I was reminded today of the importance of really understanding the directions and requirements for an assignment or job, and that NOT paying attention to those directions and requirements can lead to errors.
The specific reminder came in one of my online writing courses, where the assignment was to write to ME, the instructor, with some information on how learning to write a "white paper" might be beneficial in their futures while doing some very early research into some large company of interest -- most of the students don't actually work for a Fortune 500 firm, but they are asked to "dream" -- and pointing out some initial thoughts on ways their research on a white paper might benefit the company.
The course links to an online short course on what white papers are and how they are put together. Part of the assignment was to complete the LinkedIn Learning course and attach the certificate of completion.
The first part of the assignment contained background on the "big picture" of this assignment, which will eventually lead students to write a formal proposal (directed to an executive) followed by the actual white paper, which is the capstone to the course.
But the second part of the assignment text had the headline Assignment Description, and the steps required were clearly laid out. A surprising percentage of quite bright college students did not seem to read that second half of the prompt, which led to disaster.
And, of course, several students did not attach the certificate for the LinkedIn Learning course.
Lest you think I am an ogre, I assure you that those who (likely in haste) misread the requirements have until Friday to submit a new version of the assignment and they won't be penalized. Perhaps I am just a softy, but we have only completed three weeks of the course and I expect confusion in online courses until students get into some sort of routine.
I may not get paid much for my college teaching but I'm pretty certain that the universities are not all that interested in me catching kids fouling up. It's easy to do, I guess, but how can I help them progress as thinkers and writers if I don't get to see their writing?
But it's not just fouling up an assignment where we can see this phenomenon. Remember the brouhaha over firing the Douglas County superintendent about masking, CRT, and more from last week? At least one school board member revealed inadvertently (and maybe this is just my interpretation) that she had no idea there would be lots of input through email (gosh, I have 700 emails to read!) and that many in the community might be upset when a beloved long-time educator was fired without cause. Who knew?
You can argue that she SHOULD have known. Everyone is an expert on education, or so they believe, and parents will often go to great lengths to protect, support, or otherwise chime in on their kids and their schools. Emotions run high regularly.
But to have someone elected to office who clearly had no idea there might be stress and tough decisions and fair (and unfair) criticism? That tells me that this still new board member didn't understand the directions.
One of my little side gigs is being part of review panels for ACT on test items, mostly looking to insure that there is one and only one correct answer for each item. I have often observed how one small word -- usually NOT -- can completely change the direction of an item. I try to read quickly, like a test taker, and it is quite common for me to not see that "not."
After agonizing over how the item doesn't appear to work for some time, I eventually notice that little word and all the problems clear up. Wow, do I feel silly -- but this all happens at my computer and no one need ever know (except you, dear reader).
I know teachers have been repeating this for many years, but you never go wrong reading and understanding the directions. We likely started hearing this in first grade but it bears repeating, even for smart college students and confused school board members.
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