Would it be terrible of me to re-write my Group's Paper?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

my group's paper got a b+ last time, though the professor noted on the sections i wrote and said "excellent analysis etc". I know i can make this paper much better, and have asked the groups permission to edit it.

so how much of a big difference is there in editing and rewriting large sections?

[Shell Beau]

1. Even though you feel you can do better, I just don't think it is the right thing to do.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. thanks.

i guess i agree with you else i would not have asked for an opinion on it.

sigh!

i hate that my grade is dependent on other people.

[Shell Beau]

3. That does suck! Just edit it really well!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. i will. i think my question was really ...where does editing end and rewriting begin?

[Shell Beau]

5. That is iffy! I guess the paper should still be recognizeable to the others.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. thanks shell beau.

:hug:

[ThomCat]

7. If you rewrite, then your teammates haven't contributed.

They're likely to get upset if you just delete their contributions.

Unfortunately, that's the drawback of team projects. :(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. you're right. i wont do it.

sigh!

[Lisa]

22. if there's enough time, try working out a compromise?

It doesn't have to be a choice between handing in a poorly-written paper, or annoying people by just cutting out all their stuff. Good editing can improve a paper, without downgrading anyone's contribution. That way the work would benefit from having multiple people going over it -- with the extra bonus of having students learn from their classmates' suggestions. (This is why academic journals have reviewers and editors ... to catch problems before they go to press.)

As an instructor, I've noticed that students tend to be more receptive to peer criticism than if it's just coming from me. (We even had a thing in one of my courses, where we did a survey on what people found most problematic, after having read their classmates' work ... the students cited things like poor or badly cited reference material, typos, and putting in figures or tables without explaining them. The next set of papers were way better, because people were paying attention this time.)

[JVS]

8. There is no right and wrong in the trenches of academia

;-)

[catmandu57]

10. Maybe you could write it separately

and turn your version in with the team effort.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. nope. its ok. i will do some editing.

i like my group despite my feeling that this isnt the greatest paper on earth.

[Fleshdancer]

12. A happy compromise....

I say go crazy with it and then hand it over to the members in your group. If everyone agrees and accepts the changes, then turn it in. If not, don't.

That seems like a lot of work for improving on an already good grade though. You're not doing this to procrastinate on something else, are you? :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. its not an improvement, i need an A on this paper so i can get an A in this class

[Monk06]

16. Do what I used to do ask for a special assignment for extra credit.

I did that when an Art History teacher that
hated my guts gave me a C on a paper filled
with vitriolic personal comments by her.

I cited Merleau Ponti's Phenomenology of
Perception in the paper. Her hostility to
Merleau Ponti was grounded in his criticism
of Beauvoir's The Second Sex. Since MP was
dead she laid her wrath on my sorry ass.

I went to another professor in a separate
course and requested a special assignment
for extra credit. That gave me an A+ and
my GPA was restored to first class.

The offending Art History prof was none the
wiser.

[seaglass]

14. Can you edit it in such a way that it's their ideas but your words?

Did you take responsibility for the final draft? Whenever I've worked on group projects in school I always volunteer to pull everything together for the final version and I let everyone see the final draft and provide input before handing it in. I've never had a problem with making major changes in the verbiage - and if they object then I'll change it back. Never had lower than an A on a group project either.

My suggestion would be to make the changes (preserving the draft), send it to your team and solicit feedback.

I'm assuming that as long as you worked as a team in coming up with the ideas and writing the first draft that your prof isn't going to have a problem if the final version is all in the same voice.

[SKKY]

15. Are you the "lead" on this particular paper/project???

I ran into the same situation a couple of times last year, both in the same class. In the end, I told everyone that, appreciate the input (In a group of 7 people, 3 of us usually ended up doing this at different times), and that I would turn in the finished work to the professor. Most were like, "Oh my gosh. How sweet of you, thanks a mil!"

[edbermac]

17. Sure, just don't rewrite it in a coffee shop.

Too many freaks around, bad for your concentration. :7

[Lisa]

18. if everyone in your group has said yes, and okays the final draft ...

I just finished dealing with an incident in one of the classes I'm teaching -- apparently one group had a huge screaming match over one student taking it upon himself to redo their paper. The other students told me that it was the unilateral decision that really ticked them off.

Having everybody do a final read-through for coherence and typos is actually a good idea, regardless of how the paper was put together.

p.s. if one of the goals of the paper is for people to learn from each other and improve their writing and research skills -- editing can be a good thing, and people can learn a lot if it's a transparent process, they know why certain changes are recommended, and everybody is sensitive about how it's done (constructive criticism aimed at making their work even better, rather than cutting their contribution out altogether). Ideally, people could come out of the experience getting more experience at both editing others' work, and allowing their own work to be edited. (I used to be really bad at the latter, and it wasn't until I got further along in academia and ended up having writing partners for books and journal articles, that I changed my attitude.)

[tigereye]

24. I like how your suggestion would benefit everyone!

:thumbsup:

[GalleryGod]

27. Well put,Lisa. Sage advice.

:yourock:

[philosophie_en_rose]

19. Ignore the naysayers. Edit the whole thing.

All that matters is that the paper be the best one it can be. If you can contribute to make it better, then it is a disservice to yourself and your group to hold back. If it's something that the others can fix, then I'd kick it back to them. If people are just being lazy, I'd call them on it. However, people have different talents. If they gave you the materials and a rough draft, but you have a way with words, then it is best for everyone for you to edit the paper.

For what it's worth, I don't think you should hold yourself back out and lose points, when you know you can do better.

[Skittles]

20. you would need to ask for permission to rewrite

that would be the only ethical way to do it.....approach it in a way to involve the group and teach them your skills

[alarimer]

21. No. why should YOUR grade suffer because they did sucky work?

It shouldn't.

This is why I hated group projects. The other reason is that in a group, most people slack off and don't do anything, leaving one or two people to do everything, but getting just as much credit. Fuck that shit. I prefer to do everything on my own, sink or swim, its my own work.

[jpgray]

23. Depends what the professor wants out of the assignment

Does he/she want a great paper, or an effort representative of the group? Also depends how your group members feel about it and whether another B+ or similar has any significant impact on you.

[Chan790]

25. I'm always the contrarian.

I'd argue that you have not only the right to rewrite (because your own grade is dependent upon the work of the others in your group.), but that you have an obligation to rewrite (because as a member of a {group/working group/team} you have an obligation to act in accordance with the best performance of the group for the benefit of all members.) That having been said...you can't rewrite and turn-in. You have to rewrite and conference with the group. They may disagree with your changes or you may be not-stating their opinions appropriately or at-all post-rewrite.

The group project has to reflect the best work of the group, not merely the best work of LP. It wouldn't be fair to them to benefit/suffer from you going-off and doing this thing on your own.

[ComerPerro]

26. a bit off topic: Have you ever read someone you know and respect's writing and thought:

"Oh my God, he is a horrible writer!" or "This is embarassingly bad!"