Introduction
“My worst fear is starting a paper, then suddenly realizing you need to revise certain points, backtrack, and rewrite the whole paper.”
The honest words of a 10th grade student at the project-based learning charter high school where I am currently student-teaching in a Humanities classroom. The words of a student living in fear, dreading any substantive writing, operating in a bubble, not knowing who to turn to, or how to tackle an inherent problem.
Musings
This student is not alone in their view, and at least recognizes that revising is a part of the writing process, albeit a necessary evil. I have, too often, observed students who do not recognize the need to revise and edit their assignments, believing their first draft to be sufficient. Even when I give students the opportunity to revise their work, they often show little improvement when I review their assignment. Their attention is focused on achieving a higher grade, rather than increasing their understanding of the writing process, or having a more positive perception towards the art of writing.
As an English teacher and avid writer, I am disheartened by this current state of affairs. But when I think back to my time as a 10th grader, I had the same approach to writing. Why should I rewrite my essays? I have more than half-a-dozen other subjects to worry about and an insurmountable amount of homework! I learned about the writing process the hard way; receiving low grades once I reached university. Once I became aware of the need to write multiple drafts, I then realized that I did not know how to improve my writing. Not knowing my writing strengths and weaknesses, and being ill-equipped with writing tools, made it very hard to improve. However, through trial and tribulation, reading model texts, and receiving constructive feedback, I gradually became more aware of what it takes to be a good writer. Crucially, I became more aware of the need to edit, recognizing when my writing quality had dropped, and was equipped with the tools to improve my writing through the revision process.
But how do I impart this awareness in a classroom of diverse students with a multitude of learning styles? I have high achieving students, ELLs, and students with IEPs. My students need these tools now as they are on the verge of writing, producing, and ultimately performing their own plays in front of their peers, friends, teachers and family. If they approach this project with their current mindset, I fear their plays will be one-dimensional. In this project-based learning environment we are collaborating with the Spanish teacher, and their plays will incorporate two languages, presenting a further challenge. Plays will be written in pairs, with the partnerships decided by my master-teacher, taking into consideration student feedback, and the need to mix abilities while creating groups that will collaborate effectively. Therefore, students will have someone to turn to for moral and academic support, but there is no guarantee that all pairings will work effectively or have the knowledge needed to complete the project. Their plays are based on historical research of Latin America during the Cold War, and as I write they are producing an historical argument paper based on an essential question drawn from their detailed research of a selected Latin American country.
Given the circumstances, and my own experience, I believe the motivation and ability to revise and rethink is fundamental to success at college and in career. This stage of the project requires significant written revision, but the acquired revising skills could be applied to an array of activities. I would like to provide the tools to overcome the writing hurdles faced by students, hopefully reducing their fear of writing, perhaps even making it an enjoyable activity.
Needs Assessment
To better understand my students’ approach to writing, I conducted a needs assessment. I asked students to complete a GoogleForm containing seven multiple-choice questions; using a Likert scale from one to five; one being strongly disagree, and five being strongly agree.
In general, according to the needs assessment, students enjoy written assignments over other forms of assessment, and enjoy writing. I interpreted the results as students are passionate and involved in their education, with the majority expressing an opinion rather than selecting the neutral score of three in the Likert scale. This presents the opportunity to conduct meaningful research with my students, although the responses to questions three and four, with the majority indicating that they enjoy editing, and believing they need to do so, does not correlate with my observations. This suggests a disconnect between students’ thoughts and actions, and may be something worth exploring during my research. Perhaps students recognize the need to revise written work, but do not know how to.
The honest words of a 10th grade student at the project-based learning charter high school where I am currently student-teaching in a Humanities classroom. The words of a student living in fear, dreading any substantive writing, operating in a bubble, not knowing who to turn to, or how to tackle an inherent problem.
Musings
This student is not alone in their view, and at least recognizes that revising is a part of the writing process, albeit a necessary evil. I have, too often, observed students who do not recognize the need to revise and edit their assignments, believing their first draft to be sufficient. Even when I give students the opportunity to revise their work, they often show little improvement when I review their assignment. Their attention is focused on achieving a higher grade, rather than increasing their understanding of the writing process, or having a more positive perception towards the art of writing.
As an English teacher and avid writer, I am disheartened by this current state of affairs. But when I think back to my time as a 10th grader, I had the same approach to writing. Why should I rewrite my essays? I have more than half-a-dozen other subjects to worry about and an insurmountable amount of homework! I learned about the writing process the hard way; receiving low grades once I reached university. Once I became aware of the need to write multiple drafts, I then realized that I did not know how to improve my writing. Not knowing my writing strengths and weaknesses, and being ill-equipped with writing tools, made it very hard to improve. However, through trial and tribulation, reading model texts, and receiving constructive feedback, I gradually became more aware of what it takes to be a good writer. Crucially, I became more aware of the need to edit, recognizing when my writing quality had dropped, and was equipped with the tools to improve my writing through the revision process.
But how do I impart this awareness in a classroom of diverse students with a multitude of learning styles? I have high achieving students, ELLs, and students with IEPs. My students need these tools now as they are on the verge of writing, producing, and ultimately performing their own plays in front of their peers, friends, teachers and family. If they approach this project with their current mindset, I fear their plays will be one-dimensional. In this project-based learning environment we are collaborating with the Spanish teacher, and their plays will incorporate two languages, presenting a further challenge. Plays will be written in pairs, with the partnerships decided by my master-teacher, taking into consideration student feedback, and the need to mix abilities while creating groups that will collaborate effectively. Therefore, students will have someone to turn to for moral and academic support, but there is no guarantee that all pairings will work effectively or have the knowledge needed to complete the project. Their plays are based on historical research of Latin America during the Cold War, and as I write they are producing an historical argument paper based on an essential question drawn from their detailed research of a selected Latin American country.
Given the circumstances, and my own experience, I believe the motivation and ability to revise and rethink is fundamental to success at college and in career. This stage of the project requires significant written revision, but the acquired revising skills could be applied to an array of activities. I would like to provide the tools to overcome the writing hurdles faced by students, hopefully reducing their fear of writing, perhaps even making it an enjoyable activity.
Needs Assessment
To better understand my students’ approach to writing, I conducted a needs assessment. I asked students to complete a GoogleForm containing seven multiple-choice questions; using a Likert scale from one to five; one being strongly disagree, and five being strongly agree.
- I prefer written assignments over other forms (i.e. presentations, debates, seminars).
- I enjoy writing.
- I enjoy editing and rewriting assignments.
- I do not need to rewrite assignments.
- I receive good feedback from my teachers.
- I value my peers’ feedback over my teachers’.
- I would find it helpful if the teacher completed the same assignments as me.
In general, according to the needs assessment, students enjoy written assignments over other forms of assessment, and enjoy writing. I interpreted the results as students are passionate and involved in their education, with the majority expressing an opinion rather than selecting the neutral score of three in the Likert scale. This presents the opportunity to conduct meaningful research with my students, although the responses to questions three and four, with the majority indicating that they enjoy editing, and believing they need to do so, does not correlate with my observations. This suggests a disconnect between students’ thoughts and actions, and may be something worth exploring during my research. Perhaps students recognize the need to revise written work, but do not know how to.
I posed the fifth question, “I receive good feedback from my teachers” in order to better ascertain what the teacher’s role should be during the revision process. The results indicate that students strongly believe they receive good feedback from their teachers, once again highlighting the dichotomy between student perception and my experience as their student-teacher. They may believe the feedback is good, but I am not convinced they know what to do with it. I wonder how I can provide clear and constructive feedback, allowing students to progress.
Students also indicated that they value teacher feedback over peer feedback. I wonder whether this is a good or bad thing and how I can increase the value of peer feedback. I have always relied on teacher feedback, but throughout my professional career, and more recently as a graduate student, I have recognized the value of working with, and receiving feedback from peers.
Students also indicated that they value teacher feedback over peer feedback. I wonder whether this is a good or bad thing and how I can increase the value of peer feedback. I have always relied on teacher feedback, but throughout my professional career, and more recently as a graduate student, I have recognized the value of working with, and receiving feedback from peers.
The final question, ‘I would find it helpful if the teacher completed the same assignments as me?’, was posed purely out of intrigue. I had come across this approach in my methods class at USD, drawing from the work of Kelly Gallagher and Nancie Atwell, and was exploring it as a potential intervention. The results reveal the diverse learning styles of my students, with an almost perfect split between those who disagree and agree. It could make for an interesting research project, as there are enough students open to the notion of the teacher taking on their workload for it to be a worthwhile activity, and it would be fascinating to see the reaction of those who are initially opposed.
The full results of the survey can be found here, and have left me wondering whether better understanding the struggles my students face will help me design instruction revolved around increasing their motivation and ability to revise.
A research project is conceived
Through a combination of needs assessment and student conversations, it is clear that even students who enjoy writing and editing are unable to articulate how to approach the revision process. I believe there is a lot of confusion as to what constitutes revising, and as the final two questions of my initial needs assessment suggest, there is a need to better understand my students. Conducting the needs assessment has fueled my desire to focus on revising, and it will be fascinating to measure how this affects their motivation and ability to revise. Given the collaborative aspect of the project it will be interesting to examine how placing an emphasis on revision influences students’ ability to work together. There could be an impact on teacher-student interaction as I focus on a divisive and confusing topic. Additionally, as students write their plays in pairs and begin to take ownership of the project, they may become less reliant on teachers, affecting peer and teacher interaction, as they begin to place a higher value on peer knowledge and feedback. My wonderings have led me to explore:
What happens to student learning when we focus more heavily on revision in my Humanities classroom?
As a result, I have developed a series of sub-questions to aid and focus my research:
A research project is conceived
Through a combination of needs assessment and student conversations, it is clear that even students who enjoy writing and editing are unable to articulate how to approach the revision process. I believe there is a lot of confusion as to what constitutes revising, and as the final two questions of my initial needs assessment suggest, there is a need to better understand my students. Conducting the needs assessment has fueled my desire to focus on revising, and it will be fascinating to measure how this affects their motivation and ability to revise. Given the collaborative aspect of the project it will be interesting to examine how placing an emphasis on revision influences students’ ability to work together. There could be an impact on teacher-student interaction as I focus on a divisive and confusing topic. Additionally, as students write their plays in pairs and begin to take ownership of the project, they may become less reliant on teachers, affecting peer and teacher interaction, as they begin to place a higher value on peer knowledge and feedback. My wonderings have led me to explore:
What happens to student learning when we focus more heavily on revision in my Humanities classroom?
As a result, I have developed a series of sub-questions to aid and focus my research:
- How is student motivation to revise affected?
- How is student ability to revise affected?
- How is student collaboration affected?
- What is the impact on teacher-student interaction?