Sigh. On point in so many ways. One of the underlying problems here is the power hierarchy in academic institutions - that hierarchy also exists in other media organizations such as book and magazine publishing. In the case of adjuncts or grad students teaching Freshman Comp, students absorb all too well that such a core course doesn’t matter beyond a graduation requirement - so the basics of effective writing at the college level are devalued from the start.
I’ve been mulling this over a lot in connection with the hype about generative AI being able to do the writing for you - total bs, especially if you understand that Freshman Comp is often the place students learn critical thinking, media literacy, and how to communicate with other human beings. Those fundamental skills are more crucial than ever now, yet they’ve been relegated to the equivalent of low-status service workers who can be “let go” at any time. Talk about gaslighting, from the likes of Sam Altman to department heads who only listen to “ladder faculty” (that term says it all) to an administrator who parrots like a bot, “it’s the rules.”
Right--it's called a 'core' course for a reason: because it's essential material for *all* students to learn. Now all 'core' means is that you take it early and get it over with ASAP, so you can get to the 'real' courses that are part of your major. :sighhhhhh:
Not only that, but AI is incapable of doing research, or of citing sources correctly. They 'hallucinate' facts and don't know how to find good sources, let alone synthesize anything.
Sigh. On point in so many ways. One of the underlying problems here is the power hierarchy in academic institutions - that hierarchy also exists in other media organizations such as book and magazine publishing. In the case of adjuncts or grad students teaching Freshman Comp, students absorb all too well that such a core course doesn’t matter beyond a graduation requirement - so the basics of effective writing at the college level are devalued from the start.
I’ve been mulling this over a lot in connection with the hype about generative AI being able to do the writing for you - total bs, especially if you understand that Freshman Comp is often the place students learn critical thinking, media literacy, and how to communicate with other human beings. Those fundamental skills are more crucial than ever now, yet they’ve been relegated to the equivalent of low-status service workers who can be “let go” at any time. Talk about gaslighting, from the likes of Sam Altman to department heads who only listen to “ladder faculty” (that term says it all) to an administrator who parrots like a bot, “it’s the rules.”
Right--it's called a 'core' course for a reason: because it's essential material for *all* students to learn. Now all 'core' means is that you take it early and get it over with ASAP, so you can get to the 'real' courses that are part of your major. :sighhhhhh:
Not only that, but AI is incapable of doing research, or of citing sources correctly. They 'hallucinate' facts and don't know how to find good sources, let alone synthesize anything.