Conference Session

Writing and Communication I: Innovative Models for Curriculum and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie Paretti, Virginia Tech; Lisa McNair, Virginia Tech; Diana George, Virginia Tech; kelly belanger, Virginia Tech; Lisa Norris, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

Page 12.1135.10monster’s willingness to kill human beings. The students cited the monster’s ability to choose asthe ultimate criteria for judgment and that the monster “chose” to kill. At that point in the course,the students did not see the monster as a technological patchwork of human, animal and artificialparts but rather as a human possessed of independent will. On the other hand, VictorFrankenstein was not vilified for making poor decisions because he was not taught an ethicalstance by his professors. Although the oddness of the argument was apparent to the observers,the students in their self-moderated debate did not recognize the contradiction.In the second example, students resisted an open-ended assignment in which the