interdisciplinary studies of writing
publications
ABSTRACT
 Writing
as a Way of Knowing in a Cross-Disciplinary Classroom
P. T. Magee, Biological Sciences
Carol Miller, American Studies
Janine Hockin, Research Assistant
The three-quarter Continuing Education course, "Ways of Knowing," serves
as the site of this project and offers a unique laboratory for
analyzing how students understand and acquire abilities to make
use of distinctive features and conventions of academic writing
across the six disciplines which constitute the subject matters
of the course. Concrete comparative information about discreet
features, processes, and objectives of disciplinary writing, and
how the information is transmitted to students, is being gathered
throughout the course.
To accomplish collection of information, we are using three techniques:
1) Informal journal writing that is completed and collected in
class, collated, and reported upon by a different student volunteer
in each segment; 2) Formal journal questions answered by students
outside of class and summarized by the project research assistant;
and 3) Interviews with faculty and students concerning each specific
discipline, including comparisons to the others. Informal journaling,
formal journal questions, and the interviews are focused on discovering
the characteristics of writing in a discipline, student responses
to the writing and acquisition of discipline-specific features
of writing, and possible connections between writing and learning
in a field of study.
Thus far, the informal in-class journal writing (completed in
the third week of each five-week segment) serves as a forum for
students to express initial impressions of the discipline, student
concerns about class interactions, and individual responses to
grasping new course material. Formal journal writing questions
reveal that students can clearly identify several writing characteristics
of each discipline and understand organizational patterns and
themes. Though most students do not believe their writing reflects
the writing of professionals in the field, they are attempting
to imitate professionals in the disciplines and find value in
that process (it helps in understanding how a scholar thinks).
Students unanimously affirm through the formal journal writing
that their understanding of the subject matter in each discipline
increases through writing. They attest that writing organizes
thinking, forces contemplation, adds to growth and understanding,
and develops thoughts.
The two faculty interviews conducted thus far have been very
fruitful, revealing the faculty members' opinions on characteristics
of writing in their disciplines, recent changes in the writing
of scholars in each field, the kinds of writing assignments given
to students in classes, and faculty concerns relating to inadequate
time spent in nurturing discipline-specific writing. Both faculty
members interviewed discussed their own personal writing techniques,
including thoughts on whether immediately committing ideas to
writing forecloses new ideas or serves as a technique for further
developing them.
Winter and spring quarter research will continue with informal
and formal journal writing, faculty interviews, and will include
end-of-the-year interviews with students.
|
