What is the "End of Composition"? How do we get there? What are the principles of good writing instruction that will get us there?
I believe the end goal of composition courses should be that the students of the courses should know how to communicate well. Effective communication encompasses several aspects of writing: one must know how to think critically, make logical arguments, and phrase their thoughts in such a way that is convincing to their audience or, at the very least, write in such a way that is clearly understood. I think a lot of what is going on in 1301 is gearing students toward meeting that end. For example, the summary and paraphrase assignments required that students read and comprehend complex material, and though students might not realize it, this practice helps them to communicate better as they are not only seeing examples of articles with good writing (for the most part), but they are also imitating it through their assignments. While not every student will give their assignments the attention they deserve or require, I think the ones who do will benefit and will become better communicators upon finishing their course. And despite the fact that I sometimes have mixed feelings toward the system of ttopic, I've realized that having multiple online graders better enables students to write across disciplines, which seems to be a big purpose of having all Tech students take 1301. Just as students will have to write for several different subject areas throughout their college career, having several different graders will help students to learn how to communicate in a way that satisfies any reader, despite what nuances each person has. That is ideally what the students should be able to gain from a composition course.
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2 comments:
Well said, Stephanie. I like what you had to say about the assignments building on each other. I also agree with your definition of effective communication. Maybe we are helping the students by having a variety of people grade the assignments--even though we sometimes disagree.
Communication is definitely important. No matter what the students do after leaving your class, they will be forced to communicate professionally to get ahead. Writing across disciplines does seem to be a practical method of teaching writing. I'm glad you can find the value in TOPIC there. It's probably good for them to hear a lot of different opinions on what makes writing good.
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