-t, did you go to school in CA? That sounds like just the BS my daughter went through when she was in school there. They called it "writing across the curriculum." Every class, even art classes, had to have written exams, with essays and everything. And, it wasn't just that they had written exams in PE, but that they had to turn in papers in every class. Art, even. I thought it was pretty damn dumb.

I was in Louisiana when I had it, but that's exactly what it was. I think it was even called "writing across the curriculum". Somebody must have read the same how to promote literacy theories.

And congratulations, Sail!

Is it your birthday, sumi? Many happy returns.

t /proof that I didn't read very much in the thread

They called it "writing across the curriculum." Every class, even art classes, had to have written exams, with essays and everything. And, it wasn't just that they had written exams in PE, but that they had to turn in papers in every class. Art, even. I thought it was pretty damn dumb.

Research shows that writing across the curriculum does enhance learning, but writing across the curriculum does not mean just testing. In fact, I don't think it is geared toward testing at all. It's meant to get students to write papers, short stories, lab reports, critiques, whatever.

It sounds like they took a good idea and didn't implement it well.

-t, your PE classes had tests??

Yeah. I don't remember it too clealry, but I think every class was required to have so many written tests. Including PE. i know I was tested on the rules of basketball. To this day I have no idea what they are, other than the ball going through the hoop scores points. It would have been nice to learn something like that in PE, actually.

We had that in high school (Wisconsin) and, actually, it's been one of the more directly useful classes.

called "writing across the curriculum".

Not a part of that, though.

ChiKat was me. I 'interviewed' a gay male hooker and a high priced call girl for an undergrad psych paper. Which is to say, a couple of my friends answered questions the night before the paper was due. I got the highest grade in the class.

As fate would have it though...apparently the male friend wasn't altogether lying (although I did not know that at the time) and the female aspired to the calling...pun intended.

I didn't feel bad about the cheating because I did good analysis...which I felt was the point of the paper. Plus, I didn't make up the interview responses and getting rolled in some alley for trying to chat up street walkers without paying might have seriously limited my chances for turning the paper in on time.

Years later, I 'shared' an answer with a classmate on our take-home stats exam. I told him what I got. He told me what he got. We each decided what we would ultimately put on paper.

It helped, in a weird way, that he was a priest (actually a 'Brother" as in, Little Brothers of Mary, which always cracked me up...my friend said it was like having all the fun, without all the responsibility of priesthood.)

When I said I felt bad about having the test conversation, my friend said he was pretty sure that God had other things to be concerned about, right then. I'm thinking he has a point.

I didn't feel bad about the cheating because I did good analysis...which I felt was the point of the paper.

This exactly.

Years later, I 'shared' an answer with a classmate on our take-home stats exam.

My professors encourage this. They feel you learn better by discussing your thoughts and clarifying your answers.

We had that in high school (Wisconsin) and, actually, it's been one of the more directly useful classes

My beef is that we had the tests without being taught the subject. Because the tests were mandated but the teaching, apparently, was not. So, yeah, bad implementation.

My birthday was yesterday. But I was only on the board in the morning.

A very merry unbirthday to you today, then.

And to us all. Unless it is anyone's birthday. Then happy birthday to him or her.

Pretty Siamese kitties.

Although I am a terrible person, because I think the "show" or "wedge-headed" Siamese cats are much more beautiful than the traditional "apple-head" Siamese. (Some people think the "show" Siamese have been bred to a bad extreme.)

I've heard tell that people who cheat rarely, if ever, win, and that those who win have not been known to cheat.

does a belated-birthday dance for sumi