WID RetreatJune 2-3, 2014St Mary’s College retreat@ the Orinda Public LibraryWilliam J. Macauley, Jr.Associate Professor and University Writing Center DirectorUniversity of Nevada, Reno with Tereza Joy Kramer, Saint Mary’s College of California

WID Introductions 1

• WAC: centralized source of assessable outcomes• WID: discipline-based assessment outcomes• CAC: writing, speaking, media-based• WAW: study composition studies

• Why WID makes the best sense• Respects uniqueness of disciplinary discourse

communities• Can include as many modalities as are useful• Does not force students into more boundary-crossing

WID Introductions 2

• Waldo: Disciplinary writing cannot be adequately learned outside of disciplinary contexts.• What is different about writing in your field?

• Lynne: We need assessment language that is specific to our fields.• What language about writing is useful in your field?

• Soliday: Genre represents social context and social action within that context.• What do people in your field write about? To

accomplish?

WID Introductions 3

• Walvoord: one thing at a time, then choose focus, develop measure, assess, feedback loop

• Huot: What kind of decisions are you trying to make?

• Huot principles• Site-based• Locally controlled• Context sensitive• Rhetorically based• Accessible

‘Transfer of Knowledge’

For example, WID courses expect students to bring with them what they learned in Composition …

and to learn or deepen skills to apply to disciplinary writing from then forward.

Definition: apply a skill in a new context

Transfer of Knowledge

Transfer is rare.~Robin Snead

The students who transfer skills are those who have overarching curiosities.

~James Lang

Transfer of Knowledge & WID

Good news: WID courses are places of opportunity –

Students finally understand the need to write in a particular genre, a particular style.

Transfer of Knowledge: how to encourage

“What is important for transfer is constantly connecting new and already-acquired knowledge.”

~Anne Beaufort 182

Guide students to intentionally transfer: meta-reflections

‘Meaning-Constructing’ Writing

• Analyze/evaluate something you read/researched/observed

• Describe your methods or findings related to data collected in lab or field work, a survey project, etc.

• Argue a position using evidence and reasoning• Write in a style and format of a specific field • Explain in writing the meaning of numerical/statistical data• Include visuals—drawing, tables, photos, screen shots, etc.• Create with multimedia—web page, poster, PowerPoint,

etc.~NSSE/WPA report

‘Meaning-Constructing’ Writing

~Anne Beaufort

Expert

insider

prose

Subject matter

knowledge

Genre knowledge

Disciplinary discourse

knowledge

Rhetorical knowledge

Writing process

knowledge

Information literacy

with Cynthia Van Gilder

Writing in Anthropology

Meaningful Work 1

• Thinking at the appropriate level:• WASC/institution• Curriculum• Program• Course• Assignment

• What should student writing in your field demonstrate?• What does that look like? How can you tell it has happened?• What options are available for recognizing, counting,

measuring, comparing, or evaluating those qualities/components?

• What do you want to know about them?• What kind of assessment does that suggest?• What do you want/need to know first?• What sequence of assessments makes sense?

Meaningful Work 2

• What are you teaching (priorities)?• What is the most important?• What is most central?• What is the highest priority?• What does the college leadership value most?• What sets you up for later assessments?• What are the most prevalent discussions about

related to your program?• What are you most interested in?

Meaningful Work 3

• Alignment: Which courses should be related and how?

• Assessing student writing• Assessing WID course outcomes• Assessing WID program as a whole• Methods: rubrics, holistic scoring, experience• Means: portfolios, sampling, drafts

Meaningful Work 4

• Assignments walk a student through a process to specified outcomes

• Consistency walks a student through a curriculum• Application of assignment, review, and response/grading

at the most appropriate times• Knowledge transfer• Writer understands what the document does as much if

not more than what it looks like• All writing should accomplish something worthwhile for

the writer and the reader• No one knows better than you what is

expected/preferred/valued within your discipline• We need to help students understand the purposes our

assignments serve for both the course and their disciplines

“Hands-on: Helping students learn the particulars of your discipline”

‘Interactive Writing’

• Brainstorm to develop ideas before you start• Talk with your instructor to develop your ideas• Talk with a classmate, friend, or family

member to develop your ideas • Receive feedback from instructor about a draft • Visit writing center• Receive feedback from classmate, friend, or

family member about a draft ~NSSE/WPA report, in Bean

Composition Learning Outcomes are transferable across the college – but how can we help students realize this?• What skills did students learn in

English 3, 4, and most importantly 5?

• How can we help students apply the same skills in WID courses?

Transferring skills: Composition

1. clear/careful organization … coherent paragraphs ... well-constructed sentences .... Standard Written English ... appropriate diction

2. audience and context3. analyze arguments ... and construct ones

that are well-supported, well-reasoned, and controlled by a thesis or exploratory question

4. use writing to enhance intellectual discovery and unravel complexities of thoughtComposition Learning Outcomes: Written Communication

1. develop search strategies ... use library catalogs/databases ... relevant material

2. critically evaluate sources3. evaluate ... synthesize evidence ...

drawing valid conclusions4. understand ... intellectual property ...

academic honesty ... integrating and citing evidence appropriately

Composition Learning Outcomes: Information Evaluation & Research

1. Examine assumptions

2. Intellectual discovery

3. Systematic analysis

4. Investigate a topic

5. Analyze through close reading

English 4 assignments

“Metadisciplinary” writing

1. Problem-solving2. Empirical Inquiry3. Interpretive/Theoretical4. Performance

~John Bean, p. 256-7

Similarities with WID

“introduces students to … the research essay …

to prepare students for the Writing in the Discipline course that students will encounter in their chosen major.”

Purpose of English 5

~Saint Mary’s College Composition Program

English 5: Argument and Research

Students learn to …1. develop an extended argument2. develop search strategies and use

library catalogs and databases, IERP 1

3. evaluate sources, IERP 24. evaluate & synthesize evidence …

draw valid conclusions, IERP 35. integrate and cite sources, IERP 4

English 5 ‘Extended Research Essay’

Students learn through Hubbuch:Section 1 –purpose of the research essay Section 2 – process of arriving at a

research topic and strategySection 3 – finding sourcesSection 4 – evaluating sourcesSection 5 – drafting the essaySection 6 – using/acknowledging sourcesEnglish 5 ‘Extended Research

Essay’

short essay/s: 1. analyze 2 or more sources2. evaluate and synthesize

evidence3. draw valid conclusions4. arrive at a position

relative to your sources.

English 5 smaller assignments

explore discipline-specific research by …

1. interviewing a faculty member in your anticipated major

2. exploring a discipline-specific library database

3. or …English 5 smaller

assignments

Don’t go it alone!

• Remember that this is going to take time• Work with what you can readily put your hands on at first• Involve your colleagues in inquiry before assessment• Be conscious of resources, particularly human• Get as many stakeholders involved as you can—not as

worker bees alone but as contributors to the development of the curriculum and its assessment

• Contribution = responsibility = buy-in = support• Listen a lot!• Get baselines and look for local ways to improve before

going global• Multiple, small assessments• Multiple perspectives/data sources & types• Shape assessment and outcomes to several audiences

Writing in the Learning Process

• Values: What do you want students to do?• How will you see that?• What specific performance expectations do

you have?• Teaching, student understanding, and

evaluation• Clarity• Reasonable expectations on both sides

with Ellen Rigsby

Writing in Communication

Day One Wrap-Up

• Wrap-up and next steps

Tuesday, June 3rd

Assignment Design: Context 1

• Core elements• Keys to success• Audience & purpose• Research: method and source

deployment• Form: structure, format, citation

style• Auteurism• Bricolage

“Overarching questions which might help you think about your course”

Assignment Design: Context 2

• Assignment design • Building/scaffolding• Writing (verb) (process)

(articulating)• Writing (noun) (product)

(participating)• In/formal writing• Assigning, responding,

evaluating

• Rhetorical modes: • analysis • argument• cause & effect• compare & contrast• definition• description• division & classification• exposition• narration• persuasion• synthesis

“Designing Effective Writing Assignments” & “Best practices: Assignment design”

Assignment Design: Context 3

• What is one thing you wished you could see more often in student writing?• What is one quality of student writing with which you are most frequently

disappointed?• What are your most frequent types of responses to student writing?• Textual object vs. intelligent engagement• Responses to writing:

• Corrections• Questions• Revisions• Evaluating• Assessing• Grading

• Peer review• Commenting on drafts• CWAC• Can your students revise for a better grade? How often/much?• Portfolios vs. stand-alone writing assignments

“Best practices: Scaffolding”

SMC Library

Transfer of Grammatical Strategies

Students don’t automatically think professors of non-English courses “care” about grammar.

o However, if we expect students to turn in clear/polished work, they will.

Errors Students Make

• Errors increase with new tasks / greater difficulty.

• Errors tend to occur in patterns.• Errors aren’t more numerous today, but different.

~Andrea Lunsford, John Bean

It’s Not Getting Worse~Andrea Lunsford & Karen

Lunsford

“[C]ollege students are not making more formal errors in writing than they used to.”

~Robert Connors & Andrea Lunsford

It’s Getting Different~Andrea Lunsford & Karen

Lunsford

Most Common Errors ~ 2006 vs. 1984

  2006 1984Wrong word 1 5Missing comma after introductory element 2 2Incomplete or missing documentation 3 not on list

Vague pronoun reference 4 3Spelling error (including homonym) 5 1 (3 X any other)Mechanical error with quotation 6 not on listUnnecessary comma 7 18Unnecessary or missing capitalization 8 not on list

Missing word 9 not on listFaulty sentence structure 10 not on listMissing comma with nonrestrictive element 11 6Unnecessary shift in verb tense 12 11 & 14Missing comma in a compound sentence 13 not on listUnnecessary or missing apostrophe (including its/it’s)

14 10 & 21

Fused (run-on) sentence 15 4 & 19Comma splice 16 9Lack of pronoun-antecedent agreement 17 17Poorly integrated quotation 18 not on listUnnecessary or missing hyphen 19 not on listSentence fragment 20 13

created from Lunsford & Lunsford and Connors & Lunsford studies

New Trends

•Wrong Words•Homonyms•Hyphens•Capitalization

Faulty sentence structures~Andrea Lunsford & Karen Lunsford

Assignments Are More Complex

“[E]mphasis on personal narrative has been replaced by an emphasis on argument and research.”

“[S]tudent writers today are tackling the kinds of issues that require inquiry and investigation as well as reflection.”

~Andrea Lunsford & Karen Lunsford 31

Assignments Are Longer

Students are writing more than ever: college papers were 2.5 times longer in 2006 than in 1985.

~Andrea Lunsford & Karen Lunsford 31

Grammar: hold students accountable

Don’t edit their errors line-by-line.If you do, students might …o make only the corrections you mark.o not see their patterns of error.o not understand how error affects meaning.o view revision as only sentence-level.

Grammar: hold students accountable

“By seeing such patterns named and discussed once, students will begin to see the patterns for themselves. They will also get the message that their teacher’s role is to advise, assess, and engage, not copy-edit.”

~Kerry Walk, Harvard Writing Project

Grammar: hold students accountable

Help them see their own patterns.Help them use their own resources:• Citation stylebooks & Hubbuch• Little, Brown grammar handbooko In margins, use coding system:

Match with pages of their handbook Use a chart

o In end comments, note rules to learn.

Grammar: teach strategies

• Expect precision in grammar, wording.• Require students to revise for only grammar at near-final stage.•Model by correcting a representative sentence or paragraph during class.

with Rebecca Concepcion

Writing in Kinesiology

CWAC

Home of peer-to-peer, cross-disciplinary discussion:

key to success with current writing as well as transfer of knowledge.

Assignment Design: Episode 1

• Assessment & Grading• Purpose• Forms of response• Timing of responses

• Purpose• Format• Using Evidence• Revision• Using sources• Explicit criteria

Assignment Design: Episode 2

• You can’t cover everything in one assignment, so be selective.

• They can’t tell you everything about their work, so help them understand where to focus their attention.

• Form should follow function, so start with what the assignment should accomplish and then provide information about format & mechanics

• Less is more, so assign strategically and selectively.

• Students perform better when the focus is on what we want them to do more than how we want them to do it.

• Correctness/accuracy matter but, like most things in writing, it is a means rather than an end.

Assignment Design: Episode 3

• Gallagher: “I go, then you go.”• Modeling the process—text and/or process• Values and priorities• Scaffolding• Rubrics• In-process feedback• Writing center support• Draft review• Complementary documents (outlines, in-process check-

ins, portfolios, reflections)• Combinations

Assignment Design: Episode 4

• Higher-order concerns• Higher-order thinking• ‘What’ first, then how• Content• For the writer• Drafting

• Focus/thesis• Organization• Development• Tone

• Lower/later-order concerns• Rules and regulations• Now that ‘what’ is clearer, ‘how’ can be

addressed• Mechanics• For the reader• Revising

• Sentence structure• Sentence variety• Grammar• Punctuation• Spelling• Documentation style

Assignment Design: Episode 5

• It focuses the writer on content first. Students can invest much more in ideas than in rules.

• It forces students to articulate their thinking and processes.

• It can resolve a lot of the mechanical issues through forcing clarity and concision.

• It dissuades students from focusing on mechanics when the content is not there.

• It puts editing and proofreading where they belong—after getting the subject matter where it needs to be.

Essential variables to consider

• What is most important to you in this assignment?• Where do you want students to focus their

attention?• What is fair to expect that they should be

able to demonstrate/accomplish? • What do you want students to do with the

information you seek?• What examples or models can they look to?

Day Two Wrap-up

• Wrap up• Final questions• Action plan• feedback

Works Cited

Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.Beaufort, Anne. College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for University Writing Instruction. Logan, UT:

Utah State UP, 2007. Print.Frazier, Dan. “First Steps Beyond First Year: Coaching Transfer After FYC.” WPA: Writing Program Administration. 33.3(Spring 2010). 34-57. Web.Fulwiler, Toby. “Provocative Revision.” The Writing Center Journal, 12.2(Spring 1992): 190-240. Print.Gottschalk, Karen, and Keith Hjortshoj. The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2004. Print.Haven, Cynthia. “The New Literacy: Stanford study finds richness and complexity in students’ writing.” Stanford Report. Oct. 12, 2009. Web.Hedengren, Beth Finch. A TA’s Guide to Teaching Writing in all Disciplines. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2004. Print.Karp, Josh. “Does Digital Media Make Us Bad Writers?” Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning. 1.26.10. Web.Lang, James M. “Why They Don't Apply What They've Learned.” Parts 1, 2, and 3. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Jan., Feb., March 2013. Web.Lunsford, Andrea. From Theory to Practice: A Selection of Essays. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.

Print. (includes her grammar research with Karen Lunsford and Robert Connors)Pianko, Sharon, “Reflection: A Critical Component of the Composing Process.” College Composition and Communication. 30.3(Oct. 1979): 275-278. Print.Saint Mary’s College Composition Program. Composition Program Learning Goals and Outcomes. SMC. 2012.

Print.---. English 5: Argument and Research. SMC. 2012. Print.---. English 4, Composition. SMC. 2013. Print.Snead, Robin, “ ‘Transfer_Ability’: Issues of Transfer and FYC.” WPA-Compile Research Bibliographies. 18(Dec. 2011). Web.Walk, Kerry. “Responding to Student Writing.” Harvard Writing Project Bulletin. 2000. Web.