Here is a link to my Instructional Tool PowerPoint. I'd recommend downloading it so that my narration plays.
LINK
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Blog Post #2--Teaching Writing at a Distance
Pavia, Catherine Matthews.
“Issues of Attitude and Access: A Case Study of Basic Writers in a Computer
Classroom.” Journal of Basic Writing
23.2 (2004): 4-22. Print.
In
“Issues of Attitude and Access: A Case Study of Basic Writers in a Computer
Classroom,” Catherine Matthews Pavia describes the experiences of two basic
writers in her computer-equipped basic writing course and uses their stories to
enrich her pedagogy. Pavia cautions her readers that all students do not have
computer experience and access, and that that computers should not be seen as
unequivocal tools of empowerment for basic writers.
Pavia begins by presenting research that “still tends to
paint an idealistic picture” of computers in basic-writing classrooms,
characterizing technology as increasing student motivation, enjoyment of
writing, and writing volume, and portraying students as comfortable and
experienced with computers (5). Pavia complicates this view by focusing on two
of her students who wrote less on computers and frequently chose to write by
hand. She interviewed each student, took notes on their writing, and asked them
to write about their own experiences with computers. The students were not
selected randomly, and Pavia’s study should be seen as a discussion of specific
circumstances rather than easily generalizable research, but the students’
experiences and Pavia’s conclusions are helpful to the basic writing teacher
who wants to consider how best to reach all
of her students.
The students’ specific experiences differ, but there are
many similarities. Both are low-income, and neither came from households with
extensive computer usage. Neither student likes to write. Both have a positive
view of computers, “reflect[ing] society’s positive and idealistic views about
computers and the benefits of computer literacy” (12), yet both dislike writing
with computers even more than they dislike writing in general. Much of this
dislike seems to stem from unfamiliarity with computers—neither can type well,
and both produce much less writing when using computers than do their
classmates. Neither has access outside of class to an up-to-date personal
computer. Pavia writes that for these two students, “writing on computers in
the classroom did not lead to more empowerment when viewed from a more
short-term focus on the class itself” (16). In fact, the technology “may lead
students to doubt their [writing] abilities when what they really need is
confidence” (17).
In light of her research, Pavia now has students write “technology
narratives” early in the semester in which they describe their past experiences
with computers and current attitudes toward technology. She adapts her course
to her students’ experiences. She has also added basic computer instruction to
the course and assigns some writing assignments to be completed by hand.
Finally, she “avoid[s] assignments in basic writing classes that might subsume
writing by involving technology in the writing process in even more complicated
ways than word processing does” (19)—in other words, no multimodal or Web
authorship.
As I mentioned above, Pavia’s research is not easily
generalizable. However, I would still recommend this article. In addition to
the value of her conclusions and her excellent critique of the overly rosy
characterization of computer usage in basic-writing classes, her description of
how she adapts each class to the specific students she has serves as an
excellent model for other teachers.
Pedagogical Tool Review
Pedagogical
Tool Review
Introduction:
Next
semester, I will begin teaching an accelerated-learning course (ALP) in which
developmental writing students are integrated into a college-writing class and
asked to do college-level work. The developmental students will receive
additional support, and one of my goals is to provide much of this support in a
way consistent with a blended online/face-to-face classroom.
I
have taught developmental writing for a little more than a decade, and one of
the key ways I have found that developmental students lag behind their
college-level counterparts is in their command of standard written grammar
(SWG). While the power dynamics and even the existence of a “standard” written
grammar have been challenged (Barbier; Smitherman), it has also been well
established that students—especially those who already come from outside the
culture of power—are disadvantaged in the workplace and academia by their
uncertain command of generally accepted grammatical conventions (Beason;
Delpit). I choose to move forward by stressing to my students that so-called
standard grammar is something they should learn for a specific purpose: to get
ahead in school and work. They should employ it in much the same way they
employ their good set of clothes for a job interview—SWG can get them in the
door and set them up for success.
Unfortunately,
I have been frustrated by how challenging it is to teach SWG. Even when
students accept my rationale for learning it, they exhibit resistance and fear
inculcated by years of inept and often punitive grammar instruction. I have
responded in several ways, including writing my own handbook on basic
grammatical ideas and punctuation that grounds the concepts in rhetorical
context and draws its examples from articles we read in class. My methods have
been well received, but I am still searching for better ways to address
grammar.
In
keeping with my goals to make my ALP class a blended environment, I decided to
search for free computer-based games that addressed basic grammar. While there
are numerous grammar resources online, most of them (including those offered by
the major textbook companies) are strongly reminiscent of the blue mimeographed
worksheets I remember (with nausea) from my youth. I do not want a
drill-and-kill approach; instead, I want relaxed, fun learning that does not
remind students of their past grammar instruction. It took a surprisingly long
time to find non-worksheet-based grammar games that might be applicable for a
college developmental student, but I did find two worth exploring: one on the
web, and one for the iPad, which I included because of the prevalence of
i-devices among my students and my school’s current project to explore student
and instructor iPad usage.
Description:
Grammar Ninja: This game is featured on
multiple sites; the one I reviewed was at http://www.wordgames.com/grammar-ninja.html.
The purpose of the game is to help players learn parts of a sentence, such as
nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, etc. The premise is that you are a ninja
who throws stars at the parts of speech that are called for in a sample
sentence. You can choose from three levels of difficulty—the higher ones add in
additional parts of speech—scribble notes on the screen, ask for a hint, and
finally throw your star into the correct word. The game will indicate whether
you are correct or not and will provide help if you are incorrect. At the end
of a question set, the game provides feedback based on how long it took you and
the percentage of correct answers and gives you a “ninja rank.” The game also
features fun music and decent graphics.
Grammar Ninja Front Page
Grammar Ninja Game
Page
Grammar Ninja Final Score
wiseHopper: This is a free iPad or
iPhone app. The game allows you to play with math, words, or grammar. The basic
premise is that you are an insect trying to hop across a stream before being
eaten by a giant frog. In the grammar game, you progress in order from verbs to
pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, and conjunctions. The game gives you a sequence
of sentences that scroll across the stream in opposite directions; it then
prompts you to identify, for instance, verbs, and you, as the insect, have to
hop on the appropriate word in each sentence. After you make it across a few
sentences, the giant frog appears and begins to hop after you, increasing the
pressure to decide on the right word to hop to. If you choose the wrong word,
your insect falls into the river. If the frog catches you, you get eaten. (For
those readers of a certain age, the game is very reminiscent of Frogger on the
Atari.) Once you make it across the stream, the game tells you your time, and
you can try to beat your best time. The graphics have limited animation but are
quite pleasing.
Review:
Grammar Ninja: This game seems targeted
to the middle-school level, judging by the level of the graphics, which are
cartoonish (albeit well done) and the task itself. Additionally, the sentences
are not based in the students’ own writing, nor in the context of a finished
piece by another writer. This lack of rhetorical context makes the game
problematic. Research has suggested that direct skill instruction has little,
if any, positive effect on student writing (Hartwell; Tchudi and Mitchell).
However,
many of the students in developmental courses have around a middle-school
understanding of basic grammar. Discussions of relatively simple, yet
important, concepts such as complete sentences are made more complex by
students’ limited understandings. As Beason demonstrated, it is important for
writers’ ethos that they learn to write complete sentences and to avoid fused
sentences reliably. In past classes, when I have tried to reduce
complete-sentence tests to simple formulations (“Look for a noun, verb, and
complete idea.”), I have encountered difficulty because students are not able
to identify nouns and verbs. I have decided that some basic understandings of
parts of speech may be necessary for us to have a productive conversation.
As
one of my principle goals with the ALP course is to help students to conceive
of themselves as college material, the level of the game concerns me. They have
work to do to get to the college level; however, I worry that the basic nature
of the game may serve to highlight for them how far they need to come. I do not
want them to think that I conceive of them as middle-school students. However,
it is difficult to predict student perceptions. A colleague of mine has used
Grammar Ninja in her developmental writing classes and reports that many of the
students, especially the males, love it. They found the rankings at the end to
be motivational, and got competitive with each other to attain the highest
scores.
wiseHopper: This game is similarly
targeted to much lower than a college-level student. However, I found myself
more engaged than with Grammar Ninja; somehow, the pursuit of the frog
intensified the game for me and made me more focused. (Or maybe it’s because I
always liked Frogger.) The quality of the graphics was pleasing and did not
seem insulting, and the pressure of the frog increased the difficulty in a
positive way. The game does not give hints or the same quality of feedback for
missed answers as Grammar Ninja, but if you fall off into the river because you
answered something wrong, it highlights your correct answers in the previous
sentences, making it easy to hop back to where you messed up.
Somewhat
confusingly, wiseHopper does not recognize helping verbs. For example, in the
sentence “I am writing an essay,” wiseHopper would count hopping onto “am” to
be a mistake and “writing” to be the only correct option. While this is not a
deal-killer for the app, it would require a “grammar-speak” explanation to the
students, which is one thing I am trying to avoid.
Like
Grammar Ninja, wiseHopper does not provide any rhetorical context for the
sentences it includes, and it suffers from the same pitfalls as other methods
of direct skill instruction. However, it might serve as a precursor to more
effective grammar instruction by helping students learn basic grammar
vocabulary and the ability to recognize parts of speech.
Discussion:
We
know that grammar usage can serve as a socioeconomic marker and influence how
others see us (Beason; Gorrell; Lynch-Biniek). We also know that grammar is
best addressed rhetorically—as an element of the transaction of meaning between
writer and reader—and not with piecemeal sentences divorced from context
(Dawkins; Williams). Neither of these programs follows these best practices,
and both are more closely aligned with the teaching of grammar as a series of
isolated and absolute rules.
However,
I plan to try them this fall, and I would urge other teachers of developmental writing
to give them a careful look. When used narrowly as a relatively painless way to
build a common grammatical vocabulary and improve sentence recognition, they may
have merit. The competition and video-game-like feel might engage students in an
otherwise boring subject, and when used for a short time early in the class, the
software might provide a scaffold for basic writers to engage grammar in a deeper,
more rhetorical way as the class progresses.
Works Cited
Barbier, Stuart. “The Reflection of ‘Students’ Right to Their
Own Language’ in First-Year
Composition Course Objectives and Descriptions.” TETYC 30.3 (March 2003): 257-67. Print.
Beason, Larry. “Ethos and
Error: How Business People React to Errors.” CCC 53:1 (September 2001):
33-64. Print.
Dawkins, John. “Teaching
Meaning-Based Punctuation.” Teaching
English in the Two-Year College 31:2 (December 2003): 154-162. Print.
Delpit, Lisa. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict
in the Classroom. New York: New Press, 2006.
Print.
Gorrell, Donna. “Style and
Identity: Students Writing like the Professionals.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College 32:4 (May 2005): 393-402. Print.
Hartwell, Patrick.
“Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.” College English 47 (February
1985): 105-27. Rpt. in The St. Martin’s
Guide to Teaching Writing. Eds. Robert Connors and Cheryl Glenn. 3rd
ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 1995: 370-393. Print.
Lynch-Biniek, Amy. “Bemoans, Belittles and Leaves.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College. 33.1 (2005): 29-37. Print.
Smitherman, Geneva. "CCCC's Role in the Struggle for Language
Rights." CCC 50.3 (1999): 349-376. Print.
Tchudi, Steven, and Diana
Mitchell. Explorations in the Teaching of
English. 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins,
1989. Print.
Williams, Joseph M. “The
Phenomenology of Error.” CCC 32
(1981): 152-68. Rpt. in Composition in Four Keys: Inquiring into the Field. Eds. Mark Wiley, Barbara Gleason, and Louise
Wetherbee Phelps. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1996: 163-175. Print.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Citation for Blog #1
Carpenter, Trudy G., William L. Brown, and Randall C. Hickman. “Influences of Online Delivery on Developmental Writing Outcomes.” Journal of Developmental Education 28.1 (2004): 14-35. Print.
Distance Writing--Blog Post #1
In “Influences of Online Delivery on Developmental Writing
Outcomes,” published in the Journal of
Developmental Education, Trudy Carpenter, William Brown, and Randall
Hickman, all from community colleges around Michigan, share results on
developmental students' success and retention rates in online writing courses. As
the authors point out, the conventional wisdom has been to steer developmental
writers away from online classes for fear that the online environment adds
technological barriers to a population that already has an uncertain future of
success.Carpenter, Brown, and Hickman complicate this assumption in
productive ways.
The authors studied a group of 256 developmental students who self-selected online developmental writing courses over a period of four years. In comparison to the students who comprised the general population of developmental education at Lansing Community College, the students in the online group tended to be "older, female, white, and part-time, with higher reading and writing placement scores" (15). A veteran composition teacher might notice that this describes what is generally the highest-performing group in a community-college writing class, possibly skewing the data; however, the authors attempted to control for all of these variables, as well as student credit load, time of registration, and math placement scores.
The authors studied a group of 256 developmental students who self-selected online developmental writing courses over a period of four years. In comparison to the students who comprised the general population of developmental education at Lansing Community College, the students in the online group tended to be "older, female, white, and part-time, with higher reading and writing placement scores" (15). A veteran composition teacher might notice that this describes what is generally the highest-performing group in a community-college writing class, possibly skewing the data; however, the authors attempted to control for all of these variables, as well as student credit load, time of registration, and math placement scores.
The two variables of key interest to the researchers were
completion rate (i.e., whether students finished the course) and success rate,
which they defined as a final grade of 2.5 or higher. The authors found that
delivery method was a reliable predictor of both retention and success--in
opposing ways. Carpenter, Brown, and Hickman found that students were less
likely to complete online developmental writing courses, yet if students
completed the course, they did better in it. Their data suggest that
"there are some things about online instruction as delivery method that lead to greater
withdrawal rates but that may ultimately lead to success rates for those
students who finish the course that are comparable to, if not greater than,
success rates in traditional, face-to-face instruction" (16). They admit
that the greater withdrawal rate may have indirectly affected the greater
success rate, since poorly performing students may have dropped rather than
sticking it out and receiving a poor grade. However, it is difficult to
ascertain whether this was the case. An additional limitation is that all of
the online sections were taught by the same instructor. The authors attempted
to control for this by comparing success and withdrawal rates between this
instructor's face-to-face sections and those taught by other instructors, and
they did not find a statistically significant difference. However, the
possibility remains that their sample group was too limited for their results
to be generalized.
Despite these difficulties, the study serves as an
interesting data-driven rebuttal to those who say developmental writing courses
are recipes for disaster. Instead, the study’s findings suggest that
developmental writing classes may be a viable alternative to conventional
instruction and merit more consideration.
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