diversity

I wonder if the cartoon (from SMBC) has a point. If so, what bigotry will traditional (18-21ish) students reject? And what bigotry will they hold on to? Interestingly within a week or so of this cartoon the reputable Pew Research Center wrote on this topic in, "Millenials views ...not so different." The matix below the cartoon comes from their research. You likely will have to scroll down for it - but it's provocative.

I wonder if profs tend to unfairly assume their students are less open- minded? Maybe it depends on the academic discipline. Or, as a few former colleagues have put it, "everyone is prejudiced." That statement has bothered me in the past. What's that say about the speaker? What about Mother Theresa? The statement may not be wrong, but...

If you're interested in this topic check out some links collected at the social bookmarking site under these tags: diversity, gender, or race

TheDaily Show's Wyatt Cenac takes a funny look at the subject on the Jan. 12th 2010 show.

essay writing

Daily Writing tips, a writing instruction and learning blog, has a useful post on essay writing. The link also has links to instructions on writing student essays, literary essays and perhaps other types of essays. The problem most students have is that they haven't read many essays before.

They also mention the 5-paragraph essay(click for wikipedia explanation). The grad students at KU back in the day much maligned the 5 paragraph essay for being too formulaic and ...lame. But it's a legitimate form of organization - just not a form students use often in my classes. I have no prejudice against it. I'm reminded of a favorite quote, "when the only tool you have is a hammer - everything looks like a nail." Most comp 1 instructors assume students know the 5 paragraph essay form, but maybe we shouldn't assume.

Outside of formal class/ student assignments -most people don't write essays often; HOWEVER, the essay form is alive and well . I'm reading (OK - listening to the audio book - an authentic form of reading IMHO) a collection of essays by Malcolm Gladwell called What the Dog Saw. Of it, the New York Times book review says

Have you ever wondered why there are so many kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup? Or what Cézanne did before painting his first significant works in his 50s? Have you hungered for the story behind the Veg-O-Matic, star of the frenetic late-night TV ads? Or wanted to know where Led Zeppelin got the riff in “Whole Lotta Love”?

Gladwell tracks it down - does the research - and writes essays about it. See press release here, see Amazon to buy here, or check out the audio book from Billington Library here on JCCC campus.

He shows how essays can be surprisingly engaging.

To recap: reading essays may be the best preparation to writing good essays.

Don't forget about your textbook as a source of interesting essays. The Norton Field Guide has some fun stuff.

Facebook redux

Since so many of my students spend so much time on Facebook - I want to learn more. I'm collecting links to resources and research on Facebook at the Social Bookmarking site and will be adding links as I find them. Sounds like a good research activity for Comp students....

It'd be fun to see students take the quiz - How addicted to Facebook Are You.

I've posted on the subject before - see earlier posts

The shape of student journals to come

We will be keeping journals (or working files) in Comp 1. Nothing has been shown to improve writing skill as much as daily writing. Some classes have used the $.09 spiral notebooks, some have used the 3 prong portfolio folders, and too many have gone rogue and turned in some sort of 3 ring monstrosity that makes transporting them ...challenging. I went into this in detail in the first educational blog I wrote for. In them we will keep daily writings, handouts, drafts of essays and some homework.

I taught a graduate class at KU that posted journal entries online in personal blogs. The results impressed people who evaluated me - but there were challenges.

A professor writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education makes a provocative case for posting all journal writing online - his class found fame and fortune and learned something along the way. He says:

By changing their homework assignments from disposable, private conversations between them and me (the way printed or e-mailed assignments work in students’ minds) into public, online statements that became part of a continuing conversation, we realized very real benefits. The very first semester I began asking students to share their homework this way, a popular e-learning newsletter found and liked one of my students’ essays and pointed its readers to the student’s blog. When the visits and comments from professionals around the world started coming in, students realized that the papers they were writing weren’t just throw-away pieces for class – they were read and discussed by their future peers out in the world. The result was a teacher’s dream — the students’ writing became a little longer, a little more thoughtful, and a little more representative of their actual intellectual abilities. And this benefit came by simply asking students to submit their homework through a different channel. They were already going to write and submit it; I was already going to read it.

Blogs can be private - by invitation only - or public (which is more fun). And you can add video, photos, links and such.

Whatever our classes decide - the journals should be in a uniform format. That maximizes my time reading and responding and minimizes confusion and hassle.

Email - appropriate usage

What are the appropriate and inappropriate uses of email? A friend's divorced dad told her about his remarriage over email. Didn't sit well with my friend. Is this the currently accepted way to break up with a paramour?

In a refereed journal article from EDUCAUSE, faculty note they like using email for communication, but don't like answering substantive questions thru email (lecture clarification, grade discussion, etc), BUT students still feel more comfortable asking these questions through email (perhaps due to shyness, or because written questions can be better composed).

If it's a personal issue or grades - office hours are the most effective and appropriate way to communicate, but if the whole class could benefit from a response– instructors are increasingly blogging it. They can share the info once, and archive it indefinitely to pre-emptively address future class needs - without necessarily identifying the source of a question.

It's interesting what the article mentions in their conclusion:

Additionally, we propose that the development, communication, and adherence to agreed-upon e-mail expectations, norms, and guidelines would improve communications, lessen faculty and student frustrations, and alleviate student anxiety.

Achieving these goals requires instruction in e-mail use, however. Despite objections to attending e-mail training, both faculty and students agree that it would be beneficial—for each other. By raising awareness of the association between student success and one-on-one communication with faculty in an environment where e-mail serves as one of the primary methods of contact, we hope that both faculty and students will begin to see the value of e-mail training and become more willing to attend.

Whatdda ya think?

Teaching/Learning- cartoon screengrabs & links

On Taking Notes:

And also on the subject of taking notes and keeping a calendar/ schedule - but not screen grab friendly.

On Rhetoric/ Logic and Debate:

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100102.gif

happy new year

image found at BoingBoing.net

Big decade. In aught 1 bought a house, got married in aught 2, had a kid in aught 7 and hired on at JCCC in aught 9.