Revision Portfolio - Capstone Writing Assignment
Creators: name: (Yaggi) Rodak, Miranda
Publisher: name: unknown
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Interdisciplinary approach in education
subject: Literature--Study and teaching
subject: College students' writings
subject: Academic writing

description: Intensive-writing classes ostensibly focus on teaching students how to write in the disciplines and tend to have two requirements: minimum word count (5K or so) and a formal revision of at least one paper. Instructors specializing in writing pedagogy know, however, that students writing more doesn't translate to students writing *more effectively*. Indeed, it can have the reverse effect. Emphasis on quantity reinforces poor writing habits developed in K-12 where students thought (incorrectly, but rewarded nonetheless) that they must "pad" their writing to meet requirements. In my approach to writing instruction, I help students find joy and power in approaching revision like a Rubik's Cube -- ruthlessly reconfiguring to find the most elegant formulation. Shifting the emphasis from "writing" to "revising" unlocks my students' growth and confidence. They realize "good writing" isn't born but made (and remade). The capstone project, then, needs to feature, evaluate, and reward this skillset. Typically, a portfolio features writing, not revision (i.e. products, not process). The "Revision Portfolio" I've designed shifts the focus by asking students to showcase their process, articulate their choices, and identify their *learning.*

After several semesters using this assignment, I've found students consistently leave my intensive-writing course feeling more confident as writers and with an increased ability to identify and articulate the skills (and learning outcomes) they've developed.
description: Intensive-writing classes ostensibly focus on teaching students how to write in the disciplines and tend to have two requirements: minimum word count (5K or so) and a formal revision of at least one paper. Instructors specializing in writing pedagogy know, however, that students writing more doesn't translate to students writing *more effectively*. Indeed, it can have the reverse effect. Emphasis on quantity reinforces poor writing habits developed in K-12 where students thought (incorrectly, but rewarded nonetheless) that they must "pad" their writing to meet requirements. In my approach to writing instruction, I help students find joy and power in approaching revision like a Rubik's Cube -- ruthlessly reconfiguring to find the most elegant formulation. Shifting the emphasis from "writing" to "revising" unlocks my students' growth and confidence. They realize "good writing" isn't born but made (and remade). The capstone project, then, needs to feature, evaluate, and reward this skillset. Typically, a portfolio features writing, not revision (i.e. products, not process). The "Revision Portfolio" I've designed shifts the focus by asking students to showcase their process, articulate their choices, and identify their *learning.* After several semesters using this assignment, I've found students consistently leave my intensive-writing course feeling more confident as writers and with an increased ability to identify and articulate the skills (and learning outcomes) they've developed.