View
687
Download
4
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
re-imagining composition @ slcc
a programmatic and curricular design initiative for first-year writing
Justin M. Jory, English Faculty & Department Coordinatorjustin.jory@slcc.edu, AAB 156, ext. 4192
Facilitated August 19, 2015
how would you describe the work we do as composition
teachers at SLCC?
what do we focus on? what are our cornerstone philosophies,
assumptions, and values about writing, learning, and
teaching?
what are the primary goals of 1010 and 2010?
who we are & what we do
why this initiative & why now?
disciplinary & curricular fragmentation
little evidence for composition’s value
curricular & pedagogical crossroad
this is the latest iteration of an ongoing effort to create a cohesive
curriculum with a coherent pedagogical philosophy and an apparent
transfer value
what will we do this year?
we will re-imagine the courses: their goals, central work, and relations to each other
we will collaborate to design, deliver, and revise assignments and activities
we will assess students’ experiences in these courses and gauge their understanding of the core concepts and goals
what will inform this work?
transfer theory
program/course design
built on a coherent theory
of writing
are “fundamental to
ways of thinking &
practicing in a
discipline” (Land et
al, 2005) & “open up
new and previously
inaccessible ways of
thinking about
something” (Meyer &
Land, 2006).
transformative.
irreversible.
troublesome.
“takes declarative and
procedural knowledge
about writing” as course
content and teaches
“students [to] think and
learn about writing as the
appropriate goal of the
course rather than teaching
students how to write”
(emphasis in original,
Downs and Wardle, 2014).
that 1010 and 2010 fulfill the expectations of a required writing component in our gen. ed.
curriculum, suggests an “assumption that FYC should and will provide students with knowledge
and skills that can transfer to writing tasks in other courses and contexts” (Wardle, 2007).
our theory of writing threshold concepts from the Vision Statement
Language is a resource that we use to do things, say things, make things, and be things in the world. Rhetoric provides a method for understanding the work language does.
Writing is a process of deliberation. It involves enacting compositional choices, strategies and moves. Need examples?
Writing is a form of action. Through writing and textual practices we respond to exigencies and can create change in the world.
Effective or meaningful writing is achieved through sustained engagement in literate practices and through revision.
Effective or meaningful writing is contingent on the situation, audience, and on the text’s purposes/uses.
Texts become meaningful in context. People interpret them (make them meaningful) in ways that depend on their own experiences, value systems and ways of knowing within various contexts.
break
let’s look at the framework laid out in the Vision Statement
program mission & goals
course descriptions
threshold concepts in context
the program mission & goals
mission
to prepare students with the necessary skills and habits of mind for reading and writing success in academic, civic, and personal contexts and to introduce them to the study of writing
goals
• students will cultivate their rhetorical awareness & flexibility as
readers and writers
• students will enhance their critical thinking capacity as readers and
writers
• students will develop metacognition related to reading, writing, and
language use
• students will explore and develop an ability and confidence to
navigate writing processes
course descriptions English 1010 English 2010
Emphasis rhetoric, close and critical reading, textual analysis,
writing process, revision
rhetoric, public discourse/argumentation, research,
textual production, revision
Description This course provides extended engagement with
rhetorical concepts and extended practice with close and
critical reading and writing.
A main aim in 1010 is to develop in students the analytical
and rhetorical habits of mind that are necessary for
successful reading and writing in academic, civic, and
personal contexts they encounter in and beyond college.
These include ways of thinking about texts as purpose-
driven, audience-centered, and socially, culturally, and
historically situated.
It begins building and/or begins to solidify students’
confidence and capability as readers and writers in
academic contexts, and through careful assignment
design and sequencing, considers writing in civic and
personal contexts as well.
1010 emphasizes the importance of finding writing and
revision processes that work for students. The end of the
course should focus on rhetorically-informed, original
textual production as a bridge to 2010.
This course builds on the analytical work completed
in English 1010 and emphasizes how analytical and
rhetorical habits of mind inform original textual
production practices.
It introduces students to the rhetorical decisions that
drive textual production while foregrounding various
forms of public discourse and how discourse is
influenced by rhetorical situations and research.
It continues to solidify students’ confidence and
capability in academic literacy and puts students in
extended practice with textual production and public
forms of writing.
2010 emphasizes the importance of finding writing
and revision processes that work for students.
concepts in context
how will students and teachers encounter the concepts in and across
each course?
see the chart at the end of the Vision Statement
let’s do this
as we collaboratively design the courses we’re teaching this fall, please consider these
ideas
in a sense, the courses are already designed; you’re working on creative ways to enact
these designs
students need explicit encounters with the concepts in assignments, daily activities, etc.
to “see” and start to understand the concepts; if you design courses around academic
“units,” then what role does each unit play to develop students’ understanding of
particular concepts?
assignments are not ends in themselves; they are means to ends, and the end goal is
to provide opportunities to encounter and grapple with threshold concepts through
assignments
the way we sequence assignments can help us illuminate particular concepts more
effectively for students
teach the writers not the writing! this idea speaks to the ways we “frame” assignments
for students more than anything
Recommended