Writing Workshop
I. Cognition and Context
We've known for many years, based on research into cognition and achievement, that students have a difficult time with transference, that is, generalizing the skills that we learn in one context to another. At this point, a new piece to the puzzle is being added as researchers look more closely at the connections between thinking and the context in which the thinking occurs.
What researchers are discovering is that even seasoned writers, graduate students and professionals, have a very difficult time adapting themselves to a different context. So, for example, graduate students who generally report feeling comfort and confidence in their writing, feel frustration and confusion when confronted with writing a dissertation, and, this from students who are experts in their own field of discourse. Moreover, corporsate writers discover that the rules change within the big business context, and, in fact, writing completed in that context should contain no surprises. Essentially, the writing completed is supposed to the simple reiteration of what has already been decided orally and in conference with others.
A transference of knowledge from one context to another requires the ability to generalize, and we all know our students have a difficult time with this in general, let alone when asked to do so from one domain to another.
What this all adds up to is the realization that there is no ONE THING that is writing, but the activity, the skill and art of writing, is fundamentally changed as we move from one context to another, and that makes anyone who assigns writing, a teacher of writing for students within that discipline.
II. Critical Thinking in Writing
Every four years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is conducted by the Office for Educational Research and Improvement, a government agency. It's no surprise, in 1984, the study found that "students at all grade levels are deficient in higher-orer thinking skills." The researchers attribute this lack to a lack of emphasis in all areas of higher order, analytic thinking skills, and because writing and thinking are so deeply intertwined, they maintain that appropriate writing assignments, in all disciplines, be an effective way to address this deficiency.
The NAEP study is really part and parcel to the entire WAC movement, and the previous paragraph simply reiterates the purpose of such a movement. WAC matters because it helps students to learn, and learn more.
III. Writing as Learning
Nancy Sommers.
We've known for many years, based on research into cognition and achievement, that students have a difficult time with transference, that is, generalizing the skills that we learn in one context to another. At this point, a new piece to the puzzle is being added as researchers look more closely at the connections between thinking and the context in which the thinking occurs.
What researchers are discovering is that even seasoned writers, graduate students and professionals, have a very difficult time adapting themselves to a different context. So, for example, graduate students who generally report feeling comfort and confidence in their writing, feel frustration and confusion when confronted with writing a dissertation, and, this from students who are experts in their own field of discourse. Moreover, corporsate writers discover that the rules change within the big business context, and, in fact, writing completed in that context should contain no surprises. Essentially, the writing completed is supposed to the simple reiteration of what has already been decided orally and in conference with others.
A transference of knowledge from one context to another requires the ability to generalize, and we all know our students have a difficult time with this in general, let alone when asked to do so from one domain to another.
What this all adds up to is the realization that there is no ONE THING that is writing, but the activity, the skill and art of writing, is fundamentally changed as we move from one context to another, and that makes anyone who assigns writing, a teacher of writing for students within that discipline.
II. Critical Thinking in Writing
Every four years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress is conducted by the Office for Educational Research and Improvement, a government agency. It's no surprise, in 1984, the study found that "students at all grade levels are deficient in higher-orer thinking skills." The researchers attribute this lack to a lack of emphasis in all areas of higher order, analytic thinking skills, and because writing and thinking are so deeply intertwined, they maintain that appropriate writing assignments, in all disciplines, be an effective way to address this deficiency.
The NAEP study is really part and parcel to the entire WAC movement, and the previous paragraph simply reiterates the purpose of such a movement. WAC matters because it helps students to learn, and learn more.
III. Writing as Learning
Nancy Sommers.
posted by CA Lund at 7:40 AM
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