too.
I kept trying to u understand "why" it worked so I never figured out "how..."
I'd set up an equation and try to solve it, then get lost in the exponents...
M.
"Lost in the Exponents" is going to be the name of my next book.
Do I get a royalty for supplying the title?
;--}
M.
"Rectangle".
............
"Perspicacity."
I've heard it defined as meaning that one sweats a lot, but that was somebody deliberately being a smart-aleck.
Once again, the word "drab" has befuddled somebody.
Thinking back now, every person that has asked about this is a non-native-english speaker who has recently immigrated into the U.S.. Today it was someone from Argentina I think. Last time it was someone from the Middle East. And another person from either the Middle East or North Africa. Before that it was someone from another country, but I can't remember the accent.
I am not so irritated anymore. I look forward to the next cultural incident to confirm my hypothesis.
Fortress.
A student raised his hand during an exam because he didn't understand one of the questions, in which I used the word fortress.
For context, we had discussed the role of fortresses in Medieval Europe.
Quote from: uni_cyclist on February 28, 2020, 01:02:29 PM
Fortress.
A student raised his hand during an exam because he didn't understand one of the questions, in which I used the word fortress.
For context, we had discussed the role of fortresses in Medieval Europe.
Perhaps uncertain about the gender significances involved in "Fort" vs. "Fortress." Can't afford to put a step wrong these days.
Not really words, but many of my students can't read the face-clock in the classroom, especially if the clock has Roman numerals.
For timed tests, they have to put away their phones, so I have to tell them what time it is at regular intervals. A bit surreal there . . .
None of my students had ever heard the term noblesse oblige. Surprising.
Quote from: wareagle on February 19, 2020, 02:26:16 PM
Heifer.
In a class of students who thought they were going to become veterinarians.
Heifer loaf is better than none.
I have a Brazilian student who understands 'there' 'they're' and 'their' better than many Americans. It's not a matter of how good your teachers were. It's a matter of whether you care or not. Seventh grade material.
Quote from: wareagle on February 19, 2020, 02:26:16 PM
Heifer.
In a class of students who thought they were going to become veterinarians.
Assign them a James Harriot book....!
M.
In my essay assignment for 2nd-year students, one bullet point says that students should include "definitions of terminology" in their introduction. With the essay due at 5pm today, I've received five students in the last hour asking what "definitions of terminology" meant. Not sure any of this bodes well for their grades.
Reviving this thread to let everyone know that students don't know the word "garb," "hybrid," or "discipline" (as in subject area)
Quote from: RatGuy on October 28, 2020, 05:32:38 AM
Reviving this thread to let everyone know that students don't know the word "garb," "hybrid," or "discipline" (as in subject area)
That's an expensive car, isn't it?
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 28, 2020, 05:42:52 AM
Quote from: RatGuy on October 28, 2020, 05:32:38 AM
Reviving this thread to let everyone know that students don't know the word "garb," "hybrid," or "discipline" (as in subject area)
That's an expensive car, isn't it?
I thought it was a class that's online but also has some students in the actual classroom.
Quote from: apl68 on October 28, 2020, 06:53:12 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 28, 2020, 05:42:52 AM
Quote from: RatGuy on October 28, 2020, 05:32:38 AM
Reviving this thread to let everyone know that students don't know the word "garb," "hybrid," or "discipline" (as in subject area)
That's an expensive car, isn't it?
I thought it was a class that's online but also has some students in the actual classroom.
That was going to be my second guess.
My students don't know the word omit, and this often results in them doing more work than they need to.
Ten years ago, in an Introductory Astronomy course, I had a student ask me what 'vicinity' meant.
Has there ever been a study of vocabulary used in social media; specifically Twitter and Facebook? I'd guess for younger generations for whom those make up 90% of their "reading", the *lexicon is pretty limited.
(*whatever that is)
Quote from: marshwiggle on October 28, 2020, 08:31:33 AM
Has there ever been a study of vocabulary used in social media; specifically Twitter and Facebook? I'd guess for younger generations for whom those make up 90% of their "reading", the *lexicon is pretty limited.
(*whatever that is)
I receive emails from the Microsoft Office 365 spies (the same ones that tell me I spend too much of my work day answering email) and these messages routinely tell me that I use a larger variety of words than 90-something percent of their users. And that makes me wonder how many (or few) words do most people actually use?
Quote from: RatGuy on October 28, 2020, 05:32:38 AM
Reviving this thread to let everyone know that students don't know the word "garb," "hybrid," or "discipline" (as in subject area)
Well, I'm a geneticist and hybrid has a particular meaning in genetics that is different from the everyday meaning. Don't even get me started on words like transcription, dominant, and mutation.
From another thread, "least common denominator," "function of (x)" and "percent error" appear to be dim lights in the universe of scientific terms.
M.
Heliocentric/heliocentrism
Even with a labelled diagram and an explanation, it apparently wasn't clear.
No.
One of my undergrad profs used to tell the story of one of his undergrad profs from back in the 1950's. Apparently said professor had a student who defined brownian motion as diarrhea.
Protagonist.
Short story. I had a student bitterly complain that I was making Stu read long and difficult novels, not realizing that novels are longer than 10-12 pages.
Suggested.
As in: "suggested deadline".
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 04, 2020, 09:06:45 AM
Suggested.
As in: "suggested deadline".
I have to admit; in that context,
I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 04, 2020, 09:06:45 AM
Suggested.
As in: "suggested deadline".
Deadline. Either they don't know what it means, or they don't know that I'm serious when I say it applies to ALL students.
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 04, 2020, 09:41:09 AM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 04, 2020, 09:06:45 AM
Suggested.
As in: "suggested deadline".
I have to admit; in that context, I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)
Well, I haven't
given you the context, which is on both the syllabus and the essay assignment, and which I've explained in several live class sessions and on the discussion board.
The papers are due on the last day of class, which is December 09. That's the deadline. Students in my class can resubmit their essay assignments any number of times to try to earn a better mark. If they want to take advantage of that perk, then I
suggest that they hand their papers in by November 5, which will guarantee them a chance to do so a couple of times before the deadline.
So: the deadline is Dec. 9. The deadline which I
suggest they give themselves instead is Nov. 5.
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 04, 2020, 02:48:48 PM
Quote from: marshwiggle on November 04, 2020, 09:41:09 AM
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 04, 2020, 09:06:45 AM
Suggested.
As in: "suggested deadline".
I have to admit; in that context, I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)
Well, I haven't given you the context, which is on both the syllabus and the essay assignment, and which I've explained in several live class sessions and on the discussion board.
The papers are due on the last day of class, which is December 09. That's the deadline. Students in my class can resubmit their essay assignments any number of times to try to earn a better mark. If they want to take advantage of that perk, then I suggest that they hand their papers in by November 5, which will guarantee them a chance to do so a couple of times before the deadline.
So: the deadline is Dec. 9. The deadline which I suggest they give themselves instead is Nov. 5.
I use "deadline if you want a opportunity to revise to improve your grade." My students didn't understand suggested deadline.
Yeah, well. Now I know that 'suggested' is not part of the accepted vocabulary. Duly noted.
Several.
Many students think it means more than one rather than more than two. Is the common understanding of the word changing to the former?
I think it's been replaced by "bazillion."
M.
"too"
We have questions that frequently ask if such-and-such error would lead to answers that are too high, too low, or no different. Students always answer "to high" or "to low." The correct word is right there in the question, people! But these are the same people who don't understand that extra credit is not something I'm obligated to provide.
"Composed" as in "(blank) is composed of...." So many people have asked me to define that.
As opposed to 'comprised,' which is what it usually is mixed up with, misused for, etc...
M.
Quote from: Anon1787 on May 01, 2022, 10:06:42 PM
Several.
Many students think it means more than one rather than more than two. Is the common understanding of the word changing to the former?
I once had a very long conversation about this with my college roommates and also with Absolutive. I share the intuition that 'several' starts at three, but other people thought it started higher--like, seven or eight. And then we hit on a related question which I think is more helpful than trying to define ranges of numbers: What's the difference between 'several' and 'a few'? It was really hard to narrow it down! I think what we arrived on had to do with the quantity observed relative to the quantity expected. If you've got more than you expected, then you've got 'several'; if you've got something consistent with what you expected, then you've got 'a few'.
Example: Suppose you turn in a homework assignment with, say, four errors, but otherwise fine. If the assignment was intended to be difficult, you might give feedback like, 'There were a few errors, but otherwise well done!' But if the assignment was intended to be completely clean, you might give feedback like, 'There were several errors, so be sure to proofread more carefully next time.'
In both cases, the indefinite amount means 'four', but depending on what the amount is being compared to, 'four' is consistent with either 'several' (too many) or 'a few' (not too many). It would be a bit of a stretch to use these feedbacks for cases where there were exactly two errors, but I could see it happening if you weren't counting very hard. Two errors in a very short assignment might have the same kind of
vibe as four errors in a longer assignment and thus merit either 'a few' or 'several', as appropriate.
In later life, I've thought back on this conversation whenever I've been thinking about the meaning/usage of 'several' and the 'slightly more than expected' meaning has never failed me.
Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 12:41:52 PM
As opposed to 'comprised,' which is what it usually is mixed up with, misused for, etc...
M.
I've given up the fight on this one.
My favorite example of the use of "several" was a story I once read in which a boy's father told him to do some hoeing in the garden. How many rows did Dad want him to hoe? "Several" came the reply.
The boy looked up the dictionary definition of "several," which proved to be "More than one or two, but not very many." He hoed exactly three rows and considered the job done. He later realized that his father probably had a figure of more like five or six in mind.
Quote from: apl68 on May 16, 2022, 11:07:46 AM
My favorite example of the use of "several" was a story I once read in which a boy's father told him to do some hoeing in the garden. How many rows did Dad want him to hoe? "Several" came the reply.
The boy looked up the dictionary definition of "several," which proved to be "More than one or two, but not very many." He hoed exactly three rows and considered the job done. He later realized that his father probably had a figure of more like five or six in mind.
Right--whereas my roommate and I would probably have concluded 'more than you'd like' as closer to the intended amount.
Qualification...as in how does the author qualify his idea? What is the qualification? No student ever knew that.
Precarious, one of my favorite words.
Specious, not spacious (apartments with specious rooms,)
Causal, not casual.
Framework as a metaphor.
As students all of us did not know very common words in our native language.
No shame in that.
Suffrage (≠ suffering)
I imagine this one has come up before.
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on June 21, 2022, 03:54:58 PM
Suffrage (≠ suffering)
I imagine this one has come up before.
There's a whole set of fairly obnoxious youtube videos pranking people for not knowing the difference. Here's the first hit when I searched for 'women's suffrage prank': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceXT8zJE7ys
Quote from: Myword on June 14, 2022, 08:08:19 AM
Qualification...as in how does the author qualify his idea? What is the qualification? No student ever knew that.
Precarious, one of my favorite words.
Specious, not spacious (apartments with specious rooms,)
Causal, not casual.
Framework as a metaphor.
As students all of us did not know very common words in our native language.
No shame in that.
Though I know the difference, I have a terrible time mistaking "causal" for "casual."
I think I once rented a "specious" apartment. It proved misleadingly attractive after we had actually moved in.
I find the phrase "for all intensive purposes" come up in student writing quite a bit, instead of "for all intents and purposes." I guess even if you're using it correctly, it's kind of a cliche clutter phrase, but it's interesting how we hear and misunderstand things, often for many, many years.
Quote from: little bongo on June 29, 2022, 08:42:45 AM
I find the phrase "for all intensive purposes" come up in student writing quite a bit, instead of "for all intents and purposes." I guess even if you're using it correctly, it's kind of a cliche clutter phrase, but it's interesting how we hear and misunderstand things, often for many, many years.
Kind of like people who speak of a "doggie-dog world," or having a low "self of steam." Although it feels like a "doggie-dog" world when I'm walking down certain local streets where there are lots of barkers. And "self of steam" actually makes sense in light of the New Testament reminder that our life here is "even a vapor, which appears for a little time and then vanishes."
Right--sometimes the mistakes make a great deal of sense. (And I suppose some purposes really are intensive.)
Quote from: little bongo on June 29, 2022, 11:50:59 AM
Right--sometimes the mistakes make a great deal of sense. (And I suppose some purposes really are intensive.)
There's actually a name for these kinds of mistakes that make sense: eggcorns. Named after a similar mistake a lot of people make about acorns because they're somewhat egg-shaped.
And there's an entire database of them. https://eggcorns.lascribe.net/
Thanks, mbelvadi! Very good to know.
'Obtaining'.
Instead, I have two students who think the word is 'pertaining'.
"emergency"
Needing to study for an exam is not an emergency. I will not excuse you for being absent in this class so you can study for an exam in your OTHER class.
Make better choices!
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
"belong" , e.g. "hearing (seeing) that made me feel like I don't belong."
"safe", e.g. "hearing (seeing) that made me feel unsafe".
Education is only working if it is making you confront errors and gaps in your knowledge and experience. That will at times, if not usually, be unsettling. That doesn't make you "unsafe", or "not belong", it's the point of the exercise. In fact, if you were never unsettled by anything in your education, that is when you would "not belong" as the experience would be a waste of time.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 02, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
"emergency"
Needing to study for an exam is not an emergency. I will not excuse you for being absent in this class so you can study for an exam in your OTHER class.
Make better choices!
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
This reminds me of a temporary worker we once had who got a case of the Monday morning flu on his very first Monday at work. He nearly ended up being even more temporary than expected.
Quote from: apl68 on February 03, 2023, 07:41:34 AM
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 02, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
"emergency"
Needing to study for an exam is not an emergency. I will not excuse you for being absent in this class so you can study for an exam in your OTHER class.
Make better choices!
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
This reminds me of a temporary worker we once had who got a case of the Monday morning flu on his very first Monday at work. He nearly ended up being even more temporary than expected.
I read a story a while back about a new employee that showed up for her
first day of work late because she was hung over from celebrating getting the job the night before. Needless to say, that was also her
last day of work.
I am seeing an uptick of students who mix up 'substitute X with Y' and 'substitute X for Y'. This flips the meaning.
For example, "Substituted eggs for applesauce" and "Substituted eggs with applesauce".
This is a basic confusion in meaning and I think they just read the word 'substituted' and don't think through the word choice for the rest of the sentence and think that these are all equivalent.
Irritating and time consuming to read, disentangle what they actually meant, and give feedback.
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 02, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all, its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.
You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.
Quote from: Caracal on February 03, 2023, 08:37:10 AM
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 02, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all, its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.
You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.
I think the bigger problem is that students think that being "too sick" to do something somehow magically means that there will be no repercussions from
not doing the thing at all. ( For example, "too sick to write the midterm" means the midterm grade just kind of disappears from the course.) "Too sick to come to class" doesn't mean you're not responsible for the material covered in that class.
Quote from: marshwiggle on February 03, 2023, 09:20:31 AM
Quote from: Caracal on February 03, 2023, 08:37:10 AM
Quote from: the_geneticist on February 02, 2023, 04:58:36 PM
"sick"
Waking up with a mild headache does not mean you are too sick to go to class. Sorry for being skeptical, but this only seems to happen to students who have 8:00am classes.
Yeah, although if you think about it, the way we use "sick" is hard to pin down. In the context of "too sick" to do something, the model is one in which there is a continuum of wellness and at some point on that continuum you become "too sick" to carry out normal activities. So, first of all, its a subjective description of pain or discomfort, and we also use it as a catchall in ways that deliberately make the actual symptoms vague. I have to have a pretty bad headache to decide that I'm not going to teach my classes, but my bar for nausea or "digestive" problems is much lower. If I'm feeling like I'm going to throw up, I'm going home. Then to add to the problem we all kind of assume that someone might be too sick to do some things, but not others, depending on the level of activity required and the importance of the activity. You don't need to be on your deathbed to miss class. There's also the question of what its reasonable to expose others to. I've pretty much decided post covid that if I have the kind of cold where I'm going to be wiping my nose or coughing all class, I'm going to cancel class even if I'm not actually sick in the sense of not being able to teach.
You can sort of see where students get confused with all of this. You don't need to drag yourself to class if you're clearly not well, but if you convince yourself that you can't do anything with any minor discomfort, you're going to end up missing a lot of your morning classes.
I think the bigger problem is that students think that being "too sick" to do something somehow magically means that there will be no repercussions from not doing the thing at all. ( For example, "too sick to write the midterm" means the midterm grade just kind of disappears from the course.) "Too sick to come to class" doesn't mean you're not responsible for the material covered in that class.
Yep, that's what I'm running into. Students aren't realizing that they still have to learn the material. Missing class for any reason means they will have to work harder to get caught up. I can excuse you from participating (if there are participation points), but not from being responsible for learning the material.
I'm not writing different versions of the exam for students who were sick in [Week X] vs [Week Y] vs haven't missed any days.
Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.
Quote from: HappilyTenured on March 25, 2023, 05:48:40 PM
Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.
Now that's funny.
Quote from: HappilyTenured on March 25, 2023, 05:48:40 PM
Exacerbate. It just means making things worse.
Would that mean that the student who writes "I have come to college hoping to exacerbate my qualifications for intended career" is actually telling the truth?
Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?
Quote from: sprezzatura on March 30, 2023, 10:27:23 AM
Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?
Thick book without graphics or speech-bubbles. JUST WORDS!!!!!!!!
Quote from: sprezzatura on March 30, 2023, 10:27:23 AM
Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?
"The Chrysanthemums" is not a novel, nor is "Young Goodman Brown". I've had students complain bitterly that I was making them read long novels. Sprezzatura, your students unlike some of mine do seem to think that any long work of literature does count as a novel. Some of mine seem to think that anything longer than three or four pages is a novel and is therefore too difficult for them to tackle.
Quote from: Langue_doc on March 30, 2023, 11:39:36 AM
Quote from: sprezzatura on March 30, 2023, 10:27:23 AM
Beowulf is not a novel.
Othello is not a novel.
Paradise Lost is not a novel.
Dear students, what on earth do you think the word "novel" means?
"The Chrysanthemums" is not a novel, nor is "Young Goodman Brown". I've had students complain bitterly that I was making them read long novels. Sprezzatura, your students unlike some of mine do seem to think that any long work of literature does count as a novel. Some of mine seem to think that anything longer than three or four pages is a novel and is therefore too difficult for them to tackle.
Same experiences here -- and an article isn't a story!
I recall students from when I was a TA who characterized a nonfiction memoir as a novel. I guess for them any long(ish) book that wasn't mostly pictures was a novel. This was 30 years ago, so it's not a recent thing.
"submitted". As in "your course grades have been submitted to the Registrar"
That is not code for "please send me an email begging/asking/demanding that your grade needs to be higher".
Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.
Quote from: Puget on March 30, 2023, 05:49:48 PM
Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.
I try to read "causal" as "casual" all the time, although I do know the difference. But then I'm the one who in my interlibrary loan days kept trying to read
Journal of Plant Physiology as
Journal of Plant Psychology.
Causal. It's not the they don't know what it means (I think), but I've noticed a significant minority of students saying it, and even spelling it, as "casual". Not sure what's up with that.
[/quote]
I try to read "causal" as "casual" all the time, although I do know the difference. But then I'm the one who in my interlibrary loan days kept trying to read Journal of Plant Physiology as Journal of Plant Psychology.
[/quote]
When I was teaching, NO ONE knew the meaning of causal. They always confused it with casual. As informal logic, that sounds casual. Hey, it is a college word, not for everyday use. I would explain what cause really means.
Sometimes when students ask what a word is, they mean to you! How do YOU mean it?
I noticed that year after year certain words are difficult for non-native English speakers. I tell them that they can use a paper dictionary when taking exams but they almost never take advantage of that option. Then then resort to asking me what words mean during the exam.
The words that stand out so far are shallow, deep and depth.
My current freshmen students say the do not know what is meant by: millimeter, concentration (of a solution), or pH.
Not students, just the culture at large: there's a persistent conflation of greed and gluttony.
Quote from: the_geneticist on May 15, 2023, 09:54:15 AM
My current freshmen students say the do not know what is meant by: millimeter, concentration (of a solution), or pH.
Did they take chemistry in high school? Covered in grade 11 chemistry, if not in grade 9 and 10 science.
Quote from: MarathonRunner on May 18, 2023, 12:21:24 PM
Quote from: the_geneticist on May 15, 2023, 09:54:15 AM
My current freshmen students say the do not know what is meant by: millimeter, concentration (of a solution), or pH.
Did they take chemistry in high school? Covered in grade 11 chemistry, if not in grade 9 and 10 science.
That would have been during the pandemic, so I have no confidence in what they would have already learned. And this cohort is the one that tested lowest in math compared to fall or winter quarter.
Quote from: the_geneticist on May 15, 2023, 09:54:15 AM
My current freshmen students say the do not know what is meant by: millimeter, concentration (of a solution), or pH.
Ouch!
abundant
syllabus (I swear...)
How about INSOLENT? Are they, or know the word?
Students don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
Quote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
Quote from: apl68 on April 18, 2024, 10:02:59 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
It's more when all three words are used in the same sentence.
Quote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 02:29:44 PMQuote from: apl68 on April 18, 2024, 10:02:59 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
It's more when all three words are used in the same sentence.
Okay, that does sound a bit suspicious. Must be one doozy of a sentence.
Quote from: apl68 on April 19, 2024, 07:17:48 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 02:29:44 PMQuote from: apl68 on April 18, 2024, 10:02:59 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
It's more when all three words are used in the same sentence.
Okay, that does sound a bit suspicious. Must be one doozy of a sentence.
It wouldn't necessarily be diagnostic for my students, who even pre chat GPT seemed to love the chance to trot out SAT words whether they are needed or not. Hardly a final paper goes by without a student telling me that a plethora of evidence supports something, and I've certainly also been informed that they concluded something after delving into said plethora of evidence.
My second year student did not know what peer reviewed is.
Quote from: treeoflife on April 19, 2024, 12:55:36 PMMy second year student did not know what peer reviewed is.
Undergraduate student, not graduate student, I hope.
Many of my students mix up 'in lieu of' and 'in view of', using them interchangeably
Documentation.
I am not kidding.
And the student who yesterday didn't know the word was one of the bright ones.
Sigh. At least she knows it now. I hope.
Quote from: apl68 on April 18, 2024, 10:02:59 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
Do you perhaps mean "Whilst that's understandable, it does seem sad for students who delve into literature and develop a linguistic tapestry."
Quote from: Hibush on April 19, 2024, 06:00:48 PMQuote from: apl68 on April 18, 2024, 10:02:59 AMQuote from: fishbrains on April 18, 2024, 08:35:25 AMStudents don't know that the words "delve," "tapestry," and/or "whilst" in an essay send professors straight to the AI-generation detector.
While that's understandable, it does seem sad for those students who read a lot and have unusually rich vocabularies. Although you may teach somewhere that doesn't have any such students.
Do you perhaps mean "Whilst that's understandable, it does seem sad for students who delve into literature and develop a linguistic tapestry."
No, students doing that just sounds more amusing/annoying than sad.