The syllabus and assignments on this website are for visitors to the site interested in the structure and rationale of the course. Current students should NOT refer to this site, as the dates and other details here are not likely to be current. They should refer to the limited access site on the UCD learning management system, Smartsite.
Research in the Teaching and Learning of Writing
Fall 2015
Tuesdays 5:10-8:00 PM
396 Voorhies
Professor Chris Thaiss (writingfaculty.ucdavis.edu/cthaiss)
Office: 385 Voorhies
Office Hours: T 4:00-5:00 PM, M 10:30-11:45 AM; W 1:45-3:00 PM, and by appt.
Office Phone: 530-754-9197
Email: cjthaiss@ucdavis.edu
Description
Understanding the history and theories on which sound teaching practice is based goes hand in hand with good practice. Understanding important methods of research in the multi-faceted discipline of writing studies—and how these have been adapted to craft influential publications–helps us grow as scholars and writers. In this seminar we explore some well-known research publications by reflective teachers/scholars that have shaped the discipline and current practice, as well as some recent work that is developing composition theory in response to changes in culture and technology. My goals in this seminar are (1) to improve our understanding of the history of the discipline and the contributions of research, (2) to study the uses of research methods in important documents, and (3) to encourage your own careful and creative building of methods that will strengthen and enrich your practice as writer, researcher, and teacher.
We will proceed by reading and discussing an array of interesting and often controversial work, writing twice-weekly responses (online) to these works, and developing and sharing our own projects. Your main project will be a research-based study of a particular theory, methodology, setting, or theorist/researcher of your choice. Indeed, I will encourage you to explore issues and authors of particular moment to your own current teaching or writing, thus supporting–to the degree you wish–your research for other courses or toward your dissertation.
Required Texts
Susan Miller, ed. (2009). The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: W. W. Norton. (CS)
Lee Nickoson and Mary P. Sheridan, eds. (2012). Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press (WR)
Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper Taggart, Kurt Schick, H. Brooke Hessler, eds. (2014). A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press (GCP)
(Recommended:
Charles Macarthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, eds. (2008) Handbook of Writing Research. New York: Guilford Press. (WR)–not available in the bookstore
Charles Bazerman, Robert Krut, Karen Lunsford et al., eds. (2010) Traditions of Writing Research. New York: Routledge– not available in the bookstore)
In this seminar, we will also be visiting websites devoted to the development of student writing at all levels and at various places in the U.S. Among websites of interest is the National Writing Project research database,
For your theory-building projects, I also recommend the CompPile database (maintained by Richard Haswell and Glenn Blalock) and the WAC Clearinghouse/International WAC Network research database
Further, if you are not already a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, I strongly urge you to visit the NCTE website and learn about the advantages of and procedures for joining. Students may do so at a greatly reduced rate.
Course Schedule
9/29 Introductions and Exercises. History of the Field: have read CS essays by Horner and by Carr/Carr/Schultz; WR intros by Kirsch and by Nickoson and Sheridan.
10/6 History of Writing Instruction and Growth of Research–have read CS essays by Braddock/Lloyd-Jones/Schoer, Emig, Sommers, and D’Angelo ; WR essays by Journet and Rohan. Due: “position” reflection on yourself as rhet/comp theorist (min. 500 words).Note: We will begin this week the twice-weekly contributions to the SmartSite forum.
10/13 Toward Contemporary Writing Theory and Research–have read CS essays by Hairston, Britton et al (461), Flower/Hayes; WR essays Selfe/Hawisher and Haas/Takayoshi/Carr. See the Hawisher/Selfe (and many others) project Transnational Literate Lives in Digital Times. Due: proposal for individual “theory-building” research project (1-2 pp.).
10/20 Schools of Theory and Their Research Paradigms–have read CS essays by Rose (586), Winsor, and MacNealy; WR essays by Fleckenstein, Haswell, and Broad. Note: Monday, Oct. 21, is the National Day on Writing (see the NCTE site)! See also the National Writing Project site on the National Day!
10/27 The “Social Turn” in Writing Theory–have read CS essays by Peck/Flower/HIggins, Villanueva, Royster, and Gee.
11/3 Studying Writing in the Academy and the Community–have read CS essays by Gere, Canagarajah; WR essays by Inoue and Canagarajah.
11/10 Studying Writing in the Academy and Community II–have read CS essays by Bazerman, Hull/Rose/Fraser/Castellano, Freedman; WR essays by Blair and Sheridan (“Ethnography”).
11/17 Teaching Writing in 2015 and Beyond: A Sampling of Approaches–have read GPC essays by Taggart/Hessler/Schick, Kennedy/Howard, Brooke, Hewett, Matsuda/Hammill, Thaiss/McLeod
11/24 Begin research presentations. We will have read one research article recommended by each of the presenters for this evening. Have read WR essay by Fishman. Workshop on drafts of theory-building projects.
12/1 Research on Technological Issues in Writing–have read WR essays by Palmquist/Mullin/Blalock and McKee/Porter; complete research presentations. We will also have read one research article recommended by each presenter for this evening.
12/9 Due: revised drafts of theory-building research projects and second position papers.
Grades
I will grade your performance holistically at the end of the term on all the above work. Please feel free to ask me at any time for my assessment of your progress.
Grading standards are as follows:
A = outstanding work: among the specific virtues, full, active, cooperative, and imaginative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects of the course; prose that reflects your professionalism as a scholar and your growing familiarity with styles and genres represented in the diverse literature of the field
B = very good work: full, active, and cooperative participation in all activities, exercises and projects; prose that almost always demonstrates the principles noted just above;
C = unsatisfactory work for the graduate level: inconsistent participation in activities, exercises, and projects; or prose that, with revision, still fails to demonstrate consistent application of the principles of effective writing in the field. I have almost never had to give a C in a graduate level course.
F = complete or almost complete non-particiaption in the activities, exercises, and projects of the course.
I will give pluses and minuses according to UC Davis/UWP policy.
If you are taking this course on an S/U basis, the standards are as follows:
S= Satisfactory or outstanding performance on all assignments on time and according to stated criteria will earn an S. It should go without saying that all written work should be carefully proofread and conform to Edited American English syntax (unless your use of US non-standard forms in your theory-building project is part of conscious production relevant to the topic of your essay).
U=It has been rare for me to have to give a grade of Unsatisfactory in this course or other graduate seminars. Indeed, I’ve come to expect high quality from almost every member of these seminars. If you have to miss a meeting of our group or if there is danger that you might not complete one of the assignments, please let me know as much in advance as possible.
Your full, active, well-prepared, and thoughtful participation in our discussions is essential toward both the success of the course and your own success in it. I look forward to many evenings of productive, intense, enjoyable discussion and to excellent online conversations as well.
From Week Two, you’ll take part in a twice-weekly SmartSite forum based on the topics and readings for that week’s class. I ask you to write at least one full screen per week as part of a conversation among the members of the seminar.You’ll be responding both to the assigned material and to the comments of one another. Hence, I’d like you to log in twice a week, so you can contribute in the early and more advanced stages of the conversation. These commentaries should be thoughtful, incisive reflections on the topics in relation to your own teaching, writing, and developing research. I’d like the tone of these remarks always to remain thoughtful and congenial. It’s fine to disagree with a colleague or with me, but I ask you to do so in the spirit of collegiality. Feel free to use your space not only for your written entries, but also to insert images, links, etc., pertinent to our discussions.
Theory-Building Project (30% of course grade)
From the start of the quarter, ponder and plan this culminating project, which asks you to think, read, and write deeply about a particular question, issue, or application of composition theory and to build your own theory in relation to it. This project is not primarily a description of a teaching technique, such as you might prepare in UWP 390; you could, however, take a particular technique or method as your subject and explore its research and practice history and the theories on which it is based. Alternatively, this project might relate to your projected dissertation research, in terms of its bases in theory or comparative research methods. A third alternative is to focus on the work of individual theorists/researchers. You may draw on any of the theorists and practitioners we study in the course or that you have studied previously, but I also expect you to read further, though not exhaustively, into the literature (print and online) closely relevant to the particular topic.
A fourth alternative would be to apply in a context pertinent to you a research method (or methods) we study this quarter, and to conduct part or all of a very small study based on that method or methods. This alternative has been used by several members of previous seminars with good results.
The project should culminate in an essay of at least 3000 words. Note in the syllabus the due date for the preliminary proposal (1 page, including a description of the project and a short starter biblio of relevant sources). A first, complete draft is due in Week Nine (see date on syllabus). The revised draft is due during exam week (date noted on the syllabus). Feel free to consult with me about the work in progress at any point in the course.
Multimedia option: If you choose, you may develop your project as a web-based or otherwise multimedia work, incorporating other elements (e.g., hyperlinks, videos, sound files) besides word text and such in-text-readable graphics as photos, tables, and charts.
Presentation of Theory-Building Research (15% of course grade)
Over the last three evenings of the course, we’ll hear presentations (15 minutes each, plus 10 min. discussion) from the members of the seminar on the theory-building projects on which all of you have been engaged. Think of the presentation as an outline/summary of your full project, a summary of its focus and of the main writers who have influenced your own thinking on the topic, and of your conclusions.
Please accompany your oral/visual explanation with a one-page handout that helps us follow along, and feel free to use the several tools of the classroom (almost all students in previous years have used PowerPoint or Prezi). If you wish, you might consider this presentation as practice for a conference presentation. In previous offerings of the seminar, these talks have often been first drafts of actual presentations that have eventually been given at conferences.
Please post your PowerPoints or Prezis as attachments to this assignment space.
NOTE: At least one week before your presentation, you should suggest to the members of the seminar one article for us to read that is pertinent to your subject. We will have read this piece before your talk.
Position Reflections on Yourself as Writing Studies Theorist (10% of course grade)
Between weeks one and two, write a reflection (max. 750 words) on your current sense of yourself as a theorist in the discipline of rhetoric and composition. This exercise is meant in part as de-mystification of the notion of “theorist” as a person above and outside of the everyday thoughtful work of teaching and learning. It’s also meant to help you focus on the important ideas/assumptions/principles that guide your work as a writer, reader, teacher, and researcher. What theories guide your work in these endeavors? How has your experience thus far reinforced or changed these guiding ideas? We’ll return at the end of the quarter to this position consideration and you can judge if and how you’ve moved in that time.