Welcome to the Spring 2014 Faculty Seminar on Writing and Speaking Pedagogy
Tell us a bit about yourself here. What is your discipline? Which classes do you teach that include writing/speaking? What do you see as the biggest challenges to successful teaching?
10 comments:
My name is Rachel Spear, and I am the Interim Basic Writing Coordinator in the English Department. This is my second year at USM, and I have taught Expanded Composition (a two-semester sequence for our basic writers), our writing studio course (a counterpart to that fall semester in the sequence) to assist at-risk students, Advanced Composition, and Technical Writing here. Elsewhere, I have also taught courses in Women in Literature, Trauma Narratives, Literature and Ethnicity, and Intro to Lit. I incorporate writing and speaking in all of my classes - albeit differently. I tend to use both individual and group projects when the oral component is involved, and that assignment typically links to another. One of my challenges is wanting more time in the semester in order to teach various skills connected with the assignments and balancing that with creating in-class activities that will optimize objectives in the amount of time we have. Also, with presentations, I do dedicate lessons to and focus on drafting, organizing, composing, revising, and presenting effectively, but I am curious what others do and how others teach presentations. Thanks, again, for organizing this seminar, and I am excited to meet with everyone else next week! -RS
Hi everyone,
My name is Mary Evans, and I am an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice. This is my second year at USM, and I have taught Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Theory (the writing intensive class for the major), Criminal Justice Research Methods and Statistics, Introduction to Juvenile Justice, and several special topic classes related to sex offenders and women and crime. I incorporate writing assignments and oral presentations in all my classes and as result I face much resistance from the students. I am surprised to learn how many of my students have NEVER completed a term paper (let alone a 5000 word paper as required by the university), have NEVER been or used the library website, and do not know how to properly cite scholarly work. As a result, I spend much of my class time teaching these technical issues. With regards to oral presentations, there is even more apprehension among the students. Despite my guidance, many of the students simply read off their slides or copy directly from the material they are supposed to be presenting. By attending this workshop, I hope to gain more effective and innovative teaching techniques related to my writing and oral presentation assignments. My hope is for my students to look at these assignments as a positive experience rather than a burden...
I look forward to this opportunity to learn from everyone!! See you Wednesday.
Mary
Hi, everyone. I'm Dori Griffin, and this is my second year teaching graphic design studios and design history in the Department of Art and Design. I spend a lot of time working with students on how to engage with writing and speaking in ways that are relevant to the design profession. Communicating effectively with design team members, printers, clients, and other stake-holders is critical to professional success. Most of my students have very little experience in either area, and it can be difficult to find time to teach basic writing skills in addition to all the visual and technical skills they need to learn as designers. By far the biggest challenge I face is helping students learn to write (and, to a lesser extent, speak) critically about design. As visual thinkers, producers, and learners, my students are often very resistant to developing their non-visual communication skills. This semester, I'm hoping to learn strategies for making the writing process more intuitive and manageable for students. I'm looking forward to seeing more successful outcomes on future student writing projects.
Bonjour, y’all!
My name is Katie Angus, and I am a new instructor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. When I finish my dissertation revisions, I’ll become an Assistant Professor of French and Second Language Acquisition. Currently, I teach Beginning French I (FRE 102) and Astérix dans la salle de classe: French Culture through Comics (FRE 445/545). All classes that I have taught, teach currently, or will teach involve writing and speaking.
It’s hard to pick one challenge in particular, but something that I’m really trying to work on is getting my students to produce more in French. What do I mean by that? Participate. I want them to speak more often in French; be able to sustain discourse (in French); and write longer, more detailed pieces (in French). Students improve their French by coming up with hypotheses about how the language works and then trying out these ideas. However, if students struggle to express themselves in English, it’s even harder for them in French. They’re afraid of making mistakes, so instead of taking risks and testing out their language hypotheses, they remain quiet or write the bare minimum.
I’m pleased to be included in this seminar this semester, and I’m looking forward to meeting you all (y'all!) and learning how to better help my students.
Hello, Joe Weinberg here, I am a second year professor in the Political Science department. I teach a range of classes, but mostly in the realm of International Relations and Foreign Policy. In any political science course, there is a good deal of speaking and writing, though it is not always done in the conventional ways. Our class discussions are usually very unstructured, but do help the students work on some of their debate and powers of persuasion (if we are lucky). I would like to work on more structured ways to improve students public speaking skills, as well as trying to tie together writing and speaking into the same basic umbrella of communication so that exercises for one can help to enhance the other.
I certainly have plenty of general complaints about what our students are lacking in general writing skills, and I would love sped a lot more class time on writing, but given the substantive material I also have to cover, I find myself looking for the most economical ways to incorporate these lessons into an already short class period. I look forward to learning from and with you guys!
Hello, everyone. My name is Jennifer Walker, and I am an assistant professor of biological sciences. I have been with USM on the Gulf Coast campus since August of 2006. I am excited to finally be able to participate in this seminar. My course load has varied from an introductory major course (first year foundations) to senior level writing intensive core assessment courses (marine biology and senior capstone). I do my best to incorporate both writing and speaking in all of my courses, especially the 300-400 level courses. I will admit that, while I always require writing assignments, I have not been successful finding ways to incorporate speaking in larger enrollment courses. One of the biggest teaching challenges I have experienced is the difference in student preparedness within a single class. Bridging that gap in content or in science writing is difficult at best. Scientific writing style is a foreign concept to most students, and one many consider “boring” because there is a specific style that must be followed. Correct citation within a scientific work (written or spoken) is crucial and I am still taken aback by the number of students that tell me they have never been required to cite in the work they turn in for other classes. I am looking forward to learning how to help students become more proficient writers and speakers. I look forward to this opportunity for collaboration within and across disciplines and exposure to new ideas. -Jennifer
Hello, everyone. I am Kim Woolly and I am an associate professor in the School of Music. My instrument is the bassoon and, as that is an instrument that not a lot of students play, teaching bassoon only constitutes part of my load. I also teach courses in Performance Practice and Woodwind Literature (a Capstone course) and Woodwind Pedagogy, all of which require a fair amount of writing and public speaking. I find it challenging to help the students with grammar, organization, diction, citing sources, proper use of visual aids and other basic necessities of writing and public speaking when I don't really have time to cover the musical topics at hand. I am looking forward to hearing suggestions about how to help my students improve in these areas while retaining the time I need to teach my subjects. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone!
Hello. My name is Rebecca Fillmore and I joined USM Gulf Coast in 2008. I teach a variety of 300/400-level courses in biology. Although only one of the classes that I teach is writing intensive (Senior Practicum), I always incorporate both speaking and writing assignments, which almost always related to each other in some way, in all of my classes. As many of the students I teach take several courses with me, I strive to incorporate creative and meaningful speaking and writing assignments that vary appropriately with the course. I have noticed a lack of preparedness in the ability of many of my students to prepare and organize a logical, cohesive composition with proper citations. Even with proper direction, the students seem to consistently repeat the same mistakes. I am hoping that this series will offer me some direction and/or new instructive strategies to use to more efficiently instruct my students in proper writing methods. I am also curious to see if others give their students in-class time to brainstorm and peer-critique in preparation for writing and speaking assignments as well as its effectiveness. In addition to this, I am also looking for some new methods to employ during student speaking assignments to make the projects more meaningful for both the presenter and audience. I am eager to listen to everyone’s’ experiences as well as their ideas and viewpoints.
I am Nell Adkins, Associate Professor in Accounting in the College of Business. I also have been looking forward to participating in this course for some time now. I teach the first major course (ACC 325) and also a graduate course. ACC 325 has a short writing assignment, and the graduate course has two short writing/speaking assignments. I am looking for ways to communicate expectations re these assignments in economical/best fashion, and ways to improve my own grading skills - I seem to take forever to grade the written items! Please forgive the brevity - I have been really sick the past week, and am playing catch-up this week.
My name is Meredith Early and I am an assistant professor in the Department of Dance. I have been on faculty for five years. Currently I teach all levels of ballet and modern dance techniques as well as a host of theory based dance classes--dance history, thesis writing in dance, choreographic research, and dance appreciation. Although I require writing in both theory based and technique classes alike, I often have a hard time encouraging students to "switch gears" in their writing. Over half of what is generally required for a dance major is reflective writing (self assessment, achievement of exit competencies, overall growth in technique and artistry). When it comes to an assignment that is based in contextual research, the students are lost. They have a hard time organizing their ideas in a way that goes beyond "reporting," not to mention that often times the basics of writing, voice, editing are non-existent. I am so ready to explore how to help my students in this area!
Sorry for my late reply. Similarly to Nell, I too have been under the weather! See you at 1pm today!
Meredith
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