This is a tough one, I remember getting my first requests for this and being a bit befuddled at how I should handle it.
What I say is this: 'I do not 'pre-grade' papers. However, if you want to meet with me and bring in a copy of your paper, I will be happy to look over it to see if anything major jumps out at me.' That means the student must schedule a meeting with me or come at office hours. Sometimes they do, sometimes I never hear from them again. When they show up I remind them that I'm not grading the paper, not looking at it quite the same way, but I'll look at it to see if 'they are on the right track.' I point out what I see verbally, occasionally marking the paper with some detailed comments. If the paper appears to be structurally on the right track I'll tell them they are on the right track. If they are not, I'll remind them of what the syllabus and/or rubric says to orient them to how they are missing the boat. Then I close this (usually 15 minute) session by saying that there may be much more that I missed, particularly details of grammar or spelling, that could hurt the grade, so make sure you give attention to that. Students who had a previous brush with plagiarism have a very high likelihood of bringing in their subsequent papers to 'make sure they are OK.' I give them the same treatment as above, and remind them that plagiarism is not always apparent in an initial read of the paper, so my looking at the paper does not necessarily certify it OK. I have considered refusing such requests. And, y'all's calls to fairness in the context of the request is an option for me in the future. Paul C. Bernhardt Department of Psychology Frostburg State University Frostburg, Maryland -----Original Message----- From: Wuensch, Karl L [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Mon 1/31/2011 6:12 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Please check my paper BEFORE you grade it Tipsters, would any of the following affect your responses: These are doctoral students in a second semester quant course. There is a paper required every week. Each paper is an APA-Style results section presenting a multivariate analysis of simulated data. The students have already been given examples of how to present such results and a list of common errors made by previous students. It takes me about half an hour to evaluate a paper and make constructive feedback. With 20 students, that is ten hours a week. The same errors tend to be repeated week after week by certain students, despite prior feedback. Others turn in publication quality work almost every time. I made the mistake of offering a revise and resubmit. Guess what, now I get requests to check the revision before it is turned in for a grade. Cheers, [cid:[email protected]]<http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/klw.htm> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 4:45 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Please check my paper BEFORE you grade it I usually tell my students who make such requests that it would not be fair for me to do it just for her without extending the same offer to everyone else. In turn, it would not be fair to me to have to read all student papers twice. Miguel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karl L Wuensch" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 4:25:52 PM Subject: [tips] Please check my paper BEFORE you grade it How best to handle the student request that you check her paper for errors BEFORE you grade it so she can be sure to get a perfect paper when she hands it in later? Cheers, Karl W. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263003&n=T&l=tips&o=8292 or send a blank email to leave-8292-13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8295 or send a blank email to leave-8295-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
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