A Break Through In Revision!
By Noel Barajas
After conducting research on October 22nd, 2014 at the University of Texas Pan-American a student by the name of Noel Barajas found that even though First Year College English students were doing amazing in revision, they hadn’t learned how to revise until the beginning of their college semester. Noel stated,” a major problem with students is they are not learning from their teachers because teachers are not teaching the importance of proper revision in high school which causes the students to be lost in college.”
Noel’s research consisted of handing out 10 surveys to first year college freshman. These students consisted of 4 males and 5 females who were currently enrolled in a first year English course. During his research Noel found out that during students’ high school years, teachers were not teaching proper revision. Instead the teachers were busy teaching formats for the state mandated test. Noel states, “Teachers need to stop teaching for stated mandated tests because the students are not learning a single thing that will benefit them in college."
In order to solve this problem Noel Barajas created a game based on revision whose purpose is to help students learn new strategies that will help them revise properly. The name of the game is
Operating the Brain Revision Style. Noel’s main goal is to get the brain to the level of understanding revision strategies. This game helps students learn revision because it contains 5 definitions. Like operation, students have to pull out the words to the definitions from the opening. The definitions will then get stuck in students’ heads without them noticing. The next thing they know they will be aware of new revision strategies
All in all, what Noel is saying is that teachers should be teaching more than just what is in the grading criteria, they should be teaching lessons/skills that will help the student succeed in college. Students need to learn that revision helps them develop amazing final drafts because they are able to eliminate irrelevant information and they are able to add information where it is needed. That is proper revision. That is why noel created this game. Noel wanted to give students an edge in learning revision in a way that attracts students by using fun board games. “ You see revision is not just using big words or using a thesaurus it’s about adding detail and passion to your paper whether it’s a research paper or a free writing essay” Noel stated.
Noel Barajas is a freshmanat the University of Texas Pan-American. He is Criminal Justice major, whose research interests span a variety current social and political issues. He is currently interested in developing as a writer and poet.
