{"id":796,"date":"2014-04-01T09:09:13","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T16:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/wicnews\/?p=796"},"modified":"2017-10-12T11:42:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T18:42:54","slug":"spring-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/wicnews\/2014\/04\/01\/spring-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t Forget to Write!
\nBy Vicki Tolar Burton, WIC Director
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This issue of Teaching With Writing<\/em> richly displays many ways that OSU can celebrate our Culture of Writing.\u00a0 We asked Culture of Writing winners to share advice about good writing. Don\u2019t miss their excellent responses<\/a>.\u00a0 Also check out the complete list of Culture of Writing Award winners<\/a>, their amazing topics, and their nominating professors.<\/p>\n

If you are kicking yourself for missing the spring WIC lunch seminars, you can read about two of those lively events and the great teaching ideas they revealed in articles about peer review<\/a> and teaching WIC online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And believe it or not, the fall WIC Faculty Seminar<\/a> (five Tuesdays, 3-5 pm, admittance by chair\u2019s nomination) is about half full before we have even advertised it.\u00a0 This is a great way to join the Culture of Writing at OSU with knowledge and collegiality.<\/p>\n

To all who make the OSU Culture of Writing a growing reality, I want to say thank you.\u00a0 First thanks go to all the faculty who have taught WIC courses this year.\u00a0 With 150 WIC courses on the books, in any given year we are offering WIC courses to about 25% of the OSU undergraduates.\u00a0 I am grateful for your dedication and determination to help your students learn to write in their majors.<\/p>\n

Thanks to all who presented at the WIC spring lunch seminars: Anne-Marie Deitering and Hannah Rempel of the Valley Library on Curiosity-Based Research, Tracy Ann Robinson (MIME) and Tim Jensen (School of Writing, Literature, and Film) on Self-Assessment and Goal-Setting for Writers, Ehren Pflugfelder and Sara Jameson (School of Writing, Literature, and Film), Dennis Bennett (Writing Center), and Celeste King (INTO) on Peer Review for Writers, and Kryn Freehling-Burton (Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies), Scott Heppell (Fisheries & Wildlife), Penny Diebel (Agriculture Sciences), and Shannon Riggs (E-Campus) on Teaching WIC Online.<\/p>\n

Next, I want to thank Summer Wimberly, this year\u2019s WIC GTA, whose grace and attention to detail and follow-through have made all things WIC run smoothly and my life better.\u00a0 Summer especially shines at event planning\u2014including dealing with a certain Monroe Road pizza establishment when they fail to deliver for a WIC event.\u00a0 We had two outstanding WIC interns this year, Chad Iwertz, who was a great help with the seminar during fall term, and Jillian Clark, who interned both winter and spring.\u00a0 Jillian and Summer broke new ground as they not only reviewed all the WIC courses undergoing Bacc Core Category Review but also analyzed the results and gave them to me in shiny tables and graphs.\u00a0 As always, thanks to Jeanna Towns for her help with the budget and other mystical things administrative.<\/p>\n

Thank you, finally, to Kevin Gable (Chair) and the Baccalaureate Core Committee for the inaugural assessment of WIC courses\u2014this year comprising the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Business, and Public Health and Human Sciences.\u00a0 I will be sharing some of the findings with you next fall, once the BCC\u2019s work is concluded.<\/p>\n

Happy summer to all, and don\u2019t forget to write!<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>
\nWriting Advice from Culture of Writing Awardees<\/strong>
\nBy WIC Staff<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

The 2014 cohort of WIC Culture of Writing Awardees were asked to provide advice to fellow students on writing. Here is what they had to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cHave an emotional investment in the topic. After that, cut out unnecessary words.\u201d\u2014Anne Dennon, School of Writing, Literature, and Film<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRead your writing when you think you\u2019re finished! Does your sentence length vary? Did you use the same adjective\/verb\/adverb in two consecutive sentences? Make sure everything flows nicely and don\u2019t be afraid to ask for critical feedback from another writer you trust.\u201d\u2014Kevin Marks, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCreate a good setting, work hard, ask for assistance, and be humble when other people offer their advice.\u201d \u2014Jacob Kollen, Crop and Soil Science<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGood writing is achieved through editing. An initial draft should be developed without expectations of producing a perfect document; achieving a final document will be executed through multiple drafts which will incorporate numerous edits, both small and large.\u201d \u2014Josh Hille, Mechanical Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWriting is both a science and an art. From the framework of grammar and punctuation, through the nuances of style and form, an idea can be transferred between minds. The better you write, the more accurately your ideas are represented. Be concise. Avoid colloquialisms. Raise your diction. Read often. Write often.\u201d \u2014Emily Mangan, Animal and Rangeland Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStart well before the deadline and have one person who is experienced and whom you trust to read over the piece and offer revisions. Also, talk to that person in depth about what you are trying to communicate and make sure it is as clear and concise as possible.\u201d \u2014Cory Gerlach, BioResource Research<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure every word has a reason to be included. Editing your work to be concise while still communicating effectively is essential.\u201d \u2014Jay Stevenson, School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cProofread your paper multiple times and have others read your paper as well for further feedback.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Madison Bertoch, Chemical Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time you write something, it won’t be what you envisioned. Revise your writing to where it becomes acceptable.\u201d \u2014Zach Moeller, History, Philosophy, and Religion<\/strong><\/p>\n

“As with many activities in life, the craft of writing can be improved through practice. I believe, however, that being a good writer extends beyond the simple act of practicing. Writers who are truly passionate about their work will see the most success, both in terms of personal satisfaction and external reception, as that passion is a near-tangible quality that resonates with audiences. In order to be good at something, you must first enjoy what you do.”–Alyssa Hughes, Graphic Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBreak down your long writing papers into pieces and then look at each piece as a separate paper. By doing this you instinctively create chapters within your writing that, with good transitions, will allow your reader clarity of thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Jonathan Beskow, Sociology<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nPeer Review and Challenging Students to Leave Their Comfort Zone
\nBy Summer Wimberly, WIC GTA<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year the WIC Lunch Series hosted four spring seminar discussions. The topics included: Student Self-Assessment and Goal Setting, Teaching WIC Online, Curiosity Based Learning and Peer Review. Each discussion was lively, robust, and informative.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In the peer review discussion, one theme stood out among the rest: student resistance. Panelist and Assistant Director of the Center for Writing and Learning, Dennis Bennett said of peer review \u201cstudents resist until they can no longer resist.\u201d But why? A major reason students resist is because peer review asks them to leave their comfort zone. To help students get out of their comfort zone as well as provide useful feedback for their peers, Bennett says structured peer review is an ideal model. Structured peer review helps guide students in the feedback they provide and can give them specific areas of content to focus on.<\/p>\n

When Ehren Pflugfelder, Assistant Professor in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film, assigns peer review on shorter assignments (600 words or less), he utilizes a round robin style of review. Students leave a copy of the assignment on a desk and then move around the class to comment anonymously on each other\u2019s papers. Students spend a few minutes on each paper, providing quick feedback and then, towards the end of the reviewing session (or in a later class), students sit down and provide more robust feedback for a single assignment. With this method students can quickly overcome discomfort because the feedback they provide is both anonymous and brief. Another perk of this kind of peer review is that it can be performed using hardcopies of a paper or electronic copies. If students bring a laptop or are working in a computer lab, then comments can be made using sticky notes in Adobe Acrobat or the review function in Microsoft Word.<\/p>\n

While Pflugfelder\u2019s peer review model is face-to-face feedback, Sara Jameson, Senior Instructor in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film, provided a method of doing peer review completely online. This option is excellent for instructors who value peer feedback, but struggle with finding sufficient class time to do it. In this online version of peer review, a discussion board is created for the assignments and students are asked to upload their assignments via the \u201ccreate thread\u201d button by a certain date and time. Once uploaded, students are asked to provide feedback on a first-come, first-serve basis, but also being aware of papers that haven\u2019t received many (or any) reviews. That is, if one paper has three reviews and another has zero, choose to review the paper with zero reviews. Because papers are uploaded on discussion board, it is easy for students to see the drop down list of reviews. Another perk of this method is that students can look at all of their peer\u2019s work and see how they are engaging with the assignment and class.<\/p>\n

An important element of both of these types of peer review is that they are structured. Both Ehren Pflugfelder and Sara Jameson provide peer review forms. (A link to these forms is included below.) Using such forms provides students with guidance that leads them away from providing insubstantial feedback. Such forms can also help give students a stronger understanding of assignment goals, structure, and criteria. While this more complete\u00a0understanding of an assignment is important for all students, it is especially beneficial for English Language Learner (ELL) students.\u00a0 Sara Jameson noted that she particularly liked peer review workshop online because it allowed ELL students more time to read the posts and more time to respond. Celeste King, Associate Program Manager at INTO, notes that \u201cwhen peer review is slowed down and the pressure is taken off, it empowers students.\u201d King, who uses peer review with graduate students at INTO, is a strong advocate of peer review for the ways it supports ELL students\u2019 learning. She describes peer review as \u201ca point where international students can shift from their culture, and start meeting the standards of OSU\/American academic culture.\u201d Thus, peer review can be a critical way to help ELL students bolster their understanding of writing in the class as well as in the larger context of writing at an US university.<\/p>\n

Together these different approaches can help students, domestic and international, engage more critically with their own writing as well as provide ways to critically interpret and evaluate the writing of their peers. In addition to the approaches listed above, below are a few more tips (from panelists and event attendees) for making peer review as successful as possible.<\/p>\n