linda li academic skills program university of canberra
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Linda LiAcademic Skills Program
University of Canberra
Started in 2005
On-going, regular weekly meetings throughout the year
Voluntary
Multi-disciplinary
No pre-set agenda until current semester
Focused on written work-in-progress
Collaborative peer review and editing on soft copies using track change
Co-facilitators
Writing group activities Reading written work-in-progress including draft pages from thesis
chapters, research proposals, ethics applications, conference papers …
Commenting on the use of language, style of writing, genres & discourses …
Questioning ambiguous statements, unclear written expression, illogical sequences …
Discussing grammar, language, style and writing issues arising from the work-in-progress
Suggesting alternatives for improvement in writing
Summarising strengths and weaknesses, good and poor examples, areas deserving closer attention …
Revising and improving work-in-progress
Supporting each other intellectually and emotionally
My role in facilitating the writing group a facilitator – create a supportive learning environment
and encourage students to give comments and suggestions for each other’s writing
a guide – help students to identify strengths and patterns of weaknesses in their own writing and ways to improve
a teacher – explain grammatical rules, stylistic options and rhetorical conventions
an interested listener and reader – listen to student concerns and questions and show genuine interest in students’ writing and share reader responses
a co-learner – share personal experiences in thesis writing and gain insights from student experiences
Motivation and commitment
Group dynamics – fluctuating group size
Reciprocality and mutual obligation
Attitudes towards writing – private vs public, product vs process
Diversity of student needs – differences in academic writing experiences, needs and interests
Disciplinary differences
Sense of belonging to a learning community
Pedagogical challenges: Pedagogical challenges: generalgeneral
Pedagogical challenges: specific Perception of the writing group – fixing
problems vs learning to solve problems
perception of teacher-student relationship –over reliance on the facilitator
Perception of the value of peer learning- the teacher as the absolute authority
Cultural issues in giving and receiving critical comments
Writing development takes time
Writing group agenda of semester 2, 2010 at UC
20 Aug Getting started with the writing group 27 Aug Defining the purpose of your study 3 Sept Describing the background of your study 10 Sept Justifying the importance of your study 17 Sept Giving your thesis a clear title 24 Sept Writing clear research questions, aims and objectives 1 Oct Summarising research studies 15 Oct Critiquing research studies 22 Oct Integrating references into your literature review 29 Oct Giving clear description of your research methods 5 Nov Connecting your ideas in writing 12 Nov Using the appropriate linking words 19 Nov Writing about numbers in reporting your findings 26 Nov Reporting findings from interviews 3 Dec Writing convincing paragraphs 10 Dec Writing with confidence
Thesis writing workshops for research students at UC1 Understanding the thesis writing process (15 Sept) 2 Refining the research proposal (22 Sept)
3 Structuring the thesis effectively (29 Sept) 4 Writing the literature review (13 Oct) 5 Describing the research methodology (27 Oct)
6 Presenting results and discussion (3 Nov)
7 Thesis introductions and conclusions (10 Nov)
8 Style, editing and presentation (17 Nov)
9 Special topics in thesis writing (24 Nov)