Test writing time for teachers comes around.
Mark: What’s your method?
Joseph: Go to Wikipedia, choose a topic, read the outline, get the gist, frame 6 or 8 questions beginning with the classic wh5.
Mark: The classic wh5?
Joseph: What happened? Who did it? Where did it occur? When? And Why? Then reread the article. After that, write one paragraph for each question. Piece of cake.
Mark: So I have to write a passage. What’s a good topic?
Joseph: They’re business students. An economist.
Mark: Keynes?
Joseph: Done. Two years ago.
Mark: Soros?
Joseph: Three years ago.
Mark: Drucker?
Joseph: Last year. How about Marx? He’s due for an airing.
Mark: Marx. You suggest I write about Marx?
Joseph: You’re a Marxist. Said so yourself. Your own admission.
Mark: Something from Das Kapital?
Joseph: Perhaps CliffsNotes, the manga edition?
______________
Voice-over
Restating ideas, recycling essays, regurgitating answers. No wonder education has problems with plagiarism. Not only are students getting answers from the internet. Teachers are grabbing tests from the internet. But if you’re a long dead economist whose theories have been a little tarnished, you may not be too choosy who dusts you off. Going along with Marx's thoughts on "private property," a Marx test may be borrowed from here.
Mark: What’s your method?
Joseph: Go to Wikipedia, choose a topic, read the outline, get the gist, frame 6 or 8 questions beginning with the classic wh5.
Mark: The classic wh5?
Joseph: What happened? Who did it? Where did it occur? When? And Why? Then reread the article. After that, write one paragraph for each question. Piece of cake.
Mark: So I have to write a passage. What’s a good topic?
Joseph: They’re business students. An economist.
Mark: Keynes?
Joseph: Done. Two years ago.
Mark: Soros?
Joseph: Three years ago.
Mark: Drucker?
Joseph: Last year. How about Marx? He’s due for an airing.
Mark: Marx. You suggest I write about Marx?
Joseph: You’re a Marxist. Said so yourself. Your own admission.
Mark: Something from Das Kapital?
Joseph: Perhaps CliffsNotes, the manga edition?
______________
Voice-over
Restating ideas, recycling essays, regurgitating answers. No wonder education has problems with plagiarism. Not only are students getting answers from the internet. Teachers are grabbing tests from the internet. But if you’re a long dead economist whose theories have been a little tarnished, you may not be too choosy who dusts you off. Going along with Marx's thoughts on "private property," a Marx test may be borrowed from here.
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