Williams-Chapter 9

*In Williams' discussion of writing assignments, he refers to Erika Lindemann's idea that, "teachers must decide what they want students to do in an assignment, how they want them to do it, who the students are writing for, and what constitutes a successful response to an assignment." In your educational experiences, do you feel that your instructors have followed these guidelines when presenting you with a writing assignment?*

Based on my educational experiences thus far, I would agree that the majority of my instructors have followed these basic guidelines. In my writing assignments, I am usually given a topic, and the basic instructions of a font size and style, a word or page length, and an acceptable format. Although these are helpful for the structure of the paper, they do not present the student with clear expectations for what is acceptable within the actual writing.

I feel that many times the instructor's expectations are not clearly defined for a writing assignment. This point has both positive and negative sides to it. On the positive side, leaving an assignment open-ended with very few guidelines can allow for more creativity and originality from the students. However, the lack of direction can cause many students to go in a direction that doesn't follow what the instructor expected from an assignment. A student may formulate an effective argument and give outstanding supporting details, but because the paper doesn't follow what the instructor had in mind, they may be marked down for it. As a future educator, I feel a way to counteract this would be for the teacher to have a more open-minded approach to evaluating and grading an assignment. On the other hand, as a student, it is our responsibility to be sure that we completely understand what will qualify as an acceptable response to an assignment. This is where I feel a more structured set of guidelines would be helpful for students who are struggling to adequately formulate a response to a given topic. I believe it is absolutely possible for an instructor to clearly lay out his/her expectations and criteria for an "A" paper while still allowing the students to formulate a response that implements their own creative style and approach.