Use of “Comment Bubbles” in a Writing-intensive, Social and Economic Justice Course

A central question among instructors teaching writing-intensive courses is how to best respond to student writing. This study posits that the margin of the essay should not be reserved for instructor feedback only, and that allowing students to comment on their writing choices in this space has pedagogical aims. This study examined the use of “comment bubbles” to engage students in thinking about their writing choices in argumentative writing in an undergraduate social and economic justice course. Comment bubbles are comments and questions students inserted in the margin of their essays using the comment function in Microsoft Word. The margin of student essays was framed as a safe writing environment to encourage student self-expression beyond that already expressed in the essay. A thematic analysis of student comment bubbles found that students used the comment bubbles to react to research they read in journal articles, elaborate on their writing choices, share their personal experiences, and reflect on their future career interests. Allowing students to comment on their writing choices in this space facilitates student self-expression, self-reflection, and critical thinking.

The power of peers: approaches from writing and libraries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss different strategies for implementing peer teaching as well as different roles for peer teachers in both academic libraries and writing-intensive courses. It explores connections to critical pedagogy, sociocultural theory, open educational practices and high-impact practices. Design/methodology/approach The methodology for implementing the three scenarios discussed in the paper differs widely. All approaches include some form of student feedback through focus groups, exit surveys or end-of-class assessments. Findings In both library and writing program settings, students have experience with and a favorable opinion of peer-assisted learning strategies. Practical implications These case studies provide concrete examples of how to develop different types of peer teaching interventions. The cases also detail benefits as well as challenges to implementation. Social implications Providing opportunities for peers to lead through teaching others has the potential to boost an individual’s sense of confidence, leadership and improve their own learning, as well as give students’ experiences to build upon and apply to their everyday lives and future careers. Originality/value While peer teaching is widely implemented in many disciplines, such as science, technology, engineering and medicine, its adoption in academic libraries has sometimes been viewed as controversial. This case study adds to the body of literature demonstrating that peer teaching is possible and desirable.

Dynamic written corrective feedback: A Tool to improve multilingual student writing

With Mason’s increasing population of multilingual students, faculty in writing intensive courses at the undergraduate and graduate level are often looking for innovative, efficient approaches to providing feedback on student writing.This session will provide an overview of dynamic written corrective feedback (Hartshorn et. al, 2010; Ferris,1999), a strategy that allows faculty to look past errors in accuracy by prioritizing attention to student efforts towards complexity. We use this model in English composition classes to help multilingual students become more reflective, self-reliant writers in terms of their idea development, critical analysis and language accuracy. During the session composition and language faculty from INTO-Mason’s undergraduate and graduate program will explain the research behind the technique, provide examples of this feedback approach and engage participants in a discussion of its potential use in their classes. This method can be used to support all students across a variety of disciplines that require writing assignments. References:Ferris, D. (1999). The case of grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to Truscott (1996). Journal of Second Language Writing, 8(1), 1-11.Hartshorn, K. J., Evans, N. W., Merrill, P. F., Sudweeks, R. R., Strong-Krause, D., & Anderson, N. J. (2010). Effects of dynamic corrective feedback on ESL writing accuracy. TESOL Quarterly, 44(1), 84–109.

WRITING-INTENSIVE COURSES ACROSS THE LAW CURRICULUM: DEVELOPING LAW STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING SKILLS

This article will explore the use of writing-intensive courses across the law curriculum, vested in the belief that writing, as an articulation of thinking, enhances learning where it is meaningfully and intentionally embedded into a course structure. The article commences by pointing out that law students often regard the writing process and the critical thinking process as mutually exclusive and therefore fail to appreciate that writing is in fact the end-result of a process of argumentation or analysis. As a result of students‟ inability to engage effectively in a process of critical thinking, they tend to reach closure too quickly when presented with a critical-thinking problem. Consequently, students often fail to engage in a process of exploratory thinking, enabling them to suspend judgment and to enter into the spirit of opposing views. The article specifically focuses on the writing strategy recently implemented by the Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University with the primary aim of establishing a coordinated approach to the development of research and writing skills within the LLB programme as an integral part of legal education within the Faculty. The Strategy is intended to enhance the writing and research skills of LLB students through a number of interrelated interventions implemented across the entire LLB programme. A principal aim is to inculcate both generic and specific writing skills in LLB graduates in a manner that is integrated into the curriculum. A key component of the Strategy, on which the article will focus, entails the identification and development of writing-intensive courses in terms of which writing and research assignments are integrated into substantive courses. Writing-intensive courses support the notion of “writing to learn” as opposed to “learning to write” and thus encourage critical thinking. They are assignment-centred rather than text- and lecture-centred; they are structured so as to enable exploratory thinking (and thus writing); they encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning processes; and they consist of assignments that require students to arrive at well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards, justifying their ideas in writing or other appropriate modes. In these courses, students are instructed on writing skills alongside the substantive content of the particular course and given exercises to develop such skills with reference to the substantive content of the course. Each course is focused on specific writing skills and successive courses are focused on developing these skills. The article concludes by dealing with the practical difficulties and benefits associated with the development of writing-intensive courses, one of which is the fact that students not only develop generic writing skills, but they also develop specific writing skills within the academic discourse of our environment – they therefore do not only learn to write, but to write in law.