scholarly journals Teaching Professional Development In The First Year Writing Course

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Pfaffenberger ◽  
Susan Carlson-Skalak ◽  
John P. O'Connell ◽  
Timothy P. Scott ◽  
Mark A. Shields
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Teaching Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Professional

scholarly journals Re-Imagining the First Year as Catalyst for First-Year Writing Program Curricular Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Crank ◽  
Sara Heaser ◽  
Darci L. Thoune
Keyword(s):  
College Retention ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Curricular Change ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
Research Project ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Multiple Measures ◽  
Writing Course

This article describes a revision of a first-year writing program curriculum using the pillars of the Reimagining the First-Year Program. The authors adapted principles related to mindset and habits of mind from both college retention scholarship and composition scholarship. After developing a research project in order to understand what elements of mindset correlate with readiness for credit-bearing writing courses, the authors created a multiple measures placement system for enrolling students in a credit-bearing first-year writing course with co-requisite support.  

Building a local learner corpus

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica H. Kwon ◽  
R. Scott Partridge ◽  
Shelley Staples
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Members ◽  
First Year ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Teaching Interventions ◽  
Learner Corpus Analysis ◽  
Writing Instructors

Abstract This paper describes the construction process involved in creating a robust local learner corpus of texts produced by international students in a first-year writing course at a large public, mid-western university in the U.S. We show how involving faculty members and graduate students of our local writing program in the process of learner corpus analysis provides them with opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge as writing instructors, course designers, and, ultimately, knowledge producers. An additional benefit of such an undertaking is that the corpus can become part of the infrastructure of a research community that allows continued contributions by others individually and collaboratively. We also illustrate the usefulness of our local learner corpus for research, teaching, mentoring, and collaboration within our writing program with examples of the research projects and teaching interventions we have developed.

scholarly journals A case study of trainee teachers' mental models of history teaching before and after an initial history teaching professional development course

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Adabo Oppong
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Teaching Professional Development ◽  
Development Course ◽  
Teaching Professional

The study compares 28 third-year University of Cape Coast trainee teachers' perceptions and mental models of history teaching before and after an initial history teaching professional development course – the Methods of Teaching History Course – to prepare them to teach history. The History Course was an intervention strategy built around episodic memory theory. The research questions were: Do trainees' perceptions (mental models) of history teaching remain the same or change during the History Course? If they change, how and why? Research involved all 28 trainees before and after they took the course through the use of a questionnaire and vignettes, plus a post-course interview of 12 of the trainees. The researcher used a deductive approach to analyse data about three aspects of the trainees' history teaching mental models: pedagogy, teaching styles as illustrated through classroom organization, and how students learn history. Findings revealed a marked difference between the trainees' pre- and post-course mental models of what school history is and how it should be taught. The trainees' pre-course mental models changed as a result of the knowledge and understanding they acquired during the History Course. A major finding was that such professional development courses need fully to take account of trainees' pre-course conceptions that shape their mental models of history teaching.

Evaluation in the course development process

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Van de Poel ◽  
Jessica Gasiorek
Keyword(s):  
Development Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Course Development ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Minimal Impact ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
The University

Evaluation is a critical but frequently underutilized part of the (language) course development process. Instructors’ reasons for avoiding it vary, but often include the concern that conducting evaluations will draw time and attention away from course content. Using All Write, a first-year writing course at the University of Antwerp, as a case study, this article shows how mechanisms for feedback and evaluation can be incorporated into course materials with minimal impact, as well as demonstrates the benefits of evaluation as both a validation process and a guide for course revision. Moreover, it will show how the stakeholders, primarily learners, but also teachers, may be drawn into the process and potentially benefit from it.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document