Writing - Composition

Task Discussion

• 
  Malkiel Choseed   July 16, 2012, 11:04 a.m.

  Hello all.

  As of 10:44am (Eastern time on Monday the 16th), it looks like a few different threads have already been started by members of this engaging and dynamic group. 

  I would like to add a few more questions to the mix, coming more from my perspective as a classroom instructor in community college Dev Ed and FYC classrooms.

  1. What is college level writing?  What are the markers of someone ready (or not ready) to start doing this?  (I think someone asked a version of this in another Discussion)

   

  2.   How do we solve the problem of “transfer?”  Some research (and my own experience) has indicated that students can be successful in a writing class but unable to transfer that knowledge of writing process, revising, editing, etc. to another context (e.g. History 101).

   

  3.  What sorts of partnerships with high schools are most productive and efficient for preparing students for college level writing before they get to college?

   

   

  By the way, my own brief answer to #1 is that college level writing (or do I mean college level writers? )is writing that

   

   -  shows awareness of purpose, audience, and tone and adapts to meet that awareness,

   

  -   an understanding of the writing process,

   

  -    and the ability to use writing as a tool for critical thinking and exploration as well as to summarize.    

• 
  Maggi   July 17, 2012, 9:22 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Malkiel Choseed   July 16, 2012, 11:04 a.m.

  Thanks, Malkiel,

  These questions should keep us busy for a while! I'm going to reply to the (age-old) questio of transfer. While there can't be a single answer, I have been thoughtfully challenged by hearing a comment at a recent Accelerated Learning Program conference. Several speakers talked about having students do work that is "practice for college" rather than "pretend for college." It's an interesting distinction, isn't it? I think it means if we really believe we are helping students prepare to write in History 101, then we need to give them experience in that sort of writing. It may not matter what is going on at anothe school or even what the standards are for the state or nation. If the History curriculum at your school requires students to be able to write an essay response to a question, a research paper, etc., then we probably need to teach students how to do that sort of writing. Of course, they won't all take the same courses and they will encounter a wide variety of tasks; still, why don't we identify what they are most likley to encounter and then teach them how to work with it? Perhaps transfer will be more effective.

• 
  Malkiel Choseed   July 17, 2012, 9:55 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Maggi   July 17, 2012, 9:22 a.m.

  Those are great points to raise.  We have been debating this in some form at my own college for a while now (although not in such clear terms as those you articualted).  There is a resistance to being seen purely as a 'service course' on the part of some faculty (we teach "their" students how to write, take our cues from Engineering or History or whatever).  At the same time though, I have also seen a lack of a concrete or percise articulation of just what it is we do do if we are not solely the teachers of research papers, reports, etc so Econ profs don't have to bother.

  If you were to ask me, I would say that this in part stems from a lack of professional identity among college FYC instructors.  While Composition and Rhetoric has been recognized as a distinct field for the last 30 years or so (with dissertations, journals, monographs, etc), the vast majority of faculty teaching FYC have very little exposure to those resources and knowledge/research. 

  Ongoing and sustained professional development has to be part of whatever we come up with here.

• 
  Malkiel Choseed   July 17, 2012, 10:39 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Malkiel Choseed   July 17, 2012, 9:55 a.m.

  Oh yea, and if I had to name what it is we do or should be doing, it is to teach rhetoric with a focus on the written tradition of rhetoric.

• 
  Michael Damian Jeter   July 17, 2012, 11:02 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Malkiel Choseed   July 17, 2012, 10:39 a.m.

  I agree with this notion.

  So many students and faculty, I believe, still yreat composition as strictly about grammar and punctuation.

  I would like to see more of a sense of finding the form to fit the intended message.

• 
  Julie Lemley   July 17, 2012, 8:50 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Michael Damian Jeter   July 17, 2012, 11:02 a.m.

  Although the grammar and writing mechanics are important - I agree with the importance of learners being able to write for the task at hand. Whether it is a research paper, creative writing, or a position paper, learners need to better understand how to write according to purpose.

  By the time a learner graduates high school, I would expect one to know the difference between their/there/they're and to/too/two (things of that nature) and...

  • to be correct more often than not in subject-verb agreement,
  • to have spell-checked their writing,
  • to have reasonably command of sentence and paragraph structure,
  • to be able to express their ideas coherently and in a manner that not only makes sense, but has a sense of flow to it,to avoid the use of first person unless it should be first-person
  • to not use, "In this paper I will..." or "I have told you..." - even my youngest daughter's eighth grade English teacher didn't allow it!

  Additionally, I would expect a reasonable command of the use of MLA (this seems to be a huge stumbling block for many!). Let's face it - we only use it when we have to.

  I guess I haven't really experienced the issues of transfer, as I teach high school. However, I teach with that in mind, always trying to get my learners to understand more will be expected from them when they reach college, in terms of writing, and I try to move them in that direction. I might be a little tough but I want them to be prepared. However, the level of writing skills often becomes a greater concern if they have great ideas but their writing is so poor as to interfere with their message.

  I'm not sure exactly what sorts of partnerships would be most productive and efficient - but what becomes more important is the scope and sequence that better prepares learners for college writing and the different genres of writing as well.
  
   

• 
  Rhonda Traylor   July 18, 2012, 7:14 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Maggi   July 17, 2012, 9:22 a.m.

  Hi,

  I'm a little late commenting back, but here goes. In high school in order to assist students in writing a history paper, we collaborate with the history teacher.  She provides the blueprint of the assignment and we teach the writing process in English class. This is very effective and would work well in college.  I have thought about making one of my assignments a paper from another class for my DEV students. Unfortunately, some of them are not taking anything other than DEV courses so they have no papers to write. 

  At my college, DEV English instructors are discouraged from doing research type papers. I think having students read their informational text and applying what they have garnered from it, a valuable tool for improving their writing at a cognitive higher level.

• 
  Ruth Rominger   July 18, 2012, 10:47 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Rhonda Traylor   July 18, 2012, 7:14 p.m.

  Rhonda,  Thank you so much for sharing what you do. Perfect idea for collaborating with other instructors and providing discipline specific activities. Authentic writing. Depending on the level of dev ed students, I can imagine partnering with various other teachers.  

  In a perfect world, it seems that students would benefit most from an integrated curriculum in which they develop reading, english undamentals, writing, and associated congitive and affective skills according to their level and needs.  

  A personalized path, structured and linear blocks for "beginning" students, or prescriptive with a focus on developing specific cognitive skills in writing, supplemented by fundamentals, reading and writing resources as needed. 

• 
  Claudia L'Amoreaux   July 16, 2012, 12:12 a.m.

  Greetings, everyone.

  We're looking forward to the start of the second week of the charrette.

  Thanks for co-creating a very engaging exploration so far as we work at reimagining the developmental English curriculum.

  How are you finding the process so far?

  Have you discovered the daily summaries by Amy Perry?

  You'll find a series of open questions at the bottom of each summary.

  If you're inspired to share your take on any of them, please post responses by replying to the relevant summary.

• 
  Malkiel Choseed   July 13, 2012, 9:24 p.m.

  I posted this in the Reading section  but think it is also appropriate for this discussion as well.

  http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/WrtgResearchBrief.pdf

  This is a writing research brief by NCTE which summarizes the last 30 years or so of writing research.

• 
  Malkiel Choseed   July 12, 2012, 8:56 p.m.

  I know this is a bit early in terms of our establlished schedule, but I had some time to devote to this tonight, so I thought I could start posting some resources in order to be prepared for next week's discussions.

   

  In terms of colleges' apporaches to teching Dev Ed, there are three basic models that I know of:

  1.  The traditional non-credit courses that students take as a pre-req to college level work and credit bearing courses.  My own college has its version of this, but some colleges require two or three classes.

  2.  The stretch model pioneered by the ASU system in which the FYC course is essentially stretched into two semesters instead of one.  Students get some sort of college credit for both classes.

  http://english.clas.asu.edu/wp-stretch

  3. The accelrated model made famous by CCBC

  Here is there website:

  http://alp-deved.org/

  And here is a report by the Community College Resource Center on ALP:

  http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Collection.asp?cid=67

   

  Within and around these models are various other approaches and strategies. 

  For example, here is another program that I would group with ALP even though it is geared toward job training:

  http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/e_integratedbasiceducationandskillstraining.aspx

   

  Additionally, the strategy of avoidance is particularly interesting.  Some studies indicate that many students (1/2?)  who end up in Dev Ed would not really need to be there if they were given a chance to re-test or even a refresher.  If we could find a way to give those students the opportunity to do so, they might be able to avoid Dev Ed alltogether.  One example of a program like this is from Eire CC which can be found at:

  http://www.ecc.edu/admissions/placement/rise

   

  Here are some other general resources that I compiled for a grant application at my home institution.  Some are repeats of the ones mentioned above.  Sorry about the overlap....

  Program Models:

   

  ALP

  http://alp-deved.org/

   

  IBEST

  http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/e_integratedbasiceducationandskillstraining.aspx

   

   

   

  RISE

  http://www.ecc.edu/admissions/placement/rise

   

  Published Research on the Program Models

   

  Community College of Baltimore County’s Accelerated Learning Program:  A Multivariate Analysis 

  http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Collection.asp?cid=67

   

  I-BEST: Accelerating the Transition to College & Career Pathway

  http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Collection.asp?cid=63

   

   

  Research On the Efficacy of Online classes for Dev Ed Students

   

  “Online Classes and College Completion”

  http://chronicle.com/article/Online-ClassesCollege/131133/March   

   

  Effectiveness of Fully Online Courses for College Students: Response to a Department of Education Meta-Analysis

  By: Shanna Smith Jaggars & Thomas Bailey — July 2010. New York: Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

  http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=796

   

  The Effectiveness of Distance Education Across Virginia’s Community Colleges: Evidence From Introductory College-Level Math and English Courses

  http://epa.sagepub.com/content/33/3/360.abstract

   

  Online and Hybrid Course Enrollment and Performance in Washington State Community and Technical Colleges (CCRC Working Paper No. 31)

  http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=872

   

   

  Supporting Documentation

   

              Unlocking the Gate: What We Know About Developmental Education. 2011 http://www.mdrc.org/publications/601/execsum.pdf.   

   

  Connecting Curriculum, Assessment, and Treatment In Developmental Education. 2012

  U.S. Department of Education,  Office of Vocational and Adult Education

   

  Promoting College and Career Readiness: Bridge Programs for Low-Skill Adults. 2012

  U.S. Department of Education

   

   

   

   

  Works Cited

   

  TAACCCT Program Summary.  http://www.doleta.gov/taaccct/

   

  Arendale, David.  Terms of Endearment: Words that Define and Guide Developmental Education.”  Journal of College Reading and Learning, 35 (2), Spring 2005.

• 
  Julie Lemley   July 12, 2012, 11:36 a.m.

  I was looking around on the Internet this morning, and I happened across this and thought I would share it as food for thought.

  http://www.collegetransition.org/promisingpractices.research.contextualizedgrammar.html

• 
  Rhonda Traylor   July 12, 2012, 3:13 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Julie Lemley   July 12, 2012, 11:36 a.m.

  Interesting Julie. This reminds me of the argument about teaching vocabulary, do we teach vocabulary in context or in isolation. I believe both apply.  There are students that respond well to being taught the "rules" of grammar and others that must see it in their own writing to understand it. Peer editing has been the biggest factor in my classrooms for the understanding of grammar. Students cannot always find their own mistakes but they can find the mistakes of others.  We do a lot of peer editing and even the students who struggle the most make great gains in the improvement of their writing with this vehicle.

• 
  Ruth Rominger   July 12, 2012, 5:08 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Rhonda Traylor   July 12, 2012, 3:13 p.m.

  Rhonda, Thanks for bringing up peer editing as a learning vehicle. Do you think Dev Eng students could work together on a wiki or something like that to write and edit each others' work as a learning activity? Ruth
• 
  Rhonda Traylor   July 12, 2012, 10:47 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Ruth Rominger   July 12, 2012, 5:08 p.m.

  Actually, I have done this. The students really enjoy it and its great that they have to write to discuss their writing.  Because of the informality of the "wiki", I use the online system of the universities where I work, the students who are less tech savvy get to increase their comfort level without any reprisals.  Some students who do not respond well in conversation, blossomed on the computer.  For me, technology is about differentiating my instruction, providing different avenues from which students can learn.

• 
  nabb   July 16, 2012, 8:31 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Rhonda Traylor   July 12, 2012, 10:47 p.m.

  I have also used a Wiki to cull resources.   Diigo, or another social bookmarking site, has also proved to be a useful tactic to get students used to annotating texts.   I find an open source article pertinent to the class topic, post my comments and require students to post their comments and questions -- in Diigo they appear as little post-it balloons to the side of the text.   It helps them to see the value of annotating a text because they begin to see it as a conversation.   Transitioning to a personal conversation with the text in order to prepare for class coversations is much easier after a social bookmarking experience. 

• 
  Julie Lemley   July 16, 2012, 10:31 a.m.
  In Reply To:   nabb   July 16, 2012, 8:31 a.m.

  What you are describing sounds similar to "Track Changes" in MS Word. I like this because when I look at student work, I can provide suggestions and feedback - and it is off to the side or in a different color text for easy differentiation. I do think peer review is helpful, but students who typically don't get work in on time (the consequences of their own lack of responsibility). , etc., or have been ill and don't get their work done when everyone else's is don't benefit from this.

• 
  Rhonda Traylor   July 16, 2012, 7:18 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Julie Lemley   July 16, 2012, 10:31 a.m.

  I have an exercise we do in MS Word using track changes. Students open their paper. Then each student is told to move to the computer on their right.  The students edits the paper on the screen. Depending on where they are in the process, after 10-20 minutes, I say, move to the next computer on your right. The students really enjoy it and they get multiple opinions in a controlled time driven way.

  Julie, my students that don't get their work in on time are responsible for providing me with peer edits however they can get them. Peer editing is a standard grade on a paper right along with every draft they turn in. This way they are more invested in the peer editing process.