Do professors really read student's papers (The truth from a PROF)
As a former professor, I have graded thousands of papers, and I know that a lot of students wanted to know if I actually read all their papers.
You’ve work so hard on something, and you really want your professor to see your hard work. Or maybe you are hoping that your professor won’t take a really close look at your assignment and they will miss all your mistakes.
Either way, it seems impossible for a professor to be able to grade all those papers and actually read every single word.
And you probably want to know if your professor will actually read your long essays.
I will tell you everything I know to help you understand your professor’s grading. There isn’t necessarily one answer for every situation because assignments and professors vary so much.
But this is important to you because if you turn in an assignment, you might think you can get by without working so hard because your professor may not read every single line. Or you might wonder if you will put in all this work for your professor to barely look at your assignment.
Don’t worry. I will tell you what most professors do when they grade papers.
Will my professor actually read my research paper?
Yes, professors will actually read your research paper but they might be reading too fast to catch minor mistakes as they will be looking for major points of discussion only.
Professors have an expectation when they assign a paper and they know exactly what they are looking for when they are grading.
If I was grading a paper, I knew the major points I wanted students to make and I would look for those specifically. I didn’t care about much else except making sure they talked about the most important things for the topic I assigned.
It helped me stay on task so that I didn’t have to read every single word. I could skim an assignment and grade more efficiently. I knew when I needed to really slow down and take a better look at a student’s assignment.
I frequently used the find on page tool to see if they mentioned specific concepts in their paper. This helped me find those specific keywords that I was looking for and then I would move on.
Since I had so much experience grading students’ long papers, I knew how to skim them quickly without sacrificing results.
So, your professor is probably not reading every single word but they want to make sure that your paper makes sense and follows a logical sequence.
However, if I found a serious problem with a student’s assignment, I always took a closer look.
If you can organize your paper well, and follow all the formatting guidelines, your professor will think the rest of your paper is going to be pretty good too. And if they check sources, and yours are all legit, it gives you more credibility.
It’s the students who don’t follow instructions and don’t cite properly that are going to stand out. Also, if you cheated on your assignment, this is going to catch your professor’s attention and they’ll start to examine your paper more closely.
READ MORE : What to do if you got caught plagiarizing
And if you have a professor who is a tough grader, they are probably reading every single sentence and scrutinizing every word of your paper.
How do professors grade so many papers
When I was a professor, I was able to grade so many papers with efficiency because I knew exactly what students should be covering in their assignment and I would look for those specific topics.
Here are a couple of other ways professors are able to grade so fast.
Use find on page - Professors can simply search for certain words to ensure students are discussing certain topics as expected.
Teaching assistants - Most tenured professors will have a teaching assistant, who is a graduate student, that grades all the assignments for them.
Skimming papers - It can be acceptable to skim papers and look for relevant topics instead of reading every word of an assignment.
How do professors keep interested after reading so many papers
When I was a professor, I kept myself interested in reading so many papers because I assigned exciting topics and I took frequent breaks during grading.
If I had 100 papers to grade myself, I may grade 20 a day until I finished all the papers. And it helps to assign papers that you actually like reading.
Otherwise professors are going to get very bored and might slack in their grading as time goes on.
It is better for students to be patient and let professors take their time grading rather than rush them because you want them to take their time so you get the grade you deserve.
However, I understand that professors can take FOREVER to grade, and sometimes it can become a problem for students who need to know where they stand in the course.
Did your professor actually read your paper?
Students can determine if their professor actually read their paper by reviewing any feedback that their professors left them on their paper or in their online course.
If there is no feedback, you should really ask your professors to help explain your grade so you know why you got the grade they assigned.
If they don’t have any explanation for you, then it might not be a fair grade. But I find that most professors are going to be able to explain exactly why they deducted points from your assignment.
Do professors like grading papers?
Yes, as a former professor, I liked grading students’ papers because I learned so much information and it helped me see my students’ growth during the semester.
When students were required to use sources and do research, I got to learn about a lot of things in my field that I didn’t know about before.
I also got to see some amazing opinions and thoughts that students don’t normally get to discuss during the semester.
However, it can take a lot of time to grade so sometimes it wasn’t the most exciting part of my job.
Do professors really read 10 page papers?
Some professors will skim papers instead of reading every single sentence of a 10 page paper, but other professors will be very strict in their grading and will review every single word and even research the sources a student used.
As I mentioned previously, professors can vary a lot in their grading methods. Some professors are tough and do not want to miss an opportuntiy to critique a student’s work while others are looking for general topics in a students’ paper.
Once they see that a student is discussing the most important topics, they move on.
As a student, you will often know how your professors grades after the first or second assignment.
But I really don’t believe that professors read every word of long essays because it isn’t really necessary to effectively grade a paper.
FEATURED POSTS YOU’LL LOVE
