What, Why, and How?
6
EVALUATING WRITING
Workshopping explanation and guidelines
Rubrics: for students and instructors
Students Responding to Instructor Feedback
Grading standards
WHAT IS WORKSHOPPING?
A workshop is a meeting at which a group of people engage in intensive
discussion and activity on a particular subject or project. When
workshopping writing, students share their writing with each other with the
goal of providing specific and constructive feedback to guide the writers in
creating more unified, complex, and polished revisions of their essays.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Workshopping helps you to…
- learn to formulate constructive feedback for a peer.
- learn to gather and respond to feedback on your own work.
- gain outside perspectives you may not have thought of or considered.
- improve your skills of reading carefully with attention to detail.
- utilize the benefits of hands on learning.
- transition from writing for yourself and the instructor to a broader
audience and academic community.
HOW DO I DO IT?
Before you begin, consider how best to effectively work with your peers.
Good Practices in Workshopping…
Read the essay out loud. Crafting sentences and paragraphs is also about rhythm and flow.
When you hear writing, you can better detect what is logical and flows well and what does not.
When you get advice, there is no need to “argue” your point or get defensive because there is
no need to feel pressured. You are the author so ultimately if you do not agree with
someone’s point, you do not need to incorporate that change. Oftentimes, when you are
receiving feedback in person, it’s best to quietly take notes and occasionally ask questions for
clarification.
When giving advice, remember that it is difficult hearing criticism from others so be tactful and
never insulting. Instead of responding for instance, “That part was completely confusing,” try
a more tactful approach: “I was a little lost in paragraph 3; perhaps you could expand on your
example to make it clearer.”
When giving advice, also be honest. It actually is not helpful to simply tell someone, “Yeah, it
was good; I liked it.” This gives the student no avenues for revision. If you are confused
someplace or if an example seems off topic, or if the thesis is weak, be honest and tell them
your opinion. Not doing so and letting a student think everything is “fine as is” can be more
hurtful than the truth.
Balance your criticism with praise. Do not forget to tell the author what you liked about the
essay as well. Sometimes we get too focused on “fixing” things and forget to tell people what
we liked or what they did well. Be sure to do both as you give feedback and you’ll find people
are more receptive when you tell them positive comments along with suggestions for
improvement.
WHAT IS A RUBRIC?
A rubric communicates expectations and creates consistent criteria and standards by which to
evaluate a performance or project. In writing, a rubric allows teachers and students to evaluate an
activity which can be complex and subjective. A rubric is aimed at accurate and fair assessment,
fostering understanding, and indicating a way to proceed with subsequent learning and teaching. A
rubric can also provide a basis for self-evaluation, reflection, and peer review.
WHY ARE RUBRICS IMPORTANT?
Rubrics help to…
- bring objectivity to subjective scoring.
- take away the “guessing game” by providing students with consistent standards the
teacher will be using to evaluate their writing.
- teach students to set learning goals and take the responsibility for their learning into
their own hands by knowing what skills make up a desired performance so they can
strive to achieve it.
- assist students in developing their personal ability to judge excellence, or the lack
thereof, in their work and the work of others.
- assure students that there is equality in grading and standardized expectations.
- praise students’ strengths and identify their weaknesses because rubrics provide visual
representations of areas of excellence and under-performance allowing easy
identification of what areas to work on at a glance.
- provide a clear means for students to monitor their progress on specific criteria over a
given period of instruction or time.
- ensure for teachers that they are evaluating student work fairy, clearly and thoroughly.
HOW DO I DO IT?
The English professors at Skyline College have worked together to create a
shared rubric so that regardless of English class or instructor, students will
be evaluated according to a consistent set of criteria based on a shared
understanding of writing fundamentals. All of the materials designed to
instruct, evaluate and comment on student writing in this Rhetoric are based
on that departmental rubric. Contained here are three different approaches
using Skyline College’s English Departmental rubric to evaluate and
comment on writing. These rubrics can be used by students to evaluate one
another, and they can be used by instructors to evaluate students. This
provides further consistency and shared expectations as the students and
the instructor use the same evaluating tool.
This version
of the rubric
allows the
reviewer to
rate by
category and
provides
detailed
descriptions
of each
category.
On the
second
page, it also
allows
space for
comments
explaining
the ratings.
In the
Rhetoric,
there is a
version for
composition
classes and
one for
literature
classes
Page 1
This version
of the rubric
allows the
reviewer to
rate by
category and
provides
detailed
descriptions
of each
category.
On the
second
page, it also
allows
space for
comments
explaining
the ratings.
Page 2
This version
of the rubric
allows the
reviewer to
rate by
category and
provides
links to
Rhetoric
chapters to
provide
more
explanation
for each
category. It
also allows
space for
comments
explaining
the ratings.
In the
Rhetoric,
there is a
version for
composition
classes and
one for
literature
classes
This version
of the rubric
allows the
reviewer to
provide
comments
by category,
to rate by
category
and
includes
links to
Rhetoric
chapters to
provide
more
explanation
for each
category.
In the
Rhetoric,
there is a
version for
composition
classes and
one for
literature
classes
Page 1
This version
of the rubric
allows the
reviewer to
provide
comments
by category,
to rate by
category
and
includes
links to
Rhetoric
chapters to
provide
more
explanation
for each
category.
Page 2
STUDENTS RESPONDING TO INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK
Responding to instructor feedback helps to…
- better understand the advice you were given on your writing.
- identify areas of strength and also areas that need improvement.
- form writing plans and strategies so you can apply the advice to future assignments.
- give the instructor an idea if his/her approaches were effective in conveying revision
advice.
- let the instructor know what writing elements need to be covered more thoroughly
or be revisited.
Using the advice you received from your instructor, answer the following questions:
(1) What were some of your writing strengths that were identified?
(2) What main areas of improvement were identified?
(3) How do you plan to apply the advice you were given in your next writing
assignment? What do you plan to prioritize?
(4) Were there any parts of the advice that were unclear?
(5) Are there writing elements you would like to see focused on more or
revisited in the class?
WHAT ARE GRADING STANDARDS?
As Skyline College’s English instructors created a rubric to set clear criteria and
standards for essays, they have also created a shared set of standards which explain
the grades used to score essays.
WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
Grading standards help to…
- give grades meaning by creating a clear set of standards others can reference to know what
set of skills and abilities are connected with that grade.
- create fairness and consistency between English courses as all students are being graded by
the same criteria.
- teach people to measure the quality of their own writing.
- promote self-sufficiency because how to achieve high quality work is clearly defined.
- give students clear goals as they write and give teachers clear ways to assess that writing.
Here are the Essay Grading Standards for the Skyline English Department:
that concludes
6
EVALUATING WRITING