I shudder at the word revision. In the immediate moments that follow a grading session, revision means simply more grading; however, I have to admit that sometimes revisions are necessary. I’m a writing instructor; I know this to be fundamentally and pedagogically true. But when should we allow students to revise? Some instructors have a strict no-revision policy, while others allow unlimited revisions. I contend there is no happy medium, but rather, instructors should develop a meaningful revision policy that encourages good writing practice and learning.I can’t find the exact quote, but we might consider the concept that good writing is never finished, just due. For many of us that is a sad truth because we could work on our masterpieces for eternity, but what good would that do? No matter what type of writing we do on the job, eventually a final copy has to be turned in.
A revision policy that allows for unlimited revisions may send the wrong message to students. If students are allowed to revise as much as they like, then what they may end up doing is simply turning in draft writing initially just to meet a deadline and then incrementally revise based on each subsequent grade until they finally get the grade they want. While we want to offer unlimited opportunities to teach students, unfortunately, for many of students, "unlimited" equates to infinite opportunities to raise a grade. That approach is time-consuming for both student and instructor, but more importantly, it’s really a rather ineffective writing practice.
So we have to ask ourselves, what kind of writing practices do we encourage with our revision policy? In order to help students prepare for the writing demands of the workforce, we want to ensure that our revision policy encourages good writing strategies. One way to develop effective writing strategies is to encourage the writing process from the start. Remind students at least two weeks ahead of time that a writing assignment is due and promote the writing process. This might include a visit to the Writing Center live tutor to brainstorm ideas or to draft a working thesis statement. Encourage students to write multiple drafts, because it is in the drafting stage that they should learn to catch problems with structure, organization, and correctness. What we do not want is for students to get in the habit of turning in drafts for their projects. How would a manager receive a report draft when the final was supposed to be delivered? Instructors might even want to look at projects the same way a boss would look at a report, as a final copy that meets certain requirements and expectations, and in most cases, a boss would not allow unlimited opportunities to revise.
We also want to make sure our revision policy is meaningful for students. While some of us spend a great deal of time commenting on student papers, when it comes to asking students to revise, consider meeting with them on AIM or preferably on the phone to discuss the assignment. Basically, students should not revise or rewrite an assignment without first meeting with the instructor to clarify what needs to be revised and why. If students do not meet with the instructor, consider letting the original grade stand. Meeting with you is not a punishment; it is, however, a motivator because it allows students to talk with you about their writing, which can be a significant learning moment.
On the other end of the spectrum are students who want to revise simply for a higher grade. To help these students focus on their writing instead of on a grade, ask them to meet with you to discuss their writing and what they would like to improve overall. Of course, one question is, doesn’t a better grade indicate students have learned, whether or not you’ve met with them? This is not always the case because when someone is simply looking for a checklist of items to "correct," learning has not always taken place. The goal is so grade-oriented that the "learning" becomes distorted because it is so strongly connected with a grade. Having a conversation with an instructor about writing, however, eliminates that checklist mentality and forces the student to look at their process and writing as a whole.
No matter if students are revising because they misunderstood the assignment or they want to raise their grade, help them make their revision goal-oriented and demonstrate noticeable progress that is measurable on one or two particular skills. This is best achieved through a one-on-one conference. By meeting with you personally, students are asked to articulate what they would like to improve upon, how they plan to do that, and how that can be achieved in the assignment they are working on.
As an institution of higher learning, one of our goals is to prepare students for the workplace. I do not know of many workplaces that would take kindly to draft writing being turned in when a final copy was expected; however, I am also aware that when a report does not meet its target, management will ask for a rewrite, sometimes kindly and sometimes not so kindly. We are, however, a teaching institution and so we want to give students some room to fail in a safe environment. A meaningful revision policy can be one of those safety nets; however, we want to ensure that what we are doing through this policy will help students develop better writing practices, which will help them learn to be better writers.
Diane Martinez is a writing specialist in the Writing Center.
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