Proofreading project publishes its resources
| Date: | November 14 - 2024 |
|---|
QAA has published a project report and a set of resources on accessibility and equity in proofreading students' academic work.
These outputs were produced through a QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project led by a team from Loughborough University, in partnership with colleagues from Coventry University Students’ Union and Coventry University, the University of Northampton, De Montfort University Students’ Union and De Montfort University, the University of Wolverhampton Students’ Union and the University of Wolverhampton, Swansea University and Imperial College London.
This major initiative explored the accessibility of different higher education proofreading policies through student focus groups and collated innovative ideas to help students improve and develop their own self-proofreading practices.
"Putting students at the core of this project to lead and shape best practice suggestions was always our goal," said Catherine Messinger, Head of Advice & Welfare at Loughborough Student Union.
Their report argues that proofreading is a key part of any academic assessment, and presents an extensive series of top tips, generated out of the project's focus group engagements, to help students develop the key skills necessary to proofread their own work.
The project's accompanying resources include case studies detailing a variety of perspectives including the experiences of a member of the University of Manchester Library’s Student Team, another case study describes approaches to embedding equity in a Life Sciences module with a large student cohort at the University of Southampton.
And another looks at how peer-assisted learning activities have been supporting study skills development at the University of Wales Trinity St David, and in Bath, Loughborough and Lund. These activities have included quizzes, round robins, feedforward mechanisms and the 'vandalization' of essay texts.
“We are grateful to the students who shared their proofreading hints and tips, enabling us to create new resources for the sector. As I have started to use some of these innovations myself, I have realised the utility may extend beyond our original intended audience of taught students, to the wider academic community and beyond.” said Professor Sandie Dann, project lead and Chair of the Major Academic Misconduct Panel at Loughborough University.
Sandie features in our QAA Membership podcast which launched on 16 October to mark the International Day of Action for Academic Integrity.
QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Projects
We have supported 66 projects directly involving over 146 providers and partners since launching the scheme in 2020. These projects are funded from QAA Membership and provide a wealth of insights and practical materials.