Advice from Students on Good Writing

Recently, I asked my students: what barriers stand between good and bad writing? What prevents them from handing in quality work?

They had a lot of good insight.  Here are four problems that they identified: 

      

      Don’t overthink sentences:

Students think writing needs to be academic, ornate, and formal.  I have no idea where they got these ideas from.  As a result, their essays can appear like a well-meaning party guest in an ill-fitting tuxedo.  They flex the binder of their virtual thesaurus (AKA Google) and pose as a sesquipedalian.  They bury the subject and the verb in the back of the sentence.  Because, well, if they wrote it like they’d say it, it’d be too causal.   That may be true.  But balance is the key.

Don’t procrastinate:

Another group of students complained that they couldn’t write unless they had an intrinsic drive, so they would just wait until the last moment.  And it’s true.  When an assignment piqued their imagination, they shined.  When they were bored, they dulled.  Many of these students confessed that they loved to write, just not the assignments and tests they receive in school.  Well, that’s understandable. But, truth be told, most people have to work for a living.  If part of your job entails writing, well, it’s contingent on other people.   Just be grateful you’re not a technical writer for a lumber company…unless of course, you work as a technical writer for a lumber company.   

What’s the solution?  Set a specific time and space to write every day.  Or, as one student noted thoughtfully – do the least savory work first. 

Revise:

Many college classes overemphasize the final draft of a paper.  In my experience, many professors will agree to read early drafts if requested, but few require multiple drafts.  And this goes for both grad school and undergrad.  As a result, students never learn the steps or strategies to good revision.  My advice – ok, ok, it’s really Roy Peter Clark’s advice – start big, then go small. In other words, focus first on structure and organization and then edit for style and grammar.  On the first point, I always advise students to re-outline their paper AFTER they have completed a first draft.  This helps capture a big picture overview of their argument and content. It helps to determine a few key factors: order of thoughts, key elements, and superfluous content.  On the second point, I advise – again, not original to me – for students to read their work aloud – emphasis on loud -- and pay attention to the moments when they stumble or sound awkward.

Don't sweat page requirements:

When some students run out of stuff to say…they just talk till they fill the required space.  So, how can you expand your ideas without producing fluff?  Use examples to help provide context to difficult ideas or elaborate on the significance of your argument.  Use conjunctions to link and expand ideas: for, and, nor, but, etc.  Use subordinate clauses to add contrast.  These are sentences that start with although, nevertheless, unless, if.  

Are you a TA or a student?  Comment and share a note about your experience as a grader…or someone being graded. 

Teaching Through the College Transition

In my three years teaching at UMass, I’ve had hundreds of students.  If you count my time as a teaching assistant, that number would be in the thousands.  In all that time, I only met one set of parents – it was move in week and we bumped into each other at a café. 

While secondary school teachers are in a game of chess, negotiating school administrations, unions, helicopter parents and students, College professors are playing checkers.  They have the distinct advantage of singular, content-based focus.  In other words, all they have to worry about is education.  But the singular focus, risks myopia.  College marks that strange, awkward (and now prolonged) transition to independence and adulthood.  It’s those very struggles that often enter into the classroom sideways – chronic tardiness, sleeping in class, plagiarism, generally being unprepared.  Which makes me think – is the single focus flawed?  Would a broader perspective help professors connect with students and teach their material?    And if so, what would that look like? 

UMass, Amherst’s Residential Academic Program (RAP) might provide a model:  Students live together in the same dorm and take three classes together – one in the dorm room.  It’s an opportunity for a small college experience at a big research university.  The class provides a bridge between college life and college responsibilities.  As an instructor, there is one big difference – it’s not just an educational environment, it’s a social environment.  While in my traditional classes, students hardly speak to one another before or after class, in RAP classes, I often had a hard time getting students to stop talking. 

On the one hand, it made my job more difficult – I had to balance a social dynamic in addition to class requirements and content instruction.  But on the other hand, it helped deliver a more meaningful classroom experience for the students.  Many of whom, stay in touch. 

But the parents – for better and for worse – are still absent from the picture.  I’m not suggesting that helicopter parents should make the trip to college.  But is there a presence of absence that should be acknowledge or considered?  And if so, what does that look like? 

Reading an Op-Ed in the Washington Post this morning by Michael Gerson reminded me that there is a complex social and familial dynamic – alongside the complex economic calculation – underpinning the college experience.  And professors would be crazy to think that that doesn’t creep into the classroom. 

Taking College Classes Public Via Tumblr

The emergence of social media fundamentally changes the way people read, discover and create news.  It has also transformed communication and media strategies for business, non-profits and politicians.  Those who succeed are the ones who can shape the conversation, connect with people and build a coalition of supporters.   

In other words, the people who understand and adapt communication technologies have the best chance at getting elected, advancing policy alternatives and driving change. 

While the technology has changed, the principle remains the same.  Take for example the story of Ben Franklin:  In 1729 the people of Philadelphia debated whether or not to increase the amount of paper money in the colony.   Ben Franklin recounts the story in his autobiography:

“Our debates possessed me so fully of the subject that I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled “The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.” It was well received by the common people in general, but the rich men disliked it, for it increased and strengthened the clamor for more money; and they happening to have no writers among them that were able to answer it, their opposition slackened and the point was carried by a majority in the House.  My friends there, who considered I had been of some service, thought fit to reward me by employing me in printing the money; a very profitable job and a great help to me.  This was another advantage gained by my being able to write.”

Over the last three centuries, there have been monumental changes in communication technology (obviously).  But there is one thing that hasn’t changed: The ability to write, to connect and to communicate effects change.  It matters for politics, it matters for business and it matters for life. 

This summer, I have been teaching Media and Politics at UMass, Amherst.  The class provides a historical and theoretical overview of communication technology and how these technologies have been used to govern and effect policy.  But the class also challenges students to engage the practical application of social media.

The class project asks students to monitor and analyze a single issue across a six week period and record their analysis through blog posts on Tumblr.   The project entails three dimensions: 1) the quality of analysis; 2) a strategy memo on how to build an engage an audience; 3) a reflection paper about what they learned about media and politics.  It asks students to break out of the class, build an audience and connect with the world.   

The results so far have been astounding.  The public component of the blog has motivated the students to produce higher quality content and to be actively engaged in the course.  It also creates an opportunity for the students to not just learn about the symbiotic relationship between media and politics, but to experience and understand it.  

Here are some examples of their work: 

http://kirkpas.tumblr.com/

http://herotraitor.tumblr.com/

http://girlmeetspoliticalworld.tumblr.com/

http://endangeredelephant.tumblr.com/

Does Grade Inflation Help Students?

It’s impossible not to notice rampant grade inflation across university campuses and the inflated expectations that inevitable follow. The new question is: does grade inflation help students or hurt students?

According to Inside Higher Ed, professors and Universities that have lenient grading policy give students an advantage in applying to graduate school.

“New research in the journal PLOS ONE has found that admissions officers appear to favor applicants with better grades at institutions where everyone is earning high grades over applicants with lower grades at institutions with more rigorous grading. The research is based on an experiment involving 23 admissions officers and on long-term, real data on applicants to four competitive M.B.A. programs.”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/30/study-suggests-admissions-decisions-reward-grade-inflation#ixzz2ajlbE5qr 

I don’t really care about grades.  I would be happy to give out 100 A’s every semester.  But I do care about quality work.  The problem is that too often students who expect an A tend to pass in subpar work, while the students with low expectations wrestle with assignments and grow by leaps and bounds. 

While higher grades may increase a student’s chances at being accepted to graduate school, I worry that grade inflation teaches students that they can do mediocre work and receive an exceptional grade.  

If that’s the case, then students entering a competitive graduate school or the workforce are in for a rude awakening.  

What do you think? Comment below, does grade inflation help or hurt college students? 

Creating A Meaningful Classroom Experience

I reserve a lot of my class time for students to brainstorm ideas, reflect on assignments and share their work.  Last semester, a little past the halfway mark, we were shifting our focus to the final research paper – the classic 15 page college research paper, the kind that students put off until finals week and then, like an Octopus swimming in a sea of coffee, type 100 pages overnight in a caffeine induced frenzy.  I asked students to take out a piece of paper and fill in the blank: I am writing about x because I want to find out about y.  And then, I asked them to pose a question about their topic. 

I sat and watched the students write for a few minutes and then started the classic show and tell discussion…who wants to share?

But the first student who shared threw a curve ball.  We talked for a few minutes about her topic and then I asked, “what’s your question?”

“Will it be meaningful?” She replied.

That’s not really what I meant, but she struck at the heart of a major and often over looked question that students struggle with: what’s the point?

I remember when I was writing my Master’s thesis, I called up a friend who I trusted and admired and asked him to help read a section and help me think through a problem.  We had a long, creative and reflective email exchange.  But in his last note he wrote: I don’t know why you spend so much time on school, but I hope you find it meaningful. In other words, what’s the point?

At the time, I didn’t have a good answer. I had lots of ideas about how my work was “meaningful” that didn’t necessarily comport with reality…I’m changing the world #Obvi.  In retrospect, it had more to do with answering a question that pricked me.     

But back to the classroom.  So, what makes a paper meaningful? And what makes it meaningless? 

I threw the question back to the students and we launched into a forty-five minute discussion about college. I can’t say the conversation was on topic, but I learned a lot about the way students think about their role in the classroom.

Here’s some of the feedback:

1. A paper is meaningful if it contributes to a larger, local or national conversation.   
2. A paper is meaningful if the student feels like they have the opportunity to gain some mastery over topic or subject. 
3. A paper is meaningful when students have a personal connection to the question or the topic.
4. A paper is meaningful when students receive a good grade.

The irony, of course, is that if the students fulfill the first three items on the list, the last will almost inevitably follow.  While every student could point to a handful of classes or papers that met these criteria, the majority of classes fell short.  So what makes a paper meaningless? According to the students:

1. When the Professors are looking for a preset answer.
2. When they are trying to meet the professors expectations.
3. When they are assigned a topic (When every student writes on the same topic).
4. When they receive a bad grade.

As an instructor or a professor, it’s likely that you have an intrinsic (and possibly delusional) love of your work – how else could you have survived graduate school?  Regardless of your fantasies, it’s unlikely that your students feel the same way.  But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn.  Helping students find meaning in their work and in the classroom makes teaching and learning easy.  It means that students are more likely to meet deadlines, read assignments, write drafts and deliver quality “A” work. 

Using Prezi to Create Dynamic Content for Online Courses

The first time I taught an online class, I wrote and posted 26 lectures.  Originally, I had thought about filming virtual lectures (complete with laugh track).  But I lacked the time, technology and talent to create engaging stylized videos.  Instead, I came up with talking head videos that were more painful to watch than the Nyan Cat on repeat.  So I posted the lecture notes instead. 

This semester, in an ongoing attempt to break out of blackboard, I started to experiment with Prezi – the flash-based presentation software that allows the users to move in three dimensions.  While nothing can replace the face to face experience of the classroom, Prezi adds a dynamic, interactive and playful quality to the information…even more so than video. 

Traditional slide show software like Power Point, are poorly suited to online classes.  Slide shows that artfully incorporate images and key concepts can be great for large presentations.   But they are only ever a compliment to the presentation, not the presentation itself.  Flipping through slide shows without the presenter – even really good slide shows – feels too much like story time at the public library.

But Prezi actual stands in the place of the presenter and encourages the user to have a unique interaction with the content.  It allows you  to move back and forth between the details and the big picture.  It puts the user in charge and allows them to move through at their own time.  They can follow links, watch videos, listen to audio-casts, look at images or simply read the text.   

Four Key Qualities of Good Teaching

Last year, I had the honor of receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award at UMass, Amherst…really it was “a” DTA…I think there were five recipients in all.  But still, it felt good to be recognized, especially in a field where recognition rarely extends beyond the immediate classroom experience.

 

After I won, more and more people started to ask me about good teaching.  Of course, sometimes the questions come out sideways: So, what makes YOU such a good teacher?  

Despite the questionable sincerity, these interactions forced me reflect further on teaching and student feedback and distill the key elements of my experience.  So here’s how I answer:

1) Create a meaningful classroom experience -- Most students don't know why they are in college, nevertheless why they are in my class.  Being able to craft a compelling narrative that connect with the students and that helps explain why the work matters will go a long way.  After all, if the students are bought in, than everything else falls into place. 

2) Value the knowledge that students bring to the classroom -- everybody has something to offer, you just need give your students a chance to share and contribute. The key is to be able to take their knowledge and experience and connect it back to the course content and the larger narrative of the class. 

3) Balance preparation and spontaneity -- it's easy to prepare and it's important to prepare, but if you focus only on preparation you tend to get bogged down talking about the trees while missing the forest.  Spontaneity creates the opportunity for dynamic and lively discussion.  It opens up the opportunity to value the knowledge and experience that your students bring to the classroom – the very thing that you can’t know or prepare for ahead of time.

4) Put students first –in grad school, we’re taught strict reverence for our discipline, but that doesn't always translates to good teaching; we’re taught to put content first and students second…or third.  What does it mean to put students first?  Part of that is valuing the knowledge that they bring to the classroom.  The other part is investing time in students: that means flexible office hours, reviewing drafts, and answering emails 24/7.  It entails a challenging commitment to students.  But it's a commitment that pays off tenfold in classroom outcomes.  

Between Preparation and Spontaneity

Spring semester begins tomorrow.  Early.  I am teaching the same class I taught last semester: PoliSci 399 Interpretation and Methods. At the same time: 8am.   Teaching the same class twice in a row saves a lot of trouble.  There’s no need to prepare new materials from scratch.  I have a baseline of what worked and what didn’t.  I know what to expect. 

But that’s exactly where the problem lies.

I've come to really appreciate the energy that spontaneity creates in the classroom.  The uncertainty, the unexpected, the unaware – they come so easily when you’re teaching a class for the first time.  For all the prepping and planning, I often rely on ideas that strike me late at night or driving to class.  I rely on the classroom dynamic, student participation, questions and reaction. 

The recipe for a successful semester is preparation, clear learning objectives, consistent communication and execution of a plan.  But that’s like mixing up crepe batter without any milk and butter.

I've heard that no one should teach the same class more than three times: once to learn the course, once to perfect it, and once to bore of it.  

While I refined the course based on my experience last semester, I’m not thinking about how I can perfect the class.  I’m approaching it with a different attitude: I’m trying to hold open a space for the mysterious and the unknown.