Especially in a remote or hybrid class, how you respond to student writing will help shape your relationship with your students. You might find yourself overwhelmed with increased demand for communication with your students. What follows is intended to help you make writing feedback more easeful, less time-consuming, and more effective.
Contact the Writing CenterA Brief Guide to Responding to Student Writing (Harvard Writing Project)
Diagnosing and Responding to Student Writing (Dartmouth College)
About Responding to Student Writing (Peter Elbow)
Minimal Marking, Maximum Learning: Strategies for grading efficiently & effectively (Elon University)
Jim Wright. “How to Help Students Accept Constructive Criticism: ‘Wise’ Feedback.” Reference on giving feedback in a style that reduces stereotype threat.
Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011.
See especially: Ch. 16 (“Writing Comments on Students’ Papers"), pages 295-98 (on peer review but useful for instructor feedback), and pages 80-86 (“Responding to Error”).
Borgman, Jessie and Casey McArdle. Personal, Accessible, Responsive, Strategic: Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors. Boulder: U of Colorado P, 2019.
On feedback, see especially pp. 60-62.
Gottschalk, Katherine and Keith Hjortshoj. The Elements of Teaching Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
See especially: Ch. 3 (“What Can You Do with Student Writing?”) and pages 67-71 (“Revision after Submission of a Draft” and “Responding to Drafts for Revision”).
Sommers, Nancy. Responding to Student Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012.
A slim and pragmatic book. Sommers also published an earlier article with the same title in 1982 (jstor).
Schedule a consultation with associates at the Writing Center to discuss this topic for your course. Write to us at writing@amherst.edu or contact a writing associate directly. This guide was compiled from the work of Kristen Brookes (lead author), Emily Merriman, and Jessica Kem. It was last updated June 2020.
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