Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Striving vs. Surviving


Last week I was unequivocally faced with the dichotomy between students who want to strive and students who want to survive

Student A, a man who took my Composition I course last semester and is now taking my Comp II course this semester, came to me to ask me to be his mentor for a speech competition.  He had written a well-supported argument on the issue of immigration with a unique view and strong belief driving the paper.  Although he received an irrefutable ‘A’ for the paper, he still asked that I “grade” it again to look for any ways he could revise and make it even better.  Throughout Comp I and so far in Comp II, he has valued my feedback, recognizing that constructive criticism will make him a stronger writer, communicator, and human being.  He actively seeks out my classes because he knows I will push him to be better than he was the day before.  There is no “easy A” in my class, and he likes it that way, because he knows that when he gets that A, it was all him.

Student B, another young man in a different Comp II section this semester, came to me in the same week to ask why he was failing my class.  When I explained that it was because he rarely showed up to class and rarely turned in any work, he didn’t understand why he wouldn’t be passing anyway.  One of the requirements of the course is that students submit their work to turnitin.com as well as give me a hard copy for grading. Nine weeks into the semester and several missing assignments later, this student asked, "What's the point of the hard copy?” to which I replied, “So that I can give you feedback in order to improve your writing.”  He then said, rather assertively, “Well, I don’t need your feedback, I just need a grade.”  I was astounded, as I had never heard a student so vehemently reject the writing process.  Student B simply wanted the grade and expected it to be as passing one despite his lack of effort and refusal to follow directions.  It, unfortunately, wasn't.

Herein lies the fault line between students who want to be great and students who want to get by.  I have found this semester, more than any other, that there is a divide between the strivers and the survivors.  There is a distinct group of students in each of my sections who are pulling away from the pack, who have worked hard to improve, and who are now enjoying their achievement and finishing the semester strong. 

While I was annoyed at Student B’s clear disregard for the value of feedback, he did make me wonder if we’ve created this crater of indifference ourselves by focusing for so long on letter grades.  While I understand the need for grades in terms of ranking students and establishing a GPA, it does make me concerned that we push students to look to improve a grade, rather than improve their skills—the two do not always go hand-in-hand.  When I was in Grad school, my professor (now my colleague), who taught Teaching Writing as a Process, discussed with me the prospect of not giving grades since students focus so much on that one little letter and fail absorb the comments that would actually change that letter.  I experimented one semester with only giving comments until the final draft of the paper, forcing students to read the comments and improve based on them.  The results were fascinating—I had more students engaging in the writing process and understanding what they needed to do to improve their ability not just their letter grade.  However, they also felt extreme anxiety not having those grades, and I ultimately went back to the old way of giving them a grade just to see where they stand. 

I am considering trying this again, with some improvements to get the best of both worlds.   In fact, I am contemplating having students grade their own papers based on my feedback and a rubric.  Based on the types of comments they see on their papers, they could try to determine honestly what grade bracket they believe the paper would it fit into.


As educators, we must facilitate the learning process for students, ultimately putting their success in their own hands. Perhaps this could lessen the divide and encourage others to strive, rather than merely survive.  

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