The answers (at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/student/2000/) range from amusing (one high-scoring student cited a James Bond novel as "literature") to alarming (44percentt of those who passed did not know that 21 is 75percentt of 28).
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the affiliation of the Texas student cited in The Nation; the student attends Prairie View A&M, not Texas A&M.
This student cited social construction, a concept presumably discussed in the First-Year Writing Seminar, since it had not been discussed in biology lecture.
"It's striking how many students cite 'Def Poetry Jam' as their gateway performance poetry drug," she said.
In my experience, most students cite listening as their weakest skill, but often it's because they replace listening with panicking, "What was that word?
Here are some questions that may be included next to the appropriate paragraph to help students cite evidence, or included in a separate work sheet at the end of the text (which may encourage students to cite multiple passages to support their answers): Internal: What is the person feeling on the inside?
The students cite Heselden, who said: There are people out there who are making money, and when times are good I honestly believe people have a moral obligation to use their wealth to help others.
Other students cite stock market reverses and the sluggish economy as reasons many of them, and their parents, are looking to taxpayers to pick up much of the bill for college.
In one study, medical students cite personal experiences of illness as "a positive factor in their motivation to study medicine", and say their experiences have "helped them relate to patients and see their viewpoints".
After students cite examples, ask the pairs to scan the rest of the paper for local or national news items not addressed in that day's editorials or Op-Ed pieces.
