Here are two things of interest that have come to my attention at the end of the semester.
"Based off of" vs. "Based on": I never gave this much thought, but I saw "based off of" (which I think is incorrect) in papers and blog posts from undergraduates, graduates, majors, and non-majors this year. Please write (and say) "based on." And stop using "utilize." It's pretentious, I think.
I asked the performance studies class to do evaluations for me. It was the first time I had taught the course, and I'm going to teach it again this summer, so I wanted some feedback from them on what they liked and what they didn't like, how was the textbook, what kinds of activities they liked, etc. (I tried to ask questions that weren't on the university-issue evaluation, like "The teacher was always/sometimes/never prepared"). Many of them responded that what they liked most about the course was that the environment was such that they felt "safe" expressing their own opinions in discussion. This struck me as odd: it's something I've always taken for granted in most classes that I've taken and most that I've taught. Most of the students were business, engineering, pre-law, and biology/pre-med students: that is to say, they're not "humanities" majors. I wonder to what extent the sciences and business schools discourage this kind of open discussion--I can't imagine they do, but the students must have picked up this attitude somewhere along the line.
"Based off of" vs. "Based on": I never gave this much thought, but I saw "based off of" (which I think is incorrect) in papers and blog posts from undergraduates, graduates, majors, and non-majors this year. Please write (and say) "based on." And stop using "utilize." It's pretentious, I think.
I asked the performance studies class to do evaluations for me. It was the first time I had taught the course, and I'm going to teach it again this summer, so I wanted some feedback from them on what they liked and what they didn't like, how was the textbook, what kinds of activities they liked, etc. (I tried to ask questions that weren't on the university-issue evaluation, like "The teacher was always/sometimes/never prepared"). Many of them responded that what they liked most about the course was that the environment was such that they felt "safe" expressing their own opinions in discussion. This struck me as odd: it's something I've always taken for granted in most classes that I've taken and most that I've taught. Most of the students were business, engineering, pre-law, and biology/pre-med students: that is to say, they're not "humanities" majors. I wonder to what extent the sciences and business schools discourage this kind of open discussion--I can't imagine they do, but the students must have picked up this attitude somewhere along the line.