Getting Organized: An Outline

For this in-class activity, you are going to spent time getting organized, which means this needs to be explicit, specific, and detailed. Do *not* do a general overview as that does not help get you organized. 

To begin: start by pulling up the checklist. Organize your outline based on this checklist. 

Go through each item on the checklist and begin to fill in your own information. Where you have blanks try and project forward. 

Conclude by projecting forward: what needs done in order for you to write up a draft by Thursday? 

Respond to at least 2 peers: reading through the outline, what questions come to mind? What looks promising? What is one word of advice? 

Transfer of Knowledge and Practices

In this blog post, you are exploring what it means to "transfer" knowledge from one situation to another. Begin by discussing what transfer means and how a student can achieve successful transfer according to the researchers of How People Learn (this means pull out evidence). 

What are contributing factors to successful transfer? Why is transfer important in education? What helps it along? And conclude by wrapping your discussion up: why is transfer of knowledge important? Do you believe transfer happens whether you think about it or not? 

By the end of the post, it should be evident what transfer of knowledge is, how it can be achieved, and why it's important. 

***NO response to your peers for this post.***

DUE by class time on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. 

From the Lit Review to The Essay

In-class Writing for Thursday, February 19, 2015. 

The move from your lit review to your first draft may seem challenging at first because there is not much cross-over between the two, and you want to make sure you aren’t merely lifting chunks of your lit review into your draft. 

I want you to begin to explore the differences between the two using your own research as guidance.

What are some central claims you believe you will make in your essay (in other words, what do you believe you’ll be adding to the existing conversation)? How do these claims differ from your lit review? What are things you need to anticipate for your audience? What are things you’ll need to include so that it’s obvious who your intended audience will be? Last, what are some things you, as the researcher and the writer, need to keep in mind as you begin to start drafting your essay? 

To conclude this in-class assignment, please generate a tentative outline of your essay. 

**Remember that your primary research HAS TO BE completed by the end of Week 8...because the final draft of the essay is due the following week.**

Reflecting on Reflection

As you read, Yancey believes that “reflection” allows students to become agents of their own learning. Other theorists view reflection as a means of looking back so that we can understand how to move forward. After reading Yancey's theory of reflection, I want you to reflect on reflection. Using specific evidence from the reading think through the following questions:

*What is Yancey's theory of reflection? How does she connect it to composition (i.e. writing)?  ***Note: she defines reflection in several different ways, so I'm not looking for everyone to use the exact same definition. Use the one that stuck out to you or that you were drawn to. 

*Make your own connections between reflection and writing: where does reflection fit into the writing process? To your writing process?

*Why is reflection "important" to you as a writer, a thinker, and a knowledge-maker?

Response to your peers: have a conversation about where reflection fits into the writing process and ground your thinking with Yancey. 

DUE by class time on Tuesday, February 17, 2015. 

Conference Day Blog

Due by midnight on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 as part of your attendance for class. 

Essentially, you have thought about your theory of writing at least once. Other blogs have hinted at your theory without being so direct. You are going to continue your thinking, musing, and defining of your theory of writing for this post. This is meant to be reflective in nature, so it's good to revisit some of your old blogs and see what you said and even pull from them.

Questions to springboard your thinking: 

(1) Key Terms for Writing

What are your key terms for writing? How does it expand your writing practices to understand these key terms? How do these key terms connect to your research? Why is it important that you write in different genres of writing (so far, you've experienced the following genres: blog, proposal, report, lit review, outline/brainstorming, reflection)? 

(2) Writerly Identity

Who are you as a writer? A researcher? How does considering key terms contribute to the development of your writerly identity? How do you think research, especially inquiry-based research that you're doing right now, contributes to your writerly identity?

(3) Prior Knowledge and Experiences

How is writing this quarter similar or different to what you've done in the past? What are you learning that you might carry forward to future assignments, in this class or in others? Will understanding the key terms help you in future?

(4) Theory of Writing

Dr. Seuss' is known for his witty and oddly inspiring quotes will set the tone for your conclusion of this post. In one-two sentences, write your theory of writing in Dr. Seuss style. 

In-Class Work for Thursday, February 7, 2015

Blog Response Part 1: The Lit Review

What's your purpose of your lit review? What are some of your themes? What sources will you use within each theme? Finally, then discuss what's next: where do you need to do to start drafting your lit review for next week? 

Blog Response Part 2: Observations and Interviews

Last week, you did round robin type interview practice. Today, you'll be practicing observations for a minimum   of 10 minutes. Take notes. Observe. Take down impressions. Once you do this, I want you look back over you interview responses and look over your notes from your observations. Based on the two, what are 2 conclusions you can draw about the student population at DU? How did the interviews and observations inform these conclusions? Be specific. Use your research. 

All of this is due by the end of class on Thursday. You do NOT need to respond to your peers for this blog post. 

Lit Review: In-Class Work for Tuesday, February 5, 2015

After reading through the 2 sample lit reviews, please take a look at these 2 websites: 

(1) http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/

(2) http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html

Taken together--the sample lit reviews and the two websites--please respond to the following questions pulling on at least one of the websites to evidence what you are saying: 

What is the purpose of a lit review? (be specific!)

Why might it be extremely important to do a lit review before writing your essay? 

Why do we learn how to write a lit review? 

Next move to your research, and respond to the following questions:

What is the purpose of your lit review?

What are some themes that you might pull out from your research that you've already conducted? 

How might these themes connect back to your research question? 

Be as specific and detailed as possible.

Primary Research

Driscoll outlines the types of primary research that you will be conducting. What, according to Driscoll, is primary research? Why is it important? What will you learn from conducting it yourself? 

Thinking forward, I want you to begin to think about how you’ll employ all of these different methods for your own research. Be specific: what are some observations that make sense? Who makes sense to interview? What types of surveys will you conduct? We will learn more about specifics as we go along, so these are initial impressions. As well, think about how a mixed method approach to research is beneficial to your own understanding about how to conduct research and how this might serve you in future situations. 

Be sure to pull on Driscoll’s piece to discuss your primary research. 

In response to yours peers: provide feedback on their methods. What do you think? Agree, disagree? Why? 

DUE by class time on Tuesday, January 27, 2015. 

Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat, Etc. Etc.

For this blog post, you are going to create a scenario much like Haller did in her chapter on sources. Pulling from the reading, generate a conversation between me and you about a misconception you have about how to use sources (i.e. work from your *own* misconception not one you read about). As the chapter did, walk through how to counter that misconception and how to move forward from it. 

Response to your peers: agree or disagree with your peer's scenario and my response to it. 

DUE by class time on Thursday, January 22 EVEN THOUGH we aren't having a traditional class. 

Research Proposal

Please respond to this blog post by posting your research proposal.

Due by class time on Tuesday, January 20, 2015.

***You are NOT responding to your peers for this post.***

Genre Theory and Activity Systems

Imagine you are a research assistant to a high profile professor at a university: he is a journalism professor. He needs you to compose an email to the entire communication department asking them to read the Russell and Yanez's article, so that they can include it as part of their curriculum. He believes that this article could drastically improve both the retention rate of journalism students as well as help them in their careers to be better writers. In this email, your job is to clearly portray why the Russell and Yanez piece should even be considered--so you are not summarizing the piece--in other words, you want to *sell them on the piece. Please include specific details, even quotes, from the piece as you attempt to persuade the department.

You need to write the post in the genre of an email following all the conventions of an email. So, your audience for the email will be the communication department. 

You are, in many ways, attempting to put into practice what you read in this piece. 

Response to peers: Respond to whether or not you believe they effective "sold" their position to the department and say why or why not. Be specific. 

Due by class time on Tuesday, January 20, 2015. 

Brainstorming Continued

Working from your brainstorming from Tuesday, we are going to continue to refine your topic and your question(s). Please follow these steps to further explore your topic: 

(1) Inquiry Question: what do you want to know more about this topic? 

(2) Primary Purpose: what are additional questions that might help you research you main question? What do you hope to gain by conducting this research? 

(3) What, if any, prior beliefs, assumptions, understandings, preconceptions, prejudices, or ideas do you bring to this topic (be specific)? What personal experiences may have shaped the way you feel? Before you begin developing a working knowledge of the topic, what are you thinking about it? 

(4) Do some quick and dirty research: go to google. What types of information pops up? What are some important facts that seem to keep jumping out? 

(5) After working your way through two  brainstorming sessions and some quick-n-dirty googling, what are you now thinking about your topic? What are some things you'll need to keep in mind as you continue? 

Please work your way through these questions being as specific as possible. This is going to lead you to your proposal that's due on Tuesday. 

Due: In-Class Activity for Thursday, January 15, 2015. 

Rhetorical Situation: Take 2

As you did with Bitzer, please define rhetorical situation according to Vatz. What is rhetoric? How does Vatz's view differ from Bitzer's? Who do you find yourself aligning more with -- why? Situate the two readings inside the course: why is rhetorical situation so important to know and understand in course on research and writing? 

Finally, after reading the two pieces come up with your own definition of rhetorical situation: where do you see it fitting into your own writing processes? 

For this blog post's response to your peers: Provide a specific example of a rhetorical situation broken down into all of its parts. Conclude with a 2-3 sentence detailed explanation about why this is in fact an example of a rhetorical situation. ***Can not use the same rhetorical situation as someone else.***

Due: Thursday, January 15, 2015 by class time. 

Rhetorical Situation

**Remember, it's ok to be feel a little unsure of what this reading is saying. Just do your best. We will unpack it together on Tuesday.**

According to Bitzer, what is rhetoric? What is a rhetorical situation? Why are both important in the understanding of how to write? What do you believe comes first—the writing or the rhetorical situation? Do you believe all writing needs a rhetorical situation in order to write? Why or Why not?

What did you learn from reading this piece? Why might we start a course on argument with this reading?

Due: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 by class time. Don't forget to respond to at least one peer. 

Investigating Good Writing

Please respond to the following questions: 

(a) what is writing, in other words, what are the definitions, ideas, thoughts, expressions, etc. that you associate with writing. What makes writing good to you? When you think of research and writing--what comes to mind?  

(b) What type of writer do you see yourself as? Do you believe you are a novice or an expert? Why? 

(c) Create a list of 5-8 key terms you believe define good writing.

By the end of this first blog post, I want you to come up with a definition of writing that includes a list of key terms.

In-Class Writing for Thursday, January 8, 2015.