Re: Answering questionnaires on line
DIANE BENNETT (Diane.Bennett@VUW.AC.NZ)
Mon, 12 Jun 1995 08:15:01 +1200
To jlm, the students at NCSU, and especially their instructor:
I too found it tedious to see the same questionnaire, and one that requires
no specialised knowledge so could be asked of any anthropologist the
students could contact individually, posted and reposted over a period of
weeks. It is not so much this single assignment, but the thought of what
it would/will be like when more instructors choose this easy way to
introduce students to the net. Our university strategic plan calls for all
students to be become net literate. If we choose to introduce our intro
class by giving them an anthro-l assignment, that will be 300 students
asking you all questions.
In the short term, the tedium and mailbox clutter would be somewhat reduced
if kind souls like John who choose to reply would do so off line instead of
broadcasting to the list. In the long-term, perhaps assignments could be
devised which ask students to analyse what is already there or choose one
or two correspondents to query individually.
A related topic on which people might like to ponder is the suggestion (by
our educational technologist, who assists with computer-aided instruction)
that one of the good uses of the web is "publishing" undergraduate student
papers. I know I'm a reactionary, but the thought of all that unedited
stuff out there to wade through in looking for things on the largely
unindexed web threatens to bring on a Victorian swoon.
Diane Bennett (Diane.Bennett@vuw.ac.nz)
Department of Anthropology
Victoria University
PO Box 600
Wellington, New Zealand
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