seeds for doctoral student success

Seeds for Doctoral Student Success:

Focus on Academic Writing SkillsDannelle D. Stevens

Micki M. CaskeyPortland State University

Expectations and Questions

One the yellow 3 x 5 card, please list:

1. Your expectations for this session

2. Your questions about the session

Please also share your name and contact information.

Purposes of this session are to…

1. share the explicit academic writing strategies

2. practice using academic writing strategies

3. engage in discussions about challenges associated with doctoral students’ academic writing

A question to get us started…

What challenges do Ed.D. students in your program face related to academic writing?

O Individually, write your thoughts on the 4 X6 card

O In pairs, exchange your thoughtsO In large group, share your thoughts

To add to the discussion …

What insights did you glean from Susan Cotterrall article?

Cotterall, S. (2011). Doctoral students writing: Where's the pedagogy?. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(4), 413-425.

Writing practices… …Writing strategies

Strategy O a plan of action designed to achieve

a goalO explicit and intentional

Our goal: Students internalize the use of writing strategies

Writing Strategies

GroupO Focused FreewritingO Peer SharingO Writing Groups

Focused Freewrite

Topic: Doctoral Student Writing

O What is this topic about?

O Why do I care? Why should others care?

O What do I know? What do I want to know?

O What are my next steps?

Writing Strategies

IndividualOTemplates (Graff &

Birkenstein) OKey Sentences (Gray)ORubrics OText Structure Analysis

Templates

OUseful Templates (Graff & Birkenstein, 2006)

OTemplates for structuring an academic argument (Adapted from Graff & Birkenstein, 2006)

Text Structure Analysis

Multifacted strategy O Ed.D. students become better

consumers of research literature abililites (reading)

O Ed.D. students become aware of the nuances and differences in structures of research literature (writing)

Books about Academic Writing

Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2010). They say, I say: The moves that matter in academic writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Norton.

Silivia, P. J. (2007). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Single, P. B. (2009). Demystifying dissertation writing: A streamlined process from choice of topic to final text. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Strategies Discussion

O What academic writing strategies are you using in your Ed.D. program?

Contact Information

Dannelle D. Stevens stevensd@pdx.edu503.725.4679

Micki M. Caskeycaskeym@pdx.edu503.725.4749