Talk:Lesson 1--What is academic writing, exactly, and what do introductions "do"?

Propper Comments for Developmental Tryout

Hi Thad,

I love how focused your mini-course is. I know that introductions are a piece of expository writing that I tend to rush through, but by focusing your entire course on them, you force participants to deal with this very crucial essay component in an in-depth manner. Here are my comments for lesson 1:

• You have an engaging way of speaking to your participants. Although you're discussing academic content and citing some serious academic sources, there's something friendly about the way you address your participants and pull them into your lesson.
• I love that you use an example and a counter-example to really drive home your point.
• The "Why we need this" section is well thought-out: as an educator, I question everything that I do in my classroom. You make a strong case for why we should try to do things your way.

One thing that confused me when I was reading through this lesson was the points that said [your answer] or [my answer]. I was unclear what would go here - are you asking participants to answer the question themselves? If so, perhaps you could indicate this more clearly. If not, I'm wondering where participants get to practice with what they've learned.

I'm really excited to see how your mini-course evolves!

Best, Ashley

-- JRobinWard (talk) 11:10, 3 May 2015 (EDT)

Hi, Thad.

First, I want to thank you for designing a course around introductions, which are almost as hard to teach as conclusions (perhaps you'll do a course on those, next?).

I note that you have a really good combination of examples of contradictory instruction about introductions. These certainly establish the problem at hand. I also think you're taking a sensible approach by addressing how academic writing differs from non-academic writing -- you're not positioning one as essentially better than the other, but rather pointing out that each is appropriate for certain uses, and inappropriate for other uses.

I wonder if you're going to run into a problem with the excellent examples you present of non-academic introductions, in that both introductions are really, really engaging. Your learner may be tempted to use them as a model of "good writing" and be conflicted about moving away from that style into the less engaging but more informative academic style.

Your description of the student engaging in research, complete with the cooling jug of coffee, does help to hammer the point home -- that student needs info, not pleasure; a map, not a travelogue.

I see elsewhere that you're considering (as am I) following Ashley Propper's lead and using Google Forms to replace the "Your Response / My Response" boxes. I think this would be a good assessment tool. We should all keep a lookout for other widgets and tools that we could incorporate to allow for interaction with the lessons.

Looking forward to the next steps!

Thad's Developmental Tryout -- Jackie Russell (talk) 16:50, 3 May 2015 (EDT)

Hi Thad,

I appreciate your voice as an instructor and the role you play in engaging your learners. You've done a thorough job of mapping out your intent for teaching this topic, which is important especially for students living in the age of information. We need quick insight more than fluff these days, namely in the pursuit of information, or research, as you have described.

A few things you may wish to consider:

Perhaps there is a way for you to attach your subsections as PDFs to minimize text, though your current presentation is convenient. Also, be sure to read carefully through some your sections before completion as I ran into a few grammatical errors. Lastly, as I believe Robin was alluding to, as a learner I'm not totally convinced of the purpose of academic writing as a skill. I can infer that it is important to be able to write concisely and develop thoughts in response to and based on the ideas of others, but your course could benefit from explicitly describing what the example academic introduction accomplishes and why it's important.

Well done!

Jackie

Instructor comments on your mini-course -- Jz833665 (talk) 12:38, 4 May 2015 (EDT)

Hi Thad,

You whole mini-course is carefully and effectively structured. Your lesson 1 is engaging and informative, with an easy flow.

You've got some really good comments from your peers!

Your welcome page needs to expanded, to include an overview of the target learning objectives copied from your portfolio page. You may even include a link to your curriculum map as an overview of the whole mini-course. Such info will better guide the learner's participation.