Looking ahead, BA5

[Ryan]

Hey Group,

This next week's assignment is BA5, and to me, the assignment
description (pasted below) and its prompt (Exercise 2.5, p. 79) seem a
tad vague. From what I can gauge, students are writing an informal
critique to a student essay on legacy issues. My concern is this is a
repeat of this week's peer critique assignment, (and a less effective
one at that)

If anyone has some ideas on to infuse this assignment with some new
concepts related to 1.2, PLESE post 'em below.

We may want to approach this assignment as a "re-teach" since students
seem to be struggling so much with the analysis portion of BA4.

That said, what do we want to grade on? Again, there's a misprint in
the textbook. Exercise 2.5 asks students follow the "Guidelines for
Writing Critiques" on pg 67, but those guidelines are actually listed
on pg. 71.

Mark suggested students approach this assignment almost like a report,
which I think is a great idea. Some of these suggested guidelines
merit a group discussion, I think. For example, it poses: "Is the
information accurate? Has the author defined terms clearly? I haven't
read this entire essay, but do we want to make students research
legacy enrollment issues to confirm this info? I suppose we could also
choose a critique of our own, if we wanted.

I realize I've probably provided zero help on how to approach this
assignment, but it seems we may need to get creative in terms of how
to teach and grade this assignment. This assignment seems to promote
the critical thinking and reading skills that we've been trying to
help students master, but I'm currently at a loss as to how we want to
teach and measure these skills. I'm also at a loss at how to make this
assignment relevant to students, particularly in light of what we
taught this week.

Your thoughts?

-Ryan

Brief Assignment 5
Objective: To evaluate the qualities that characterize a critique as a
piece of writing

Description:
To complete this assignment, follow the directions given in Exercise
2.5 (page 79) of your textbook. Your response to the assignment should
be 2 - 3 paragraphs in length.

[TTUEngl...@gmail.com]

Tough questions you're raising Ryan, but I like the idea of "re-
teaching" analysis. My previous class was essentially a "re-teaching"
of thesis statements, and the students found it helpful because they
had already written one for Draft 1.1. I also noticed that
participation was better during that session. I think if DIs could
give us an idea as to which areas students are struggling with, I can
tailor my classes to address them.

I would prefer students to write the upcoming BA4 assignment in a
"report" form since it would allow them to focus on addressing
specific questions related to analysis. We could draw from the
questions on page 71 or perhaps from a collective effort. From the
BA4s I have graded, most students seem to have trouble with:

1. explaining "why" an author's argument is "good/bad"
2. discussing the accuracy of information (they seem to overlook
potential bias or assumptions)
3. discussing the logic of the draft, i.e. are there logical
fallacies?

I think that in relation to Draft 1.2, we could frame the writing
skill of "analysis" as part of a student's research process and
evaluation of sources. It also broadens how a student thinks about
source integration and use. . . I think it's tough to situate because
BA5 with Draft 1.2 because it is presented as a "critique" of a
critique, which may be confusing or seem to have an unrelated function
to Draft 1.2.

[Ryan]

It's 4:20pm on Sunday. Mark's the only one who has responded to this
discussion. I'll be posting grading criteria for BA5 soon if anyone
else wants to contribute.

-Ryan

> > be 2 - 3 paragraphs in length.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Walki...@gmail.com]

I like the format you set up, Mark. The only thing I might at to it is
to have my students write an introduction that introduces their thesis
(whether or not the article is effective) and attempts to engage their
readers. Since our reading this week is about introductions, I thought
this might be useful.

Also, I like the idea of a report format. I was wondering, however,
what format you all were going to use? If there was a website we could
refer students and DIs to?

Just some thoughts....

-katie

[Walki...@gmail.com]

I think my last comment was unclear. Of course students will write an
introduction, but I want to emphasize the ways in which one can write
an interesting intro to my class this week.

[TTUEngl...@gmail.com]

Here's a rough outline of how I'm thinking the assignment should go.
I just realized that the description for BA5 on TOPIC says the
assignment only needs to be 203 paragraphs long, so I just included
potential questions for students to answer in their second and third
paragraph. I think it resembles more of a short short essay, rather
than a structured "report" as I had initially hoped for.

Please take a look and make any suggestions. If I don't get any
suggestions before the end of tonight, then this is what I'll have to
go by when I explain BA5 to my class on Monday.

Brief Assignment 5

Objective: To evaluate the qualities that characterize a critique as
a
piece of writing

Description:
To complete this assignment, follow the directions given in Exercise
2.5 (page 79) of your textbook. Your response to the assignment should
be 2 - 3 paragraphs in length.

-You will be responding to the critique on pages 74-79 in your First
Year Writing (FYW) textbook, titled "A Critique of 'We Are Not Created
Equal in Every Way' by Joan Ryan."
-Follow the guidelines listed on page 71 of your FYW textbook for this
assignment. In addition, your submissions should follow the format
below:

INTRODUCTION-First Paragraph
Your introduction should introduce your thesis. Specifically, whether
or not you believe the article is effective. Successful drafts will
manage to inform and engage the audience in the first paragraph.

PRESENTATION ASSESSMENT-Second and Third Paragraph
Similar to the way that you evaluated sources in BA4, you will
evaluate the how well the author presents their position. Some
questions you may want to ask or base your review on:

1. "Why" is the author's argument is particularly good or bad
2. Does the author discuss the accuracy of information, or do they
overlook potential bias or assumptions?
3. Are there logical fallacies in the author's argument? You may want
to review pp. 62-67 in your First Year Writing Textbook.
4. Has the author defined terms clearly? Is the author interested in
specific definitions of terms?
5. Does the author completely agree/disagree with Joan Ryan? How does
the author establish agreement/disagreement.
6. What kind of reaction does the author have to Ryan's article as a
whole?

Successful drafts will provide well explained reasons, have only minor
grammatical issues, be well organized and clearly written, and have
address, and demonstrate an understanding of the critiquing process.

[Walki...@gmail.com]

This looks awesome! I'll be sure to use it in my class as well.

[Ryan]

I'll use it too, Mark. Let's home Katherine does/did as well.

> > > > -katie- Hide quoted text -

[lauri.m....@gmail.com]

Hey guys. I've been grading some BA5's and it looks like they're doing
a really good job of following the format. Also, it's been really
convenient as a DI to be able to copy/paste the guidelines into a word
document and compare it to the drafts. Thanks!

[Shelley Alvarez]

Hi, Folks!

I noticed the BA5s are piling up a bit within the system.  So we don't get too far behind (and I can rest my brain a bit from these longer assignments--I'm officially brain dead for now!), I'm going to grade a handful of these assignments in between grading the 1.1 drafts. 

I just wanted to double check with everyone to make sure my play is okay.

Thanks,

Shelley