Developing My Theory of Writing
As a new college student, I am taking a hard look at my experiences in writing and contrasting that with my perceived expectations as a college student. I find myself looking at purpose and audience and thinking about how I've approached those two in the past. Audience and purpose are two areas that I would like to discuss in response to “Listening to Students: New Insights on Their College-Writing Expectations” by Lorna Collier and “What do Professors Really Say about College Writing?” by Elizabeth Brockman, Marcy Taylor, Melinda Kreth, and MaryAnn K. Crawford. As a college student, I am unsure of myself as a writer and there are many things I need to learn in order to write more effectively. Developing a theory …show more content…
Crawford write about a large-scale writing assessment from Central Michigan University which discusses different teachers’ results from various teaching techniques and strategies. Professors from all disciplines come together to reflect and assess student writing and were asked to discuss various teaching strategies that would help students become better writers. The participants all seemed to value complexity in writing. Recently, professors have been veering away from five paragraph essays and instead are focusing on more research based writing to promote thought provoking writing strategies. For a good writing assignment, students would be given a piece of writing and asked to discuss the author's ideas by picking out a concept or thought. Instructors are frustrated when students don’t put in the effort they expect. Professors are encouraged to let students write about unfamiliar topics to explore their minds and challenge themselves. Brockman et al. write about the importance of summary and critique. Some teachers believe summaries “are regurgitating information” while others propose that summaries are “complex and recursive.” However, teachers are satisfied as long as there is a complex analysis. Participants stressed that the purpose of writing assignments is to gain the ability to read and comprehend source materials. Professors also say that students need to learn how to evaluate credible sources. It is important for the writer to select specific documents that relate to the audience in a way that he/she can fully engage in the
As a new college student, I am taking a hard look at my experiences in writing and contrasting that with my perceived expectations as a college student. I find myself looking at purpose and audience and thinking about how I've approached those two in the past. Audience and purpose are two areas that I would like to discuss in response to “Listening to Students: New Insights on Their College-Writing Expectations” by Lorna Collier and “What do Professors Really Say about College Writing?” by Elizabeth Brockman, Marcy Taylor, Melinda Kreth, and MaryAnn K. Crawford. As a college student, I am unsure of myself as a writer and there are many things I need to learn in order to write more effectively. Developing a theory …show more content…
Crawford write about a large-scale writing assessment from Central Michigan University which discusses different teachers’ results from various teaching techniques and strategies. Professors from all disciplines come together to reflect and assess student writing and were asked to discuss various teaching strategies that would help students become better writers. The participants all seemed to value complexity in writing. Recently, professors have been veering away from five paragraph essays and instead are focusing on more research based writing to promote thought provoking writing strategies. For a good writing assignment, students would be given a piece of writing and asked to discuss the author's ideas by picking out a concept or thought. Instructors are frustrated when students don’t put in the effort they expect. Professors are encouraged to let students write about unfamiliar topics to explore their minds and challenge themselves. Brockman et al. write about the importance of summary and critique. Some teachers believe summaries “are regurgitating information” while others propose that summaries are “complex and recursive.” However, teachers are satisfied as long as there is a complex analysis. Participants stressed that the purpose of writing assignments is to gain the ability to read and comprehend source materials. Professors also say that students need to learn how to evaluate credible sources. It is important for the writer to select specific documents that relate to the audience in a way that he/she can fully engage in the