For several weeks I have been following the Twitter account @BibleStdntsSay. It is apparently a professor who teaches biblical studies somewhere who enjoys Tweeting funny excerpts taken from the papers s/he is grading. While I am sure that this person means no harm to anyone it seems to me that as funny as the quotes may be there is some invasion of student privacy. Especially since I have now seen professors begin the act of sharing these excepts who are not anonymous! Yes, these Tweets are funny but I thought to myself, “What if one of my professors did this with my paper?”
Whenever I turn a paper in to a professor there is a sense of self-exposure. You are opening yourself to another person for critique. It is one thing to wait patiently to see if there is an A, B, C, D, or F marked on it letting you know what the professor thought of your feelings, ideas, and opinions. It seems to me to be something totally other to have to worry that the dumb thing you say will be turn into public jest.
I doubt these Tweets mean any harm, but let me speak as a student. We do not want what we say in our papers that we give to you for your pedagogical task to become mockery. Would you write snarky remarks in the margins in red ink before handing it back to us? I doubt it. While anonymity helps prevent too much embarrassment, which is the saving grace of the @Biblestdntssay account, it seems that there can be little good in a named professor Tweeting excepts, especially when a student can see them!
But maybe I am being sensitive.
the archives near Emmaus 
Brian, I’m with you. As a writer who sometimes offers his creations to an editor, the self-exposure is huge. It is difficult enough to face the red ink, humiliating if I were to read that red inked page on someone’s twitter account. I might also wonder about who “owns” the paper. Does anyone have the legal right to post without credit another’s creation?
Man, I have a few mixed thoughts here. The only upside I see to this is the fact that a majority of the @BibleStdntsSay tweets seem to be the result of sloppy research or wording, and as I read them it makes me extra careful as I am working on my upcoming papers.
I teach a younger crowd (8-12th grade) and would not feel comfortable doing this, but I also recognize that there is a big difference between a 12th grader and a specialized grad student.
I am totally open to them doing this IF they are open to me: 1) heckling them in class when I think their lesson is boring 2) allow me to openly debate with them in class when I disagree without getting upset 3) allow me to photoshop embarrassing pics of them? If they are willing to sign off to this student affirmation I am more the willing to be openly ridiculed by my teacher and his friends.
I stopped following that twitter account a few months ago because I felt like it was making fun of students trying to figure things out. Not much of a Christian example in the mockery…
I wonder if this is a joke? I know he said “These are actual statements…”, but we can’t be sure? These days, with the anonymity afforded by Twitter and blogging, etc., people say anything to get a few extra hits…
@Clayton: I am not sure how the legality of something like this works. Tweet-ethics is a new frontier. It is likely that there is no way to really “punish” this person or any other professors, but that doesn’t prevent us from shaming them!
@Jon: True, there is a difference, but I am not sure that makes grad students less susceptible to embarrassment. I think I’d be a little peeved if I saw one of my papers quoted in a Tweet like this.
@Daniel: If such a deal could be worked out that may make it a bit more equal. 😉
@Jon: I think it would really hurt a student to see their serious thoughts (whether misguided or not) made public like this.
@Mike: This Twitter account may be a joke, but I saw another well-known professor, whose account is not anonymous, doing this very thing this week. His students will know who he is, and they will know it is their paper, because he said he was going to be grading and sharing some of the ridiculous things he came across as he did it. So is anything the “anonymous” (fake?) versions are already influencing others to do it for attention.
Brian,
Wow… If there is another professor who is known by name that posts real excerpts from papers, I think that’s ridiculous. What gives him/her the right to post snippets of another person’s work? It almost seems like an electronic form of an invasion of privacy. If we as students are expected to display professionalism by correct citation, organization, etc., then I think we should be able to expect the same from our professors (i.e., keep it to themselves, not use it for humor or other ‘pedagogical’ purposes, UNLESS it is with consent by the authors themselves).
@Mike: Agreed, I was a bit surprised. The anonymous account was one thing. Even if someone recognized something they wrote it would cause suspicion at worst. When a professor is identified and this happens there does seem to be reason to consider this some form of privacy invasion.
I agree with Jonathan. These tweets do seem to be making a mockery out of these folks’ writing. I review a minimum of 25 class papers per month and portion of those who submit their papers are international students. More than a few of what is tweeted seem to come from people whose first language isn’t English. If that is the case, then those tweets are a low blow. Even if such isn’t the case, as someone who works with people to help them improve their writing, I have little respect for someone seeks to mock others for their writing mistakes.
Now, if it was my writing, I wouldn’t care because it wouldn’t happen—primarily because I don’t give professors a reason to mock me. 🙂
@JohnDave: I do! I am the master of saying really odd things somewhere in my papers. 🙂
Brian: I’ll let Marc comment on that. 😉 From another angle, I wonder if the students know that their mistakes will be tweeted. If so and if they were open to it, then this could be in good jest.
@JohnDave: If students have agreed it may be in good jest but I still have some concerns. If a professors asks for permission, unless their is a secret ballot where everyone gives permission, or the professor only Tweets excepts from those students who OK’d it, there is going peer pressure to not be the one who seems whiny.
As regards the mentioned Twitter this may be the case. As regards the unnamed, yet identifiable professor, I have my doubts.
Brian,
True. I don’t think it was likely that this professor got any permission to post any of these, but I figure there’s always more than one way to view a matter.
If it occurred it would be great if they’d note that it is done with permission so others realize it is not something a teacher should do to express sovereignty.
I wonder how this isn’t plagiarism? In fact it is. There are legal actions that “could” be taken.
If I had a prof do this to me, and I found out about it; I would take him to the school’s leadership, drop that class, and demand my money back! I don’t think this is funny, at all! What does this say about his character?
@Bobby: I assume the brevity may make it a hard case to prove as regards plagiarism, but it would be worth taking to an school’s leadership if someone was discovered.
@Brian,
Yes, at least to the school’s leadership. How about violation of “intellectual property” then? 😉
If I was a student at suspect institutions maybe I would just purchase a copyright applied to “all” of my writings then 🙂 .
OK, some of those are truly awful, and I do hope the writers are attuned closely enough with their own writings that they see the poor writing.
On permissions, what might you sign?
I, ________________, give my permission for Dr. so-n-so to use any phrase from my paper that she deems absolutely ridiculous and feels the need to repeat for the world to read.
Or
I, ________________, being a complete doofus, give Dr. so-n-so permission to quote any phrase from my paper confirming I’m a doofus.
I think its best to leave them be. I was reading through some of my old assignments last night and was horrified at the mistakes I made in them. I was also encouraged by the comments my markers made regarding my mistakes.
Not all students have a academic background. I was thirty when I did my cert 1v in ministry and had done no study since leaving year 10 high school to go to work. I am now 43, about to turn 44 in Feb and have resumed my degree studies. My struggles to write well stem from a number of areas. 1) I have never really understood good grammar. 2 ) In 2007 I suffered Viral Encephalitis which affected my brain in a number of ways; including wiping out any formal memory of grammar and writing structure.
I don’t mind and would welcome any feedback as to my poor writing structure that I do on my blog; in the same way I welcome the constructive critiques I do in my assignments.
But I would personally find it destructive to be mocked to have my typo’s broadcast all over the blogosphere in that way for what this person is saying is; I am smart, these people are dumb….why am I wasting my time.
@Bitsy: Ha! Yes, I think the second would be the most fitting. 😉 What student wouldn’t want their teacher to grade with an eye for humorous excerpts rather than finding the good in the paper while seeking to make the student a better one?!
I took a paragraph out of my response above and rereading it doesn’t take quite the stand I’d wanted.
I do not like this practice. I would not do this to students myself. I do not want it done to me.
I am a professional writer and still missed a typo in my last research paper. If I’d been writing for pay and not for a grade, an editor would have found it, fixed it and never said a word. It would not have been seen again on twitter.
As someone who wants to be a teacher someday I cannot imagine doing this either. I have graded, and yes it can be frustrating, but Tweeting excepts is not a good way to vent. This was the excuse given by the professor who did not remain anonymous.