Marius says that "real revisions" were impossible just 10 years ago.

"Now in my Shakespeare seminar I give students a chance to revise, and they do that surpassingly well," Marius says. "If you don't give students a chance to revise, your remarks are like an autopsy report."

However, some professors say that computers have not improved the substantive aspect of papers.

"Obviously papers are neater, cleaner and probably easier to edit," says Charles S. Maier, Krupp Foundation professor of European studies. "[But] I don't think it's [necessarily] made for higher quality prose. I don't think it's had an impact on content."

According to William M. Todd, incoming dean of undergraduate education, computer use has also created an unexpected problem in the form of "word-processor syntax," where, he says, students put a thought in the middle of a sentence without thinking about how well it really fits there.

Mansfield says that while papers look "much better" now, some problems still persist.

"The spelling is not as good, despite spell check, but that's perhaps because of a general decline of spelling in our society," he says.

Though computers facilitate the paper-writing process, professors say they feel that the level of work expected from students has remained more or less constant over time.

"I think undergraduates put in as much time and effort [in the past] as they do now," Maier says. "We don't expect longer papers. In fact, papers may have become marginally shorter."

Professor of English and American Languages and Literature James Engell says that paper assignments have increased but only in response to student demand.

"Yes, probably there are [more papers now]," he says. "That's something that students have asked for. On the whole, there are many more courses that do not have final exams and have final papers [instead], especially the smaller courses."

Beyond Papers

Jeffrey Wolcowitz, assistant dean of undergraduate education, says that computers can sometimes serve as more effective learning tools than more traditional media.

Describing a Web page on which one could run simulations of chemical reactions, he says, "I can't imagine that a handout could have done that, or that watching a demo could teach you that."

Moreover, art-based classes like Literature and Arts B-39: "Michelangelo" and Literature and Arts C-66: "Rome of Augustus" utilize the Web as a 24-hour image gallery, allowing more students to review the image than was possible when library slide carousels were the only option.