No wonder I'm struggling with academic writing - in the article "Demystifying Academic Writing: Reflections on Emotions , Know-How, and Academic Identity, the authors outline some of the challenges of writing as being self-doubt, creating ideas, doubt of relevance, lack of skills, and fear of critique (Cameron, J., Nairn, K., & Higgins, J., 2009)! That is only a few of the examples of why it is hard for people to start writing! I know that I struggle with most of these challenges. These authors also note that "developing an identity and voice as an academic writer results from the process of coming to terms with writing emotions and developing procedural and technical writing know-how."
Often students are thrown into academic situations where they have to write scholarly papers, and are never formerly taught the proper format. More focus needs to be placed on instruction of academic writing and research. One group of people are developing an idea that could change the way academic writing is taught - it is called writing consultations (Murray, R., Thow, M., Moore, S., & Murphy, M., 2008). A writing consultation takes place between two academic writers placed together to help improve writing practices. The partners will take turns being the writer or the consultant. The consultant leads the writer through six steps while filling out a template to keep notes. After filling out the template, they switch places and work on the other person's writing. The process is meant to change writing behavior. I think this is a wonderful idea, because it is always easier to bounce ideas off of someone else and share different expertise. I hope that more online learning environments think about using this process when students are presented with big academic writing assignments. I would not have felt so overwhelmed and alone during the writing process if I could have been paired up with another classmate to do a writing consultation!
Sources
Cameron, J., Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2009). Demystifying academic writing: Reflections on emotions, know-how, and academic identity. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 269-284. doi: 10.1080/03098260902734943
Gocsik, K. (2005). Dartmouth Writing Program. Retrieved from www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml
Murray, R., Thow, M., Moore, S., & Murphy, M. (2008). The writing consultation: Developing academic writing practices. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 32(2), 119-128. doi: 10.1080/03098770701851854
@Abbie
ReplyDeleteWe struggle in the same areas with academic writing! I would much rather write in the personal style, which is why I think that I have taken to blogging!
I especially agree with your statement,"Often students are thrown into academic situations where they have to write scholarly papers, and are never formerly taught the proper format. More focus needs to be placed on instruction of academic writing and research." I feel that FSO attempted to do this in the MLR month, but this is an area that I think could be improved upon, as it is overwhelming to me to be faced with this month! I like your idea of pairing up and doing a writing consultation!
After reading your post, I will definitely read the articles you cited!
@ Abbie
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. There are so many students who do not understand how to even take notes let alone write an academic paper. There should be more emphasis on teaching proper format for academic writing as well as standard note-taking skills.
@ Abbie
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job taking information and your personal experiences and blending the two to create a meaningful post. I like the idea you found about the writing consultations and it would also help solidify the notion that if you can teach it, then you really know it. I realize how difficult it can be to take the "personal" out of your writing but these tools you have mentioned should help anyone, even me.
@Abbie
ReplyDeleteYou have done a wonderful job already this month! So proud of you!!!
@Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI know that my greatest struggle as an educator is to teach students how to write with clarity and purpose. I was a natural writer growing up, so my first years of teaching I had a difficult time explaining the process. I had never been taught specific steps or strategies. I think you are exactly right in that students have multitudes of knowledge to gain from one another through a writing/consultant partnership. This has become a vital part of my writing workshops throughout the last several years, and has taught me about my own writing.
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI had very similar experiences to yours throughout school with my writing. I felt I was an organized writer when I went into high school, and had my freshman English teacher basically bad mouth our junior high teachers by telling us he wondered what they taught us since we knew very little about writing. I then went through high school transforming my writing to each of my teachers just to have my first English teacher in college tear apart my first paper. I think the comment written on my paper were almost exactly what the Dartmouth website says. “Old formulae, such as the five-paragraph theme, aren't sophisticated or flexible enough to provide a sound structure for a college paper,” (Gocsik, 2005). I just wish that all those teachers who were annoyed about our writing turned it into a great teaching moment. Creating a virtual learning environment (VLE) to teach writing concepts, could take the pressure off of teachers to use class time to teach those skills. The instruction through the VLE could teach basic writing skills and could be assigned as homework. Since you seem so passionate about this topic, I have a suggestion to use the writing process as part of your Udutu project! I think it would help those students like us that need that extra push with our writing. Great post!
Reference
Gocsik, K. (2005). Dartmouth Writing Program. Retrieved from www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml