Paper Writing = Busy Work

[sanantone]

First of all, I think good writing skills are very important. I think all degree programs should have some essay writing in the mix. However, I think non-traditional schools tend to be excessive in the amount of writing they require. I've heard arguments that this mitigates cheating on online tests and that essay writing requires one to think instead of regurgitate facts on multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and true/false tests. My experience is that it is easy to bs your way through a paper and get an A or B.

I already knew that a lot of people who attend school online and on campus buy papers. Plagiarism software will not catch everyone because there are companies that do provide original works. After reading the article on the Shadow Scholar, my belief that anyone can bs his or her way through a paper was solidified. I think this guy was an English major, but he has written everything from discussion board posts to dissertations in business, education, psychology, maritime security, and several other subjects. All he has to do is give himself a crash course on Wikipedia and look for sources online to throw together a paper. It is disturbing that people who can't write well are graduating with degrees, but I also find it disturbing that schools think students will learn from writing papers on topics of such little importance and applicability. I remember being asked to write a memo at Colorado Technical University pretending that I was a sergeant asking for patrol officers. This was not a business writing course; it was a criminal justice course! What a waste of time. The coursework at Western International University, with the exception of the math courses, was nothing but writing. I learned absolutely nothing at that school.

As some might know, I am strongly opposed to TESC's capstone courses. From what I've read, you could be a history major and write a paper on fashion choices by region. It's ridiculous.

The Shadow Scholar - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education