2.26 Teeacher comments on student writing & more on analysis

Where we've beenm where we are going. We started class with a review of where we have been and an overview of where we are going. So far, we have checked out two methods for collecting data = ethnographic participant observation, and surveys; and two methods for analyzing language data = discourse analysis (looking a connections among what language says, does and allows us to be through the use of Gee's tool), and textual analysis = which is a form of discourse of analysis, but is usually more focused on some of the textual genres you have had experience writing about for literature courses. We also noted some of the specialized "jargon" you are learning that is used by writing studies researchers.

We looked at the calendar and noted that we will be digging deeper into discourse analysis (reading more Gee), and that you will be working on a "Short analysis project". This project will require you to analyze one of the data sets we have looked at as a class. It is your chance to practice and receive feedback on your analytic process. We will set up this project next week.

I also noted that I have emailed you feedback on your research plans for your projects - and that we will be working in more detail on this project after break. If you are not clear on your plan - your question, your references, and how you will collect your data - we should talk. You should be reading your references (because that may take some time) to make sure you have the right essays for the literature review in your project.

Martin's essay. We spent the first part of class talking about Martin's essay on the rhetoric of teacher comments.

You worked in groups on the following questions:

Why does Martin say the study of teacher comments is important (where does Martin address this)What question is Martin asking about teacher comments (+ where does she set it up)?
What does the research literature say about teacher comments? (and where does Martin address this?)How does Martin connect to her review of the literature?
What are Martin’s findings (what does she add to the Conversation about commenting)?
What points does she make in her conclusions?

Most of our conversation was directed toward noticing:

• the kinds of moves Martin made in her essay
• where Martin made certain kinds of statements in her essay (in which part of which section)
• how Martin used headings

And one important purpose of this discussion was for you to think about how you would write/organize your research project. For example, we noticed that Martin used a specific focus for here discussion of the research literature of teacher comments = she organized her discussion NOT by what different researchers wrote, but by a number of categories that are characterisitic of the kinds of comments teachers write (in the subheading = teacher tendencies). This discussion connects directly to her focus on the "effecitiveness" of the differernt communication strategies (rhetorics) teachers use in their comments.

At the end of class I introduced Data Set 4 (posted to the right) = a set of 4 essays with teacher comments. The assignments usesd for these 4 different sample essays are in the blog post just previous to this one.

We looked at the blog post to next class - and then as a whole class, came up with some questions that you, as researchers, might ask about this Data set (essays with teacher comments). Your questions included:

• How do comments reflect teachers' standards for grading?
• Which comments motivate students to revise their essays (and why)? (though this question is pretty close to Martin - right?)
• How can you tell which comments are important?
• What are the differences in how the side comments and the beginning/end students work?
• What different kinds of comments do teachers write that DON'T require students to revise their work = and what is the function of those comments?

You may use one of the above questions - or one created by your group - for your post.

Groups:
Yoleiny, Rikki, Deanna
Alison, Oriana, Chris, Sharyn
Bri, Devon, Amy, Paul
Derrick, Mike, Allyson, Sarah

For next class:
We will begin class with group presentations on your set up for the analysis of Data set 4 (see Blog 11).

Blog 11: With your group - pose a new question about teacher comments. What categories + codes would you use to answer this question? What patterns do you see in our data set with respect to your new question?

For this post you will be going back to the analytic practices we used at the beginning of the term.

Codes are specific names for features, actions, interactions, "things" => anything you notice in your data.

Categories are groups of related codes.

Patterns are statements about relationships among the different features you are analyzing

For a more complete discussion, go back to the blog on analysis.

For this data set, a code might be a question, and 3 categories associated with questions might be questions about meaning and questions about organization, and questions about development. In terms of patterns, you might notice similarities or difference among questions within different categories.