Final proposal slides for my CCI 635 qualitative methods course on the science writing classroom.

1. Genres without borders:
Performative uptakes in science writing
Lisa Christian
CCI 635 Proposal Presentation

3. “Uptakes”
“While genres orient us in relation to
situations and provide strategies for
responding to and acting in situations, and
while genres persist because they frame
what they permit as that which is possible, it
is only in the uptakes they routinize (but
never completely determine) that genres
are performed as social actions.” (Reiff
Bawarshi, 2016 p. 3).

4. Issues in science writing as a genre
 “Scientific writing can be unnecessarily dry,
difficult to read, obscure, and ambiguous”
(Porush, 1995).
 Poor scientific writing is partly to blame for
the decline in science literacy in the US and
the communication gap between scientists &
the general public (Greene, 2013).

5. JREM 451: Environmental Writing
Description: Writing for the news media on environmental issues such as urban sprawl, air pollution,
fossil fuels and nuclear power, and alien and endangered species. Students hear presentations from
and interview experts in environmental science and reporting. Exemplary environmental writing is
reviewed.
Course objectives: At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to write articles for
newspapers, magazines, and the Internet about environmental issues that demonstrate:
 Familiarity with the basic science, history, and regulations involved in the issues explored in this
course.
 Ability to research environmental issues by using reference material available in print and by
computer and by interviewing experts and affected parties.
 Increased skills in conceiving, structuring, and writing accurate and interesting articles about the
environment.

6. Course readings
 News media: newspapers (online and print), broadcast journalism
features
 Trade and professional publications
 Popular science publications (magazines and books)
 Creative nonfiction works (e.g., David Brill)
 Classic works: Aldo Léopold, Rachel Carson
 Writing about writing: Jim Detjen, Mark Littmann, Mary Knudson,
Alice Steinbach, Aldo Léopold
 Guest speakers: Mike McKinney (Prof. & Dir. of Environmental
Studies), Scott Barker (Environmental Reporter & Editor of the
News Sentinel), Bob Hatcher (Prof of Earth & Planetary Sciences),
Andrew Wirral (Nuclear Systems Division, ORNL), David Bill
(freelance nature/environmental writer – creative nonfiction)

7. Types of writing assignments
Assignment Type Detail Grade weight
1.Brief eye witness sketch ~ 200w, objective & impersonal, leads to assignment 2 10%
2.Local-issue feature article Short, ~ 750w, interview one expert, plus research
Provides list of references & websites used (not part of word
count)
20%
3. Feature article Longer, ~ 1200w, interview 1-3 experts, plus research, leads to
assignment 4
Provides list of references & websites used, and a “note to the
editor” (not part of word count)
30%
4.Query letter Expanded “note to the editor” 5%
15-18 notes on assigned
readings
100-200w, impressions of readings, attendance of UT Science
Forum
15%
Class presentation On longer feature 15%
Leading discussion Once, on readings 5%

8. Feature story assignment
A longer, feature article of about 1,200 words on an environmental issue of your choice that
involves some environmental science. For this article, you will need to conduct at least one
interview with an expert. During the term, you will be asked to submit an idea for this article, then
a query letter, then a lead (opening) and/or a sample section, prior to handing in the final work.
This process is similar to what you might experience as you prepare an article for publication. This
procedure also encourages you to get an early start on your final article, which counts for 30% of
your final grade. Your query letter counts an additional 5%. Your longer feature article should be
accompanied by a "note to the editor" in which you provide the name, full title, and contact
numbers for sources in your article and a list of printed documents and websites that supplied
significant information. This note to the editor is not part of your word count.
~ Dr. Mark Littmann, JEM 451 “Environmental Writing”

9. Research Questions
 Overarching research question: What is the environment of the science
writing classroom?
 RQ1: What kinds of reading and writing are required in science writing
courses?
 RQ2: What level of research are students expected in engage in?
 Traditional library-based scholarly research?
 Interviews? Fieldwork?
 RQ3: What are the reasons or motivations behind students’ choice to take
science writing courses?
The ideal scientist thinks like a poet, works like a clerk and writes like a journalist. ~ E.O. Wilson

10. Methods
Classroom
Observation
• JEM 451
• 1.5 hours per
week
• 6 hours total
Collection of
Documents
• Syllabi
• Assignment
sheets
• Class readings
Interviews
• Shannon, 2nd yr
doctoral student
• Jordan, 3rd yr
doctoral student
Analysis
• NVIVO
• Discourse
analysis

11. Discourse Analysis
 Sociolinguistic (critical)
 Informing
 Doing
 Being
 “Tools of Inquiry”
 Social languages
 Conversations
 Intertextuality
 Discourses
 Primary
 Secondary Image: http://exegeticaltools.com/2015/04/06/discourse-
analysis-annotated-bibliography/
Gee, J. P. (2014). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (4th ed.). London: Routledge.

12. References
Bawarshi, A. S., & Reiff, M. J. (2010). Genre: An introduction to history, theory, research, and pedagogy. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor
Press.
Freadman, A. (2002). Uptake. In R. Coe, L. Lingard, & T. Teslenko (Eds.), The rhetoric and ideology of genre: Strategies for stability
and change (pp. 39-53). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Gee, J. P. (2014). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (4th ed.). London: Routledge.
Gee, J. P. (1990). Sociolinguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourse. London: Fulmer Press.
Greene, A. E. (2013). Writing science in plain English. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Leopold, A. (2013). A sand county almanac and other writings on ecology and conservation. New York: Library of America.
Littmann, M. (2005). Courses in science writing as literature. Public Understanding of Science, 14(1), 103-112.
doi:10.1177/0963662505048198
Porush, D. (1995). A short guide to writing about science. London: Pearson.
Reiff, M. J., & Bawarshi, A. (2016). Genre and the performance of publics. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.