scholarly journals A Contemplative Approach to Graduate Writing Development: Reflections from Thai Writing Classrooms

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 127-148
Author(s):  
James Burford ◽  
Adisorn Juntrasook ◽  
Wasana Sriprachya-anunt ◽  
Linda Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Writing Studies ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Contemplative Practices ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Instructors ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Education Field

This article addresses an under-researched area of writing studies: the use of contemplative pedagogies in the development of graduate writing. Drawing on reflective analysis from writing instructors, this article seeks to both contextualize the teaching and learning of writing in the Thai context, and to introduce experiments in contemplative writing pedagogy. In particular, the article reports on graduate-level writing courses that are embedded within the curricula of two education-field Masters programmes in Thailand. Four instructors involved in these courses reflect on their combined experience of integrating contemplative pedagogies, describing the steps they undertook to bring these into the classroom. The contribution of this study is its reporting on research in the under-considered area of contemplative practices, as well as opening up the consideration for graduate writing development in non-Anglophone contexts, such as Thailand. It is hoped that the documentation of the tools and strategies used by Thai instructors will assist others to bring contemplative approaches into play in their own classrooms.

scholarly journals Reflecting on Assessment: Strategies and Tools for Measuring the Impact of a Canadian WAC Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 107-132
Author(s):  
Michael Kaler ◽  
Tyler Evans-Tokaryk
Keyword(s):  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Writing Studies ◽  
Program Assessment ◽  
Development Project ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
Assessment Strategies ◽  
The Impact

This paper provides an overview of the process and tools we have developed for assessing the impact of writing development projects carried out in a wide variety of courses at our university. It begins with an overview of writing studies in Canada to provide context for our approach to writing instruction and writing program assessment. It then offers a case study of a specific writing development project in a large first-year humanities course, a detailed explanation of the methods we used to measure the efficacy of that project, and an exposition of the way in which this assessment was used to drive reflection on the project and enhancement of it. The paper concludes with summary of the lessons we have learned regarding writing program assessment that navigates between creating a standardized process and responding to the unique needs of multiple projects, as well as a discussion of the benefits of such assessment for writing pedagogy research.

scholarly journals Co-constructing the assessment criteria for EFL writing by instructors and students: A participative approach to constructively aligning the CEFR, curricula, teaching and learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882094845
Author(s):  
Huahui Zhao ◽  
Beibei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Local Context ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
English Writing Instruction ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Writing Instructors

The current assessment in language classrooms prevailingly utilizes the criteria provided by instructors, regarding learners as passive recipients of assessment. The current study drew upon sustainable assessment and the community of practice to highlight the importance of involving learners in co-constructing the assessment criteria and argued that using the criteria provided by instructors could lead to discrepancy between assessment, teaching, and learning. It adopted a participatory approach and investigated how to involve learners in co-constructing the assessment criteria with instructors in tertiary English writing instruction in China, based on the European Language Profile (ELP), an evolved version of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Two writing instructors and 146 tertiary students played different, yet interactive roles in adapting the assessment criteria in the local context. Instructors drafted the criteria in line with curricula, teaching, learning and learners. Learners utilized the draft criteria in a training session and suggested possible modifications to the criteria in a survey. Suggestions were used to revise the descriptors alongside teachers’ reflections via reflective logs. A follow-up survey explored students’ perceptions of the feasibility and usefulness of the modified descriptors to investigate the effectiveness of co-constructing the assessment criteria for learning and reveal further improvement if necessary. Vigilant decision-making processes were thickly described regarding how assessment descriptors were selected, arranged, and modified to constructively align them with curricula, teaching, and learning. Statistical and thematic analyses were conducted to examine the accessibility, feasibility, and usefulness of the assessment descriptors prior to and after the modifications. Results substantiated the effectiveness and thus the importance of co-constructing assessment criteria for enhancing the quality of assessment criteria and developing learners’ cognitive and metacognitive knowledge of writing and assessment. Implications for language tutors regarding co-constructing assessment criteria in local contexts were deliberated on at the end of the article.

scholarly journals Genre Knowledge and Writing Development: Results From the Writing Transfer Project

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Lynn Driscoll ◽  
Joseph Paszek ◽  
Gwen Gorzelsky ◽  
Carol L. Hayes ◽  
Edmund Jones
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Genre Knowledge ◽  
Audience Awareness

Using a mixed-methods, multi-institutional design of general education writing courses at four institutions, this study examined genre as a key factor for understanding and promoting writing development. It thus aims to provide empirical validation of decades of theoretical work on and qualitative studies of genre and the nature of genre knowledge. While showing that both simplistic and nuanced genre knowledge promote writing development, our findings suggest that nuanced genre knowledge correlates with writing development over the course of a semester. Based on these findings, we propose an expanded view of Tardy’s four genre knowledge components and argue for their explanatory power. We recognize these genre components can be cultivated by using three particular strategies: writing for nonclassroom audiences, using source texts explicitly to join existing disciplinary conversations, and cultivating two types of metacognitive awareness (awareness of the writing strategies used to complete specific tasks and awareness of one’s levels of proficiency in particular types of writing knowledge). Findings can be used to enrich first-year or upper-division writing curricula in the areas of genre knowledge, audience awareness, and source use.

Using Multimedia for Instructor Presence in Purposeful Pedagogy-Driven Online Technical Writing Courses

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Heidi S. Harris ◽  
Michael Greer
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Engaged Learning ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
Course Outcomes ◽  
Writing Instructors ◽  
Student Projects

Teaching and composing with multimedia humanizes online technical writing and communication classes. However, students do not always see the connection between multimedia instructional materials, multimedia assignments, and the course learning outcomes. Purposeful pedagogy-driven course design uses multimedia instructional materials to connect assignments, course materials, and assessments with course outcomes. Technical writing instructors can integrate synchronous and asynchronous multimedia elements to address not only the what and why of online technical writing instruction but also the how of multimedia instructional materials. Example multimedia instructional materials and student projects discussed in the article can increase student retention and promote engaged learning.

Enhancing writing pedagogy with learner corpus data

ReCALL ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Cotos
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Frequency Diversity ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Study Participants

AbstractLearner corpora have become prominent in language teaching and learning, enhancing data-driven learning (DDL) pedagogy by promoting ‘learning driven data’ in the classroom. This study explores the potential of a local learner corpus by investigating the effects of two types of DDL activities, one relying on a native-speaker corpus (NSC) and the second combining native-speaker and learner corpora. Both types of activities aimed at improving second language writers’ knowledge of linking adverbials and were based on a preliminary analysis of adverbial use in the local learner corpus produced by 31 study participants. Quantitative and qualitative data, obtained from writing samples, pre/post-tests, and questionnaires, were converged through concurrent triangulation. The results showed an increase in frequency, diversity and accuracy in all participants’ use of adverbials, but more significant improvement was made by the students who were exposed to the corpus containing their own writing. The findings of this study are thus interpreted as suggestive that combining learner and native-speaker data is a feasible and effective practice, which can be readily integrated in DDL-based instruction with positive impact.

Leader Interview: A Call for Creative Teaching and Learning

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenice Bleedorn
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Creative Teaching ◽  
School Of Nursing ◽  
Thinking Processes ◽  
The University ◽  
Education Business ◽  
Education Field

This issue features an interview with Berenice Bleedorn, PhD, author of “The Creativity Force: In Education, Business and Beyond.” Dr. Bleedorn has been in the education field for seven decades. Her next book, “An Education Track for Creativity and Other Quality Thinking Processes” will be published in January. Beth Good, an instructor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and a member of the Creative Nursing Journal editorial board, conducted the interview.

scholarly journals Fearless, playful and connected

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Branch ◽  
Joanne De Groot
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Professional Life ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Rich Description ◽  
Technology Leaders ◽  
Teacher Librarians ◽  
The Web

This paper presents findings from a graduate-level required class for teacher-librarians in Web 2.0. It provides a rich description of how teachers and teacher-librarians are using Web 2.0 technologies in their personal, teaching and learning, and professional development. No longer are they consumers of Web 2.0 but they are creators and sharers of new content on the Internet. There was a much more balanced use of Web 2.0 after the class – many of the teachers and teacher-librarians had never used a Web 2.0 tool in their personal, teaching or professional life before the class. Teachers and teacher-librarians who completed the Web 2.0 class saw themselves as technology leaders in their schools and districts.

scholarly journals Studying the Effectiveness of Teaching Sustainability in Project-Based Multi-disciplinary Graduate Level Engineering Course

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotfi Belkhir
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Sustainability Management ◽  
Management Level ◽  
Sustainability Learning ◽  
Framework For Teaching

Defining the relevant sustainability learning outcomes and how we could measure our success in teaching sustainability is a complex challenge. This paper introduces the design and findings of a pilot study on the effectiveness of a new Engineering graduate course, Total Sustainability Management, in teaching and learning sustainability, both at the cognitive and the management level. The design of the pre- and post-coursequestionnaires was driven by the course key objectives and adopted framework of sustainability competencies. The findings and questions raised from this pilot study inform the proposed design of further study and, more importantly, the development of a framework for teaching and learning – and thus measuring – sustainability in graduate, interdisciplinary Engineering education.

scholarly journals Stitching Together East and West: A Tale of Two Professors

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 08-21
Author(s):  
Maureen P. Hall ◽  
Mary Keator
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Character Development ◽  
Lectio Divina ◽  
The West ◽  
Contemplative Practices ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
Learning As A Process ◽  
Eastern Traditions

There is a saying, “There is nothing new under the sun.” While that may be true, what is also true is that there is a newness in combining approaches that already exist into something dynamic and extraordinary. Our work with lectio divina evidences this dynamism. We take the monastic contemplative practice of lectio divina from the West and stitch it together with the Eastern emphasis on learning as a process of character development and transformation that originates in Eastern traditions. Both lectio divina and the Eastern practices that originated in India in the yogic schools emphasize the formation of the whole person (body, mind, heart and soul). Just as yoga is the union of body and mind, lectio divina is a part of contemplative practices and pedagogy that knits together mind, body, heart in the learning process and out of this combination, something new is born into the spaces of teaching and learning. This article chronicles the conscious effort to create community between two like-minded professors who were dharmically brought together. In community with each other, they began to realize the value of stitching together Eastern and Western approaches for deepened learning and self-discovery for teachers and students alike.

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