A Near Student Revolt...

I had this brilliant idea for an assignment the other day.  Well, it wasn't exactly mine.  It actually came from a reality TV show.  DISCLAIMER: I really like bad reality TV.  Either way, it was a true moment of inspiration.  There was only one problem:  it required that I change the terms of a graded assignment…An assignment that students were in the middle of writing.

But let me give you a little background first.

I’m teaching a new class this semester – at least new to me – called Methods and Interpretation.  The class fulfills the Junior Year writing requirement for Political Science students at UMass, Amherst.  I scheduled the first half of the semester to focus on professional writing -- like Op-Eds, Press Releases, Stump speeches, etc. -- and the second half on research resulting in a formal research paper. 

Throughout the semester, I emphasize the revision process -- a key craft often lost to the allure of procrastination.  I require students to hand in a first draft which we workshop in class, and then both a first and a final draft stapled together in the subsequent class.  A component of their grade is based off the difference between the first and second draft.

So, back to my great idea:  I had watched this episode of Master Chef where home cooks compete to…well…be Master Chef.  In this episode each cook had five minutes to pick ingredients from a pantry and then thirty minute to cook a meal-to-end-all-meals for the critics.   But there was a twist.  When the contestants returned to the kitchen with their ingredients, the host required them to exchange items with the person next to them.  Do you see where I am going with this?

It was 6am, Tuesday morning, I was eating apples and oatmeal, thinking about how I wanted to structure the days class, and it hit me: rather than have the students break-off into pairs and peer-review the first draft of their press release, I would make them trade press releases with a partner, polish it and hand it in as their final.  Brilliant right? 

It sounds foolish, ridiculous, stupid, but actually it makes perfect sense.  After all, professional writing is rarely single author oriented; it often entails an iterative process with multiple participants.  Besides, what better way to hone your revision skills than to visit incomplete work with fresh eyes and the authority to make it shine? 

Of course, when I announced the activity to class with all the enthusiasm of an evangelical preacher the morning after a midnight visit from Saint Gabriel, the reaction was…well…predictable.  The class erupted in protest.  Students complained to me and to each other; they blurted out questions and rebuttals. One student retorted: “A lot of ideas are good in theory.”   

Most students and teacher treat the syllabus as a sacrosanct contract.  Students resist uncertainty and change – especially when grades are at stake.  But at the same time, I have yet to find a more effective pedagogical tool than spontaneity and surprise.  So, despite a near student revolt, I stood my ground.  I carefully detailed how the assignment would be graded.  I gave the students fifteen minutes to consort with their new colleagues.  And I took group and individual question.

The final draft is due next Thursday…We’ll see how it turns out.