cac.ophony.org

As I’ve been coding diagnostic writing samples I’ve been thinking that there is some really interesting information here well beyond the quantitative data we focus on. For instance, students’ “post” samples in English lit classes like 2850 seem very often more in-depth, more thoughtful than their “pre” samples. Many of them admit to having been sceptical at the beginning of class (”This has nothing to do with business” etc) but then go on to describe how they feel that through a seemingly unrelated (required) class they have improved their analytical skills, changed their outlook on the world, stopped being intimidated by poetry, learned about enriching their understanding of literature via an author’s biography and historical context, and so on.

Perhaps I’ve just come across classes with really good professors. I’d like to think though that what we really see in such cases is proof of the necessity of the humanities — and not only for their own sake — and qualitiative support for the importance of CIC-type classes overall.

Also, on a slightly less rosy note, it seems to me that there are several courses that are technically CICs but that really demand a fairly paltry amount of intensive communication over the course of the semester. I’m not volunteering for this, but it might be interesting if someone explored the general qualitative content of “post” samples against the syllabi and writing/speaking/reading demands of the courses.