<p>In some classes, professors are more than willing to read drafts, make suggestions/corrections, and recommend research materials. In fact, they seem to enjoy doing this if students submit the drafts well before the deadline. I once read a book in which a professor stated that reading student drafts, making suggestions, and watching their writing subsequently improve is one of his job's most rewarding aspects.</p>
<p>In other classes, however, professors will only read the introductory paragraph and/or conclusion at most. </p>
<p>Why is that? Why do some professors not read drafts while others seem to enjoy it? </p>
<p>What would be some reasons that a professor/teacher wouldn't read a student draft?</p>
<p>Perhaps because of the size of the class, or outside research/engagements, the professor doesn’t have time to read them all over. Some professors simply care more about their students than others, as well.</p>
<p>There’s also a difference in teaching philosophies. There are those that feel that the students are no longer in high school and should receive very little guidance, while others think that students need a more experienced mentor to succeed in the subject and can’t do it on there own.</p>
<p>You’re not in high school anymore-- you can’t reasonably expect a professor to spend that kind of time on you. Some will (and they’re typically awesome profs in many other respects), but IMO it’s not the norm.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, my high school teachers didn’t even give that kind of attention. What you submitted was what they reviewed for a grade.</p>
<p>One of my favorite profs told me this when he assigned us a paper: “I’m more than happy to develop ideas with you and to help you go over the structure of your paper in an outline form. I will not do a ‘pre-read’ for you. I will not read your whole paper until you turn it in. I’m not your copy editor.”</p>
<p>It also depends on the class. I’m sure an English teacher would be much more willing to help you with grammar, structure, etc than say a psych teacher who is more interested in ideas. </p>
<p>At this stage, you really should be able to do it on your own. You don’t need a prof to go through it step by step with you. Ideas are one thing. They shouldn’t be reading your papers.</p>
<p>In relation to the time question: Don’t most professors have office hours? If a student presents the draft during office hours (and there aren’t others waiting to see the professor), how is it taking up the professor’s time? Aren’t office hours what these things are meant for?</p>
<p>Indeed, most schools do have writing labs. And they do help a lot of students. Aren’t there limitations, however, to how much writing labs can help? For example, if a student writes a paper on a specific book that the writing lab tutor has not read, it seems like there might be limits to how much the tutor can critique the paper. </p>
<p>Finally, a previous poster stated that, once in college, a student should be able to write his papers without such assistance. Many professors publish books every few years. Don’t they have other people–other professors, book editors, etc–to review their work before publication? I can’t imagine a book being published without oversight. Additionally, doctoral students are assigned advisors to review/edit their dissertations before publication.</p>
<p>I’ll try to explain this in the way I’ve experienced it at a large research university.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Professors are often the leaders in their field, and they publish ORIGINAL research to help peers better understand the field. Students, on the other hand, typically write “practice” research; they are writing for a grade. The prof is supposed to grade a student’s work as-is, not a regurgitation of what the prof would like to see. Do you seriously expect a professor to respond positively to a student hounding him for the “answers” in their paper? A casual conversation about where you’d like to take the paper is fine, but to expect him to sit there and read the WHOLE paper and give comments? That’s called grading. GRADING is a big part of how you improve in college. Basically, most profs feel you shouldn’t just weasel your way to a higher mark than you deserve by getting an “practice” evaluation. </p></li>
<li><p>Editors-- Yes, professors often have editors. They check for spelling, grammar, awkward/unclear phrasing. You should NEVER go to a professor asking for help with these things (unless you’re writing in something other than your native language, or if you’re in a basic writing course, IMO). Moreover, they pay people to do this. You’re paying your professor to teach a lecture, not do your busywork. Hire a peer to do that, use a computer program, go to a writing center, or DO IT YOURSELF.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Office hours are meant for clarification, further explanation, etc. not for proofreading.</p>
<p>That is why you have peers who have read the same books ask for help. You can ask your prof for help with ideas and concepts but they shouldn’t be your proofreader.</p>
<p>Most professors aren’t going to mark down for grammar mistakes and such unless it interferes with reading. </p>
<p>This is college. Time to grow up and not rely on teachers for stuff you should have learned in high school. If you can’t write a basic paper without needing teachers to guide you through the process, I’m not sure if you should be in college just yet.</p>
<p>OP, are you an international student? Your post history seems to suggest that you have a very deep desire to improve your writing through outside help.</p>
<p>No, I’m not an international student, but I do have a very deep desire to improve my writing skills.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong–I’m not a bad writer. But I do know that there’s tons of room for improvement. In order to improve in something, I have to step outside of myself. Getting honest criticism is the best way to push myself to a higher level of thinking and see my mistakes.</p>
<p>At my college, the professors leave that (draft review and grading of the finished paper) to the TA, since that’s what TA’s are there for (besides leading discussions/labs).</p>
<p>It’s my impression that high school teachers do this sort of thing to reward students for not waiting until the last minute to complete a draft-- they basically get an opportunity to have their paper graded before they have to turn it in, which is a HUGE advantage. It would make sense to me that college professors would expect their students to not need this sort of “carrot” anymore.</p>
<p>My professors at an LAC have all been willing to do this. I think the real problem is just that professors are busy and, at larger unis, can have hundreds or thousands of students. They obviously can’t do that kind of thing for that many students.</p>
<p>Most of my classes have less than 25 students. I go to a small RC in a large uni. Profs still don’t pre-read papers. I doubt it has to do with the workload- more to do with the fact that profs aren’t your editors.</p>
<p>I once heard that senior professors (those who have been at the university for years, if not decades) are more inclined to read drafts than junior faculty members.</p>
<p>You can get all the comments on your ideas you need from having your professor read an outline or by talking them through it. (My introductions/conclusions are always terrible, so refusing to read an outline of the middle would seem extraordinarily perverse.) I’ve gotten away with literally summarizing a paper out loud at about 3/4 of its final length to a faculty member. He didn’t mind because I was talking and synthesizing, vs. “here is my writing read it and talk about it;” he could respond in a conversation. I don’t necessarily agree that that’s a sensible distinction for a faculty member to draw, but “I don’t read drafts” is an obstacle easily circumnavigable.</p>