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Continued ...
Questions and Answers About Writing in WI Courses and Writing Across
the Curriculum — Page 5
Here are some useful questions to give your students for peer
reviews.
Questions for revising groups
Note: Do not have students ask all these questions (or similar
ones) at every revising session. Rather, pick some questions that
seem most appropriate to your assignment and have the students work
on two or three each time.
Purpose
• Where is this writing headed? Can readers clearly tell?
• Is it on one track, or does it shoot off in new directions?
• Is the writer trying to do too much? Too little?
• Does the author seem to care about his or her writing?
Content
• When you’re through, can you easily summarize this piece
or retell it in your own words?
• Can a reader understand it easily or are parts confusing?
• Are there parts that need explanation or evidence?
• Are there places where the writer said too much or overexplained?
• Can the reader visualize the subject?
• Does it hold your interest all the way through?
• Did you learn something new from this paper?
Organization
• Do the main points seem to be in the right order?
• Does the writer give you enough information so that you know
what he or she is trying to accomplish?
• Does the writing begin smoothly? Does the writer take too
long to get started?
• What about the ending? Does it end crisply and excitingly?
Audience
• Who are the readers for this writing? Does the writer seem
to have them clearly in mind? Will they understand him or her?
• Does the writer assume too much from the audience? Too little?
• What changes does the writer need to make to better communicate
with the audience?
Language and Style
• Is the paper interesting and readable? Does it get stuffy
or dull?
• Can you hear the writer’s voice and personality in it?
• Are all difficult words explained or defined?
• Does the writer use natural, lively language throughout?
• Are the grammar, spelling, and punctuation OK? (Tchudi 47).
What criteria should I use to evaluate student writing?
If your goal is to use writing to enable students to become competent
in the thinking and language of your discipline, you will evaluate
both content and written expression. You may also consider the extent
to which students observe the conventions of writing in the discipline.
Stephen Tchudi advises, “Grade papers for content and place
writing on a pass/fail basis.” He says, “Content instructors
who use this plan make clear that high-quality writing is a course
expectation, and they describe what they mean by quality writing:
it is well planned and coherent; it has gone through drafts and
revisions; it follows standard written English practices. Papers
that do not meet those criteria (or any other set described by the
instructor) are returned to the student for revision. Under this
plan, writing is treated as a vital part of content learning, but
the arbitrariness of grading writing is avoided” (55-56).
William Zinsser endorses a similar approach. He describes a method
used by chemistry professor Estelle Meislich:
“Here is a method I have used successfully for the past eight
years in courses for both chemistry majors and non-majors. On every
examination I ask at least one and often several questions that
require a written response. Students are told that their answers
must be written in acceptable English for credit. If I decide that
a scientifically correct response is poorly written, the student
cannot get credit for the correct answer until it is written in
correct English. The student has one week to return the rewritten
paper for credit. During this time students are encouraged to meet
with a writing tutor for help in rewriting. (I send the writing
tutor a copy of the examination with correctly written answers to
prepare him or her for students’ requests for help.) Of course
incorrect answers, no matter how well written, cannot be rewritten
for credit. A paper that requires a rewritten answer will have two
grades. The first is for the originally submitted examination. The
second grade, shown in parentheses, is the one that the student
will receive if an acceptable written answer is returned on time….
Once students accept the fact that correct but poorly written answers
are unacceptable, most of them write more carefully. Eventually
very few of them have to rewrite at all. In this way, writing becomes
an integral part of the course without diminishing the chemical
content” (204).
Another way to evaluate student writing is to use a grading scheme.
An analytic scale for content writing
This sample scale attributes 70% of the grade to the successful
explication of the three content objectives, one weighed 30%, two
others valued at 20%. An additional 30% of the grade is attributable
to writing quality, divided equally among organization, clarity,
and correctness. Space is left after each category for instructor
comments.
Content (70 %)
Content Objective A (30%)
2 4 6 8 10 x 3 = _______
Comments:
Content Objective B (20%)
2 4 6 8 10 x 2 = _______
Comments:
Content Objective C (20%)
2 4 6 8 10 x 2 = _______
Comments:
Writing (30%)
Organization (10%)
2 4 6 8 10 _______
Clarity (10%)
2 4 6 8 10 _______
Correctness (10%)
2 4 6 8 10 _______
Comments:
TOTAL _______
Overall reaction and suggestions (Tchudi 57)
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