Writing, technology, and activities...Oh my!

This week's readings seemed in some ways to be a reiteration of older material. For example, using low-stakes writing to encourage discussion, and as a non-graded assessment. I was glad that the material went more in-depth because it got me to thinking about how I could use high-stakes and low-stakes writing assignments in the course that I am designing.

I believe that for my org. comm. class that I am creating, low-stakes writing will be a large part of the course. First, I really liked the McKeachie book's idea of having students keep a journal. I did this for my Org. Comm. II class, and found it to be a very good way to synthesize course materials. I would let students know that grading will be only based on content and ideas, and have it be a very minimal part of their grade (probably 5%). I would encourage students to write on their own, but also provide a weekly prompt. I would keep this journal on a private level because I want students to feel free to voice questions or confusion they are facing, and not worry so much about grammar and syntax.

Additionally in my class, I think that one-minute papers would be highly beneficial for students. As we have discussed several times, this is a good way to facilitate discussion. Further, many of the theories in Org. Comm. I are dense and hard to synthesize without taking a moment and writing out full thoughts. I also feel that when moving up Bloom's taxonomy to application, it is best to allow students some amount of time to gather their thoughts and really work through their ideas. A one-minute paper I would have students write for example would be to reflect on a time when they were new in an organization, and apply the theoretical constructs of assimilation to that experience.

These smaller scale assignments will be a helpful starting point for my high-stakes writing assignment. My high-stakes writing assignment will entail a paper written in three distinct sections. First, students will provide a brief background of one of the organizational theories in the class. Second, students will find a real life case where this theory could be helpful; students will then describe the case. The third and final section will be having students apply the theory in section one to the case in section two. This section should show how the theory is helpful, and places where the theory isn't as useful.

Having a larger writing assignment such as this, broken into three parts will help students not feel overwhelmed. Also, through peer reviews, and my feedback students can get valuable information, and hopefully a better grade. I feel it is far better to correct misguided students in section one, so that section two will actually be applicable. I can also look for issues with the student's choice of case and that should in turn keep section three what I had in mind. If I were to just assign this as one big lump assignment, any error along the way could make the rest of the assignment garbage, and a waste of time.

The bulk of class will be using case studies to better understand organizational communication. I believe that this problem-based approach is best for this type of course. I can lecture all day about ideas like organizational culture but until students get an actual picture of organizational culture the lecture would likely be too abstract to be of any value. I think case studies are a great way to ground abstract ideas to reality. I believe that a great way to effectively use problem based learning is to assign reading of the text (give students a theory or concept to think about) and then assign a case (a way to see this theory or concept at work). Case studies are also a way to engage students in active learning.

I believe that putting students into groups and using more of a syndicate-based approach to learning would be great when working with some of these case studies. Assigning each group a different case study and concept and having them present it to the class would be a great way to incorporate this into my teaching. I think that having discussions in small groups gives students a comfort level they may not ordinarily have, and presenting the material causes greater comprehension as the McKeachie book states. All of this leads me to best practices in activities and problem based learning.

One important aspect of doing an activity is telling students what they should get out of it. Often, as a new instructor I want to wait until the end to explain why it was such a fantastic activity and hope to see the "light bulb" turn on over student's heads. I experimented with telling students what they should get out of the activity, and it seems to be far more effective that way. Additionally, watching the teaching presentations as a learner; I like knowing where the activity is going. At the end of an activity it is a good idea to debrief the activity. Ask the students what they have learned. Often this tells me whether the activity was helpful. I also ask if students liked the activity. I then ask them why they did or (as often is the case) did not like the activity.

Another practice that should be done during an activity is providing clear direction. Not only should the instructions be on the board or a powerpoint slide, explain them. Also, I've found it helpful to show my activities to an "outsider" to see what confusion they have about the activity. Questions like, "So, what exactly do you want your students to do in their groups" has been helpful. Sometimes I get, "what is the point of this?" I'd far rather get this feedback from an outsider than 21 confused students.

Finally, walking around during activities and group work has been very rewarding. This has first, made me feel like an actual teacher. Also, as students have questions and I can guide them. This also allows me to clarify common misconceptions about the assignment. If a group asks a particularly good question I can then provide further explanation to the rest of the class. I also find this is a good way to keep groups on task. If they know I'm coming around they tend to stick more to task than relational conversation.

This week's reading reiterated many points we've already discussed but went into greater detail. I am taking many great things out of this reading including some assignments for my class, and better ways to engage my students in the learning process.

Helpful links:

Powerpoint best practices: This page from about.com provides useful basic information about creating a powerpoint presentation, and provides useful links to other resources on powerpoint.

Case Studies: This page contains several case studies that I think would be great for my Org. Comm. I. class. Also, I think that some of these are generic enough to be applicable in many different aspects of communication.

Low-Stakes writing: This comes from Texas A&M University and talks about low-stakes writing and approaches that we can use. I found this as a helpful and condensed version of low-stakes writing as presented in the McKeachie book.