Why do professors require papers to be certain lengths?

[Red Squirrel]

It's a two professor team, they require the papers to be turned in electronically, and then they set the margins to 1 inch and the font to Times New Roman 12 so that no one cheats like that. I sent one in with some mild modifications earlier in the year and made the file read only so they copied the text from it and pasted it in a new file to set the page up the way they wanted it.

Damn yeah my idea would not work then. Back when I was in school they would usually just want a paper copy.

Guessing they wont take PDFs either.

 

[mugs]

This is a cultural formations class based around disproving pseudosciences. It's an awesome class but we're required to write two papers during the year, and my second paper I was given the topic of kinoki foot pads. You try and write fifteen pages disproving that. They don't even have enough arguments FOR them to try and write fifteen pages disputing it.

That sounds kind of rough. Depending on how restrictive the requirements for the paper are, you could probably spend a good portion of the 15 pages discussing the pseudo-science that leads people to believe they need something like that.

 

[Cogman]

The solution is simple. Print out the altered margins version, scan it back in, and then place all the scanned bitmaps in full page pictures. That'll show them...

 

[EightySix Four]

That sounds kind of rough. Depending on how restrictive the requirements for the paper are, you could probably spend a good portion of the 15 pages discussing the pseudo-science that leads people to believe they need something like that.

The commercial lists off about 6 pseudoscientific ways they work. So I just spent my pages refuting those 6 different pseudosciences and pulled it all together under the Kinoki foot pad banner.


BTW, you're a genius, I just removed a bit of the fluff and I am rewriting including the section about why people believe they need it.

 

[Born2bwire]

That sounds kind of rough. Depending on how restrictive the requirements for the paper are, you could probably spend a good portion of the 15 pages discussing the pseudo-science that leads people to believe they need something like that.

Oh yeah, there's a bunch of stuff to talk about in regards to these pads. The idea that they remove "toxins." What "toxins"? They do so by pulling them out through the skin. Stuff like that about how they work and what they are supposed to do would provide a bevy of information to talk about.

EDIT: I just love the all inclusive "toxins." Not too long ago I had this discussion with a colleague about something that was supposed to remove toxins from the body. It's just a catchall, she didn't know what toxins they were talking about.

 

[ShawnD1]

If you can't write to the specified length about your subject, you did not research your subject to the degree the professor desires.

Are you one of those guys who thinks conservapedia is full of hard facts?
http://www.conservapedia.com/Evolution


It's so freakin long, it must be true!

 

[dullard]

Oh yeah, there's a bunch of stuff to talk about in regards to these pads. The idea that they remove "toxins." What "toxins"? They do so by pulling them out through the skin. Stuff like that about how they work and what they are supposed to do would provide a bevy of information to talk about.

EDIT: I just love the all inclusive "toxins." Not too long ago I had this discussion with a colleague about something that was supposed to remove toxins from the body. It's just a catchall, she didn't know what toxins they were talking about.

Exactly. A person could probably easilly write 15 pages about each individual toxin. What are the toxins? What do the toxins do? Do people actually have these toxins? Are there other (better) methods to remove the toxins? What are the harmful levels of the toxins (that is, is it even needed to remove them)?

Then move on to the skin. What makes up the skin? Focus on the pores. How do the pores function? What can actually travel through the pores? How does the body control the pores and what passes through the pores? Easilly another 15 pages right there.

The history of snake-oil-salesmen would be very relevant and interesting background. If you can't write 15 pages on that alone, then you probably didn't pay attention to that class.

I also saw no mention of the chemistry of the pads to make them change color. That chemistry is quite fascinating too. Easilly 15 pages could be written on what the pads are actually doing instead of what they claim to do.

I repeat, if you do the job right, your problem should be in trying to cut the material DOWN.

 

[whylaff]

If you think writing it sucks, you should try reading all the crap people turn in. The professor I work for pawns that job off to me. I die a little on the inside each time I read one.

 

[EightySix Four]

If you think writing it sucks, you should try reading all the crap people turn in. The professor I work for pawns that job off to me. I die a little on the inside each time I read one.

One of my professors has us all peer review papers. I often can't believe some people passed highschool.

 

[ScottFern]

We all know after maybe 3 pages its all filler and quotes.

 

[EightySix Four]

We all know after maybe 3 pages its all filler and quotes.

These guys claim to take out quotes and measure, but I've never seen them do it lol.

 

[nageov3t]

depends on the course.

english major here... writer of more papers throughout my college career than I can count.

when you're dealing with like an intro level class, if you don't tell the froshies exactly what you want, they're going to take every shortcut they can. without minimum page lengths, there's no way that they're going to do the amount of research and in depth analysis that a professor might be looking for.

once I got into upper level classes, teachers pretty much stopped requiring minimum page lengths because by that points, students should know what it required/expected to make an argument in a paper... in fact, the hardest class I think I ever had was a 400-level english course where our entire grade was based on 10 x 1-page papers on 10 different books. we had to detail and defend a thesis statement using 1 page and 1 page only. we could futz with the margins, spacing, and fonts so long as it was legible without the use of special equipment, but we could absolutely not exceed 1 page.

 

[dabuddha]

Try writing a long paper on a useful topic.

10 pages, double column, 10pt font, no double spacing. On, MOSFETS... Yeah, that wasn't fun.

Did you write this while walking through 2 feet of snow uphills both ways?

 

[KoolAidKid]

I am a professor myself. I set page minimums and maximums for my undergrad classes only. If you spent time reading undergrad papers you would realize that many people can't organize their thoughts very well on paper. They often have difficulty identifying information that is important to their point and including it in the paper. Without a page minimum I would get a bunch of 2-page papers filled with random information. By stating a page minimum I am increasing the chance that these people will put some relevant information into the paper.

In other words, grades are likely to be higher if I impose a page minimum.

 

[ScottyB]

Why are you in college if you aren't willing to do the work without griping?

 

[irishScott]

Why are you in college if you aren't willing to do the work without griping?

Where did you go that people didn't gripe about their workloads?

 

[AstroManLuca]

I like it when they assign a maximum number of pages or a range of pages. My girlfriend told me she had a writing assignment earlier this year in one of her classes that called for just one paragraph. Hers was just under half a page long. Other students turned in 2 full pages. But she got a good score.

 

[irishScott]

The fact is, if you know the material well, your problem is the page maximum. And, if you don't know the material, your problem is the page minimum. You must put a cap on the length because terse writing is a very important skill to learn for the top students. You must put a length minimum to at least get the lesser students to attempt to learn.

I have a 12-15 page term paper due tomorrow, I plan to start writing it tonight, and I'd be extremely happy with 12 pages. Suffice to say my thesis is basically "The Christians won the first Crusade because of their superior siege tactics, and not much else." and includes ad in-depth tactical analysis of several major battles, an overview of the political situation in the middle east at the time and a dip into the psychology of the crusader and their various Muslim adversaries.

Obviously I don't know anything about the material.

 

[Jeff7]

To prevent papers like this:

Paper on WWII,

People fought, People died, Good guys won.
The end

That, and to not only prevent the overachievers from handing in a paper that's 8x longer than the norm, but also the ensuing complaints after the student figures out that the paper was never read in its glorious entirety.

 

[PingSpike]

It took me a little while in college to realize most professors wanted block quotes and papers that agreed with their own opinion.

 

[Gibson486]

Wait till you get to the real world. Not everything can be explained with bullet points and summarized in a few words. Well, you could do it, but then you leave everything else up to interpetation. This is when a real mess occurs.

The real issue here is trying to have students wite papers for a target audience. If you know the subject well enough, you can make a 2 page paper or a 20 page paper with ease. You have to back up everything you say because the minute you don't, you will be challenged on it.

 

[ScottFern]

Ahhh college, how I am so glad not be in it anymore!

 

[dullard]

Obviously I don't know anything about the material.

In that case (not even starting with writing a 12 page paper until the day before it is due), you know very little about organizing life.

I notice that you didn't say anything regarding what I posted though. So, I take it that you agree.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I have a 12-15 page term paper due tomorrow, I plan to start writing it tonight, and I'd be extremely happy with 12 pages. Suffice to say my thesis is basically "The Christians won the first Crusade because of their superior siege tactics, and not much else." and includes ad in-depth tactical analysis of several major battles, an overview of the political situation in the middle east at the time and a dip into the psychology of the crusader and their various Muslim adversaries.

Obviously I don't know anything about the material.

Careful not to abuse the professor's viewpoint on the subject or even a good paper will get a bad grade. I spent most of my time writing what the prof wanted to hear before I wised up and switched to anthropology. :sneaky:

 

[JTsyo]

Back to the OPs question, I think the reason is that professors know that most students are lazy. By placing a lower limit of page count that are assure a minimum amount of effort.