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UMass Lowell's First Year Writing Program

Student and Instructor Resources. Scheduled to be migrated to Blackboard FA23. (per Ann Dean)

Feedback and Response

Feedback on student work should be frequent, conversational, and specifically directed toward the actions students should take to improve their writing. It is not necessarily written or exhaustive. Research on feedback is mixed. On the one hand, a “teacher’s lack of comment or negative comment results in less enthusiasm for writing, and therefore, less writing” (Hillocks, 321). On the other hand, in another careful study, “brief comments (less than 10 words) were effective than longer ones” (322), when they were task-based (“do x instead of y”). Haswell describes the frequent misunderstandings students experience as they interpret teacher comments, and recommends embedding them in an ongoing classroom or office conversation about the qualities of academic writing or of the particular genre in question (in Bazerman, 2008).

Further reading

It’s helpful to discuss grading in your course, using the conversations as opportunities for students to practice writing and genre terminology. When you work with sample student work in class, and when students practice peer response, they can work with grading criteria or a rubric, not only to help them improve their paper grades, but to help them think about what an academic essay is, and why and how it differs from other types of writing. What is “analysis”? What is “interpretation”? What’s the difference between adequate interpretation and excellent interpretation? Discussing these issues in class, with examples from course reading and from student work, prevents arguments about grades and also helps students become aware of genre conventions.

Grading Criteria and Sample student paper with comments from Ann Dean

Screen-casting is a digital recording of the instructor’s narration of the comments on a student’s paper. The recording can be sent to students in addition to a hard copy of the graded paper. This is a form of grading that takes away the red pen and leaves more of a lasting impression. Check out this blog post with more information on how to go about it.

Fairness in Assessing Multilingual Students

The PDF below accompanied a presentation by Dr. Mya Poe at our 2019 conference on teaching multilingual students. Dr. Poe discussed fairness in placement, testing, grading, and pedagogy. Multilingual students and those who speak nonstandard varieties of English can pose head-scratching challenges in grading and pedagogy. The presentation provides context, conceptual frameworks, and further reading for faculty.

 

Sources of techniques for providing students with feedback

Sommers, Nancy. Responding to Student Writers. MacMillan, 2013.

If you would like a copy of this brief guide, please contact the director or coordinator of the first-year writing program. We can get it for you.

Evaluating classroom participation

Sample Rubrics

It’s helpful to discuss grading in your course, using the conversations as opportunities for students to practice writing and genre terminology. When you work with sample student work in class, and when students practice peer response, they can work with grading criteria or a rubric, not only to help them improve their paper grades, but to help them think about what an academic essay is, and why and how it differs from other types of writing. What is “analysis”? What is “interpretation”? What’s the difference between adequate interpretation and excellent interpretation? Discussing these issues in class, with examples from course reading and from student work, prevents arguments about grades and also helps students become aware of genre conventions.

Critical Thinking Value rubric from AACU

  • This rubric focuses on critical thinking rather than writing. It would require some revision for use in the College Writing course, but you might find it useful if you are creating your own rubric.

University of California Irvine Humanities rubric

Carnegie Mellon University rubric for multiple disciplines

University of California at Irvine rubric for multiple disciplines

  • This rubric used in Humanities core courses at University of California Irvine is both clear and detailed.