A Case for Annotation

Many faculty look for ways to get students to read assignment requirements more carefully and take opportunities to revise seriously. This article from Faculty Focus provides four straightforward strategies for getting college students to use annotation of their own work to show differences among drafts, links to assignment requirements, promote a growth mindset (practice can make perfect, or at least make better), and create a sense of agency or self-responsbility. The end result, according to the authors, is fewer surprises at grade time, and better learning of course material. Adding to the appeal of those promises is their contention that using annotation, even when scaffolded by the professor, does not add to the assessment work of the professor. Definitely worth a try.