{"id":1669,"date":"2011-04-15T08:36:39","date_gmt":"2011-04-15T14:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=1669"},"modified":"2014-09-12T12:01:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T18:01:56","slug":"frankencode-and-other-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2011\/04\/15\/frankencode-and-other-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankencode and Other Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><a href=\"http:\/\/chronicle.com\/blogs\/profhacker\/students-reading-and-writing\/32715?sid=wc&amp;utm_source=wc&amp;utm_medium=en\">Students, Reading and Writing &#8211; ProfHacker &#8211; The Chronicle of Higher Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A former student of mine once coined a phrase that he used to describe the phenomenon whereby students take bits of code from various other programs and stitch it together in the hopes of ending up with something they can submit for an assignment. He called it <strong>&#8220;Frankencode&#8221;<\/strong>. (many thanks to Jared Hopf)<\/p>\n<p>While I&#8217;m pretty sure Jared deserves credit for coining the term, the phenomenon is not new. The article above mentions it too only he calls it <strong><em>patchwriting<\/em><\/strong>. Maybe this could also be called <strong>Frankenwriting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>His hypotheses on why students seem to be able to write passably in writing courses but not in other courses are important.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul style=\"margin-left: 0pt; padding-left: 2.5em;\">\n<li>In many courses that are not focused on writing skills, instructors  might not provide detailed enough instructions on their writing  assignments to convey to the student what the instructors\u2019 expectations  are, and<\/li>\n<li>A different issue is whether or not the student understands the  course material: a badly written essay may be the result of the student  author not understanding the subject rather than not being a capable  writer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I think both apply to forms of writing beyond essays &#8211; like code. Actually, I&#8217;d go so far as to say they even apply to communication generally, so we also see the same problems and hear the same complaints when students do presentations. AND, while I&#8217;m on the subject, this may go some way to explaining why so many presentations made by professionals, and even professors lack, to put it mildly, luster.<\/p>\n<p>I taught introductory programming at university for 25 years. It took me many (MANY) years before I was truly comfortable enough with the material to play around with it while I was teaching. That&#8217;s not to say I didn&#8217;t know how to program &#8211; I did (and do) and I was pretty good at it. However <em>knowing a subject and knowing enough to be able to teach it<\/em> require entirely different levels of knowledge. The better you understand your material, the better you can be at presenting it. Of course there are always those who have no problem pretending to know things &#8211; they, like consummate actors, can present on almost anything and make it look like they know what they&#8217;re talking about (except of course, to those who actually DO know what they are talking about). But, I digress.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Williams goes on to outline four methods by which people incorporate research into their writing. Let me expand that to the incorporation of outside sources generally. Here the list:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Writers have four means by which they can incorporate source content  into their text: they can quote, summarize, paraphrase, or patchwrite  that content. Contemporary educational and media discourse has been  focused on whether writers acknowledge their sources when they  incorporate material from them. A more profound question is how writers  incorporate source material; quotation, summary, paraphrase, and  patchwriting are separate discursive moves representing different levels  of intellectual engagement with the source. Quotation requires only the  ability to copy. Paraphrase requires comprehension of and engagement  with a small bit of text, such as a sentence. Summary requires  engagement with an extended passage, even the entire text. <strong>Patchwriting stands between quotation and paraphrase; it is neither an exact copying nor a complete restatement.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We definitely need to pay more attention to helping people learn HOW to incorporate outside sources and a little less obsessing about plagiarism. Let&#8217;s face it, most of the work we do is repackaging the work of others anyways. That&#8217;s also what the bulk of what is done by those we graduate once they get out into the real world.<\/p>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-1669'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(1669);\" title='' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'>Be the first to like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(1669);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(1669);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>Students, Reading and Writing &#8211; ProfHacker &#8211; The Chronicle of Higher Education. A former student of mine once coined a phrase that he used to describe the phenomenon whereby students take bits of code from various other programs and stitch &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2011\/04\/15\/frankencode-and-other-writing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,14,24],"tags":[388,6,15,116],"class_list":["post-1669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational-technology","category-general","category-teaching-learning","tag-academia","tag-computer-science","tag-higher-education","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsb6-qV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":481,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/02\/03\/students-fail-at-writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":0},"title":"Students fail at writing.","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"February 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Students failing because of Twitter, texting - Canada - Canoe.ca \"Thirty per cent of students who are admitted are not able to pass at a minimum level,\" says Ann Barrett, managing director of the English language proficiency exam at Waterloo University. \"What has happened in high school that they cannot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":501,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/03\/11\/are-students-less-tech-savvy-than-they-were-5-years-ago\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":1},"title":"Are students LESS tech savvy than they were 5 years ago?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"March 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am teaching a first year communications course for engineers. Most of the students seem to be making some real progress. As always, a few need very little guidance from me and others won't listen to what I say no matter what. I keep hearing about how tech-savvy today's students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Educational Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Educational Technology","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/educational-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7177,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/12\/16\/worth-sharing-students-arent-learning-enough-a-brewing-crisis-in-higher-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":2},"title":"Worth Sharing: Students aren&#8217;t learning enough &#8211; a brewing crisis in higher education","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Too many graduates are not prepared to think critically and creatively, speak and write cogently, solve problems, comprehend complex issues, accept accountability, take the perspective of others, or meet employer expectations. What are YOU doing in your classes to address that? Indeed, higher education globally continues to follow a relatively\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6842,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/02\/15\/worth-sharing-why-i-stopped-writing-on-my-students-papers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":3},"title":"Worth Sharing: Why I Stopped Writing on My Students\u2019 Papers","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"February 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A professor decides it\u2019s time to reconceive how he comments on essay assignments. This is GREAT! I have taken to requiring my students to do reflections (3 Up; 3 Down - Thanks for the great idea,\u00a0Ben Sawyer!) on their work and it has a similar effect. Too often we allow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5612,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/09\/13\/worth-a-read-computer-science-courses-that-dont-exist-but-should\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":4},"title":"Worth a Read: Computer Science Courses that Don&#8217;t Exist, But Should","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"September 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A list by\u00a0James Hague: CSCI 2100: Unlearning Object-Oriented Programming Discover how to create and use variables that aren't inside of an object hierarchy. Learn about \"functions,\" which are like methods but more generally useful. Prerequisite: Any course that used the term \"abstract base class.\" CSCI 3300: Classical Software Studies Discuss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CT231.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4798,"url":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/06\/18\/walking-the-talk-signature-pedagogies-and-metateaching-in-graduate-level-education-courses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1669,"position":5},"title":"Walking the Talk : Signature Pedagogies and Metateaching in Graduate-Level Education Courses","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"June 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's another fairly recent talk, also from CNIE 2014. [P] Presentation Becker, K. (2014) Walking the Talk : Signature Pedagogies and Metateaching in Graduate-Level Education Courses, CNIE 2014 Confluences: Spaces, Places & Cultures for Innovative Learning, Kamloops, BC, May 13-16, 2014 Canadian Network for Innovation In Education (CNIE) Abstract Many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1669"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4493,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1669\/revisions\/4493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}