Transcript Choosing Topics, Cathy Hanks

CHOOSING TOPICS FOR
ESSAYS
SUMMARY
• Original goal: include writing assignments in FYS to
first assess students’ writing skills and then assist
with improvement
• Hoped-for (and achieved) outcome: improving
writing skills
• Unexpected outcomes:
• Provided self-affirming activity for students
• Valuable information that enabled me to teach more
effectively and provide better advise to students
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
• Essays
• “My Values”
• “My Strengths and Weaknesses”
Opportunity to
revise to improve
grade
• Informal Assignments
• Time inventory and analysis
• Goals for next 5 years
• Research project
•
•
•
•
•
Topic
Thesis statement and “Works Consulted”
Outline with revised thesis and “Works Consulted”
Draft
Final Paper
Opportunity to
revise to improve
grade
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
• Essays
• “My Values”
• “My Strengths and Weaknesses”
• Informal Assignments
• Time inventory and analysis
• Goals for next 5 years
These choices made
based on research on
self-affirming essays
• Research project
•
•
•
•
•
Topic
Thesis statement and “Works Consulted”
Outline with revised thesis and “Works Consulted”
Draft
Final Paper
RESEARCH ON SELF-AFFIRMATION
• Theory
• Postulated for threatening situations including “stereotypethreatened individuals”
• Self-affirming activity reestablishes a perception of personal
integrity
provides internal resources for coping effectively
• Research in academic setting have been on based on gender,
and ethnic and racial minorities
• Evidence supports hypothesis that self-affirming essays will
result in higher grades
• Essays are on non-course content
• Example: write about personally important value
• Brief (15 minutes), several times over term
• Results appear to be lasting
MY EXPERIENCE WITH ESSAYS AND INFORMAL
ASSIGNMENTS
• Writing improved significant in short time
• My belief: having series of assignments, with opportunity for
revision and with intensive one-on-one feedback, helped
• Students’ candor was surprising
• I was not expecting that actual content of essays would be
helpful to me
BENEFITS OF THEIR SHARING PERSONAL
INFORMATION
• Enabled me to make Bill of Rights material more relevant
• Assisted with my establishing rapport with students on
individual level
• Made one-on-one feedback conversations more tailored,
productive
• “I remember you said you had a problem with…Let’s brainstorm
about that.”
• Most importantly, gave me the information and opportunity
to refer students to UNLV and community resources that
will probably be key in both academic success and life in
general
CAVEATS
• Privacy has to be kept in mind at all times
• No way to know if “self-affirming” part of
this worked
• But suspect that it did
REFERENCES
• “Reducing the Gender Achievement Gap in College Science:
A Classroom Study of Values Affirmation”
• Akira Miyake, Lauren Kost-Smith, et. al.
• Science, vol. 330, Nov. 26, 2010
• “Reducing the Racial Achievement Gap: A SocialPsychological Intervention”
• Geoffrey Cohen, Julio Garcai, Nancy Apfel, Allison Master
• Science, vol. 313, Sept 1, 2006
Both articles are available in Academic Search Premier on
UNLV Library website.