4.1 Assessing Short Analysis Project, moving forward with the research project

We spent the first part of class doing some reflection on the short analysis project.  You used the rubric we created in class to assess the sample research projects and the Short analysis assignment sheet to give your project a grade, and to write a description of what you would need to work on to strengthen the essay.

Send your assessment of your essay (using + rubric) in an email, with your essay attached, to the course email.  If your point score and your suggestion for what to work on matcch/are close to mine, you can earn up to 25 points extra credit.

Grade for the short analysis project.  Because you are learning so many new concepts and skills all at once, it is very likely that even though you did your very best on this project, you saw areas for improvement when you reflected on it in terms of the rubric and the assignment sheet.  In an effort to provide a fair opportunity for you to be graded on what you have learned, how much your grade on the short analysis counts toward your final grade will be up to you.  These are the choices.

• You my decide to let the grade you get on this draft stand.  In this case the number of points you earn for the project will count towards the 100 points listed on the syllabus as credit for this project.
• You may re-write this project in light of  feedback and earn the higher grade (what you earn on the revision)
• You may choose to receive equivalent credit for this project based on what you earn on your Research project.  For example, if you earn an 85/100 for the short analysis, but then earn 135/150 on your final research essay (90%), you can elect to replace the 85 with 90 points (an equivalent percentage substituting the score for the final project for the score for the short analysis).

You do not need to decide ahead of time, with your permission I will assign whatever score give you the highest grade.

Updated Research plans.
You took a minute to write down the focus for your research project in light of what you learned/discovered from doing the short analysis project.  I encouraged you take a minute to make sure you phrased your focus in terms of the scope of your study.  In other words, because you are doing small studies, usually with only a few participants, you data is only capable of shedding light on your problem from a very limited perspective = the perspective of your participants/observations.  Therefore, you cannot answer a "big" question about "what is the best approach to teaching summaries?" or "how do college students revise?" or "how do  K-3 teachers solve problems?"  While your data may shed light on these questions, it can't answer them.  You are doing small studies, usually which focus on one participant.

So how do you need to phrase your focus and your research questions?

In terms of a focus, you will want to look at what your participant says about your focus, and use what s/he says as a way to identify "features" of the questions a larger study might want to look at.  So while your interview might not be able to say whether performance poetry is better, it can provide some detailed information about a particular instance of how one poet practices performance poetry, what she says about how her performances are different from texts, how she sees the audience as responding differently, what she does to get the audience to respond and why, what she sees as features of her successful/not so successfulperformances, and so on.  The findings of this project will be a detailed description of what performance poetry is, how it works, etc => according to one performance poet.  And that's important.

How to update the research plan:
You have spent some time with points 1 -3 so the focus for this revision will be on writing into the plan itself to open up ideas, and help you identify questions that can direct you to particular parts of your data.

Blog 16:  In light of your recent exploration of your research data, spend some time (re)writing

Statement of purpose (what you hope to show/discover): devlop this in terms of your data.  Make sure you develop a purpose that your data can actually accomplish.  Whose perspective are you exploring?  What will your participants' perspectives contribute to research on your topic?  Why is that perspective important? 

Detailed statement of your research question(s): you should write questions that you can "ask" of your data.  What does the data show about. . .?  How does my participant describe. . .?  What language patterns occur when my participant talks about. . .?  What connections do I see between the way my participant talks about. . . and cultural stories/assumptions about. . .?  Where does my participant directly state here ideas about. . . ?  Where does s/he imply her ideas about . . .?  What does it mean that she is direct sometimes and indirect other times when she talks about. . .? And so on.

List of the information you need to gather: list any additional "data" you will need to complete your project (do you need to: do follow up interviews?  an observation?  look at some writing samples?  etc?)

A preliminary list of sources (if you need a research essay => let me know.  Send what you have found so far and give me a detailed idea of what you are looking for)

Discussion of any additional data you will need to collect + how you will collect it

For next class:
1.Send your research essay as an attachment to an email with your "grade" + recommendations for revision.
Blog 16 (see above).
Blog 17: Identify sections from your transcript that you might use to develop "answers" to the questions you set up in your research plan.

Next class will be a workshop where you spend some time analzying your data/developing support for the "points" you will make in your research essay.

I will do my best to review the short analysis essays before next class so you will have some feedback on how you are doing with analysis.

3.27 Using a rubric to figure out what to work on for the short analysis project

Today in class we read through the remaining sample essays and used the rubric to get a feel both for how "good" the essays were, and for how we would work on strengthening that essay if it were ours.

Tou demonstrated your excellent reading/assessment capabilities and while some groups were perhaps a little more demanding than I was, when we talked about what writers needed to work on and how they could strengthen their work = we were all pretty much on the same page.  That's awesome!   And - each time we assessed an essay => our scores had a smaller spread.  Also AWESOME.

So I am hoping that went some distance to give you a clear understanding of how this essay will be evaluated.

As you write, I strongly suggest the following.

1. Do some more analytic writing (pulling out quotes or sections that look like you could use them for your focus + analyzing them => connecting them to cultural discourses, examining the way the speakers use language, thinking about positioning and agency and how those features of the talk shape the meanings in your material).

2. Ask yourself questions about what you see in your analytic writing as a way to identify a focus for your analysis.  Ask - what does it mean that she said . . . after he said. . .?  Why did she keep repeating. . . ?  When did she repeat (whatever it was)?  and so on.  Sooner or later you will come up with something that will pass the "so what" test.

3. Do some more analytic writing (include writing about at least one example which seems to contradict what you want to show).

4.  Write the middle of your paper (the analysis => the what is going on part). This will probably be in several different sections or paragraphs, each of which approaches your "question" in a slightly different way.  It is OK if it doesn't hang together at this point.

5.  After you've written all you can write about what is going on, identify what point you are making in each section/paragraph.

6. Decide on the best order for your points.

7.  Write an intro + a conclusion.

This is a suggestion not a formula.  And for lots of people, the order of these points won't work. For example, I often do the first 3 steps, then write my intro, then do steps 4-6, and write my intro again.  You will find what works for you.  The takeaway for this discussion is: you need to spend time with your data.  

For next class:
Blog 15: Short analysis essay.

Come to class eager and ready to talk about how you are going to build on what you did for your short analysis (or not) and turn it into a full research project.

Have a great weekend!

Revised Calendar

April 1  : due short analysis projects (Blog 15)
Discussion of short analysis essays - reflections on what you want to develop further for your research project
In class work on research plans, make sure you have a research essay suitable for your project
Blog 16: post your updated research plan
Blog 17: Post any data in addition to your transcript that you will use for your essay (additional interview materials, observational notes

April 3
Writing analytic memos
In-class conferences on projects = make sure you have a research essay suitable for your project
Read: Swales, Creating a research space
Blog 18: Post analytic memos

April 8
Discussion Swales
Evaluating introductions
In class workshop on literature review
Read: your research essay
Blog 19: post drafty writing for your introduction

Aprl 10
Evaluate sample research projects
Blog 20: In light of today's discussion, map out the sections your essay.  List the points (in as much detail as you can) for what you will say in each section

3.25 Catching up: selecting stories/sections from the trasncript/ finding a focus

I will be looking through your blogs again Thursday to give you some feedback on your transcripts/analyses of sections from the transcript.

During the first part of class we talked about how to work on Blog 13.  The purpose of this post is to help you take a close look at what is going on in the transcript.  Analyzing selected "snapshots"/stories from the transcript can help you get past some of your assumptions and see (in more detail) what is there.

We started by making a list of ideas for how to pick sections from the transcript to analyze (a longer list is in Approaches to analyzing transcripts).

• anything that looks like a story
• related to focus
• contradictions (surprises!) in terms of what was expected
• language features (positioning, agency, connection to material, etc)
• connected to cultural stories related to the focus
• long sections

The three or more sections you choose to write about may or may not fit together (have the same focus).  The purpose of your writing is to "see what's there".

Once you've picked a set of quotes from the transcript, you are ready to post Blog 13.

 Analyze stories/excerpts from your transcript.  Select and post sections of your interview transcript which you might use to make a point in your essay. (you might need to listen to your recording to fill in words/make sure you have them right for these stories).   In this post, include:

1. the story/section  from your transcript = with your mark up like we did in class
2. some writing about the way language is used, the story features, or the discourses (stereotypes, cultural stories) the excerpt illustrates or connects to
3. a statement of what you might use the excerpt to "show" with respect to a focus of your paper.

Developing criteria for assessing the short analysis project

We spent the rest of class developing a rubric for assessing the short analysis project.  After taking a (very) quick look at the assignment sheet, we came up with a set of categories for describing a "good" paper.  Below are the names of these features, how many points out of 100 we felt they should "count for", and what a papers which fullfills the expectations for that feature will do.

Focus (35) : relates material in the transcript to some issue important to writing studies; sets up a clear focus; makes clear statements throughout the essay to state how the different points connect to the focus; draws a conclusion which opens up/deepens the opening statement of the focus by referring to the analysis in the body of the essay.

Organization (20): begins with an introduction which sets up the focus and indicates the points/nature of the discussion through which that focus will be developed; presents a series of sections/paragraphs each of which develops the focus in a logical progression; frames examples/illustrations/discussions of data; concludes with a section which sums up/reflects on/draws together points to develop the focus.

Development (40):  see points 2, 3 & 6 from the assignment sheet

Correctness (5):  grammar and spelling sufficiently under control so as not to distract from readability.

We used this assessment rubric to evaluate Sample 1.  As we noted the ways the author met (or not) the criteria we outlined above, we also thought about what she needed to do to STRENGTHEN this draft.  This exercise was both about providing you with an example of what a short analysis paper looked like, and giving you some practice analyzing and revising a paper written for this assignment.  Hopefully, you will be able to bring that experience to your writing!

For next class:

Read the two remaining sample essays so we can talk about them in class.

Blog 13: (see above)

Blog 14: Do some more writing about what you will use as a focus for the short analysis project and how/which points you will use from the transcript. This is a chance to explore how to frame (outline) your paper. 

The draft for your short analysis essay will be due Tuesday, April 1.     

 

3.23 Getting ready for class tomorrow

I will be reading through the transcripts  posted on your blog today and if you have your 3 sections of text posted, I will read through that too and give you some feedback.

In class we will spend some time taking stock of where you are in terms of your short analysis project - and then we will take a look at the sample short analysis essay so you have a more clear idea of what is expected.

If there is time, we will spend some time working on tweaking questions/working on the plan for your research projects in light of what you found out from your interviews.

3.6 Getting ready to analyze your transcript

So, once again, I assigned a reading that we did not get to in class.  Don't worry though, we will get to it.

In class today we actually worked through (applied) moves/materials from the Approaches to analyzing your transcript reading.  You will use these moves (and you might want to look back through this reading) as you work on analyzing the language in your transcript for Blog 13: Analyze stories/excerpts from your transcript.

We took a close look at language in the Unedited transcript. In particular, we paid attention to:
pronouns L used to represent her experience;

• whether she used active or passive verb constructions; words like so, cause, then which indicated causality and sequence; 
• moves/language choices L made to distance herself from the event (I remember. . . or other moves to place the story in the past or as someone else's experience such as using you to generalize the experience); 
• the level of organization/structure in the story (the ordered sequence of events in the first story we analyze, versus the all at once series of events without sequencing words like first, then, or so in the story about "no friends")
• relationships to cultural Conversatins/stories = the American Dream, "success" stories; assumptions about testing; the way educational institutions don't generally consider students social needs (friends/comfort zone) as integral to their academic needs

First we picked out a story kind of randomly and marked it up.  Then we picked out another one.  At this point, if you were doing the Blog 14, you would have started to look for "related" stories (look in Approaches for "strategies for selecting story sets) - a set of stories with a common theme or "move" that you might use as the focus for your writing.

We spent the last part of class thinking about how to come up with a focus for the short analysis paper that would connect to the the language analysis of the unedited transcript.  We went back and looked at the assignment sheet, noticed that we needed to make some connections to "cultural stories" - and you took it from there.  Looked to me like you are well on the road to using language analysis in your discussion of your transcripts.

SO

This is the series of assignments.

For Tuesday, 3.18

Review the course blog/readings -  do any reading you need to do to analyze the language in your transcript.

Blog 12: post your transcript

For Thursday, 3.20

Review the course blog/readings -  do any reading you need to do to analyze the language in your transcript.

Blog 13: Analyze stories/excerpts from your transcript.  Select and post sections of your interview transcript which you might use to make a point in your essay. (you might need to listen to your recording to fill in words/make sure you have them right for these stories).   In this post, include:

1. the story/section  from your transcript = with your mark up like we did in class
2. some writing about the way language is used, the story features, or the discourses (stereotypes, cultural stories) the excerpt illustrates or connects to
3. a statement of what you might use the excerpt to "show" with respect to a focus of your paper.

You should pick out at least 3 excerpts from your transcript and do some analysis for each one.


***** I will give you feedback on blogs 12 & 13 by class 3.25.

For class Tuesday, 3. 25
Blog 14:  Do some more writing about what you will use as a focus for the short analysis project, and how the different excerpts with support/connect to that focus.  If you are stuck - ask questions/give me a hint about what kind of feedback you want as help.

Have a great spring break!   See you in two weeks.  I will be available by email if you get stuck

3.4 Plan for writing short analysis essay + finshing up interview protocols

Note:  As you write up your final interview protocol, don't forget that you will need a short statement of the purpose of your project at the top (like in the sample).

We spent most of class talking about how you would work on /write your short analysis projects.
We talked through the assignment sheet (posted to the right) which I am hoping is self-evident, and we laid out a timeline that looks something like this.

3.4 Go over assignment sheet (posted to the right) and polish up interview protocols for collecting data
3.6 Create rubric used to evaluate Short Analysis project, and test it out on sample SAessays (posted to right)
Talk about how to create a "focus" from interview data
Turn in informed consent and A/V forms if you have them

During spring break:
Get informed consent, conduct and transcribe your interview, and begin analyzing(thinking about what your focus for your

3.18 Post your interview transcript (the drafty unedited version).  MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR PARTICIPANT'S NAME.
3.20  Select, proofread, and post sections of your interview transcript which you might use to make a point in your essay.  In this post, include:
1. the excerpt from your transcript
2. some writing about the way language is used, the story features, or the discourses (stereotypes, cultural stories) the excerpt illustrates or connects to
3. a statement of what you might use the excerpt to "show" with respect to the focus of your paper.

You should pick out at least 3 excerpts from your transcript for this post.

3.25  In-class workshop on the draft for the short analysis essay + work to set up your final project
3.27 Due draft short analysis project

4.1 Draft short analysis returned
4.8 Due final short analysis project

You spent the remainder of class talking about/finalizing plans for your interview.  From what I heard, most of you look like you are ready to go!

For next class:
Read: Sample Short Analysis essays 1. 2, 3.
Blog 11: Final/revised interview protocol