Feedback and Response Practices

A key element of our work is collaborating with faculty and teaching assistants on effective strategies for providing written and in-person feedback on student writing. We also work with faculty to implement peer feedback, where students review and discuss each other’s writing, into STEM courses. Both in faculty learning communities and in mentoring, we discuss separating feedback from editing, offering opportunities for revision that allows students to respond to feedback, balancing global and local comments, and establishing transparency about assignment expectations. We approach feedback as an invitation into a disciplinary conversation.

Starting Points:

Materials:

Additional Resources:

Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A. (1993). Teachers’ rhetorical comments on student papers. College Composition and Communication, 44(2), 200–223.

Dryer, D. B. (2018). At a mirror, darkly: The imagined undergraduate writers of ten novice composition instructors. College Composition and Communication, 63(3), 420–452.

Fredrick, T. A. (2013). Stop! Think! Grade!: Developing a philosophy of writing evaluation. Language Arts Journal of Michigan, 28(2).

Horner, B., Lu, M.-Z., Royster, J. J., & Trimbur, J. (2011). Language difference in writing: Toward a translingual approach. College English, 73(3), 303–321.

Sharp, J. E., Olds, B. M., Miller, R. L., & Dyrud, M. A. (1999). Four effective writing strategies for engineering classes. Journal of Engineering Education, 88(1), 53–57.

Simon, R. (2013). “Starting with what is”: Exploring response and responsibility to student writing through collaborative inquiry. English Education, 45(2), 115–146.

Treglia, M. (2008). Feedback on feedback: Exploring student responses to teachers’ written commentary. Journal of Basic Writing, 27(1), 105.