On Sun, 15 May 2011 09:26:20 -0700, Paul C Bernhardt wrote: >Along the lines of Mike's proposal that students don't need to >produce certain portions of APA documents, I do the following. > >Note, I probably qualify as fairly OCD when it comes to particulars >of APS Style.
Do you have a "double dose" of OCD because in addition to APS style you also require them to know APA style? ;-) [snip] >I think there is value in teaching APA Style fairly rigorously, even >the parts that make no damned sense. I think the reason is this (and >I tell my students this): > >No matter where they go to work they will very likely be required >to write. At that location there will be a mandated style, be it APA, >MLA, or an in-house corporate standard. Learning what a style deals >with in terms of style of writing, manner of expression, mechanics of >production of manuscript, etc. are all valuable to learn because it >prepares a student to face those issues when it is encountered in the >workplace. Even if the style they deal with is different, they will have >better insight into the process. Allow me to disagree somewhat with this position. As someone who has had to write manuscripts in American Psychological Association style and in American Medical Association style (for publication in the American Psychiatric Association journals and elsewhere) and sometimes in one format and then re-format it into the other format, I have to say that learning and following such format conventions is a royal pain in the butt. I guess it might similar to walking 10 miles barefoot in a snowstorm to get to school and back, that is, it builds character and discipline but it is also a colossal waste of time. I hope and pray the someone somewhere will develop a smart enough AI manuscript formatting program that will allow one to input text and have as output a manuscript in the appropriate style (comparable to what is now available for reference formats in certain database interfaces). For those curious about AMA (once referred to as "Index medicus" style) see: http://www.docstyles.com/amaguide.htm >However, I think that Mike is on to something with the idea of >something like a Student's APA Style. Possibly a symposium at >NITOP or other meeting to discuss "What Is Really Needed for >Students in APA Style" might be useful. I don't get around much these days so I probably would not participate but I would give my blessing to such an undertaking. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=10593 or send a blank email to leave-10593-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
