English/L&S Interdisciplinary Programs 316 syllabus (2005)

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Welcome to English/Interdisciplinary Programs 316, a seminar on tutoring writing across the curriculum. This class will be unlike any other you take at UW-Madison because in this class we will pair intellectual inquiry into the issues of writing with practical strategies that will help you achieve your goals as Writing Fellows. Just like your work as Fellows, this class is based on the ethic of peer collaboration; in all aspects of the course you will be both teachers and learners at the same time. I hope this class and your experiences as Fellows will be exciting and rewarding for all of you!

Throughout the semester we will read articles and do writing assignments designed to familiarize you with theories of writing and tutoring and to stimulate your thinking about the issues these theories raise. We will also consider how the works we read apply to your experiences as Writing Fellows. As we read these works, we will ask such questions as:

• How is knowledge created in the classroom?
• How do writers learn to write?
• How is writing taught in the academy? Why?
• How is writing influenced by a writer’s culture?
• How do race, class and gender inform writing and the teaching or tutoring of writing?
• How, and why, does peer tutoring work?

In addition to challenging you to think critically about writing and teaching, this course will help you develop tutoring skills. During selected class meetings we will practice writing comments on sample papers, participate in mock conferences, and share specifics from our experiences as Fellows. In class meetings we will consider:

• How can Fellows write effective commentary on student papers? Hold successful conferences?
• How can a Fellow assist writers from different social, cultural or disciplinary backgrounds?
• How do Fellows negotiate the roles of peer and tutor?
• How can Fellows work collaboratively with a course professor?

We will assume that writing is a process with many stages, not one simple end product, and that all writers, no matter how successful, can benefit from thoughtful feedback on their writing. In addition, by studying writing across the university curriculum, we will also develop an understanding of the many different kinds of writing done in various academic disciplines. Finally, our explorations of the issues surrounding writing are designed to help you become more aware of your own writing processes and to help you develop and grow as writers yourselves.

Course Requirements

Class
In this honors seminar, you’ll be responsible for doing all the reading, writing in your journal, participating in class regularly, completing all written assignments, and presenting your research to the class. Our classes will usually take the form of discussion; these discussions will allow us to analyze and debate the readings as well as to share the tribulations and trials of being a Writing Fellow. Because this class emphasizes collaboration and peer learning, it is essential that you come to every class. If you have more than three unexcused absences, your final grade will be lowered; more than four unexcused absences will likely result in course failure.

If you cannot attend class or complete an assignment because of an emergency, please contact me as soon as possible, and I will be glad to try to help you fulfill your obligations in the course. If a religious observance of yours conflicts with a class period or with an assignment, please let me know within the first two weeks of class. If you need some accommodations because of a disability, please let me know also within the first two weeks of class.

Writing
This is a writing-intensive course, which means you will be writing regularly throughout the semester, sharing drafts with peers and with me for comments, and revising your work. I will give you more specific details about your writing assignments in class as we approach due dates.

Journals
Most weeks during the semester, I will ask you to write 1-2 pages in which you reflect on and analyze your experiences as a Writing Fellow. Writing the journal will also give you a chance to discover and explore topics for your more formal papers.

Two short papers--4-5/2-3 pages each
The first paper you will write is a literacy autobiography in which you will explore your history as a writer and your relationship to writing

The second short paper will give you an opportunity to reflect on your personal philosophy as a writing fellow.

One long research paper--10-15 pages
Your research paper will allow you to explore an issue related to writing or teaching/tutoring writing that particularly interests you. You may explore, for example, UW student responses to peer tutoring, how and why writing is taught at UW-Madison, the relationship between Writing Center tutoring and Writing Fellows tutoring, how on-line tutoring might work, etc. etc. You may also explore other issues related to writing and/or peer tutoring such as writing across disciplines or how gender, race or class affect writing and/or tutoring. Whatever you choose, your topic must require both primary and library research. In addition to writing a proposal and an annotated bibliography for this paper, you’ll submit a draft for review, make a class presentation based on your research in progress, and submit a final revised version near the end of the semester.

Grading
Because this is an honors seminar, my expectations for your work are high. I will base your final grade on the portfolio of all your written work, which you will submit at the end of the semester.

Here are the percentages I’ll use to calculate your final grade:

Class participation and workshopping: 20%
Journal: 15%
Two Short Papers: 15% each
Research paper presentation: 10%
Research Paper: 25%

Required Texts

Course packet of required readings available at Humanities Copy Center, (lower level, Humanities Building)
Recommended: A Grammar Handbook (I’d be happy to offer suggestions)

Topics and Readings:

Week 1: Introductions

T, 9/6
Introduction to the course, to each other, and to the Writing Fellows Program
“The Writing Fellows Handbook”

R, 9/8
Richard Fulkerson, "Four Philosophies of Composition""
Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I, sections I-IV
Journals Due

Week 2: Responding to Student Writing

T, 9/13
Nancy Sommers, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Adult Experienced Writers”
Sommers, “Responding to Student Writing”
JoAnne M. Podis and Leonard A. Podis, “Improving Our Responses to Student Writing: A Process-Oriented Approach”
Lil Brannon and C.H. Knoblauch, “On Students’ Rights to their Own Texts: A Model of Teacher Response"
Journals Due

R, 9/15
Donald A. Daiker, “Learning to Praise”
John C. Bean, “Writing Comments on Students’ Papers”
Sample comments on Soc. 131 paper

Week 3: Why Tutoring? Conferencing Techniques

T, 9/20
Kenneth Bruffee, “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind’”
Muriel Harris, “Talking in the Middle: Why Writers Need Writing Tutors”
Journals Due

R, 9/22
Thomas Newkirk, “The First Five Minutes”
Jeff Brooks, “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work”
Watch Videos of Fellows Conferencing
Draft of Literacy Autobiography due

Week 4: From Practice to Theory

T, 9/27
Workshop groups
Research Paper Assigned
Written peer review comments due
Journals Due

R, 9/29
Paulo Freire, "The Banking Concept of Education"
bel hooks, "Theory as Liberatory Practice"
Erin Abler, "Knowledge and Authority: Training Undergraduate Tutors in Theory and Practice"

Week 5: Conferencing, Cont'd

T, 10/4
Mock Conferences
Literacy autobiography due

R, 10/6
Catherine G. Latterell, "Decentering Student-Centeredness: Rethinking Tutor Authority in Writing Centers
Jeremiah Dyehouse, "Peer Tutoring and Institutional Authority"

Week 6: Research Paper

T, 10/11
Discuss research methods
Brett Rusch, “Diverging Perspectives: Do Students and Teachers View Revision Through Differing Lenses?”
Jessica Steinhoff, “Raising Radicals and Rebels: Does Interdisciplinary Tutoring Ignite Institutional Change?”
Journals Due

R, 10/13
Panel on Research Paper
Short proposal due

Week 7: Style and Grammar; Working with ESL Students

T, 10/18
Patrick Hartwell, "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar"
Joseph Williams, "Understanding Style" and "Correctness"
Toni-Lee Capossela, "Correcting Surface Errors"

R, 10/20
Judith Powers, "Rethinking Writing Center Conferencing Strategies for the ESL Writer"
Judith Kilborn, "Cultural Diversity in the Writing Center: Defining Ourselves and Our Challenges"
Muriel Harris and Tony Silva, "Tutoring ESL Students: Issues and Options"

Week 8: Knowledge and Power

T, 10/25
David Bartholomae, "Inventing the University"
Peter Elbow, "Reflections on Academic Discourse: How it Relates to Freshmen and Colleagues"
Long Proposal Due

R, 10/27
James Crosswhite, "The End of Philosophy and the Resurgence of Rhetoric"

Week 9: Writing Across the Curriculum

T, 11/1
Jean Kiedaisch and Sue Dinitz, “Look Back and Say ‘So What’: The Limitations of the Generalist Tutor”
Susan Hubbuch, “A Tutor Needs to Know . . .”
Toni-Lee Capossela, "Advanced Expertise in Groping: Training Tutors who Don’t Have to Know it All”
Journals Due

R, 11/3
Jean Marie Lutes, "Why Feminists Make Better Tutors: Gender and Disciplinary Expertise in a Curriculum-Based Tutoring Program"
Lillian Bridwell-Bowles, "Discourse and Diversity: Experimental Writing within the Academy"

Week 10: Writing and Difference

T, 11/8
Mary Louise Pratt, "Arts of the Contact Zone"
Lisa D. Delpit, "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children"
Journals Due

R, 11/10
bel hooks, "Language: Teaching New Worlds/New Words
Trevon Logan, "The Dynamic Impasse: Theory and Research on Interracial Writing Tutoring

F, 11/11 DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE in Emily's Office

Week 11: Tutoring and Authority; Conferences

T, 11/15
Monica Bielski, "My Hidden Class Consciousness"
Linda Brodkey, "On the Subjects of Class and Gender in 'The Literacy Letters'"
John Triumbur, "Peer Tutoring: A Contradiction in Terms?"

R, 11/17
Class Canceled -- conferences with Emily

Week 12: Conferences; Tutoring and Authority

T, 11/22
Class canceled—conferences with Emily

R, 11/24
No Class—Happy Thanksgiving

Week 13: Student Presentations

T, 11/29
Begin Student-led Presentations
Journal Conclusion Paper Assigned

R, 12/1
Student-led Presentations

Week 14: Student Presentations

T, 12/6
Student-led Presentations

R, 12/8
Student-led Presentations

F, 12/9
RESEARCH PAPER DUE

Week 15: Student Presentations; Last Day

T, 12/13
Final Student-led Presentations
Draft of Journal Conclusion Paper Due

R, 12/15
Workshop final paper; Reflections on course and on being a Fellow; Putting what we’ve learned in perspective

M, 12/19
Journal with Conclusion Paper Due