I am of the opinion that students need lots of information and examples to help them learn to write. One thing that I think I need to spend some time discussing very early on is plagiarism. I want to make it clear to them precisely what plagiarism is and what is wrong with it (besides that they will get in trouble for it).
Thinking about plagiarism, I was given a "test" in my college teaching class at the beginning of the semester which asked us whether each item had to be cited or not. We discussed it briefly afterwards, but there was also a list of explanations that was handed out, stating why a student needed, for example, to cite a statement from his/her mother in certain situations. It is my hope that this discussion will lead us to our first discussion of good research methods, as I found myself answering some questions incorrectly because I thought they should be cited in the interest of responsible scholarship, even if not for intellectual property reasons. I might ask them to write something previous to or in response to this activity, but that it is integral to make sure that they understand academic honesty.
Another assignment that I'm planning in leading up one of my assignments is a discussion based upon research questions and forming valid/interesting questions. I thought about maybe tweaking the popular drinking game "Questions" to fit this purpose. The point would be for students to see how each question could lead to a subsequent and/or more relevant/interesting research question. So, it would go something like this: I would start by asking, "why was the weather so awful this winter?" to which someone would respond, "what do you mean by 'awful?" to which someone might say, "Is cold weather necessarily bad?" which might prompt, "Was this winter significantly colder than previous winters?" which might eventually lead to questions about global warming/climate change, peak oil (rising energy costs), or the effect of a butterfly flapping its wings in Georgia. The point would be for them to see the slew of ways that they can approach a topic and the ways that they can make said topic relevant for themselves and their interests.
Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Using "Questions" is a great idea. I think that could be really effective and also very funny for everyone. Plus your students will have the advantage over their peers when someone suggests "Questions" at a party.
I really like this idea as well! It sounds like a great way to break the ice and demonstrate that writing can, in fact, be fun. You could probably adapt this to a number of games, including 'Apples to Apples'. You could have a category like 'Topic Sentences', in which students would have to pick the best one. Of course, the silliness factor could get out of control too. You might have students running amuck. Or at least neglecting to take the exercise seriously.
The Questions exercise may also deconstruct the arbitrary power structure of the classroom a bit. Last night in our Modernism Seminar, a long string of questions led to the weird, fundamental question: "Why is art good?" After that, you could hear crickets rubbing their legs. Strings of questions tend to push themselves towards either really difficult fundamental questions, or even infinite regressions (which are always fun). I think it might be an interesting experiment in chaos to bring something like that into the classroom.
I also love the idea of using Questions! Although I thought it was just an improv game, not a drinking game too. How my vistas are expanded. But this also gets them to think about the "so what?" question. Which for some students, will be a constant challenge as they try to come up with an argument that's more than listing differences or similarities.
Post a Comment