1.
Interview a person who experienced
a historical event.
2.
Post potential interviewee. Give
and receive feedback on potential source.
3.
Read and answer questions from
text.
4.
Post interview of three to five
pages of the interview written in standard essay form for feedback.
5.
Give feedback on all interviews.
6.
Research topic in newspapers,
magazines, books.
7.
Post research material for
feedback.
8.
Give feedback on research
information.
9.
Write and post discussion of
research and interview.
10. Give
feedback on discussion.
11. Write and
post rough draft.
12. Give
feedback on drafts.
Assignment Four is the shortest, in terms of messages and duration,
of the five. There were only 60 messages in the month long assignment, which required
students to interview a person who experienced a particular historical event. Participants
were then expected to research the event in newspapers, journals, and books. This
information was to be combined in an essay of 1700 words or more. The task was complex,
and students immediately had trouble "interpreting" what was expected of them.
Difficulties in Interpretation of
Assignments. Rhonda began with, "Can anyone tell me where, in the assignment
description, it says that this has to be research on something historical???"
Moreover, in the same message, she expressed her dissatisfaction, "This assignment
has me so frustrated!" Julie also posted a message admitting her confusion, "For
assignment that's due on Saturday, what actually do we have to answer?" Monica had
difficulty with understanding the minimum number of resources needed, "When you try
to find the research material, how many materials we have to use?" In fact, she had a
whole series of problems with the assignment: she didn't understand the different types of
materials that could be used as references, nor how to cite them when she did find any. In
another message, Rhonda continued to express her frustration, "And what if I can't
find an author for the article on the net? And what if I can't even find the article again
because I can't remember how I got to that site?" Following that message she wrote,
I am
having trouble figuring out where to put paranthetical references. Often all of the
information in my paragraph will be taken from the same book, same page. Should my
p.r.refer only to the previous sentence, or what? I can't seem to find anything specific
in the book (text)?
Reading and Understanding Online
Text. Monica continued to have trouble comprehending exactly what she read,
expressing that the examples were "very unclear about how to list net info in Works
cited. The example they give is so lame. And they don't explain it. What is that
underlined thing?" Furthermore, she couldn't decipher from the assignment what was
expected,
For the discussion session
for this paper, am I writing the effect to me if I did not leave China? Or am I suppose to
wirte what is the importance of the Cultrual Revolution during that time period? Please
help me to understand this discussion session idea. I will help my mail at home, and I
hope I can get some reply by that time.
"Etalk"
Versus Rhetoric.
Steve's messages in this category show an increased awareness of audience. While he still
uses "etalk," he does so only after taking care of class business, as evidenced
in missive sent to Carl,
I
couldn't agree more, with what you said. Personally I think it's great that you would, and
could comment on all our papers as well as your own group. I especially enjoy your
feedback, and look forward to it. aLoHa, Steve a.k.a. -Da Boy a.k.a. -Da Kid a.k.a. The
Waialaeboy p.s. Just for those of you who
wanted to know (grinz).
Problems of Unstructured Time and the "Newness".
Three students displayed problems with time management during this assignment, Monica
noted, "Thank you for letting me know the rought draft is due today, I just can not
keep up all the schedule." Rhonda wrote, "once again, i am missing deadlines,
and it looks like Robert is Also."
Method of Delivery: Technology.
The largest area of concern was with technology. Many students had complaints. Rhonda
vented, "This assignment has me so frustrated! I don't have a computer at home, and I
have real trouble getting in touch." Robert worried about virus problems, "IF
ANYONE HAPPENS TO GET THIS E-MAIL THAT CONTAINS THE VIRUS CAN U PLEASE SEND IT ME."
But most were concerned about access. Carl wrote, "it took me this long to get back
on-line just to send this! Wow!" Sue commented about the main computer being down.
"Hey everyone! The unix is still down since 4 pm today." The teacher had to change due dates because of the
system, "The system went down this afternoon for quite a few hours, and it's affected
many of you. The deadline for the completed interview will be switched to April 11, Friday
(midnight); the feedback re interviews will be due on Sunday." Melinda had trouble
with strange email messages, "I've been having problems sending messages. Whenever I
try to send something I get an error message that say's "go suck spam."
Little activity took place in the way of discussion about their
writing either in regards to their topics or their processes. Melinda was the only student
who shared her topic selection, "I've narrowed my subject and I plan to talk about
ILWU and the plantation."
Despite the lack of "writing talk," some work was
accomplished. All students but Robert posted their rough interviews. However, after the
initial work, sporadic participation ensued. Monica, Sue, Steve, and Julie completed the
next assignment, reading, then responding to a series of question about note cards and
documentation. Melinda, Cassandra, and Rhonda posted their research material. Rhonda,
Cassandra, and Carl sent their discussion information. However, Monica, Carl, Sue,
Melinda, Rhonda, and Cassandra turned in final drafts of this assignment.
Through the duration of the assignment, the professor revised the
schedule four times to accommodate the class, going so far as to suggest that groups give
feedback to group members only. The first time, as noted previously, was due to
technology, but the others were due to class participation. The first came six days after
the start of the assignment. "I've made some adjustments in the due dates for paper
#4. We can't make any more!" The second change was sent three days later. The third
was sent with a long message, explaining various ways he was willing to help students:
meeting with them at the library, performing a web search for them, or meeting in his
office. The final revision arrived in the student mailboxes along with Assignment Five,
I
don't think I've received all the RD4s. If you haven't shared yours with your group/the
class yet, please do so ASAP. Also, I don't think everyone has responded to the RD4s in
his/her group. These should be completed by this evening (Tues), midnight. I'll be sending
my comments this morning and this evening. REVISED DUE DATE: SATURDAY, MAY 3.
When reviewing the 60 messages sent during this assignment, only
three could be construed as communicative in nature. In response to the teacher's
suggestion sending drafts to group members only, Carl wrote,
Just a thought . . . I would love to continue to read the
contributions of my peers even though we have broken off into smaller, more manageble
groups. Even though I'm not responsible for commenting on other group submissions, I would
still find the reading a good learning experience. I like smaller groups; it enhances
support. I would just like to see all work longer than 250 words sent to the entire class
so we can read more-and ultimately, think more. (Or so it says here on my box of
Fruity-Pebbles!!)Plus, chances are, low-life's like myself with nothing better to do at
3:00 am on a school night can comment if they feel compelled to, superficially or as a
cheer leader encourage people who write/create. I guess what I'm trying so say is that
sometimes people write things that strike a cord. And it's fun to tell people how it made
you feel to read it.
Monica responded,
I love Carl idea, that you
send the copy to the class instead of your group only. That way you can learn from the
other classmates and see how is everything going in the other groups. If you have time can
reply to them, if not you can just reply to your group members. What a super idea, and I
always love suprises.
Steve sent a message indicating his
agreement. However, there is an indication that not everyone read the messages sent
through to the group. After the above interchange, Julie wrote, "I have a question to
ask you. Do we respond to everyone's interview or just the member's in our group? I'm just
responding to the member's. I've been getting some people interviews from other
groups."
The category that received the most attention for this assignment
was in feedback. To start this lesson, the teacher gave more explicit directions than he
had previously.
QUALITY
OF FEEDBACK: Feedback that is superficial will be considered "late"; i.e., be
sure to offer substantive suggestions or comments when responding to your groupmates'
work. (I will read all your work and comments! A comment that consists of "I like
your topic" will be considered superficial.)
The quality of peer comments improved
during this assignment after this, but it is not clear that the improvement was motivated
by this comment. As Carl stated, "It really does wonders for a writer when he/she
receives feedback from readers -- especially encouraging feedback." The movement from
corrective comments to feedback that aids revision was offered by all who participated.
Robert, one student who did not do any of this assignment, still
offered revision comments to his peers. He advised one peer, "Maybe you could explain
it more in the research part of your paper. You could also elaborate more on how the
strike ended." To another he suggested, "It doesn't really focus on one thing or
have a main idea(I think). Oh, there are some sentence errors in the interview." Of
course, he still, at times, relied upon corrective comments only, "VERY LONG THESIS, BUT IT IS CLEAR AND
ACCURATE TO UNDERSTAND. SENTENCES WHICH ARE UNCLEAR ARE IN BRACKETS," and
"Interesting paper."
Others offered in-depth analysis, modeling the cushion method --
say something positive before saying something negative, then end with something positive
-- practiced by many contemporary composition teachers (Flower, 1976; Murray, 1985). Carl
remarked to Sue,
You've really put together
some nice stuff. I especially enjoyed the conclusion/discussion ending of your paper. My
only concern is that as a reader, I missed some of the details that would make your
story/thesis more interesting. I'm not sure it would work, but when you did you research
you could have looked up ads in the newspaper that would provide us readers with stuff
like what specials KC Drive-In was running and how much, articles about how that culture
was influenced by this or that and how that made them better people. Even a couple lines
from a favorite song of you mother's can give us a snapshot into a world before our time.
(Steven King is great at using song lyrics to create a theme for a chapter or a major
point.) I'm not saying that your paper needs anything more or less, I just want to provide
you with my perspective on what might help you drive your thesis home.
Rhonda, too, showed her careful reading of
a peer's work, though she neglected to "cushion" her comments, offering only one
vote of confidence at the end. She wrote,
WOULD
SUGGEST USING "UNTIL" IN PLACE OF "TILL" IN THE FIRST SENTENCE. COULD
YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE BIG FIVE ARE? FIRST SENTENCE NEEDS TO BE STRONGER: "THE SCHOOL
IN P. ONLY TOOK KIDS THROUGH THE EIGHTH GRADE. MR. KAND'S OLDER BROTHER HAD BEEN AMBITIOUS
AND GONE ON TO HIGH SCHOOL AND THEN TO TEACHERS COLLEGE, OR NORMAL SCHOOL, IN ???. HE
ENCOURAGED MR. KAND TO ATTEND HIGH SCHOOL . . ." OR YOU COULD JUST SWITCH THE WHOLE
PARAGRAPH AROUND: "IN THAT DAY, THERE WERE ONLY TWO HIGH SCHOOLS . MR. KAND GRADUATED
FROM H. H.S . . . ." YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SPELL OUT DATES. YOU CAN JUST SAY 1933
THROUGH 1935. AGAIN, WHAT ARE THE BIG FIVE? AND WHY WOULD THEY NOT HIRE JAPANESE PEOPLE?
WHAT PLANTATION DID HE HAVE A JOB AT? EXPLAIN WHAT THE IMPORTANCE IS OF THE PLANTATIONS
NOT BEING MECHANIZED. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SENTENCE ABOUT TAKING RECRUITS. WHO STOPPED
TAKING RECRUITS? THE ARMY? OR THE PLANTATIONS? THE LAST SENTENCE COULD ALSO BE PHRASED
MORE CLEARLY: "MR. KAND'S BOSS WAS A MEMBER OF THE DRAFT BOARD, SO . . ."
SENTENCE ONE: "PRIOR TO WWII, LABOR UNIONS HAD BEEN DIVIDED BY RACE . . ."
SENTENCE 4: "MANLAPIT CONTINUED TO LEAD THE FILIPINO UNION TO STRIKE THROUGH OUT THE
20'S AND 30'S; BUT DUE TO POOR ORGANIZATION AND THE (INCREASING OR DECREASING?) INFLUX OF
NEW WORKERS FROM THE PHILIPINES, THE STRIKES HAD LITTLE EFFECT. I THINK THAT THIS
PARAGRAPH IS OUT OF PLACE? MAYBE IT SHOULD BE CLOSER TO THE END? HERE YOU HAVE MENTIONED
WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE THE WAR; BUT WHAT CHANGED AFTER THE WAR? ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS:
"MY INTERVIEW WITH MR. KAND AND MY RESEARCH ABOUT LABOR UNIONS MADE ME REALIZE THAT
THE ILWU CREATED A . . ." THESE ARE REALLY GOOD STRONG THOUGHTS!
Melinda wrote,
I GUESS THIS IS WHERE THAT
TERM COMES FROM! THAT'S VERY INTERESTING! YOU KNOW WHEN SOMETHING REALLY SUCKS AND YOU SAY
"THAT'S THE PITS!" YEAH, THIS STILL CONFUSES ME . . . I GUESS I'M NOT THAT GOOD
AT QUICK MATH WHY COULDN'T THE GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATE? WHAT HAD THEY TRIED TO NEGOTIATE
ALREADY? COULD YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE MORE WHY THE UPPER CLAS DECIDED TO HELP?
Cassandra told the same student,
You
might want to go through your paper to see what you can cut out. Also your thesis was
noticebly a bit long. For instance you could cut out some of the parts about Bevin. Then
you could concentrate on how the strike changed Britain and people's views of the working
class.
With these kinds of revision comments,
students had something to work with. They could go back to their drafts and look to those
specific places where changes needed to occur in order to revise their drafts.
The density of feedback offered perhaps explains why little was
offered in the way of encouragement. One non-participant voiced his troubles with writing,
and only Carl responded, "Do the best you can, buddy." Incidentally, he noted in
another message that he felt people in the class should have the opportunity "if they
feel compelled to, superficially or as a cheer leader [to] encourage people who
write/create."
Carl was also one of the few who offered any information about
himself during this assignment. He wrote,
I have to tell you also,
Sue, that I grovel over anecdotal tidbits of what many call "trivia". I think it
gives us insight into another world and I bore my wife to tears with stories that most
people have never heard of . . . sorta like Cliff from "Cheers". (noooo! not
THAT bad!).
Julie also made one comment that showed insight into who she is, "About respecting
your elders?! I always respect my elders too!" Both of these comments were made as
asides in their remarks to peer feedback. Other than these two random remarks students
stuck with the task of completing their assignments.
