Notes from the Proceedings of the Student Writing in Transition Symposium 2011, Nottingham Trent University

Bringing the University to the student and the student to the University

Lisa Clughen, NTU

- What we encounter; how we understand this; how we respond

- Why awareness of ‘skills’ is not enough for writing

- Students diagnose what they need via a skills discourse

- ‘skills’ the dominant paradigm for students and tutors

- Embedding the skills is sometimes ‘bought in’ and separating out skills and subject (autonomous approach?)

- During workshops, students quite good at articulating writing processes

- Writing is deeper than ‘skills’

Experiences from students

- Not understanding the reading

- Text books difficult

- Getting head round information

Therefore, it’s the content of the course. So literacy should be a development in thought, not skill. And this shifts how we support writing.

Moved away from skills towards literacy as a social practice. Always embedded in social practices. So writing is not decontextualised, it has its own connotations in diff disciplines. So we need to unpick these connotations.

Epistemological – how you think/approach data structures how you write. i.e. if you see the world as facts, you will write that way. If its dependant on historical influenes then that will impart in writing, if its negotiable then it will influence writing.

Language effects the epistemology. Shift towards own epistemological stance. (This is/could show conditional tense reflecting negotiable subjects as an example).

Identity/self/being/power = judging, identity (see SB), being; i.e. you are positioning yourself!

Emphasise difference(s):

- How do historians write?

- How do you write as a history student?

(Historians write as an accumulative basis of the perceptions of others…)

Unravelling Writing Cultures

For Central Services: How do you unpick nuances across the disciplines?

For Lecturers: Unconcsiously competent so need to move to be consciously aware of skills. Teasing out the epistemological stance is tricky.

Staff say its about critical analysis and overlook cultural features of the disciplines. How do we get into the culture?

Identity and Difference

Defined by what it isn’t just as by what it is.

English and sociologists have diff epistemologies. They look for different things. Identity is relational and marked by difference.

Professional literacies. Diff. videos of professionals showing differences in writing (eg. Solicitor purposefully writing in a complex way rather than clearly).

Debunking common myths re writing. EG. In law, passive voice (i.e. contract wasn’t signed – no blaming); complicating clauses; dull writing to turn people off.

So, should writing be clear? It depends on the context, purpose, identity, audience! Writing is cultural; its diff in diff places.

How do we get into cultures?

- Putting methods used in one-to-one online

- Ask about lectures and seminars to unravel features of discipline

- Lectures! Up to date performance of cultural conventions of the discipline

EG: Thinking, writing & speaking as an English student. How to’s for English/dissecting the epistemologies (using lecture clips):

- Contextualising texts

- Historicising texts

- Positioning literature

After which it’s ‘over to you’ via cloze activities. What is the data? English, it’s literary. So look at the metaphors, characterisation, etc. In English = close readings of text; more quoting (in other subjects, more paraphrasing). Epistemologically – theorising texts in english.

Get students to unpick lectures shaped as they are.

Students as citizens?

- 2^nd section in VLe

- Looking for peer feedback

- Developing

- Set up activities for students to pick n mix

- Questions about lectures

- Activities for making most of feedback

- Implicitly, gives up authority – student led/facilitating

- Stress the joys of writing

* Needs to be structured. Pull out examples. Get students to look for others.

Notes from the Proceedings of the Student Writing in Transition Symposium 2011, Nottingham Trent University

Student writing and the transitions from school to University

Sally Baker, OU

• Multiple transitions – shifting discourses, commonalities. Here’s a case study.
• PhD project – final yr
• Framed by economic uncertainty and increase in fees

Medium of assessment is usually written (Lea 1999). Implications of ‘high stakes’ writing are far reaching. Transition viewed as pivotal in writing.

Framed by Ac Lits that sees literacy as a social practice

It is ethographically styled. 2 yrs in the field with participants recruited from 3 diff types of institution. Interviewed students 5x each (6 overall and communication via Facebook)

Discourses in Writing

Ivanic (2004) ‘Discourses of writing and learning to write’ Language & Education 18 (3) p.225

She identified 6 discourses. All represent a view about language:

1) Skills discourse (language as transferable, neutral, mobile)

2) Creativity discourse (views writing as a product of writers creativity)

3) Process discourse (composition, process, intro, conclusion, editing)

4) Genre discourse (Communities of practice, concerned with audience, purpose driven)

5) Social Practice

6) Socio-political discourse

Is there a 7^th one? An assessment discourse?

Case Study – Kate (made up name!)

- traditional path into uni

- a concord student (2 a’ levels at school, one from FE)

- Gained ABB

- Degree in English at a post 1992 uni

SB asked students to supply examples of successful and unsuccessful work/pieces of writing, plus a literacy log, plus copies of FB statements. Students bring pieces of work to interview and explain why it is/isn’t successful.

Materiality of writing is of note. It’s normal to handwrite at school and normal to WP at uni. Are there implications to this?

Kate’s literacy log shows that she includes FB entries, emails, etc. She was confident in her writing and found it ‘quite instinctive’. Also, proud of her writing and talks about English writing being easier than psychology writing. At uni her confidence became much lower and finds writing ‘really, really different’. Mentions difficulties with word count.

Findings

Commonalities in practice. Dominant framing = PEEing = Kate’s ideologies

PEEing = what we’ve been taught. Point, Evidence, Explanation. Kate’s methodology, followed rigidly. Also PEEing found in reflective writing. Finds it useful or a familiar shadow.

A place to promote her feminism. Kate described herself as a feminist. Takes feminist stance in writing…negotiating and holding onto an identity in writing.

Distinctions in practice

Diff writing/assessment schedules

Kate’s worries:

- Managing ‘bunched’ workload

- Increased complexity in content

- Meeting word counts

- Referencing/plagiarism

- Turnitin software

- Inconsistency and conflict in the assessment demands of ind. Lecturers, particularly the materiality of writing

Feedback practices:

- summative marks, no reference to PEEing

- No possiblility for improvement

- In HE, more feedback, notes and rubrics. More info about how they deal with it.

Discourses of writing and learning to write

Successful writing at FE falls into ‘process discourse’.

HE – what’s success? – grammar, style, audience, standards meet criteria. So a blend of skills, genre and assessment discourses.

But where’s the creativity discourse? Heuristically – use teachers feedback to disentangle discourses in writing.

FE = assessment discourse; i.e. marks, no dissection of writing

HE = Draws on skills, genre and assessment

Next Steps:

- Compare this data against others in the sample

- Look for other egs of PEEing

- Further explore the assessment discourse of writing and learning to write

- Could PEEing be a result of school and sixth form education? A dominant framing?

- How much do the discourses of lecturers effect and influence writing?

- Range of disciplines (science, humanities, law).

Notes from the Proceedings of the Student Writing in Transition Symposium 2011, Nottingham Trent University

From Transition to Transformation: students shaping their experience and their institutions

Dr Marco Angelini, UCL

1/3 of students experience ‘doubts’ in their fist year of uni.

Fees may exacerbate these feelings

NTU using tutorial teaching to combat this

3 Themes:

1) What are the differences in learning in school, FE and HE

2) What can HEI’s do to help their transition

3) How can we help students develop writing in their discipline

Peer Mentoring programme at UCL.

‘Students as agents of transformation’ or as ‘transformers’.

UCL transition programme is discipline based and practice based. Transformations in students, staff and curriculum.

The transition phase = a) pre-enrolment b) induction week activities. Preparatory work is put in place re online support, pre-arrival info, VLE. Within induction week there are ice breakers, tours and allocation of mentor groups using 400 mentors. 8 out of 10 meet weekly within their discipline.

The first 3-4 weeks is about social acclimatisation. Beyond 4-5 weeks, UCL ask mentors to turn these groups into peer assisted learning groups. They have weekly meetings in booked rooms with ‘set’ structured plans. Mentors receive training. In semester 2, the peer mentoring continues on a voluntary basis and group take ownership. Most students want to be PAL leaders on a voluntary basis.

Extension opportunities for mentors exist. Transformational leadership that PALs provide is central. Transformation as Ethos, Process and Outcome – its paves the way for a lot!

Student as ‘Metron’ (ancient greek word for man as a measure of things – centre of any good society has engaged citizens)

- A ‘student centre’ or putting students at the centre?

- As critical practitioners/learners – taking mentoring with you

- As the measure of all things (protagaras); gaining mastery through student experience.

Best transformation is student and mentor lead. Transition is in the detail:

- Prepare, do, review – critical reflection leads to agency

- PAL and participation; student agency effects T&L strategies. Does PAL have epistemology?

- Students as practitioners: taking responsibility

- Students as agents of the community with responsibility and critical engagement equals constantly transformative and aids metacognition as it reveals subjects to be negotiable = PAL epistemology

Adding it all up:

- practical approach (praxis-oriented approaches)

- feedback loop of all good practice

- communicate with each dept separately

Called ‘Transition Mentors’. Benefits (for mentor):

- learning to learn

- insightful

- informs own work

- they become reflective, critical thinkers and self aware

- comes through in grades

74% of mentors would continue

90% would be mentors again

98% would recommend

Students agreed that PAL sessions helped with writing and structuring. PAL is labour saving and complements departmental and school work

Summary

- Collaboration is central i) strategically, ii) ethically and iii) pedagogically

- Students as engines of institutional change

- Students transform themselves, disciplines and communities they move into