Transcript Apostrophe Catastrophe - University of North Alabama

A Writing Across the Curriculum
& Writing in the Disciplines
Professional Development Presentation
Dr. Robert T. Koch Jr.
Director, Center for Writing Excellence
University of North Alabama
October 09, 2008
●Understand
the difference between
collaboration and cooperation as it pertains to
writing
●Consider
strategies for collaborative invention,
revision, and editing
●Consider
writing
technology uses in collaborative
●
Cooperation
●Work
is distributed among group members,
completed independently, and assembled at
the end (meeting at the stapler)
●Collaboration
●Work involves all group members through all
process steps, so that everyone learns about
and understands the topic content
●Vygotsky’s
Theory of Language Development
suggests that we develop language and critical
thinking skills from social interaction as
opposed to working alone.
●“If
thought is internalized public and social
talk, then writing of all kinds is internalized
social talk made public and social again”
(Bruffee, 1984, p.642).
●“our
task must involve engaging students in conversation
among themselves at as many points in both the writing and
the reading process as possible, and that we should contrive
to ensure that students’ conversation about what they read
and write is similar in as many ways as possible to the way
we would like them to eventually read and write” (Bruffee,
1984, p.642).
●“Participants
in collaborative learning groups learn when
they challenge one another with questions, when they use
the evidence and information available to them, when they
develop relationships among issues, [and] when they
evaluate their own thinking. In other words, they learn
when they assume that knowledge is something they can
help create rather than something to be received whole
from someone else” (Gere, 1987, p. 69).
●UNA
Implementation of the National Survey of Student
Engagement 2008
●Comparisons of NSSE 2006 and NSSE 2008 results
for the active and collaborative learning
benchmark shows no increase among seniors. We
are holding the line, but not necessarily improving
.
●“[C]reating
more group work would allow
students to work on projects outside of the
classroom with their peers and may assist in in
diversity interaction” (p.14).
Three types of collaborative tasks:
1.High-order
thinking -- define, discuss, and
debate to solve complex problems
2.Division of labor -- very large jobs that cannot
be completed by an individual within a limited
time frame
3.Specialist or expertise-based -- each
collaborator has a different area of expertise to
contribute (Lunsford, 1991, p.6)
Writing Roles to play during meetings (everyone should
alternate, so that each person reads the whole text):
1.Brainstormer – Everyone plays this at all times.
2.Drafter – This person sits at the computer or with the
paper and pen and does the primary writing.
3.Reviewer – This person will read what the other person
has written to identify and examine paragraph focus,
idea arrangement, development. This is best done when
the reviewer reads out loud to the group!
4.Editor – This person will do grammar check, review
source integration, check formatting.
For all group meetings, do the following:
1.Have an agenda – some writing goal(s) to accomplish by
the end of the meeting.
2.Assign specific writing roles – for each group member to
play – in meetings and/or beyond. Do not assign parts to
write – assign roles to play!
3.Be sure people understand their writing tasks to be
completed by the next meeting. Good, realistic planning
and timely execution often lead to success.
4.Be aware of time constraints – make sure everyone
understands the deadlines
Decisions Made by
1. Monarchy (appointed group leader)
2. Democracy (group vote)
3. Dictatorship (somebody grabs the reins)
Stick with the pick, or move to
strategies that allow for more
democracy, not less.
“Learning cannot be understood strictly on
cognitive grounds; it means rather joining
new communities and taking part in new
conversations” (Trimbur, 1989, p. 605)
“The Consensus that we ask students to
reach in the collaborative classroom will be
based not so much on collective agreements
as on collective explanations” of difference
(Trimbur, 1989, p. 610).
●Every
time you meet, discuss the topic in
depth with your group. For each meeting, have
two or more note-takers who keep track of
what is said and who can compare notes after
the fact. These notes will be used to draft,
revise, and edit the paper.
●Write your thesis together and develop an
organization or outline for the whole paper
together.
●Select
your best typist or two to
be the primary drafters. Everyone
else sits around the drafter and
“feeds” the person sentences –
write the document together, so
that it doesn’t adopt one person’s
voice, or multiple voices.
●Read
the paper out loud together and discuss
whether or not each idea, sentence, and paragraph
connects to the ones around it.
● If the paper has been cooperatively written, group
members should trade sections and read them as if
the topic is entirely new. Ask open-ended
questions, especially “how?” “why?” and “what is
the connection?” This will help you see how to tie
sections together.
●Synchronous
Technologies
●Chats
●Instant
Messengers
●Asynchronous
Technologies
●E-mail
●Discussion
●Mixed
Boards
Technologies
●MySpace
●Facebook
●Blackboard
●eCollege
Bruffee, K. A. (1984). Collaborative learning and the “conversation of mankind.”
College English 46(7), 635-52.
Gere, A. R. (1987). Writing groups: History, theory, and implications.
Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Lunsford, A. (1991). Collaboration, control, and the idea of a writing center.
The Writing Center Journal 12(1), 3-10.
Trimbur, J. (1989). Consensus and difference in collaborative learning. College
English 51(6), 602-616.
Vaughn, M. J. (2008). Synopsis of the results from the National Survey of
Student Engagement – 2008. Florence, AL: University of North Alabama,
Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.