We are happy to discuss ideas with students, read outlines and sometimes even preliminary drafts, and so forth. That is partly why we keep office hours. Nor is there any computer grading. All grading is done by philosophy professors. In many courses, students have the option of rewriting their papers.
Students regularly give informal or formal oral class presentations.
Student work, either in writing or speech, is expected to meet high standards of clarity in their use of terms and concepts. Their arguments should reflect coherence in their logical progression. Superior work must not only be clear and coherent, but also its approach to its subject must be novel and interesting. The ability to develop relevant examples and to grasp the significance of a philosophical problem to issues of everyday life are signs of originality. Factual competence .