12.20

You should have received a grade sheet with your grade for the term, and a copy of your final research project with a grade and feedback.  Look them over and let me know if you need something corrected.  I will be posting your grade to Keanwise on Saturday.

I have enjoyed our time together in class, and reading your work. Thanks to each of you for participating in our class.  Good luck in your studies - and stop back to let me know how you are doing!

12.18 Final presentations, grades and thanks for the great class!

You gave your final presentations and received feedback on how to finish your papers.  Final research papers are due no later than 12:15 Thursday, December 20.  Send your research paper as an email attachment sent to the course account.

Grades:  As soon as I finish grading the research papers, I will send you an email with your final score for the course.  I will also return the research essay with a score & some comments.

Grades will be calculated according to the point system listed in the syllabus. 

1.  Blog + comments (response to readings; practice analysis, drafts, reflections, etc)               300 points            

2.  Class presentations + group work + participation + quizzes                                                 150 points
3.  Best short analysis project                                                                                                  250 points                            

4.  Research project                                                                                                                300 points 

If you receive a higher grade on your final research essay than on your short analysis, you will receive a percentage score based on the research essay.  If your research essay grade is lower than the short anlaysis score, you will receive all the scores as listed.

After you receive your grade, look over the points.  If you are good with your score, we are all set.  If you feel I made a mistake or that your work has not been evaluated accurately or fairly, you have 24 hours to send me an email stating what you feel should be re-considered - and I will re-examine by assessment and get back to you.  

One day after sending your grades, I will post your final grade to Keanwise.  

Final comments on the course:  Thanks for your ideas on how to make the course work better.  And thanks for all your good work this term.  I really enjoyed working with you - and look forward to reading your work in the writing studies journal of your choice!

12.13 Presentations again

Shana, Kelsee, Kevin, and Tshandi gave their presentations today.  Good job.

If you want feedback on your draft, send your essay as an attachment.  In the email give me some information about the kind of feedback you are looking for.

Have a good weekend, and see you on Tuesday!

12.11 Presentations

Today Sara, Liana, Andrea and Generra gave an overview of their research projects.  Thanks for your input.

For those of you presenting on Thursday - these are the points to hit.

• identify your research question
• talk about what other researchers have written about your project
• point out what your project adds to this area of research and state why it is important
• describe your method for collecting and analyzing your data
• present your findings
• and state your conclusions (as they relate to your research question and the importance of your project to research in the field)

Be sure to post a copy of your latest draft on your blog so your classmates and I can follow along.  

Each of you should have received feedback to blogs 21-24, and blog 25 should be your draft research project.  Feedback to Blog 25 will take the form of in-class comments from me and your classmates.

Blog 26 will be your final research project, and it will be due on the last day of class.   

12.6 Workshop

Note: If you have not sent your raw data/transcript = send it to the course email as an attachment as soon as it is available.  I will need to look at your data in order to be able to respond to your presentation.  Your research essay must be based on an anlysis of your data.

You signed up for your presentation days, and the schedule is as follows.  For the points you need to cover during the presentation, see the previous post.
Tuesday, 12.11: Sara, Andrea, Genera, Liana
Thursday 12.13: Tshandi, Kelsee, Kevin, Shana
Tuesday, 12.18: Valerie, Rachel, Josh, Nahimot, Brigit



Course assessment:  As I explained in class, the rubric (below the presentation points) is to assess how well the course is doing in terms of preparing you to talk about your ideas in relationship to larger issues presented by other researchers or by the culture at large.

Workshop:  You spent the rest of class working on your research essay.  Discussion of the objectives and what you are having trouble with posted on your blogs suggested that focus and organization for the presentation of your data were the big issues, so our workshop focused on that.

To work on focus and organization, you did the following.
Develop a list of what you saw in your data (what it shows)
Rank the points in the list by their relative importance
Choose 3-5 points that are "the most" important, and that fit togehter
Go back to your data and choose strong examples (passages from your transcripts with codes/categories + patterns) that illustrate your points.

After you wrote up these general observations - you talked in groups to "test" your plan.

For next class:
Presentations!
Blog 25: Post your draft so far essay.

I will be responding to Blogs 21-24 by Tuesday so you will have some feedback to go on.

What to include in your presentation + presentation rubric

What to include in your presentation:

• identify your research question
• talk about what other researchers have written about your project
• point out what your project adds to this area of research and state why it is important
• describe your method for collecting and analyzing your data
• present your findings
• and state your conclusions (as they relate to your research question and the importance of your project to research in the field)

Criterion	4	3	2	1	0
Explanation of Issues
Evidence
Influence of context and assumptions
Student’s position (perspective thesis/hypothesis)
Conclusions and related outcomes (implications and consequences)

12.4 Overall form for research essay + what we are doing for the rest of the term

You started today's class by making a map of the sections in a research essay and mapping out what you would write in each section: introduction, review of the research literature, discussion of methods, presentation of data, analysis of data, conclusions.  We then talked through each section in some detail, describing what you will write with respect to your project in each section.

We also spent some time talking through how you are doing with your interviewing and transcribing.  Send me your transcript/or post it as soon as you are able so we (your classmates, you and I) can work on your data together.

Next week you will begin giving presentations on your projects.  I will go over the specific criteria for your projects in class Thursday.

For next class:
Continue working on your project and bring materials to class so you can workshop your writing so far.

Blog 24:  Post a set of objectives for what you need to do to finish your project, and a list of questions regarding any areas where you want help.

11.29 Strategies for analyzing transcripts

In today's class we worked on identifying a focus in your data, and exploring ways to analyze data relevant to your focus.  Using the Identifying a focus and Sample analysis documents posted to the right, we talked through a process for dividing your data into thematic "chunks" (stories) and for thinking about how to use a discussion of those "chunks" as a way to develop a focused answer to your research question.

The Identifying a Focus handout includes named stories from the transcript we looked at earlier (when we were discussing how to create transcripts).  This document was created through the following process.

After the Lorena completed the interview and had spent some time reading through the transcript, she divided the transcript into "chunks" by reading from beginning to end, and naming sections devoted to one subject or that provided an extended story.  Sections were identified by focus.  As you can see from the sample document, most of these "chunks" include talk by both Sally and Lorena (Ch & L).

After she named all the sections in the transcript - she made a list of named sections, and looked for patterns in what the focus was for each named section.  She soon saw that there were many stories about rules = rules associated with school, rules associated with using the internet, family expectations, etc.  She also noted that one issue within all her stories about rules was the issue of agency = the amount of control or authority she had within a given situation.  She noticed that these stories dealt with how much control she had, who had control when she didn't, how she created some measure of control for herself (usually through her storytelling), and how her agency changed from story to story in relation to the focus of her story.

By naming stories or chunks of information, and looking at patterns in the names - researchers can get a quick overview of the order in which different topics are introduced, and how many times each topic iss mentioned.  While this order and focus is in part shaped by the interview protocol - it can also reflect the participant's choices (feelings about what is important) and associations. This quick classification can help researchers identify one or several focuses for their analysis.

After you looked at the stories Lorena picked for her analysis, you spent some time thinking about the following:

• what over-arching theme or focus might you use to make sense of this data?
• what points would you need to make to support that focus?
• how might you use particular quotes or sections from the data to illustrate support your points?

In our discussion, you identified several possible focuses that you could then use to organize your discussion.

For your research paper, you will want to identify a focus that poses an answer to your research question.  You will then want to identify the sections from the interview that provide complex illustrations of how your data answers your question.  We looked briefly at the writing on the Sample Analysis sheet as an example of the kind of naming and classifying that Lorena and Sally did to find a focus, and think about how to support that focus for the data provided in the Identifying a Focus handout.

For next class:

Blog 23: State one focus (or several) that you see in your data.  Post the sections from the interview that you will be able to use to support/develop a discussion of that focus.  State the point relevant to your focus that each chunk of data will illustrate/develop.

In class we will look at your data and work on nailing down your focus + developing your discussion.

As we discussed in class, if there are identifiers in your data that you cannot remove, send your transcript to me by email rather than posting it on your blog.  Same goes for the "stories" or named "chunks" of data.

Have a good weekend and if you have further questions - be in touch.

11.27 Ethnography

Today's class focused on ethnographic research.  We used ideas and practices from Robert Emerson's Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes as a basis for our discussion, and throughout our talk you connected what the issues and strategies Emerson described to your experience with the 911 oral histories we did at the beginning of the term, the discussion where we analyzed classroom culture in terms of the way we talked and the classroom set up, questions and "tools" presented by Gee, and the sample ethongraphic writing and field notes (jottings) I presented as handouts.

Emerson set up his piece by noting that participation, observation, and writing are each components of ethnographic research - and that in practice these three components are essentially inseparable.  He notes that choices about how and what to observe will shape (and are shaped by) how we choose to participate, and that the writing necessary to put our observations in to language will influence both the experience of participating and of observing.

We looked at the three examples of ethnographic description from Emerson's essay and noted his characterization of them as (respectively) focused on:

• physical descriptions of environment/elements of the experience
• moment by moment accounts of what happens (chronological)
• a shifting perspective that "spotlights" characters or scenes

These three different perspectives (and the many possible other perspectives) for turning experience into writing select for certain kinds of information and "reduce" or leave out other information.  Because experience is so rich and messy - it is inevitable that much will be left out.  The ethnographer's job is to document as much is as possible (or as is relevant to his/her purpose) from multiple perspectives so as to create a "thick description" of the cultural meanings associated with the people s/he is studying.  These perspectives will necessarily include the ethnographer's reflections on his or her feelings, assumptions, values, and beliefs and how those feelings etc influnced his/her observations & participation.

Emerson pointed out that ethnographers need to observe a wide range of events, interactions and physiccaly features and that his definition of what ethnography was and how it worked had 4 important implications for ethnographers.

1. What is observed is inseparable from assumptions about what is important and the way the world works
2. Fieldnotes should pay deep attention to the values and meanings of the people studied
3. On-the-spot fieldnotes are essential
4. Fieldnotes should detail interactional processes

We then looked at the sample write-up of an event by a student ethnographer in light of questions raised by Emerson's discussion of ethnography.

• which perspectives/approaches to observation did this ethnographer step into? 
• what did she document?  what did she leave out?
• what were her assumptions associated with this event - and how did those assumptions shape what she included/left out of her write up?

We did not spend much time discussing the "how to" section on jottings.  If you do ethnographic work - pay attention to the suggestions for what to attend to/write down, and for HOW to create your jottings.  The sample jottings (by another student ethnographer from another "event") show on-the-spot jottings followed by "head notes" composed immediately after the event was over.  This student (like the other writer) shifted among perspectives and created a fairly rich picture and "feel" for what happened.  

For next class:

Blog 22:  Post your data so far.  If you have not yet collected your data = post as soon as your data is available. 

We will have a workshop on analyzing your data.  I will talk about how the data sections (methods + data analysis) of the research essay should be organized. Bring whatever data you have so far and we will workshop your material.  See you Thursday!

11.20 What you learned from your short analysis project + transcription

We started class by going over the feedback to your short analysis project.  I asked you to do some writing about:
what the feedback asked you to do;
what you would need to do to "do" what the feedback asked for (and if you knew how to do it);
and how you would apply what you learned from writing the short analysis to your research project.

In an overall discussion of how the projects were going, I observed that most writers had a good research question, that most of you identified some codes/categories, and that in general you concluded with observations relevant to your research questions.  The biggest areas for improvement were in terms of identifyng and defining codes/categories (features of your data) that were relevant to your research question, and to describe correlations  between those categories/codes as a way to illustrate or "prove" an answer your research question.  Your analysis is your "proof" that your answer is right.  Your data is your evidence.  I'm hoping the examples in class made this more clear.  If you still have questions - once you collect your data=> schedule a conference!

Creating transcripts.
We talked through the mechanical process of creating a transcript (listening to your audio recording, typing what you hear into a document and marking where you are in the audio record on your written record so you can go back and forth between the two.  We also discussed how as you transcribe, you will make decisions about  what features you will record  (for example, what was said, who said what,  laughing, long pauses => what ever else you choose) and what you will not. I suggested making some notes on your interview protocol to help yourself out with recognizing terms that won't be immediately obvious within the flow of conversation (names for places, people, slang, unusual words, etc).

We then looked at the sample posted to the right and talked about the process of creating a transcript (a written record of what was said in your interview) and how you might use different versions of "what was said" for different purposes as you do your project.

For next class:
Get started on you interviews and transcriptions.
Read: writing ethnographic fieldnotes, p. 1-13

Blog 21:post reflections on what you learned from your short analysis project  (what you need to do, how to do it, and how what you learned will apply to your research project).

In class we will talk a little more about transcription.  Spend some time looking through the 4 different versions of the same conversation listed on the Creating transcripts handout.  We will also talk about ethnography.  Although you will not do an ethnography, you may use some ethnograhic methods in your research project.

Have a great Thanksgiving and see you next week.

11.15 Introduction + Literature review workshop

Overview of the sections in a research paper

In class we analyzed the organization of the introduction & literature review for Glynda Hull's essay.Our analysis showed the following sequence of 'moves.'

Introduction
starts with an example
explains what the example in terms of the essay's focus
states what the essay will do ( what the essay is about in general)
re-states what the essay will show in terms of the specific content of the essay's discussion
States why discussion of this content is importnat
Point by point discussion of what the essay will do (how she will analyze/study the content)
detailed statement of the importance of this kind of analysis/study

Literature review
Set up
- why the sources you are reviewing are relevant/important to your research question
similar topic
similar problem
widely cited as the authority on your topic
point out the importance of how/what your work adds to the study of this topic
- idenntify/define specialized language

For the discussion of the partucilar references, Hull discussed one idea at a time.  She introduced the idea, provides quotes from the literature, and then discussed what the quoates show.

In this part of your literature review, you can organize your discussion by  ideas, by the points you will make, or by researcher.  Again - include a discussion of what your project will add for each section.

For next class:
Blogs 19/20:  In light of today's discussion of introductions and literature reviews = revise the post that was due for today (your draft intro + literature review) and re-post along with replies to points listed below:

1.  What are the strengths your writing for the introduction?  What do you need to work on? 
What are the strengths of your writing for the review of the literature?  What do you need to work on?

2. What is the research problem identified in your introduction?  How do you point out what your research project will contribute toward resolving this "problem"?  In other words, what have you written about  the importance of your project for writing studies?

3. What have other researchers found out about your topic that is relevant to your research project?

4.  How do you connect findings from question 3 to the purpose of your project?

5.  What is your plan for finishing/revising your introduction and literature review?

6.  What feedback do you want from me?

I will provide feedback/comments for introductions/literature reviews and notes posted by Saturday, noon, November 17.  

I will be grading the Short Analysis projects and will return them before class November 20.  We will spend the first part of class talking about your projects, what you learned, and how to apply that learning to the final project.  

We will also spend some time talking about transcription - and making sure you are all ready to move forward with your research projects.

11.15 Workshop on introduction and review of research

Write a note to me that reflects on what you have written so far for your introduction + review of the research.  In this note, comment on the following.

1.  What are the strengths your writing for the introduction?  What do you need to work on? 
What are the strengths of your writing for the review of the literature?  What do you need to work on?

2. What is the research problem identified in your introduction?  How do you point out what your research project will contribute toward resolving this "problem"?  In other words, what have you written about  the importance of your project for writing studies?

3. What have other researchers found out about your topic that is relevant to your research project?

4.  How do you connect findings from question 3 to the purpose of your project?

5.  What is your plan for finishing/revising your introduction and literature review?

6.  What feedback do you want from me?

11.13 Practice interview protocols

I started class by drawing your attention to the revised calendar (posted to the right).  Because of the storm, we are on a tight schedule for finishing up your research projects.  I have collected informed consent forms from almost all of you, and those of you who have yet to line up your subjects and arrange your interviews should do your best to get your forms in as soon as possible.

Short Analysis projects:  You turned in your Short analysis essays, and I will return them with comments next Tuesday.

Interview protocols.  You also turned in your interview protocols, and most of today's class was about getting ready to do your interviews.  We reviewed the handout on doing interviews, and one of its points was that you will need to "test" your interview protocol before actually conducting your interviews.We discussed  the overall procedures set forward by the handout, and then you worked in pairs to test your protocols. Discussion at the end of class indicated that you noticed both that you repeated some questions - and that you left other questions out.  Hopefully today's practice will result in some thoughtful revisions to your protocol.

For next class:
In class on Thursday, we will take a look at the sample introduction and literature review that I handed out in class.  If you were not in class, I will leave some extra copies in my mail box by the English Department.  After we talk through the form used in Glynda Hull's essay, you will workshop what you have written so far for your introduction.

Read:  Sample introduction + literature review.   Excerpt from "Hearing other voices" by Glynda Hull

Blog 19:  Post a draft introduction and literature review for your research essay.  The more writing you post - the more you will have to work with on Thursday.  This does not need to be perfect.  It can include questions, requests for help, and drafty sentences that you know you will need to re-write.  The point is to get started on this!!!

Your draft introduction should state your research question and why it is important to language research, what other researchers have found with respect to your question, and how your research contributes new information.  Your literature review should discuss in detail relevant findings by other researchers who have studied your question.

11.8 Assignment sheet for Research project, Revised Calendar & final workshop for analysis paper

Research Project:  We talked through the assignment sheet for the research project  in class today.  For those of you who were not in class => pay attention to the due dates at the bottom of the sheet.

I provided feedback to the interview protocols you posted on your blog, and we spent part of this week workshopping and revising them; the final drafts for the interview protocol is due by Tuesday, November 13.  I will grade them, give you final feedback, and from there you will be ready to collect your data (after you have turned in your permission forms).

Short analysis project:  Most of today's class was devoted to revising the short analysis projects in light of comments to blogs and feedback during conferences.  See 11.6 post for general suggestions for revision - and make sure you hit the points on the assignment sheet.

Revised Calendar.  Because we have missed so much class, I have revised the calender for the rest of the term.  It is posted to the right. You can see that we will be spending lots of time working on your research projects - and that you have several "check points" where you need to post sections of your work.  Because this class is about teaching a research method, and not simply about putting an evaluation on a final product, not posting the draft sections (or turning them in to me by email) as they are listed on the calendar & assignment sheet will result in a lower grade for your final project.

For Tuesday, November 13:
Blog 17: Post your FINAL interview protocol.  Also send the Interview Protocol to the course email as an attachment.
Blog 18: Post your draft short analysis.  Also send your short analysis project to the course email as an attachment.

Review Gee.  Pay particular attention to the chapters on figured worlds and context. 

11.6 Catch up - short analyis project and data collection tools

We had a small class today so we spent our time in a computer lab, working on getting the short analysis project ready for a workshop this Thursday, and revising/re-thinking the interview protocols.

For next class:
Bring your signed permission forms if you have not done so already.
Blog 17: Revised Draft Short Analysis project

At the beginning of class we will take stock of where we are in terms of both projects.  I provided feedback for Blogs 15 & 16.  If you didn't have Blog 16 posted by today (the draft interview protocol), if you post it by class Thursday I will take a look at it over the weekend.

We will have an in-class workshop on the short analysis project on Thursday, November 8.  The final draft will now be due November 13.   You will send the  final draft as an attachment to the course email.

Hope things continue to return to normal for you, and I hope to see you on Thursday.

11.5 Wow.

I hope all of you are safe and well.  I feel pretty lucky my house didn't get crunched by a tree or flooded so that's good.  I don't have power or internet.  I am here at an internet cafe so this is going to be a short post, but I wanted to give you a heads up - and let you know that ENG 3029 will be here waiting for you when you get back.

When we meet (this Tuesday or next - depending on Kean and whether or not you can get to campus) we will talk over how to put things together for the rest of the term.  

I have not had a chance to do any more on your drafts for the short analysis (no internet) but will be able to work on that as soon as school opens (Kean will certainly get power before me - I live in an urban forest => or used to.  Lots of trees/power lines down).  

I am expecting to pare back on readings and to focus on finishing your projects (lots of workshops).  I am thinking we will finish Gee (because you will need to apply his methods for your projects), and read the Coach Bombay article as an introduction to ethnography.  The rest will pretty much be focused on supporting you in collecting and analyzing your data, and on writing and revising your papers.  

I will be on campus as soon as  school opens..  If you can't attend class and you let me know and I will try to be in touch with you.

I am sending  all my thoughts and nonsectarian prayers your way.  Take care and be safe. 

10.25 Interview protocols + final short analysis project

Short analysis projects:  Most of you have attended (or will soon attend) your conference on the short analysis project. The final draft will be due November 6.  We will have one more workshop (next Thursday).  
Suggestions:

• Set up your essay with a clear statement of your research question.  State the purpose of your essay (what you will show) with respect to that question.
• Make sure you define your codes and categories.
• Present your analysis in a way that illustrates how the codes and categories relate to (what they show about) your research question => for most of you a table will be a good idea.
• Discuss patterns = the relationships between codes and categories and the focus of your research question (e.g. how features of the punchline contribute to the "funniness" of shaggy dog stories; how the features of a comment's complexity contribute to whether students will respond to that comment; etc)
• Use your conclusion to point on what your analysis shows, what it can't show conclusively, and what questions it raises

Interview protocols.  We spent the whole class today talking about interview protocols (the set of questions you will use to guide your interview) and theories for conducting interviews and for designing questions.

We developed general guidelines for conducting an interview that included the following suggestions..
Beginning questions should set up the purpose of the interview, get the participant oriented to the interviewing process, and establish your persona (about 10 minutes)  These questions should be "easy."
Provide an opportunity for an overall story about the interview's focus near the beginning of the interview. This story can set up "themes" or reveal the participants general orientation to your focus.
Many interviews are organized chronologically.
Allow participants multiple opportunities to answer the same or similar questions from multiple perspectives.
Ask primarily open questions, though changing-up with yes/no questions can allow participants to access their memories from different orientations.
The interviewer's primary task is to direct the participant's attention to the focus; at the same time, do not assume that "off-topic" answers are always off-topic (follow up with = can you tell me more, or what do you mean. . .) 
Choose respectful, non-confrontational language

You then read through Hawisher & Selfe's interview protocol from Literate Lives in the Information Age and described how it was "built,"  and whether or how you could use their organization as a pattern for your interview.

For next class:
Read: Gee, Chapters 6 & 7 = these chapters are primarily examples and applications of terms introduced earlier.  This week
Blog 16: Post your draft interview protocol

BRING COMPLETED PERMISSION FORMS.

During class I will present the assignment sheet for your final research project, and we will we will continue to work together on applying methods from discourse analysis to different data sets.

Conferences on Short Analysis

Tuesday
12:30 Kel see, 12:45 Sara, 1:30 Brigit, 1:45 Nahimot,
2:00 Liana

Wednesday
1:00 Valerie,  1:45 Tshandi, 2:00 Kevin

Thursday
10:00 Rachel, 10:30 Josh, 12:30 Shana

Monday
11:15 Andrea

10.23 Permission forms and Figured Worlds

Permission forms and debriefing. I handed out signed copies of the permission form you need to provide to your research participants.  I role-played (thank you, Tshandi) the kind of talk you need to go through with your research participant to present the permission form, and pointed out the different places on the form that you need to sign and provide contact information.

I have posted electronic copies of the forms to the right.  If you lose the signed copy - you will need to print another copy (from the link to the right) and ask me to sign it.

You will need to give one signed copy to each participant, and one collect one signed copy to give to me.  You should provide me with the signed copies either before or when you begin collecting your data.

We also looked at the de-briefing form.  Be sure to fill in your name, email, and phone information so that your participants can be in touch if they want to.

Form-function correlations, situated meanings, and figured worlds.   During the second part of class we talked through a transcript from an interview with a Kean student who was very experienced with computers and gaming.  The focus of the interview was on defining literacies and gaming practices - and whether there were any points of overlap in these definitions.   We noticed in the talk between Ch and B that Ch very much wanted to identify the kinds of learning, problem solving, and social interaction associated with gaming with academic literacies, and that B was - if not reluctant to do that - then at least he was not initially seeing the connections.  We noted the persuasive moves Ch made and the ways B received those moves.  We also noted B's comments with respect to gaming (fooling around, for leisure & recreation, not as important as work - but at the same time it was his passion) and noted that taken together these two conflicting sets of orientations towards gaming seemed to include assumptions, values, and beliefs about video games that might come from two different figured worlds/cultural stories = one for the mainstream or standard story about of video games as a waste of time or "fooling around,"  and another where they are part of an identity (Discourse) for a group of people who are very good at a set of interactive practices, who see themselves as "outsiders" in some ways (at least outsiders with respect to the mainstream - maybe including school)..  Ch's comments seemed directed toward linking the learning strategies in video games with literacies where literacies are ways to make meanings through practices associated with reading + writing  ("that's literacy. . ." "so you know a lot of software?" etc).  Her assumptions, values and beliefs about games (and literacy) seem to come from a different cultural story => one common among composition teachers and researchers who study learning and new communication technologies.  So in some ways - Ch and B were using the same words = but with different assumptions, values and beliefs attached to them, so they were not really understanding each other.  B would need to re-arrange the way he thought about "gamer Discourse" - in some ways - to receive what Ch was saying about gaming and literacy, and Ch needed to think about the difference B was pointing out in more detail.

At the end of class, we took a minute to do some writing/thinking about the nature of what was at stake for B to remain in his story, and for Ch to get him to change, and vice versa.  Keep thinking about that one - as it brings together the three points in chapter 5 about form-function correlations (how meanings are made with "rules"), situated meanings (how the ways certain uses in particular times & places make meanings) and figured worlds - how the assumptions, values & beleifs attached to certain language and use ALSO make meanings. 

For next class:
We will be working on interviewing - so come to class with some notes, ideas for the kinds of questions you want to ask your interview subject.
Blog 15:  Post your best version of your research question for your final research project.  Write a description of what kind of information you want to gather from your research participants, and begin a list of the kinds of questions you want to ask to gather your information.

10.18 Workshop on Short Analysis Project + using some of Gee's terms

NOTE: assignments are now significantly different from what is listed on the calendar. DO NOT use the calendar as a reference for what to do next class.  Use the Read/Blog assignments listed at the end of Blog posts as directions for how to prepare for class.

During the first part of class you used the set of questions on the worksheet for workshopping the short analysis project (posted to the right) to make sure you had a strong question, appropriate codes and categories, and a good strategy for using your codes & categories to answer your question through analyzing your data.  I checked in with each of you and it looks like you are all on the right track.

Using Gee's language in our own example.  During the second half of class, we started an analysis of a community of practice (school classroom participants in general and our research methods class in particular ) in terms of the kinds of saying, doing, and being that takes place within that community.  This was an effort to "play the game" (as in the Yu Gi Oh example) as a way to get a more clear understanding of the terms Gee has introduced.  We made a list on the board of the kinds of things we do in the classroom, the kinds of communications we engage in, and the ways we are => in terms of being students and a teacher.  We included information about what we all knew was expected of us in order to be accepted in the classroom (eg the teacher stands at the front of the class and can move about, students will not circulate around the  class, in class discussioins they address their comments to the teacher, the said, how we interacted, etc).  Within this example, this list of what it is OK to say/do/be is the set of practices defined by (or expected) in our classroom (a community of practice).  These ways of saying, doing and being are also important features of  the  Discourses associated  with this community of practice = Discourses for being a student, and Discourse for being a teacher.

As we noted the ways of saying, doing, and being associated with our community of practice, we raised questions about:
1.  what kinds of meanings (significance) were created through what particular kinds of activities & language;

2   what kinds of practices were both created through our talk = and  assumed as normal or important to the functioning of our classroom;

3.  how our physical location in the room, and how the kinds of things we said and didn't say created particular identities (eg. teacher, student)

4. how our use of language, the physical structure of the room, and our agreed upon practices created certain kinds of relationships (where the teacher "gives" up some power in group work - but continues "surveillance" by circulating through the groups)

5.  the relationships from 4 often are related to the distribution of power or control over social goods (grades, the right to speak, prestige), and we looked at how the "social goods"  created through teacher/student interactions influenced what we would and would not say => as when you observed that students often do not ask about material they don't understand because the social goods of "respect" and "being thought of as a good student=> able to understand the material on your own, may feel more immediately valuable that what might be gained through asking a "stupid" question.

6. We also looked at how the (often unconscioulsy) agreed upon practices within our classroom created certain kinds of connections between identities (being a good student) and practices (coming to class prepared, answering the teacher's questions, staying on topic, demonstrating knowledge of the teacher's preferred topic) and that sometimes "being a good student" could be an obstacle to student's learning needs (asking questions, going back over material from a previous lesson, going off topic to connect to something the student can use to understand the material on the teacher's agenda).

7. Finally, we looked at the different systems for communicating  (the blog, emails, teacher comments, spoken communications) favored students or the teacher.  We might also have considered how the different modes of communication favored different assumptions, values and beliefs about what needed to be communicated regarding our class activities - and how it needed to be communicated.

The purpose of this exercise was to use Gee's language in terms of an experience you are part of.  The reason for identifying & practicing the use of his terms for the "building tasks" is because you can used an examination of what is created in your data (both for your short analysis, and the research project)= as a way to explore what is happening.  Asking about which building tasks are most important, what they are doing, and how they work in your data can help you identify codes and categories for what your subjects are "saying, doing and being" = and you can use those codes and categories to build your theory.

For next class:
Review Gee 1-4.  Go through the examples.  Practice using the language.  Pay particular attention to the terms Discourse, Social language, Conversation, and Intertextuality.

Read: Gee Chapter 5

Blog 14:  Draft short analysis project.  This post should be an ESSAY.  Present your question, codes/categories, patterns, hypotheses and theories in a story form similar to the forms used in the sample research essays we read on commenting and WAW courses.  You may want to use tables or charts to present how your data fits into categories, and you may want to use headings to break your essay into sections.  Good luck!

10.16 Composing essays and Discourse analysis

We started class today with a discussion of Mary Elizabeth Pope's "Composing Teacher Training."  This essay is both a "model" essay for the kind of writing you will create to accompany your Senior Seminar project for the Writing Option Major, and it is an illustration of how reflective, analytic writing both complements a research process, and IS a research process in its own right.

After I read you excerpts from the essay, Teacher Training (which I forgot to send you the link for!) - we talked through "Composing 'Teacher Training'" with particular attention to her composing process.

We noticed the following (below is what we wrote on the board followed by an overview of class discussion):

Activities associated with finding a focus
thinking back on a childhood experience (bad)
a journaling activity where she made a list of topics she would never writ about = conflicted material

freewriting

With respect to these activities, we noted that onflicted  material - things we feel bad or confused about - can often provide good material for research and creative work.  They are "unresolved" = so there is a drive to explore them, and the researcher/writer will have a REASON (other than whatever the assignment demands) for digging into the project. We also noted that freewriting, random associating, talking to friends, browsing the internet, taking a walk = anything that lets material pour into your mind (and turns off your editor) can work as a way to get you to open up new ideas. Putting ideas together in ways you haven't put them together before is central to seeing things "new." 

Research activities

connecting to experience (thinking back on what happend)

visiting physical  places and things associated with your idea

talking to others who were there - or have similar experiences 

peer workshop (discussions with other writers about what connects to your ideas)

As with the "brainstorming" ideas - we noted that the research process seemed to take place through out the writing process . Pope went back and forth between writing - finding more ideas - deciding how to put her ideas into words - writing - and then going through the loop again.  Research activities are not only about reading other texts - for Pope they were about going back to her early experiences.  Psychologists have observed that physical objects - and other people - can serve as "triggers" to detailed memories that might otherwise remain inaccessible.  Photos, places, objects, and other physical artifacts actually seem to "hold" memories for human beings. 

Writing process

trying to write the introduction = part of discovery process

discovery/invention takes place throughout the whole writing process

journaling - to find truth + to craft essay to meet audience demands

clustering = organization association exhaustive categorization/coding

reflective rhetorical analysis = balance between audience + individual truth

We noted that Pope seemed to use her writing process AS PART OF her research process. We also noted that she used her movement among brainstorming, researching, and writing activities as a way to negotiate HER truth into a truth appropriate for her audience.  In some ways, she found what she wanted to say by thinking (and writing) about how BEST to put her feelings into writing.  

Gee and Discourse Analysis

We spent the last half hour of class reviewing the first two chapters of Gee.  In many ways this book is very readable - with lots of examples.  You are READING this text as practice for reading other research methods texts - for when you do research on your own => so you can learn new methods through reading what others have written.  

I noted that Gee's book is set up so that it defines terms, uses them, and then used the terms it has already defined to define and illustrate new terms.  You need to be comfortable with the language in the early chapters in order to be able to understand and use the methods described later in the book.  I identified important terms and page numbers - and that was about all we had time to do.

For next class:

Read: Chapters 3 & 4 in Gee.

Blog 13:  List any terms from Gee you are having trouble understanding.  List/discuss some of the building tasks language does that might apply to your research project.

In our next class, we will begin by workshopping your short analysis projects.  That will take up a little more than half the class.  The rest of the class will be spent clarifying any issues for Gee that you don't understand => and applying his methods in an sample analysis.

Good class = see you Thursday.

10.11 Short analysis project

Today you gave presentations on your analysis of the data from the commenting papers (data set 4).  Listed below are the generalizations we came up with about how to make the analyses stronger/more in keeping with the kinds of presentations in the essays we have been reading.

1. In your presentation of your codes = identify/categorize all codes.  Discuss/set up a classification for which codes are in the same categories, and discuss connections among the different codes in terms of what they mean with respect to your research question.

 2. Present your data as a narrative discussion. 

3. Use your analytic process as a way to develop your research question.  Then - when you write up your findings => use the more detailed, more specific research question to set up your essay.  You can then use this detailed question to organize your presentation of analysis + your findings (as we discussed last class).  

4. Discuss the overall patterns in your data in light of the research question => be sure to relate what you find back to your research question.

Short analysis essay.  After talking through your analyses of the commenting data, we looked at the assignment sheet for the short analysis project.  As pointed out by Liana, this is the warm up or "baby" research paper.  For this assignment - you will develop a research question for an analysis of one of the 4 data sets we have looked at so far.  And you will get a chance to practice writing up all the parts of a research essay except the review of the literature and the methods sections.

For next class:
Read:  We will begin with a discussion of the "Teacher Training" essays - so review them.  This is a model for "auto/biograhical" research.

Also read: Introduction + Chapter 1 & 2 in your text book= Gee, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis.

Blog 12:  We spent the last part of class talking about which data set you might want to work with - and what research question you might ask. This post should include which data set you will work with, a detailed research question, and some ideas for the features of the data that you will be working with.

Also, as we discussed in class - the purpose of working out this question is to focus your post for Blog 13, next Thursday's post = a draft for your short analysis project suitable for workshopping/feedback in class.

10.09 Evaluating analytic write-ups

Today we started class by reviewing where we are and where we are going in terms of projects and learning/practicing analysis.

Review of what we have done:  Beginning with the first day of class - you have been working on doing/using analytic process in the ways that writing studies researchers use and talk about it.  You started by identifying and using analytic process (the logic puzzle + analyzing the oral history interviews & the shaggy dog stories) - and we are moving into methods for representing your analyses to other in writing (the point of the last several blog posts = the analysis of the literacy narratives + the commenting data).  We have read two sample essays - one which presents tables of data and describes patterns in that data, and one which presents a thematic narrative description of patterns in data.

Where we are: you are practicing writing up analysis of data sets that you have not collected.  For your group blog post on the comments, you developed a written analysis that did the following:

1. State your research question

2. Identify the codes/categories /patterns in the data that are relevant to your research question

3. Give specific examples of from the data to show how your codes/patterns relate your data to the research question

4. Explain how the codes/categories/patterns you identified can work as a theory to answer the research question

5. Identify any remaining questions or data that don't fit into your coding/categories = raise ideas for further research

Where we are going next: in class we reviewed and critiqued Nava's essay.  You noticed that the conclusions needed more development, problems with the organization of the discussion of the data, and confusion in the presentation of the methods (specifically the identity of the research participants was not fully explained).  The outcome of this discussion was a  list of features that would characterize a "good" write-up for an analytic research project.

Criteria
Clear, detailed statement of the research question.
Discussion of the research literature or other background that establishes how (or whether) the research question has been answered by other researchers, and why answering the question is important
Description of the methods that includes where, when and how the data was collected + analzyed, along with a description of the research subjects.  The methods should be set up so that they clearly connect to the research question.
Presentation of the data designed to answer each point in the research question.  The organization of the data should reflect the categories + order of discussion set up in the research question.
Conclusions should sum up and generalize "answers" that the data provide

As you write up your short research essays - use these criteria as a guide.

For next class:
With your group - prepare your presentation on the commenting data set.
Read: 'Teacher Training' + 'Composing "Teacher Training"' (handed out in class)
Blog 11:  Complete the points under 4 on the "developing a research plan" worksheet (posted at the right)

In class we will begin with your presentations on the commenting data.  Be sure to hit all 5 of the points listed above under "where we are."

We will use these presentations to reflect on what you are doing well - and what you need more work on in terms of developing an analytic project.  I will hand out the assignment sheet for the "Short analysis project" and you will choose a data set for the analysis.

After the presentations - we will talk about "Teacher Training"  and "Composing 'Teacher Training'".  This conversation is mainly for the writing majors - who will be required to write a composing/reflective essay for their Senior Seminar piece.  This is a particular kind of  essay that is common in creating writing programs and courses.

10.4 Presenting your data analysis

In class today you gave presentations on the analysis you did with your groups on Tuesday.  Your blog post was to write up the work you had done with the writing comments for samples 1 &2 in terms of the tasks you worked on in class (see below)

In your groups you worked to:

1. Review the data (the sample essays with comments)

2. Form a research question with respect to the comments/student's reception/features of the writing context/ comments effectiveness etc

3. Code the data (the comments)

4. Gather and analyze (code) data from your group with regard to how the features of the comments you are studying "work" or what they "do" (your responses to them).  You may find that different group members have different responses - if that is the case try to name the features/factors that account for the differences in response.

5. Identify some patterns with respect to your question - and begin to develop some explanations for why/how the patterns work.

At the beginning of class I gave you some time to review your work, and to develop a presentation that more or less follows the line of presentation in a research paper.

1. State your research question

2. Identify the codes/categories /patterns in the data that are relevant to your research question

3. Give specific examples of from the data to show how your codes/patterns relate your data to the research question

4. Explain how the codes/categories/patterns you identified can work as a theory to answer the research question

5. Identify any remaining questions or data that don't fit into your coding/categories = raise ideas for further research

As you gave your presentations - we talked about how to make sure the discussion covered each of the points listed above.  

Group work for Blog 10.  You then worked on analyzing a larger data set - using a (revised?) version of the research question you posed for the analysis of Samples 1 & 2.  In this analysis, you need to develop an answer to your question that accounts for all the relevant comments in the 6 data papers (two more samples posted in the top right of this blog, two handed out in class).  You will need to code all the comments relevant to your question - and develop a discussion of your codes + examples of how the codes work (as you did in your presentations).  Then develop your theory  and point out any remaining questions.  

Groups:

Andrea, Shana, Kelsee, [Generra]

Corinne, Kevin, Josh, Valerie, [Brigit, Tshandi]

Rachel, Liana, Sara

For next class:

Attend your conference!  Keep your notes.  In class we will talk about using notes from your conference to finish your research plan.

Read:  Where Teachers and Students Meet: Exploring Perceptions in First-Year Composition  Angelica T. Nava

Blog 10: Post your group's analysis of the 6 papers with comments.  

Good class + good conferences!   See you on Tuesday.  I will not be commenting on blogs this weekend.

Conference schedule

All conferences will take place in CAS 324, my office.

October 3, Wednesday
1:45 Tshandi;
2:00 Corinne

October 4, Thursday
12:30 Shana
12:45 Sara
1:00 Josh
1:15 Valerie
1:30 Rachel
2:00 Liana

October 8, Monday
11:00 Andrea
2:45 Brigit

October 9, Tuesday
10:30 Generra

Be in touch to set up a time: kelsee, Kevin, Nahimot

10.2 Practice designing research questions and research projects

On Thursday last week we went over Robin Martin's essay as a model for form.  Today we talked about it in terms of patterns for designing research.  As set up in her introduction, Martin's essay asks the question: how does the form and content of teacher's written comments on student papers affect whether and how they revise their papers.  She uses codes and categories from an earlier study done by Ferris. [ I passed out a copy of her codes for features of comments - and for deciding whether/what kind of revisions students made to their papers; this information is also available in Appendices A & B in her paper.]

After discussing her system for coding comments - we put together a list of features/kinds of comments that students liked and disliked.  These lists from the board are reproduced here.

Helpful comments

on flow - to help develop movement

on organization  - to help plan overall arrangmente

clarity (to help know what needs to be there - if the point came across

point out if there is too much

connect to current ideas of what writing is

help with formal conventions

experessions of interest

encouragement

explanations

references

global suggestions

  

Hated comments

bigxes without explanation

unacceptable/you don't understand

very long comments

change => but not telling how

disagree + net getting something writer cares about

bloody paper

demanding different styles

As we created these lists, we started a conversation about what DIFFERENT kinds of questions researchers might ask about connections between students' development as writers - and the kinds of written comments teachers note on their papers. 

Some possible questions researchers might ask in clude:

• what is the role of positive comments (comments that don't request change) in student response?
• how does the directness of the comment affect whether /how students revise?  do different students need different levels of directness (groups should discuss the different questions among themselves)
• how (or do) comments build a relationship to the instructor? does this relationship influence whether or how students revise their paper?
• can comments increase students' engagement with their work?  what kinds of comments contribute to increased engagement?
• what is the cut off between feeling like the teacher is committed to helping the writer - and feeling overwhelmed?  what kinds of comments contribute the most to feeling overwhelmed? how much of feeling overwhelmed is about the students' situations - and not the commenting? 
• how do negative coments affect willingness to advise?
• differences between talk and written comments
• why do teachers make "demanding" comment
• role of positive comments - can too many comments have a negative effect?
• what are the effects of harsh comments connect to teacher expectations
• which comments (what kinds of comments?  what are their features?) do students tend to take personally - and is that good or bad?
• what kind of comments (or what features of comments) hurt student relationships to writing - why?
• what features of negative comments allow them to help (or not) writers to grow as writers/improve their writing?
• how do the writer's need shape the kind of comments a teacher should give?

Some of these questions still need some work before they would be a useful basis for a research project - but they all raise interesting ideas/problems.

After we talked over the questions and how we might turn them into useful research questions (questions that direct the researcher to the kind of data they will need + the features of the data they may need to attend to) - you worked in small groups to design a question and a project focused on comments on the sample essays with comments posted to the right.  

Groups: Josh, Corinne;  Andrea, Generra, Shana;  Valerie, Brigit, Tshandi;  Sara, Liana, Rachel

In your groups you worked to:

1. Review the data (the sample essays with comments)

2. Form a research question with respect to the comments/student's reception/features of the writing context/ comments effectiveness etc

3. Code the data (the comments)

4. Gather and analyze (code) data from your group with regard to how the features of the comments you are studying "work" or what they "do" (your responses to them).  You may find that different group members have different responses - if that is the case try to name the features/factors that account for the differences in response.

5. Identify some patterns with respect to your question - and begin to develop some explanations for why/how the patterns work.

Blog 9:  Post your group's work on the task outlined above (points 1-5) so far.

In class on Thursday, you will apply your "theory" to a larger data set by looking at more comments from papers, collecting more data  (from classmates) - and seeing how well the patterns + explanations you came up with work on a larger data set.

9.27 Research essays => form and focus

General patterns in presentation for writing studies research essays:  We used Robin Martin's study of relationships between teacher's written comments and student revisions as a model for what kinds of information writing studies researchers put in each section of a research essay.  Our analysis was as follows.

Introduction: identify the focus of the research, identify the research question and develop a discussion of the importance of the research; connect to other researchers + state how the current project is different, give a general description of the project + a general description of the findings

Literature review: discuss research studies that have the same focus, use the similar methods, develop important language or theories, or present findings important to your research study. Be sure to point out how your study brings something new to the findings and methods presented in the methods.

Presentation of your study:  This section (or several sections based on the sub-headings in Martin's study) should present an overview of what you did, your methods (including where you did your study, who your participants were, etc) and a presentation of your data.  If you do a case study or discourse analysis = clearly you will not present ALL your data.  Rather you will present the data relevant to the focus of your study.  If your study is a case study, an ethnographic study, an oral history or a study of literacy narratives or other kinds of data presented in stories = it may look more like a literary essay - and less like the presentation of the charts and data in this essay.  At the same time - the idea that you present "evidence" from the data you collected => and then state what it shows with respect to your research question = is the same.

Discussion of data.  The discussion of the data deepens and develops your exploration of what your data mean.  You may go back to your research question and make a series of points (using the data) to illustrate what your data has found.

Conclusions.  This section draws the discussion of data together by restating the main findings and pulling together and re-stating any generalizations that may come out of those findings.  It also points out any unanswered questions - or ideas for taking your study to the next level.  It might also - as in the Martin study - point out the limitations of your study design or data sets.

Working toward a do-able project with a focused research question.  You spent the rest of class working in small groups to tighten your focus and move in on your research question.  I asked the "listeners" in the group to ask the presenter questions about what they hope to find? where they expect to conduct their study?  what kind of data? what methods?  how they expect to analyze their data and so on. . .  from the wrap up at the end of class, this seemed as if it went fairly well. If you changed your ideas or re-focused your project => update your blog so I can respond to "where you are" with your project.  I will be replying to your blogs beginning Friday.

For next class:
Update Blog 7 (optional)
Blog 8: After you receive my comments to Blog 7 - do some more work on developing your research project.  List references, write to the prompts for 4 & 5 on "developing a research plan" => or develop writing useful for where ever you are in terms of developing your project.

Bring (or email me at the course email) a copy of an essay with teacher comments.  If you bring a print copy feel free to blank out your name.  I will make copies to distribute to the class

In class on Tuesday we will use your commented-on-essays as a data set.  You will work in groups to identify a research question and propose a project where you would study this data set for some purpose related to writing studies.