"Favorite" student sentences

[the_geneticist]

"It is very difficult trying to juggle the academic stress of needing to memorize all the responsibilities I have to attend to."

Indeed!  I hate when I realize I've been stressing about one due date, but I have something more pressing that I should have been stressing about instead.

I tell these students to buy/download a calendar or day planner and use it.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Stu response to an Optics question:

"The angle changes to be less changed if the wavelength is higher."

Huh?

[marshwiggle]

Stu response to an Optics question:

"The angle changes to be less changed if the wavelength is higher."

Huh?

I've been at this too long. It sounds like Stu is talking about dispersion and I can actually decipher what s/he's trying to say! (Retirement can't come too soon...)

[the_geneticist]

Stu response to an Optics question:

"The angle changes to be less changed if the wavelength is higher."

Huh?

I've been at this too long. It sounds like Stu is talking about dispersion and I can actually decipher what s/he's trying to say! (Retirement can't come too soon...)

Wait, does that mean I can retire soon too? 
If you really want a good crash-course on deciphering "student-ese", try scoring Advanced Placement exams.  And when it's the in-person scoring, you also get reminded how to read dreadful handwriting. 

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Stu response to an Optics question:

"The angle changes to be less changed if the wavelength is higher."

Huh?

I've been at this too long. It sounds like Stu is talking about dispersion and I can actually decipher what s/he's trying to say! (Retirement can't come too soon...)

Correct; however, the grammar leaves a lot to be desired.

[downer]

Editing a bit, but ...

"legendary comedians such as ... Bernie Mac"

Say what now?

[Parasaurolophus]

"[...] and in any event, when such practices abuse the public authority's current creature government assistance enactment."

[apl68]

"[...] and in any event, when such practices abuse the public authority's current creature government assistance enactment."

Random word sentence generator?

[Parasaurolophus]

"[...] and in any event, when such practices abuse the public authority's current creature government assistance enactment."

Random word sentence generator?

Thesaurus plugger-inner, I think. (Whatever those are called. 'Generator' seems inapt. IIRC they're primarily used to evade plagiarism detection.)

[downer]

I now include a clause in syllabi saying any use of a paraphrasing tool will count as plagiarism.  When I spot it, I come down heavy on the student.

[traductio]

I now include a clause in syllabi saying any use of a paraphrasing tool will count as plagiarism.  When I spot it, I come down heavy on the student.

How do you find such paraphrasing? I get the impression that Google has changed its algorithm, and my old tricks don't work any more.

[downer]

You note the feeling that you are reading a word salad that no human could generate.

It takes some effort to prove it. Last time I went through this I looked at the names that were mentioned in the passage and some of the odd words used, and I searched for more natural rough synonyms along with the names. It took a bit of trial and error but I was led back to a page from from Sparknotes.

[traductio]

You note the feeling that you are reading a word salad that no human could generate.

It takes some effort to prove it. Last time I went through this I looked at the names that were mentioned in the passage and some of the odd words used, and I searched for more natural rough synonyms along with the names. It took a bit of trial and error but I was led back to a page from from Sparknotes.

That was my approach with a case today -- that student almost won through attrition. But it took 45 minutes longer than the process took in the past.

[downer]

You note the feeling that you are reading a word salad that no human could generate.

It takes some effort to prove it. Last time I went through this I looked at the names that were mentioned in the passage and some of the odd words used, and I searched for more natural rough synonyms along with the names. It took a bit of trial and error but I was led back to a page from from Sparknotes.

That was my approach with a case today -- that student almost won through attrition. But it took 45 minutes longer than the process took in the past.

That's one reason why I come down very heavy on it. I want to discourage it since it wastes so much of my time.

[traductio]

"Some people think the avocado is a delicious fruit, while others think the fruit tastes as weird as bird poop."

Indeed.