University News
FIVE STEPS TO FASTER
WRITING ASSESSMENTS
By Jennifer J. Salopek, Writer
A
s part of Strayer University’s Writing Across the Curriculum initiative,
faculty are often asked to assess student
writing in their courses, regardless of the
subject. This may result in instructors feeling
overwhelmed by the prospect of teaching
writing in addition to the course’s subject
matter and by the potential number of writing assignments that will require grading.
Beth Hewett, Ph.D., author of The
Online Writing Conference: A Guide for
Teachers and Tutors, says faculty can maximize time efficiency and provide helpful
remediation to students with just a few
adjustments to the way they approach
writing assignments.
“My goal is to help faculty stop doing
things that are a waste of their time and show
them how to address student writing in a
focused way,” says Dr. Hewett. According to
her, the most common mistake is to spend
an inordinate amount of time correcting the
writing assignment—trying to fix it rather
than showing the student how to fix it.
Hewett led a webinar last fall for
Strayer University faculty titled, “Using
Online Conferencing Strategies to Improve
Writing Instruction,” in which she offered
five tips fo r quicker, better and more efficient essay responses.
1. THINK FORMATIVE, NOT
SUMMATIVE
This means making feedback part of the
instructional process, allowing you to adjust
your teaching method as the class progresses
and to guide students to improve their work.
Summative assessments lead you to make a
judgment of an overall student competency
after an instructional phase is complete, which
is typically less valuable for the student.
Opportunities to revise are a key part
of formative assessment, so be prepared to
review an assignment more than once. Also:
• Give clear, doable assignments
• Provide a rubric
• Build instruction and models into the
process
• Enforce high expectations by insisting
upon minimum standards for all
student–teacher written communication. Require full sentences even in
discussion responses and e-mails
Remember, “You’re a teacher—not an
editor,” Hewett says.
2. FOCUS TIGHTLY ON CONTENT
The primary goal of writing assignments is
for students to demonstrate mastery of
course content. When reviewing, ask yourself, “Are my students understanding what
I’m teaching them?” Select only two to
three major concerns in the paper that, if addressed, would influence the meaning of the
continues on next page
M.Ed.
STUDENTS
CONNECT
ONLINE
T
he School of Education’s new interactive website, Student Connect,
allows students and alumni to meet and
network with one another online.
Student Connect offers tools and resources to help educators succeed in their
field. M.Ed. students and alumni can log
into Student Connect to create a profile,
discuss education trends, find links to professional organizations, form study groups,
post job openings and learn about upcoming conferences and events.
The site is an opportunity for faculty
to promote the field of education among
students. “When advising or meeting with
M.Ed. students, faculty are encouraged to
reference the site as an additional resource
for information and discussion,” says Dr.
Vanessa Eslinger-Brown, dean of the School
of Education.
It’s also a place wh ere students can
engage directly with their peers by forming
virtual study groups on the site—a particularly useful benefit for online students looking
for opportunities to meet up with classmates.
The online learning communities can also
benefit students who desire additional academic support outside of faculty advising.
“Student Connect is an exciting opportunity for students to collaborate with their
fellow classmates and alumni, and it is a
place to share their knowledge and accomplishments,” says Dr. Eslinger-Brown.
Faculty are invited to share educational
conference and event information, relevant
books and materials, or research that may
benefit students. Send M.Ed. information or
questions to Dr. Ruby Evans at ruby.evans@
strayer.edu or Dr. Clinton Gortney at clinton.
gortney@strayer.edu.
FORUM Strayer University
13
University News
writing or take it to the next level of competence. Hone in on these aspects:
• Thesis statement
• Clear organization
• Detail, reasoning, examples
• Appropriate use of outside sources
3. BE STRAIGHTFORWARD
Do not use rhetorical or vague language in
your responses. Rather, tell students where
they fell short and how to improve. “You
must make your intent clear so that it will
be understood,” says Hewett. “Don’t worry
about hurting students’ feelings.” For example,
rather than asking, “Can you identify the
comma splice errors in this paragraph?” say,
“Identify and correct the comma splice errors
in this paragraph.”
4. TEACH, DON’T TALK
Hewett points out that science and math instructors are especially skilled at this step,
which entails providing models, examples
and problems to solve in order to support a
concept. “It’s important to get students involved in the process,” says Hewett. Follow
these four simple steps:
• Identify the problem
• Explain why it is a problem
• Demonstrate how to address it and
avoid it in the future
• Give the student something to do in
revision—specific steps to address the
problem
5. FORMAT THOUGHTFULLY
There’s a growing understanding that students
read web-based text comfortably, but are not
as skilled at reading instructional text, Hewett
says. The way your comments are presented
can make a big difference. Provide comments
in short chunks with indents, bullets and
numbers to show students what they should
do next. Use blue or purple rather than red ink
if marking up a hard copy assignment, and use
a highlighter to demonstrate or point to things.
—————
Ultimately, says Hewett, it’s helpful to
remember that the quality of the writing
assignment may in fact be lower because
students are processing the subject-matter
information you have provided. “Ideas about
the curriculum are percolating because they
are assimilating new material,” she says. “This
can result in writing fluency being lost.”
The Teaching and Learning Resource
Center, a new online resource for facult y
housed in the eLearning University, features
Hewett’s presentation and several others:
• How Do Students Respond to
Teachers’ Comments?
• Using Track Changes to Respond to
Student Writing
• Working with Developmental/Basic
Writers
The Center for Teaching and Learning is part
of Strayer’s eLearning University, launching
in the spring.
CONGRATULATIONS TO STRAYER
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