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Well, I was first involved in the
Writing Fellows Group in 2006-7
and this is a group that was put together by
Carmen Werder, who is the director of
writing instruction support here at western,
and this was a group of faculty from across
campus who submitted proposals and
were accepted into this group of fellows
to discuss how we incorporate
writing in the classroom.
So, these were faculty members from dance,
education, physical education, and myself
from art history, and of course with our
fearless leader, Carmen Werder, facilitating
discussions about incorporating writing
into the classroom.
So, the first year, 2006-7, was really
focused on faculty discussing different
ways of using writing.
This year, 2007-8, the focus of the
Writing Fellows has shifted to faculty-student
collaboration in research and researching
pedagogy, expressly focusing, again,
on incorporating writing into the classroom
and developing the idea of Western as a
community of writers.
It’s absolutely essential to bring in
the student voice and the impetus here is
really coming from Carmen Werder,
who’s been working for many years here on
campus in the Teaching Learning Academy
and in other roles she’s played on campus to
put a spotlight on the student voice.
This research project is focused on
how to incorporate electronic media
into the classroom to provide a space
for low stakes writing for students and
trying to figure out the best ways to
incorporate this type of assignment.
What works best for students and,
not only am I working with a student
to conduct the research, but the focus is on
students’ evaluations of these assignments
and how they find that these assignments
are helping them prepare for class,
prepare for classroom discussions,
prepare for exams, gather their thoughts,
using writing as a way of thinking.