College professor gives his students the option of performing a 15-second DANCE in front of the entire class instead of writing a 15,000-word midterm paper - with hilarious results

An assistant professor has allowed his students to choose between performing a 15-second dance or penning a 15,000-word paper, making for some hilarious submissions.

Mackenzie Greene, a student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville's School of Journalism and Media, was taking a spring semester class with Assistant Professor Matthew Pitman.

In March, the assistant professor appeared to give students a choice in how to fulfil their midterm assignments: do a 15-second dance in front of the class, or write 15,000 words - a whopping 60 pages double-spaced - on the 'implications of AI for biomedical engineering.'

The 49-second video was shared by Mackenzie on March 21, and has since racked up 8.8 million likes and more than 61 million views. 

An assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville appeared to offer his students a choice for the midterm assignments: do a 15-second dance, or write a 15,000-word paper

One young woman who'd chosen to do the dance put on an impressive routine choreographed to the first 15 seconds of Blondie's Call Me

At the top of the clip, the assistant professor recapped his midterm guidelines.

'Okay class. Remember, you have two options for the midterm. Option one is a 15-second dance. Who chooses option one?' he prompted. 

A single young woman in a pink, skirted athletic leotard raised her hand before heading to the front of the class. 

She then executed a choreographed routine to the first 15 seconds of Blondie's Call Me - which included a jaw-dropping aerial cartwheel and headspring. 

'Okay,' the assistant professor acknowledged of her efforts.

'Option two is a 15,000-word paper on the implications of AI for biomedical engineering.'

Shockingly, the vast majority of the class raised their hands, apparently opting to write the lengthy paper. 

'The way only ONE person danced,' Mackenzie expressed in disbelief in the caption. 

However, there may well be more to the story. 

The professor in question does not actually teach biomedical engineering, according to his university profile, but rather offers classes in the school of advertising and public relations, including several courses on social media. 

Shockingly, the vast majority of students raised their hands to choose penning a 15,000-word paper - which, at 60 pages double-spaced, is the length of some graduate theses

Mackenzie is an undergrad student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville's School of Journalism and Media

Many of the more than 112,000 commenters insisted that, unlike most of the students in the class, they would do the brief dance over the lengthy paper 'any day'

To be sure, the clip certainly had all the makings of a viral TikTok: an intriguing premise; a relatable POV, namely, a student in class contemplating midterms; an eye-catching dance routine - and, finally, with everything culminating in an unexpected twist further inciting disagreement and protest.

While Mackenzie did not give any indication as to whether the professor's offer was legitimate, rather than a form of social experiment, her video certainly got people talking online.  

Indeed, many of the 112,000 comments were viewers expressing how emphatically they'd have danced in front of the class rather than doing the paper.

'15 second dance over a 15k page essay any day,' one top-voted comment declared.

'I would've been up there doing the dougie,' a second agreed.

'The Napoleon Dynamite dance would have come in handy for this moment,' a third chimed in.

'I would have danced like my life depended on it!!!' a fourth pledged.  

'All the shyness would've left that day… Ain't no way in hell I'd want to write a 15k worded paper!' a fifth wrote.