"Good Research" and Stage III Discussions

Today in class, we'll be finishing up our discussion of the Kantz article, which should give us a more realistic view as to how "good research" looks in a college context.

In your groups today, brainstorm a list of strategies or pieces of advice that you could give to a beginning college freshman who HASN'T read Kantz. How would you instruct them to do "good research?" We'll be recording these responses here to revisit as you're conducting your own research.

Here's the advice you all came up with:

1. Question the readings -- the author's intentions, where the source gets the information from
2. Look for proven facts (claims supported by facts and peer reviewed sources)
3. Analyze the text to make an original argument about it
4. Look for credibility -- look for a works cited page, not driven by opinions, not wikipedia)
5. Wikipedia is a good starting point, but it's not a scholarly source, and shouldn't be used in your actual paper
6. Think about who the intended audience of the source is and consider why it was written that way
7. Look for more recent research
8. Gather multiple resources for more accurate information and compare them
9. Know the difference between facts and claims: facts are what support claims.
10. Use claims in your writing; use the facts to support them.
11. Use rhetorical reading (Kinnevey's triangle)




Studio Work:

In your peer review groups, discuss your Stage III drafts. What concerns do you have about the assignment? We'll use this class period to offer advice and help each other get through this somewhat difficult assignment.

Before you leave, please turn in:

A list of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions you received from your group members (or me) about your Stage III draft
A list of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions you gave to your group members about their stage IIIs.
A brief explanation as to how you plan to revise/revisit your Stage III, based off of your peer's advice.

The suggestions can be about the research question, suggesting secondary sources, help with primary research, ideas for audience, purpose, or form. As long as your suggestions are specific, you will be in good shape.

Homework for the weekend:
Revise your stage III assignment! Due to me on MONDAY.

Kantz and YOUR Sources

After reading Kantz, this shouldn't be you!

Today in class, we're going to be discussing and working through the Kantz article. Before we get started, get into groups of 3-4 and come up with definitions of the following terms and write them on the board:

Argument
Claim
Opinion
Fact

We'll be discussing which groups' definitions are best, now that we've read Kantz.

Then, complete the following questions in your groups. These are due at the end of the period.

a.     Thinking back to Flower, what does it mean to read rhetorically? How does this relate to writing a research paper?

b.    Read Shirley’s paper and the analysis of it on page 75. Why does Kantz suggest that she got a C-? What’s wrong with her paper? Is it similar to your paper? What might you do to avoid falling into the same trap as Shirley?

c.     When reading sources for a research paper, what is your job? What are you trying to do? Has your research process changed at all over the course of this class? What might you do differently in order to be more successful as a rhetorical writer?

d.    What role does Kantz say audience plays in Shirley’s sources? Why is it so significant? Thinking about your own research so far, do you think audience plays a significant role? Discuss your experiences.

e.     Describe the triangle Kantz discusses. What are “gaps,” and how might observing these help you in your research? Thinking about your research, have you found any gaps? If so, discuss them. If not, why do you think you haven’t found any?

Studio Work 

Today, we will be meeting in ASB 2.102 instead of the writing studio. 

Your task: Post an MLA style citation AND an annotation here in the comments section of the blog. Your source MUST be scholarly (peer-reviewed, from a professional journal). Use either the library databases or google scholar to find your source if you hadn't already found one.

Need help with your citation? Try easybib or Son of Citation Machine

Your annotation should include 1. a brief, 1-2 sentence summary of the source's claims and 2. a 1-2 sentence explanation as to HOW it relates to your research question, or how you plan to use it for your research.

This will help us to share sources!

If you finish this early, work on your Stage III assignment. I have a sample posted for you to see here

Research Questions?

Before we leap into our research questions, I think it's important to reflect again on our progress so far. To do that, I'd like you to reread your Stage II essay and prepare a cover letter addressed to me in which you walk me through your work-in-progress. Please address the following questions in your letter, though not necessarily in this order:

• Give me a one sentence definition of the construct you've explored. What would you like your audience to learn about YOUR analysis? 
• What do you think you got right about this assignment, taking into account the four points I'm looking for (original claim, inquiry (research), discourse (connections) and rhetorical effectiveness (audience/purpose)? 
• What do you feel still needs work?
• What would you like feedback on or help with?
• How does your essay fit into the greater conversation of writing studies?

You'll be turning this in today in class, so get to work >:O

Then, we'll be looking at the Stage III assignment together. I know it's a lot of information to digest, but the gist is that you're preparing a research proposal where you're explaining to me how you plan to conduct your research in the future. Stage III is not an essay; it's more like a rough outline of how you hope to spend the rest of the semester on your own, independent research project. 

The first place to start with this is to develop a research question. We'll be talking about this in class, and then, you'll be developing your own research question drafts today in your groups.

Studio Work

Work on developing your research question in your groups today. Discuss, bounce ideas off of each other, consult with me. I'll be circulating, offering help where and when I can.

Before you leave, please turn in:

a draft of your research question
a list of suggestions you received from your group to help you develop your question (minimum of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions)
a list of suggestions you GAVE to your group members to help them develop their questions (minimum of 3 SPECIFIC suggestions)


Homework

1. Post your revised research question in the comments section below. Please also respond/critique at least one of your classmates' questions. If you critique more than one and offer particularly helpful suggestions, there's some extra credit in it for you!

2. Finish reading Sommers. We'll have a quiz on WEDNESDAY.

Please also note that we'll be meeting in the library in classroom 2 on the first floor on Wednesday for our 2nd class meeting (instead of the studio).

Revision?

Today we're going to open up our discussion on revision and the Sommers article. During our first class period, we'll be reading the first two pages of Sommers and responding to the following discussion questions in your groups, which come from the first 2 PAGES of the article:

1. How were you taught to revise?

2. What does your actual revision process look like? What do you do when you "revise" something?

3. What does Sommers say is the problem with the current theory of "the writing process?"

4. Based on your experiences with writing, do you think Sommer's criticism of the writing process is valid? Why or why not? Discuss your own experiences in relation to the text.

Studio Work

Today we'll be conducting our peer review session! Once in the studio, get into your peer review groups and reread your partners' papers. Then, begin your discussions.

Before you leave today, please turn in to me your revision plan, which should include the following (be detailed and specific in your responses!):

What did you learn were the strengths of your paper
What did you learn were its limitations?
Based on your discussions today, how do you plan to revise and why?

Homework:

Revise your Stage II Essays (due Monday)
Finish reading Sommers (quiz Wednesday)

Stage II and Gillam

A good example of constructive peer review advice! :D

 Today in class we'll be exchanging drafts of Stage II and, again, revisiting our peer review process. You'll need 3 copies of your draft AND the Gillam article.

Before we jump into that, I'd like to briefly go over how to do a Works Cited page, since a lot of you all had questions about this part of the assignment. If, after our discussion in class, things still don't quite add up, here is a good resource:

The Owl

Studio Work:

After reading the Gillam article, respond to the following questions. Use your groups as resources and discuss these, though each person will need to turn in their own before they leave the studio this afternoon.

1.     What are “higher level thinking skills?” How does Gillam claim peer response reinforces this? Do you agree? Why or why not? Try to give examples from your own experiences with peer review in your response.

2.     What does Gillam mean by “vernacular?” In the past, what are some things teachers/professors have said about your writing? How is this similar/different from the feedback you get from your peers? Which do you think is more helpful, and why?

3.     What is “metacognition?” How does peer review reinforce this? Thinking about the other readings we’ve had so far, when else might we use metacognition? What have our other authors had to say about it (perhaps, though, using different terms)? 

4. Gillam's basic argument is that peer review helps the reviewer just as much (if not more) than the person receiving the critique. Can you think of any OTHER ways giving feedback helps YOU as a writer? Reflect on the feedback you've given your peers so far. If you feel like giving feedback doesn't help you as a writer, what do you think you (or we as a class) can do differently to make it a beneficial process for everyone involved. 

 Homework:

Read your partners' essays and prepare critiques for them. You may want to focus on the following discussion questions, as they're what I'll be looking at while grading. 

 1. What claim is the author making about the construct? Is the claim clear from the context of the paper (Remember -- a claim can be like a hypothesis, your particular theory about a construct)?

2. How does the author incorporate inquiry into their investigation? If using primary research, how does the author connect the research back to his/her claim (to prove, support, or disprove). If using secondary research, how do the quotes, paraphrases and discussions included connect back to the chosen claim?

3. How does the essay exist within the discourse we've been having in class and in the readings? What original thought/analysis does it add to the greater conversations going on around us?

4. Who was the essay written for? What is its purpose? Are these questions answered by the context of the essay? If not, indicate areas where the author could clarify these questions for you as a reader.

Please bring 2 copies of each critique you write to class on WEDNESDAY to be prepared for our peer review.

Brittanie's Stage II Draft

College reading? :D

Here's an example of a Stage II draft! Brittanie was kind enough to let me post this on the blog for you all to see. Just like last time, you're welcome to leave PQP style feedback for extra credit.

College Reading

What is college reading?  I believe college reading is a bit more complex than our normal common sense way of reading.  It involves more research and peer discussion rather than just reading to understand.  It allows us as students to absorb what the author’s purpose was and helps us to relate to the topic and come up with our own ideas.  In college reading, I would recommend that the best strategies to use would be the “rhetorical strategies” – Flower mentions in her article. She states that we must relate to the text, ask questions about the authors purpose and give our own opinion, this will make college readings a bit more easier.

My ideas of college reading have been formed by my recent first time college English class.  In this class we are assigned to read several articles on different studies of what good writing and reading are.  One of the articles that really helped to introduce me to good college reading strategies was the article named “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning” by Linda Flower.  It was an article about a study done on entering freshmen and graduate students and their strategies on understanding a college level text.  It showed that the entering freshmen that used the common strategies that were taught in High school could not understand the college level text. On the other hand, the grad student that was a more experienced reader used the rhetorical reading strategies and had no problem understanding what the author’s purpose of writing the text was, asking his own questions, or giving his own theory.

Many of the people I associate with believe that college reading is too hard and complicated to understand.  They believe you must be “really smart” to be able to understand what the text is saying.  That was the exact same perception I had about college reading also.  In the beginning of this college freshman year, one of my very first assignments was to read a college level book and write my thoughts about the authors purpose.  When I opened the book, I could not understand a single word!  I had no clue what I was reading.  I tried so many of the strategies that I was taught in high school, I tried to understand the text by writing a summary of every paragraph, highlighting important details and words… but nothing seemed to work!  What I am trying to say is what us as entering college freshmen don’t understand about college reading is that it is not just about reading to understand, or summarizing- in order to be at a college reading level we must form our own theory of the authors purpose and relate our own expierences with it.  We must think outside the box when reading a college level text, and not just focus on the meaning or summary of the text.  I believe we can change the students perspective of college reading by introducing them to rhetorical reading strategies, having them practice those strategies over and over again, read college level text often, and showing them that college reading is really not that bad.

Beginning Stage II: Looking at "Constructs"

Well, I'm GIVING you the time :-)

Before we leap into our Stage II assignment, I think it's important to look back at our Stage I essays and reflect on what we've done so far (we've done a lot!).

To do that, I'd like you to reread your own essay. Prepare a cover letter addressed to me in which you walk me through your work-in-progress. Please address the following questions within your letter (though not necessarily in this order):

Give a one sentence summary of your literacy narrative. What do you want your audience to take away from your experience?

What do you think you got right about this assignment? Remember the four points I'm looking for (narrative, vivid details, significance and discourse).

What do you feel still needs work?

What would you like continued help/feedback on?

How does your essay fit into the greater conversation of writing studies?


I will be giving you a bit of class time to think about this, and I'll be using it as a guide to help me evaluate your essay and provide you with some feedback for further revisions. Please, put some thought into this assignment.


Once we wrap that up, it's time to start looking at STAGE II. There's going to be two parts of this assignment: 1. a short, informal group presentation of your construct and 2. an essay in which you discuss your definition of that construct.

Give us a slap in the face! Redefine your construct!

Here are the "Construct" choices:

College Writing
Good Reading
Peer Review
Revision
Research
Technology in the classroom

Studio Work

In your groups of 4, develop a definition of your construct, which you'll be responsible for "teaching" to the class (your audience)! How do you define your construct? Where does your definition come from? Where do you think you can find out more information on it (articles? experts?). Create some sort of a graphic representation of your construct and be ready to present to the class on WEDNESDAY. Your presentation should be about 5 minutes long and is informal.

Homework: Read the Stage II Essay Assignment under the writing assignments tab. Post here on the blog either 1. your idea as to what you're supposed to do (translate my big, long and wordy assignment into "student") 2. Ask a relevant question about the assignment or point out something that doesn't make sense to you or 3. Answer another student's question. Please have posted here on the blog in the comments section before noon on Wednesday.

Also, be working on your informal group presentations! Those are due 2nd period on WEDNESDAY, though you'll have a bit of time to work on those in class, too.