Evaluation and Engagement

Yesterday, the English department had a day long workshop devoted to English 101. Specifically we discussed ideas about how to evaluate and respond consistently to student writing and how to get students more engaged in the writing process. What we discovered is that we as faculty shared some common ideas about what we wanted to see in good student writing: clarity and complexity of thoughts, good organization and presentation of those thoughts, careful attention to grammar and mechanics during the final editing steps. What we also discovered is that we often use different language to talk about these common ideas with students. The result of using those different terms, we speculate, probably leads students to think that we are talking about a range of issues in writing and not the same basic ones.

How do we solve that? Well, yesterday's workshop was a step in that direction. We began to discuss whether we should start trying to use a common language and whether we should use a common rubric for essay evaluation. I may experiment with some rubrics this semester, and I may enlist the help of the students to construct a usable rubric for essay evaluation.

We also talked about how to get students engaged in the writing process. At one point we were asked what our "wish list" for students might be; what would we change about our students if we could? Nearly all of us mentioned that we would like students more connected and enthusiastic about improving their writing. Now, I fully realize that part of that enthusiasm and engagement has to be provided by me. I have to create a class that "matters" before students will understand how writing "matters." But beyond that, we talked about how to conduct conferences, peer review sessions, and even one on one appointments so that we move forward on improving writing and do not simply keep rehearsing what makes writing bad. I am thinking about some of the ideas that were presented and am going to try to implement them in my Eng 101 class.

But I need some help. What are the best ways to engage students in this class? What works in composition and what doesn't? What are the best characteristics we should be looking for in academic writing? How can I make "writing matter"?