Post by WIDboard on Sept 28, 2011 9:28:21 GMT -5
Essentials of Writing Pedagogy #2: Orders of Problems in Student Writing[/u]
Welcome to the second installment of Essentials of Writing Pedagogy, the WIDboard original series on writing instruction. As always, what is presented below is one way to view an issue in writing pedagogy, but not the only way. Though we at WIDboard feel this is a great introduction to the issue, a single post can by no means be exhaustive. You should feel free to read this post and take from it whichever ideas seem useful to you, leaving behind those that don't. Without further ado, Enjoy EWP #2: Orders of Problems in Student Writing.
__________________________________________________________________
Students have a limit. They can only process a certain amount of critique of their writing, before they start to tune out or forget. Therefore, one of the most important parts of teaching writing is choosing what to emphasize the most in the limited amount of time we can spend advising students in person, or commenting on their papers. Essential to this moderation is remembering that some problems in student papers are going to be more significant than others—and therefore more deserving of your attention and direct feedback. In essence, problems in student writing can be imagined as being at several different orders or levels of concern.
The highest-order problems are the most significant, though they may be tricky to identify precisely and may have no quick fix. Addressing high order problems can make an enormous amount of difference in a student’s writing. Conversely, the lowest-order problems are usually easy to identify and have straightforward solutions, though they may make surprisingly little impact on the overall quality of a student’s writing. As instructors, if we spend our time focusing on the highest-order concerns in our students’ writing, we can help students to improve their writing markedly over the course of just a single semester in WID.
*A Note on Establishing Your Own Priorities:
What follows below is intended as an example, and is by no means the only way to prioritize student problems. In your duties as a writing instructor, your own preferences and the disciplinary standards to which your students must adhere may require different prioritization. That is perfectly fine. You should feel completely free to establish your own ordering of student problems, and doing so will make you a more effective writing instructor. Hopefully, what follows below can be a useful starting point.
High-Order Problems:
The following are common areas of HIGH concern in student writing. These are areas that will probably need the most direct attention, and are areas in which the greatest improvements can be made as quickly as possible. Interestingly, most of these problems can be significantly lessened by preemptive instruction. They are presented in no particular order.
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is absolutely essential. Both plagiarism and unapproved collaboration with other students are potential critical issues in student writing. Addressing this concern is of paramount importance. We should have high expectations of our students, but we should also make those expectations clear. It might be appropriate (given the level of the course in question) to preemptively clarify (a) what must be individual work and what may be collaborative, (b) what kinds of ideas need to be cited, (c) how to cite, and (d) how one should go about doing research so as not to plagiarize.
Important note: failing to cite a source with perfect mechanics is a completely different level of concern from failing to cite that source at all. One is a mid-level mechanical issue; the other is an integrity concern of the highest priority.
Adherence to Assignment:
Following the given assignment is probably the simplest of the high-order concerns to address with a student, but vital nonetheless. Quite simply, if a student doesn’t write what he or she has been asked to write, then it is very difficult for that writing to be successful. In the event that a student’s writing is off-track, often the issue is that the student simply didn’t understand the assignment in the first place. Remedially, one good technique we might use is to actually have the student writer read the assignment out loud—so that he or she can have a very clear sense of it—before we explain how the written work didn’t follow through. Preemptively, it is important to be extremely explicit about what we want students to write, both by spending time going over assignments in class and by writing out explicit assignment sheets, so that everyone is on the same page regarding expectations. Being extremely clear with expectations in advance will leave little grounds for confusion when students attempt the assignment.
Organization:
Organization may be the most common area of significant problems in student writing. Students often write with no plan, no idea where they are going, and no intention to come back and reorganize if their vague sense of direction changes. While writing can, of course, be exploratory, it is nonetheless extremely important that student writing have effective structure and organization. Probably the most useful tool in assisting student writers’ organization is outlining. Preemptively encouraging—even requiring—our students to outline their work can help enormously. Outlining gives students a plan to follow, and a map to prevent them from getting lost halfway through. Even as a remedial technique for disorganized papers, outlining can still be a very effective teaching tool. We could, for example, ask the writer of a disorganized paper to outline the paper as it is written. The outline would serve a blueprint of the paper as it stands. From this point, it is often easier for our student writers to see—even at a glance—which ideas are out of place and how those ideas might be better organized.
Logic:
Logic is a broad area of concern, but an essential one nonetheless. It covers two basic questions:
1) Do the writer’s arguments and conclusions make sense?
2) Do those arguments and conclusions arise from the research the writer presents?
In essence, this high-order concern is analyzing the position that the student takes, and determining whether or not that position is reached in a way that makes sense. If the student employs faulty analogies or flawed analyses (particularly of statistics), or asserts causality where none exists, then these are very important problems to point out to a student. No matter how well organized, thoroughly researched, and perfectly punctuated a paper is, if the logic is flawed, the paper will not be successful.
Middle-Order Problems:
The following are middle-order problems. These are issues that are still quite important to writing, but are of slightly less significance than the high-order problems listed above. If the student’s writing struggles within these areas, we certainly want to address it, but not at the expense of discussing the problems of greater significance to overall writing quality.
Depth of Analysis:
Often in student papers, an idea presented has not been explained or explored fully enough. Ultimately, it is a depth-of-analysis problem. In this event, we should have obvious questions that arise from a lack of development. A great technique is to simply ask those questions. “What do you mean by that?” is rarely useful, since a student usually tries to write what he or she means in the first place. More useful questions are things like “How does that relate to what you said in the previous paragraph about General Lee?” or “What are the implications of this point with respect to the authors you mentioned who were critical of Harper’s first study?” Specifically encouraging students to expand in certain directions can be a great way to encourage habits of deeper analysis later.
Scope of Ideas:
Sometimes students will have provided in-depth analysis, but only of a limited set of ideas within the scope of the paper. They will not have gone far enough in exploring the topic. Often, this is an issue of breadth or scope of ideas in the paper. While lack of development is an issue of fully exploring and analyzing an idea presented, lack of breadth is failure to present an idea or ideas that ought to have been presented, but were not. Often this is a failure to do an appropriate degree of research (within, of course, the scope of the project in question). Other times, it is a failure to consider multiple vantage points within the scope of an issue or an argument. We can help our students avoid problems of scope of ideas by giving adequate time to research and prepare an assignment, as well as by asking them to check in with us as they go about their research, so that we can be sure they appropriately address all sides of the issue they are discussing, within the scope of the project they have chosen.
Citation Mechanics:
Citation mechanics, while a lower order of concern than academic integrity, assuredly come before all other mechanical-level concerns. It is quite important that students understand how to properly cite the sources they use for research, but it is more important that they understand what, when, and why to cite (academic integrity concerns), than it is that they know how to cite. Thankfully, directing students to the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab), can often get them right on track for citation mechanics. Much of the battle with citation mechanics is emphasizing the importance of citing properly, and explaining why students must do it by-the-book. If we emphasize proper citation repeatedly (and account for it in grading), while providing step-by-step guides (see the appropriate section of the forum) it is a straightforward, if painstaking process to improve citation mechanics.
Low-Order Problems:
The following problems are low-order concerns, and should only be addressed if the rest of the high-order concerns have been attended to already. It can be incredibly frustrating not to point out these concerns, but they really make very little difference in the overall quality of student writing, as compared with the ones listed above. It may help to think of it like this: these low-order concerns are the final layer of paint on the outside of the house—it may look ugly if these are all out of whack, but it will fall down if the insides (higher orders) aren’t in place. Don’t paint the house until you’re sure it won’t fall down.
Formatting
Grammar
Spelling
“Style”
Word choice
Sentence structure/variance
________________________________________________________________
As a reminder, the problems presented in this issue of EWP are only one way to conceptualize the prioritization of orders of student problems. Whatever your discipline, determine the highest orders of problems for student writing, and direct your focus there. See the "Prioritizing Your Feedback" post under "Assessment, Feedback, and Grading" for advice on how to determine your own emphasis.
Welcome to the second installment of Essentials of Writing Pedagogy, the WIDboard original series on writing instruction. As always, what is presented below is one way to view an issue in writing pedagogy, but not the only way. Though we at WIDboard feel this is a great introduction to the issue, a single post can by no means be exhaustive. You should feel free to read this post and take from it whichever ideas seem useful to you, leaving behind those that don't. Without further ado, Enjoy EWP #2: Orders of Problems in Student Writing.
__________________________________________________________________
Students have a limit. They can only process a certain amount of critique of their writing, before they start to tune out or forget. Therefore, one of the most important parts of teaching writing is choosing what to emphasize the most in the limited amount of time we can spend advising students in person, or commenting on their papers. Essential to this moderation is remembering that some problems in student papers are going to be more significant than others—and therefore more deserving of your attention and direct feedback. In essence, problems in student writing can be imagined as being at several different orders or levels of concern.
The highest-order problems are the most significant, though they may be tricky to identify precisely and may have no quick fix. Addressing high order problems can make an enormous amount of difference in a student’s writing. Conversely, the lowest-order problems are usually easy to identify and have straightforward solutions, though they may make surprisingly little impact on the overall quality of a student’s writing. As instructors, if we spend our time focusing on the highest-order concerns in our students’ writing, we can help students to improve their writing markedly over the course of just a single semester in WID.
*A Note on Establishing Your Own Priorities:
What follows below is intended as an example, and is by no means the only way to prioritize student problems. In your duties as a writing instructor, your own preferences and the disciplinary standards to which your students must adhere may require different prioritization. That is perfectly fine. You should feel completely free to establish your own ordering of student problems, and doing so will make you a more effective writing instructor. Hopefully, what follows below can be a useful starting point.
High-Order Problems:
The following are common areas of HIGH concern in student writing. These are areas that will probably need the most direct attention, and are areas in which the greatest improvements can be made as quickly as possible. Interestingly, most of these problems can be significantly lessened by preemptive instruction. They are presented in no particular order.
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is absolutely essential. Both plagiarism and unapproved collaboration with other students are potential critical issues in student writing. Addressing this concern is of paramount importance. We should have high expectations of our students, but we should also make those expectations clear. It might be appropriate (given the level of the course in question) to preemptively clarify (a) what must be individual work and what may be collaborative, (b) what kinds of ideas need to be cited, (c) how to cite, and (d) how one should go about doing research so as not to plagiarize.
Important note: failing to cite a source with perfect mechanics is a completely different level of concern from failing to cite that source at all. One is a mid-level mechanical issue; the other is an integrity concern of the highest priority.
Adherence to Assignment:
Following the given assignment is probably the simplest of the high-order concerns to address with a student, but vital nonetheless. Quite simply, if a student doesn’t write what he or she has been asked to write, then it is very difficult for that writing to be successful. In the event that a student’s writing is off-track, often the issue is that the student simply didn’t understand the assignment in the first place. Remedially, one good technique we might use is to actually have the student writer read the assignment out loud—so that he or she can have a very clear sense of it—before we explain how the written work didn’t follow through. Preemptively, it is important to be extremely explicit about what we want students to write, both by spending time going over assignments in class and by writing out explicit assignment sheets, so that everyone is on the same page regarding expectations. Being extremely clear with expectations in advance will leave little grounds for confusion when students attempt the assignment.
Organization:
Organization may be the most common area of significant problems in student writing. Students often write with no plan, no idea where they are going, and no intention to come back and reorganize if their vague sense of direction changes. While writing can, of course, be exploratory, it is nonetheless extremely important that student writing have effective structure and organization. Probably the most useful tool in assisting student writers’ organization is outlining. Preemptively encouraging—even requiring—our students to outline their work can help enormously. Outlining gives students a plan to follow, and a map to prevent them from getting lost halfway through. Even as a remedial technique for disorganized papers, outlining can still be a very effective teaching tool. We could, for example, ask the writer of a disorganized paper to outline the paper as it is written. The outline would serve a blueprint of the paper as it stands. From this point, it is often easier for our student writers to see—even at a glance—which ideas are out of place and how those ideas might be better organized.
Logic:
Logic is a broad area of concern, but an essential one nonetheless. It covers two basic questions:
1) Do the writer’s arguments and conclusions make sense?
2) Do those arguments and conclusions arise from the research the writer presents?
In essence, this high-order concern is analyzing the position that the student takes, and determining whether or not that position is reached in a way that makes sense. If the student employs faulty analogies or flawed analyses (particularly of statistics), or asserts causality where none exists, then these are very important problems to point out to a student. No matter how well organized, thoroughly researched, and perfectly punctuated a paper is, if the logic is flawed, the paper will not be successful.
Middle-Order Problems:
The following are middle-order problems. These are issues that are still quite important to writing, but are of slightly less significance than the high-order problems listed above. If the student’s writing struggles within these areas, we certainly want to address it, but not at the expense of discussing the problems of greater significance to overall writing quality.
Depth of Analysis:
Often in student papers, an idea presented has not been explained or explored fully enough. Ultimately, it is a depth-of-analysis problem. In this event, we should have obvious questions that arise from a lack of development. A great technique is to simply ask those questions. “What do you mean by that?” is rarely useful, since a student usually tries to write what he or she means in the first place. More useful questions are things like “How does that relate to what you said in the previous paragraph about General Lee?” or “What are the implications of this point with respect to the authors you mentioned who were critical of Harper’s first study?” Specifically encouraging students to expand in certain directions can be a great way to encourage habits of deeper analysis later.
Scope of Ideas:
Sometimes students will have provided in-depth analysis, but only of a limited set of ideas within the scope of the paper. They will not have gone far enough in exploring the topic. Often, this is an issue of breadth or scope of ideas in the paper. While lack of development is an issue of fully exploring and analyzing an idea presented, lack of breadth is failure to present an idea or ideas that ought to have been presented, but were not. Often this is a failure to do an appropriate degree of research (within, of course, the scope of the project in question). Other times, it is a failure to consider multiple vantage points within the scope of an issue or an argument. We can help our students avoid problems of scope of ideas by giving adequate time to research and prepare an assignment, as well as by asking them to check in with us as they go about their research, so that we can be sure they appropriately address all sides of the issue they are discussing, within the scope of the project they have chosen.
Citation Mechanics:
Citation mechanics, while a lower order of concern than academic integrity, assuredly come before all other mechanical-level concerns. It is quite important that students understand how to properly cite the sources they use for research, but it is more important that they understand what, when, and why to cite (academic integrity concerns), than it is that they know how to cite. Thankfully, directing students to the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab), can often get them right on track for citation mechanics. Much of the battle with citation mechanics is emphasizing the importance of citing properly, and explaining why students must do it by-the-book. If we emphasize proper citation repeatedly (and account for it in grading), while providing step-by-step guides (see the appropriate section of the forum) it is a straightforward, if painstaking process to improve citation mechanics.
Low-Order Problems:
The following problems are low-order concerns, and should only be addressed if the rest of the high-order concerns have been attended to already. It can be incredibly frustrating not to point out these concerns, but they really make very little difference in the overall quality of student writing, as compared with the ones listed above. It may help to think of it like this: these low-order concerns are the final layer of paint on the outside of the house—it may look ugly if these are all out of whack, but it will fall down if the insides (higher orders) aren’t in place. Don’t paint the house until you’re sure it won’t fall down.
Formatting
Grammar
Spelling
“Style”
Word choice
Sentence structure/variance
________________________________________________________________
As a reminder, the problems presented in this issue of EWP are only one way to conceptualize the prioritization of orders of student problems. Whatever your discipline, determine the highest orders of problems for student writing, and direct your focus there. See the "Prioritizing Your Feedback" post under "Assessment, Feedback, and Grading" for advice on how to determine your own emphasis.