Poll: Minimum page count for school work.

[Screamarie]

Being a college English graduate who wrote at least 5 papers every semester I can tell you, you can't eloquently place 5 pages of words on 1 or 2 pages, not without leaving ALOT out. If you really want a good "A" paper, you need to have a good introduction and conculsion which take about a page and for every topic you wish to talk about you need AT LEAST half a page to properly get your point across, especially if you have to cite sources. Once a professor asked for me to turn in a 2 page paper with three citations, discussing 3 topics with an introduction and conclusion. That's damn near impossible without writing something pratically in text speak. It's a hell of alot harder to cut down to 2 pages instead of filling five.

Even if you could put it in just a couple of pages, the thing about having a minimum page count is to ensure that the student is spending a true amount of time thinking about the project (if you can just quickly write it down and any size will do, then you don't have to reconsider, add to, move things around and think about what you've written). It also gives student practice writing and honestly, if you don't give students a page count, they'll write a paragraph and turn that in.

 

[Yopaz]

Because if there weren't a minimum page count all the lazy students would write a paragraph that doesn't adequately complete the assignment and wouldn't care. If the teacher says "it will take the average student this long to write a good paper" then at least it forces them to try harder.

A lazy student is more likely to fail at some point anyway since making them write 2 pages or more will only result in them writing the bare minimum and pad it out with needless adverbs, adjectives and flowery talk.
My teacher always told me that it's better to write 2 great pages filled with continuity than 6 pages of bullshit. I can usually manage to reach a minimum page limit, what I really hate is when there's a really low maximum limit. We had to write an essay in 250 words or less. Now that is bullshit.

 

[oppp7]

I think it would be better if they just emphasised the importance of including details and reasoning. As a biology major whos classes are saying to do everything as concisely as possible I'm not sure WTF the system is thinking.

But it does help get people to put down more anyways, so if we're talking changes to the school system I think revamping gym into a general health class would be more important.

 

[Verlander]

In the UK it's a word count, and you can usually get away with a 10% margin of error, which is a pretty damn good system. The aim is to style the written passage into a coherent essay, and while the effectiveness of the approach can be contested, I maintain that it's a bloody good goal

 

[emeraldrafael]

...

More pages SHOULD = Extra credit. So while it wouldn't it's not forced, it's an option. And options are a GOOD thing.

Wouldnt the question of quality come up then? And really, if you can express in one page what it took someone to express in five while tehy were tryiong to just go for extra credit, shouldnt you get extra credit as well for writing longer than what you do?

 

[willsham45]

I would say word count but then again if everything is hand written I could see the problem with that.

A word count should only apply to certain things, and is ment to indicate the quantity of text to be written. 300 about a paragraph 6000 one big as report.

If the count is fair and you are struggeling to meet the count it means you do not have enough infomation and is an indication that you need to go back and research more, or go back to what you have and look into it in more depth.

If you got a staitment like in your essay like "Aluminium has good corotion resistance". and later on you find you are short it means you need to add more depth so you could rewrite it as "Aluminium has good corrosive resistance propaties due to an aluminium oxide layer formed on the outer surface of the melal. This happens because blar blar blar science stuff blar blar." and that could go on for several paragraphs.


Do that for any statement that is not followed though with and you will meet the limit without resorting to 1.5 line spacing with a size 18 font.


And in the event you cannot fill the count and you have filled everything you can without going into the relms of Holly cow I do not get it. Do not say anything about the count and give it in. If you are commented on it say what I have is perfect short sweet and to the point and all will be ok (cause you can only say this if it is true).

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I had a Philosophy of Logic professor who had us write weekly papers with a 1 page maximum length. Each paper was supposed to be about 2 or 3 philosophers and their contributions to the field of Logic. Our first assignment was Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. Tell me 1 page is enough to summarize what those three did for Logic and I will call you a liar. It was an excellent writing challenge though, as it made me really concentrate my points and focus on the details I wanted to include.

 

[Anthony Abney]

The only thing that minimum page counts taught me is how to pad my discussions with random crap that isn't important and doesn't even help my case any more than the rest of what I wrote. If I can get my point across and prove it within a few paragraphs, then just let me do that, save some trees and some time in process. Hell, I'm probably putting more information in this response than is necessary and I'm only on the 3rd sentence.

 

[BoredDragon]

I've personally never had a problem with minimum word/page count because most of the time they are usually set to where, if you do all parts of the assignment, you will meet it. What I really hate is actually a maximum page/word count. If I want to elaborate more on my topic I don't see why I should have to cut out things that I think would strengthen my paper. I know it's so that teachers won't have work even harder, but I doubt many students will go very far over the minimum requirement unless they really are passionate about what they are writing about so I don't that should be stifled.

 

[Exterminas]

The so called "useless stuff" is actually the important stuff you need for scientific papers.

Meaning an proper introduction, a summary of what is going to be written down in the paper, etc.

Everybody can have a good idea.
Almost everybody can be eloquent.

But almost nobody is able to write down his good idea in a clear and understandable manner.

That is what these practice papers should be about. You can't do that in one page.

 

[The Breadcrab]

I think the word count should be completely abolished.

As long as the essay covers what it needs to and follows common sense, then it should automatically be of a reasonable length. A word count does nothing aside from forcing the writer to add fluff, effectively making the essay worse.