Scaffolding Writing Assignments to Engage Graduate Students —
Judy Postmus
Background |
Implementation |
Student Performance |
Reflections |
Comments
Reflections
Next time I teach this course, I may shift the critical reflection paper to an analysis paper. In a different course that I taught previously, I required an analysis paper. The students who took that class did a better job of writing and looking deeply at the article than did those students who had not done the analysis paper. For the reflection paper, the writer emphasizes what he or she thinks about the article, but in analysis, the writer must take the ideas a step further; the author answers the “so what” of the issue by creating a thesis statement and addressing what readers should get out of the text. Basically, the writer has to create a main thesis and argue, through the use of the article, to support that point.
When I reflect on the group presentations, I think it will be advantageous to change them in three ways:
- Tighten up the guidelines for the oral presentations.
- Give the students more time to present their materials to the class.
- Be more specific regarding their training on the topic.
Although I know that there are controversies surrounding the efficacy of student evaluations, I was surprised when I got mine back for this class, and I attribute the results to the course upgrades. I received perfect scores in every category, something that has never happened to me before. These increased evaluation scores weren’t tied to student grades, for if anything, the grades for this course were a bit lower than usual; that is, the average of the class didn’t change significantly. I was pleased to see how all the components of the course had fit together this semester, and my interest and enthusiasm for the course may have heightened student interest in it, too. I also believe that the students became more passionate because they could see the value of the assignments. They said they liked the work, and they appreciated the skills and ideas they were taking with them at the conclusion of the course. They also mentioned that they appreciated the attention to diversity, an important cornerstone of our discipline. Although I cannot discern with certainty why the student evaluations were perfect, it was great to get that positive feedback.
