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