Here's one of mine from a few semesters ago.
I had my students working with journal articles. One part of the
assignment was to summarize the discussion section journal articles.
Two students turned in summaries that were *very* similar. And I was
baffled because, one, I didn't think they knew each other, and two,
because they were both excellent students.
So, I called them into my office and asked for an explanation. Neither
of them had any idea. After a bit more probing, I discovered they both
had been taught (by separate teachers in separate school districts in
separate decades) that to summarize something, you take each sentence
and reword it. No wonder they looked alike!
I explained that's not the best technique for summarizing. :-)
--
Sue Frantz [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Faculty Office Bldg, 2400 Scenic Drive Office: (505)439-3752
New Mexico State Univ. - Alamogordo Fax: (505)439-3802
Alamogordo, NM 88310 USA http://web.nmsu.edu/~sfrantz
