Students expect and want more dialogue with their teacher. Such commitment should compel faculty to initiate and sustain working partnerships with their students. The marginal comments represent not the end but the beginning of an exchange of ideas. When student writing can savor not just a grade but also the satisfaction of making a lasting impression on the instructor as a reader, the instructors positive response represents the highest form of praise. This dialogue between student writers and faculty also provides an opportunity for study into the nature and value of such discourse.
More research needs to be done on how students relate to the messages in the margin.
This article is reprinted from the November 1996 issue of The Teaching Professor with the permission of Magna Publications. Copyright 1996 by Magna Publications. All rights reserved.