Whose line is it, anyway?

"Whose Line Is It, Anyway?"
Researching, Reporting, and Remixing
in the Online Writing Classroom

Introduction
Framing a course unit for research writing in the online first-year composition class requires careful attention to issues of inquiry, authorship, and access.
By presenting research writing through collaborative pedagogy, students are allowed to learn the conventions of academic writing while at the same time interrogating how that discourse collides with practices of authorship and authority in other area of their lives.

Unit Goals
To enable online first-year writing students to conduct research using a variety of informational tools
To allow students to understand the conventions of research writing in the university, and then to interrogate those conventions in light of students' "real world" experiences
To promote inquiry as to the nature of authorship and ownership of texts and ideas
To promote collaboration as a valid and relevant method of authoring texts
To encourage students to develop multimedia writing skills

Unit Overview
This course unit is intended to be the major research unit in a typical online first-year writing class.
This unit was designed for use at Tidewater Community College, a multi-campus school in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Students will be placed in groups be the instructor, and each group will work together through four phases of the research process. . .

The Four Phases

Phase 1: Formulate
In the Formulate phase, the first task will be for groups to develop a research question.
Groups will then design a plan of how they, as a group, will tackle that question; this plan should be posted to the discussion board under the heading "Research Proposal.”
The proposal should explain not only what the students plan to research as a group, but how each individual member will tackle the problem.
The students will need to divide the topic into manageable parts, and then the proposal should delineate "job descriptions" that explain the research duties of each member.

Phase 2: Research
Once the groups have divided up the research task, students will need to begin examining the issues in their section in preparation for the next two phases.
After reviewing the materials on evaluating sources, using library resources, students will be asked to write short discussion board posts reviewing at least three of the articles they have obtained through their searches.
At least two of the reviews should be of articles obtained through the library from online databases, while the third review can be of an article, a book, a web site, or another approved source.
Group members should then comment on each other's reviews and discuss how they may relate to one another.

Phase 3: Report
The Report phase of this unit ask the student to create a "traditional" researched report essay, using APA style as a model.
Using the sources they have gathered, and reviewing the handouts on "How to Write a Report" and "Incorporating Sources into Your Writing," students should write and format a 1000-1200 word essay in Google Docs.
Once they essay is complete, the author should email the link to the instructor and all members of their group.
Then, on the discussion board, each member should copy and paste the "Peer Review Form" into the forum under a thread titles with the author's name.

Phase 4: Remix
Once students reach this phase, all group members will have some expertise about some part of their group's research question.
On the discussion boards, they will be asked to begin planning their presentation by considering issues such as:
what kind of designwould best represent the overarching themes of the presentation
what other elements could be brought into the remix to enhance the text
how they might organize the presentation to best meet the needs of the readers.
After submitting their plan for approval, they will then create a remixed presentation, using Google Docs' presentation software or another collaborative program of their choosing.

Assessment
Formative assessment can and should be given at various points in the unit, including (but not limited to):
Approval of/comments on group's "Research Proposal" (Phase 1) and on group's "Remix Plan" (Phase 4)
Comments on source reviews on discussion board
Draft checks for individual report essays
Depending on the structure of the rest of the course, points or credit should be awarded for various parts of the unit, including:
Classwork credit for discussion board activities:
Formulation discussion
Source reviews
Peer review of individual essays
Remix planning discussion
Grades for "Research Proposal" and for "Remix Plan"
Grade for individual report essay
Grade for group remix project

Conclusion
This project seeks to help students become acclimated to the discourse of the academy and also to push against how that discourse may limit, silence, or exclude voice that are legitimate and worthwhile.
By encouraging them to look at research writing from multiple angles, we allow our students to understand the implications of what they are asked to do as contributing members in an academic discourse.
For the complete project and pedagogical rationale, visit:
danielleatadistance.blogspot.com

Whose line is it, anyway?

by Danielle on Jun 23, 2010

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http://danielleatadistance.blogspot.com	9
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