A couple of years ago a stressed Biology teacher (Mrs X) asked me to help her upload some PDF files to the learning platform. We started talking about the purpose of the files and I began to realise that the teacher could be headed for a breakdown if she tried to achieve what she was proposing.

A well intentioned idea but …

The objective of the project was to ensure that the students practised planning essays and writing essays in response to examination questions. So, the plan was this:

Each student was to:

  • pick one of twenty different essay titles from a list within a PDF file;
  • write an essay plan;
  • hand the essay plan to Mrs X for comment.

When all the plans were complete:

  • each student was to select a plan that they had NOT created and write an essay;
  • Mrs X planned to mark the essay and hand it back to the student with feedback.

Did you spot the problem? TOO MUCH WORK FOR MRS X!

The answer

We created a forum on the learning platform and added twenty topics – each containing and essay title.

Students were asked to:

  • pick an essay and reply to the topic with their essay plan;
  • the other students were asked to reply to the essay plan with their own comments so the student could hone their plans – a collaboration;
  • Mrs X could also include her comments and feedback as part of the process.

Mrs X gave some input regarding marking essays and using the exam board criteria to help the students understand what the exam were looking for in their essays.

Students then:

  • selected an essay plan that they had not written and wrote the essay as a reply to the plan;
  • the other students then marked the essay and gave feedback as replies to the essay;
  • Mrs X also included her comments and feedback.

By replying to replies under the topic (essay title), the students could see how the essay plan developed, the essay written as a result of the plan and the mark, comment and feedback given by other students – all within one topic – an absolutely invaluable experience that would have been otherwise impossible.

The positives

Mrs X did not:

  • have to mark any essay plans;
  • have to mark any essays.

Mrs X’s input was to provide the essay titles, comments on some plans and comment on some of the essays, marking and feedback that the students had given each other. She also gave valuable information about exam criteria and how it would be applied by the examiner.

The students:

  • collaborated with each other;
  • were exposed to more than one essay and comment;
  • learned about the examination criteria.

The result

The work could be done at any time to suit the individuals involved and therefore the overall experience for both teacher and students was far less stressful and more productive. I cannot comment in terms of improved exam results and it may be a little ambitious to think that one experience like this would have an effect on results. However, if the technique were used throughout a course then it has the potential to help students improve – plus, it was actually quite fun!