A possibly controversial academic opinion: Students shouldn't be graded on knowledge/skills they aren't explicitly taught in the class. For example, with paper assignments, if the course doesn't teach spelling, grammar, and writing, then those shouldn't be part of the grade. 1/
Of course, if a student struggles with spelling/grammar/writing, it can affect how effectively they convey their substantive knowledge. But, that's not a reason to punish students. It's a reason to give students the opportunity to submit drafts for review and revision. 2/
Over the past 12 years, I've taught more than 3,000 undergrads, and many of those students arrived in college with very limited writing experience. Some had never written anything longer than a page, and most hadn't learned to write research papers with arguments and evidence. 3/
Despite those realities, many college instructors operate as though students should already know how to write. They assign papers without taking time in class to teach students how to write effectively. And then they penalize students grade-wise when they struggle. 4/
It doesn't have to be this way. If instructors want to use paper assignments, they can spend at least one class teaching students how to structure an argument and support it with appropriately cited evidence, offer feedback, allow revision, and not penalize small mistakes. 5/
Those small changes would go a long way toward supporting student success in college. And they would help more students to see themselves as writers (and even good writers!), regardless of what they had the chance to learn before they arrived. 6/
@JessicaCalarco Do you do this? If so, how? PowerPoint? Overhead? I would love to do this, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so I rely on smart people for help...
@JessicaCalarco 100%. In the past though, when I've done this, I've had poor attendance or negative comments in evaluations that class time was "wasted" by this. But definitely in the UK HE system we often assume (wrongly) that some core module or central support services will do this.
@JessicaCalarco It’s wild that you think this a can be “taught” in one class. What do you think HS English teachers try to do for 4 years?
@JessicaCalarco And offer or connect them to the support for these skills!!! (Writing centres! time in TA sections, etc. But to do all this the uni needs to put money into STUDENT SUPPORT and tenured faculty with offices and and office hours and pay TAs a living wage!)