MAXIMIZING FEEDBACK TO STUDENT WRITING THROUGH GOOGLE DRIVE Jude Miller (Rowan University), Jeffries Hall 103 [email protected]

MAXIMIZING FEEDBACK TO STUDENT WRITING THROUGH GOOGLE DRIVEJude Miller (Rowan University), Jeffries Hall 103

[email protected]

Maximizing Feedback to Student Writing

“How best to respond to students’ essays . . . concerns us all. . . . Yet valuable as we believe our penciled comments to be, this time-consuming, difficult task proves too frequently a confused, unsatisfying experience for us; worse, our efforts prove too often apparently unhelpful to students who . . . are alienated, antagonized, by our thought-heavy marginalia and terminal

remarks.” --Brooke K. Horvath “The Components of Written Response: Practical

Synthesis of Current Views”


Regardless of what program we are teaching in, we are all invested in getting our students to improve their writing

A large part of doing that involves two things: #1.) Getting students to write #2.) Responding to students’ writing—whether it’s

digitally, electronically, verbally, or written.

How do we most effectively do that?

Rowan’s First-Year Writing Program Rowan’s First-Year Writing Program is a process-

based, portfolio system. Students submit ungraded “final” drafts of their

assignments throughout the semester; they receive instructor feedback on these drafts; they revise those drafts and resubmit them in their portfolios.

At the end of the semester, they submit a final portfolio, which dictates a large portion of their course grade.

Therefore, students are required to engage in the process of writing by improving drafts based on feedback from their instructors, peers, and Writing Center

On “Process”

“[W]hen people think too much during the early stages [of writing] about what they want to end up with, that preoccupation with the final product keeps them from attaining it.”

“[i]f you get yourself to write freely during the first stage you will warm up all your faculties and some passages will come out just right the first time.”

--Elbow, Peter. Writing with Power. New York: Oxford, 1981.

On “Process”

“I’ve learned how to take more control over my writing while still giving it free reign… I’ve learned the value of not expecting a twelve year old child to come out while you’re giving birth to a baby; that any writing needs time after its birth so it can change and grow and eventually reach its potential. I’ve come to realize that you most probably won’t find a pearl if you only pick up oysters once a year. So I will try to write a lot—a whole lot—and not expect that every piece emerge a gem. I’ll learn to put up with (maybe even enjoy) the bad stuff, remembering that the more I do of it, the closer I get to coming out with something good.”

--Pilgrim, JoAnne. Qtd. In Peter Elbow. Writing with Power. New York: Oxford, 1981.

Google Check-Ins to Engage in “Process” and to Facilitate Feedback

In the beginning of the semester, students create shells for each of the assignments they will be submitting throughout the semester.

They then share those shells with me. They are required to do all drafting in Google

Drive. Throughout the semester, there are “Google

Drive Check-Ins,” wherein students must have certain amounts of work completed on each assignment by certain dates.

Grading Conference

After receiving feedback, students meet with me for a grading conference, during which they must explain: #1.) What their work’s strengths were #2.) Where their work needs development

Benefits of Google Drive

“See Revision History” Chat feature Sharing research Robust features for collaboratively

written assignments Dictate comments to Google VoiceNote II –Speech to text (Google

Chrome plug in)


“See Revision History”


Chat feature


Sharing research I have used Google’s “Share” feature to

create documents shared with the entire class, on which students are required to put resources they have found

Robust features for collaboratively written assignments For collaboratively written assignments,

Google is excellent


Dictating Feedback


VoiceNote II –Speech to text (Google Chrome plug in)

Team Writing and Google

In addition to First-Year Writing, I teach a team taught technical writing class for students in Rowan’s College of Engineering

Students collaboratively write assignments (lab reports, team charters, etc.)

Conclusion: Google Drive’s usefulness extends beyond just revision-based composition course.

Team Writing, Google, and STEM Fields

Research suggests that in team settings, female students and non-native English speaking students have been shown to contribute more input on projects when the communication occurs digitally—which Google is capable of facilitating through the “chat” feature.

-Fowler, Robin. “Talking Teams: Increased Equity in Participation in Online Compared to Face-to-Face Team Discussions.” 121st ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. June 15-18, 2014. Indianapolis. American Society of Engineering Education, 2014.

Drawbacks to Google Drive

Time stamps only available if document has been altered in some way

Saving specific drafts can be complicated, but not impossible, as Google saves for you

Inconclusive whether or not students prefer it


Time stamps only available if document has been altered in some way


Saving specific drafts can be complicated, but not impossible, as Google saves for you


Saving specific drafts can be complicated. My experience: because of the fluidity of

drafts in Google, I have taken to having students compose their work in Google and then email me a final draft as a Microsoft Word file

This creates platform issues for students who don’t have Word and complicates the ease of use of the Speech to Text feature


My experience: Tried one semester with a lot of guidance; required all

work on Google Result: students actively engaged in the process of writing

through Google Tried one semester without a lot of guidance;

demonstrated Google’s features; required use for first major assignment; suggested use for remaining assignments Result: only about 1/3 of students used Google after the first

assignment Conclusion: Only a portion of students found Google

Drive useful for composing essays; but that’s not to say they don’t still find it useful.


However, the technology for responding to student writing is always changing, so what I’m really concerned about today is the research about how to actually respond to student writing


Elbow, Peter. Writing with Power. New York: Oxford, 1981.

-- “Grading Student Writing: Making it Simpler, Faster, Clearer.” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 69. (1997): 127-140. Students are stronger, more empowered

writers if they engage in writing from a process-based perspective and if they have frequent low-stakes writing opportunities.


Haswell, Richard. “The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing; or, Looking for Shortcuts Via the Road of Excess.” Across the Disciplines. 9 Nov. 2006. The amount and length of comments an

instructor leaves a student is inversely proportional to what that student will process. (i.e. “less=more”)


Haswell, Richard. “The Complexities of Responding to Student Writing; or, Looking for Shortcuts Via the Road of Excess.” Across the Disciplines. 9 Nov. 2006.


Wingard, Joel and Angela Geosits. “Effective Comments and Revisions in Student Writing from WAC Courses.” Across the Disciplines. 6 April 2014. Studied the extent and kind of revisions

students made to their work after receiving instructor feedback, primarily in first-year writing courses

Conclusion: Students can improve their writing substantively through revision when they are given feedback that focuses on substantive matters


Sommers, Nancy. “Responding to Student Writing.” College Composition and Communication 33.2. (1982): 148-156. Examine students’ processing of instructor feedback to

encourage revision of student writing. Conclusions:

If the instructor wants revision of students’ ideas, then comments that focus on mechanical concerns ultimately distract the student. For substantive revision, give substantive comments.

The most effective feedback an instructor can give a student must be grounded in the student’s text (i.e. not an interchangeable, “rubber-stamped” comment that could apply to any student’s written work.)

The Question…

Despite all of this, responding to students’ writing remains a challenging, at times nebulous work.

What strategies (technological, philosophical, or otherwise) have worked for you?

Jude [email protected] of College Comp II Rowan UniversityDepartment of Writing Arts

Documents

MAXIMIZING FEEDBACK TO STUDENT WRITING THROUGH GOOGLE DRIVE Jude Miller (Rowan University), Jeffries Hall 103 [email protected]