HI Paul With respect to struggling with writing the paper I agree - they do struggle with the content and therefore (perhaps) do not feel they can also attend to the process of writing. But as an instructor you can make them focus on writing vs content in how you construct the assignments. For example, in the introductory research methods course (the purpose is writing and how to do research) I deemphasize the content while they are learning the other tasks. So the two papers have a 2 page intro and a 2 page discussion (in addition to the other sections but those are more mechanical). We then work through (with lots of scaffolding exercises) how one would organize and write such 2 pages (about 5 paragraphs). The exercises include having references due early, require them to turn in actual copies of the articles (to discourage just reading abstracts), and having journal club (for lack of a better name) in which they present a key research article to their group (during lab) so that they get used to not just reading the abstract and see the usefulness of taking written notes. They also have to rearrange an introduction from a paper where I've scrambled the paragraphs. So lots of small exercises (with emphasis on writing, organization, etc.). Of course APA style is covered in separate assignments. I think it is perfectly OK that APA style is an afterthought (it takes a lot more practice to make it a habit although serving as peer reviewer is excellent practice).
I also agree that drafts are not worth much if they are not taken seriously. I've tried peer review of drafts many different ways and I have now reached a system that really works. The draft is not a draft but their "best work". It is not graded but they will lose points on the final paper if the paper is incomplete (missing sections, missing references, less than 2 pages of intro, etc.). Then everyone gets two papers to peer review. Before peer review I talk to them at length about the types of comments that are useful (and I solicit their advice on this as well since most have tried peer review before). Again the peer review is not graded but if they obviously blow it off they lose points on the final paper (sometimes they peer review in lab which solves that problem). I do not check the peer reviews but encourage students to ask me if there are disagreements or problems with the peer reviews. My rule is that they can ask anything they want (of me) but it needs to be a specific question. I do read or "look over" their papers. The system works great. In fact, I now always have students turn in peer reviewed papers which are always much better. The students really come to like it and rely on it as a way of making their thinking and writing better. Of course I tell them (many times) that no one but themselves can make the paper better and it is not the job of the peer reviewer to catch every mistake or error. A student can fix every problem (as pointed out by peer reviewers) and move a paper from a D to a C. Also, it only works if the draft is actually their "best work". Anyway, just some thoughts on how to focus on writing. I also require them to turn in their first graded research methods paper with their second research methods paper and I tell them that I will count twice off for errors on the second that they made on their first. That seems to actually force students to look carefully at the graded comments on the first paper. Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), +45 2065 1360 Dickinson College (on leave 2010/2011) http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** From: Paul C Bernhardt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 22:06 To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Please check my paper BEFORE you grade it I've tried both the draft and revise and the multiple papers methods. I'm not convinced that students improve their writing much in our psychology courses through either method, but for different reasons. The problem with multiple papers, I think, is that many students are struggling with the ideas of the papers, so focus on their writing becomes secondary in some ways. Even if you tell them about their reference list being poorly organized, or their abstract reading like an introduction to the paper rather than a summary of the paper, they don't put their attention on it. The struggle for many is too basic: What can and should be said. How to say it and how to polish it are after the fact. Adding the 'APA doo-dads' are afterthoughts, also. The problem with the draft and revise method is that it is hard for the students (and often the instructor) to take it seriously. A draft is not a completed document. So, I find defining what constitutes a final product for a pre-completion submission rather difficult. Grading it can be problematic. All the time it runs through my head, 'this is a draft' so I have a hard time treating it with enough gravity, taking enough time on it. The students, likewise, have the same problem. Then comes the final document. Suppose you see that they have a terribly awkward sentence in the final version. You look back at the draft and, oops, that sentence is in the draft exactly that way and you didn't catch it. It feels unfair to take off points for it. Maybe it is my limitations of understanding how to approach either of these two ways of doing papers, but I find that neither are satisfactory for me nor am I convinced they help students develop actual skills. What am I missing? Paul C Bernhardt Frostburg State University Frostburg, MD, USA pcbernhardt[at]frostburg[d0t]edu On Feb 3, 2011, at 9:36 AM, Steven Specht wrote: I used to look at drafts, but it got to a point where I thought most students were taking advantage (i.e., throwing something together only to then have me organize and revise their work). BUT, I also am interested in teaching writing. What I have gone to is a series of papers throughout the course of the semester so that they can use the comments from previous papers to work on subsequent papers. I think in a way, this may actually model the development of "real" writing across the years. -S ======================================================== Steven M. Specht, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology Utica College Utica, NY 13502 (315) 792-3171 monkeybrain-collagist.blogspot.com<http://monkeybrain-collagist.blogspot.com/> "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King Jr. On Feb 3, 2011, at 9:27 AM, Marc Carter wrote: Call me crazy, but I always *require* at least one draft -- otherwise I'm not really teaching writing, it seems to me. They won't use feedback on one assignment to improve another, so I do a whole series of ideas, feedback, initial references, feedback, annotated outline, feedback, draft, feedback, and sometimes another draft with feedback. This helps avoid the bought-paper, and I feel like it teaches them how to write. But the biggest classes I do this with are 20. :) m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- -----Original Message----- From: Shearon, Tim [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 4:05 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Please check my paper BEFORE you grade it Miguel, et al: I do understand that some of us have lighter "student loads" and that not everyone can do so but I do make that offer to everyone. Here is why- I don't think it means you have to read the paper twice! You've already seen it and thus the second read is less "dense" and full of errors. I basically give a "window" for each course during which they can turn in drafts. In addition to getting better papers the second time (I make them turn in the first paper with the suggestions/etc when they turn in the final paper) I find that very few students actually take advantage of the offer! If memory serves, the best and worst writers are often the ones who take advantage of it in upper division courses. But I've never had more than four or five students in a class turn in drafts so, knock on wood, it has not caused me a huge extra work load. I suspect some of the workload created is dependent on a number of factors including teaching style, courses taught, institution, etc. so it is hard to say without trying it what the response would be but it works for me at this institution. :) Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor, Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker ________________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 2:44 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]<mailto:[email protected]>> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]<mailto:[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? 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