I thought
this was an interesting article because Barbara Fister touches on some
important issues college students including my self are facing. For example I am
in the process of completing a thesis proposal right now for my final graduate course
and I feel restricted in so many ways. For one, the citation aspect is so stressed.
We not only have to use APA style, but we are restricted in how it is use. If
we are to implement this style we have to use strategies from one particular
author. So that means despite the many free APA style recommendations and
sources online written by so many experts we still have to purchase an APA book.
I mean…isn’t APA or for that matter all citations supposed to be universal?
There shouldn’t be one particular author or guidelines to follow. This thesis
is also restricted creatively. I feel like I have to conform to a certain style,
pace, and even topic. For example my thesis has to be written in the third
person perspective and it can’t be personal. I just don’t get the point of all of this? All
of these guidelines and restrictions do not make me a better writer, in fact it
confuses and limits me as a writer and observer and basically it doesn’t teach me
anything. Since I have been in college talking about, practicing, and writing
research I haven’t learned one thing yet. You know, I think the real problem
behind all of this is how research is interpreted by some professors. With the
issue of citation, I think it’s an important aspect to any research because it
legitimize the student’s work, give credit where credit is due, and allows the
reader to find the sources themselves, but I don’t think that citation is
taught properly. A subject such as citation that carries so much weight in the
research world is usually thrown at students rather then taught and developed
over time. Well, at least that how it was in my case. The subject of college
research is one that needs to be evaluated and reconsider because it is too
tedious and restricted. There need to be a better way in how to go about
academic writing. I applaud Barbara Fister for talking about this and even more
so, I applaud her for her realistic suggestions.
Great article! While reading it I couldn’t help
to think where was this article when the class was duking it out over the
memorable five-paragraph essay. This article would have definitely given us
food for thought. Although I never heard of the Jane Schaffer Method I have to
say I like some aspect of this method. In fact I
didn’t know that such method existed, if I did I wouldn’t have waste so much
time creating my own step by step writing formula for my ELL students. I think
the Schaffer method definitely would work on struggling and ELL writers. I know
because I had used and created something similar for my own students and I saw
first hand the positive effects it had on some of my ELL students. Some
students especially new comer not only lack the language for writing, but
they lack the mechanics and structure to start the writing process. Most times they don’t have that skill in
their first language as well. In most cases you can’t really blame them because
writing is considered one of the last skill an ELL student learns. But like I’ve
said I’ve seen some positivity in step-by-step writing formulas. With such
skills writing is definitely demystify and consistency is developed and
students know what to do with a blank paper in front of them. But I also think
that her method is a bit exaggerated. In one part of the article the author
talks about having student check their writing for proper concrete details and
commentary by counting words, sentence, and paragraph to meet that 1:2 ratio.
For me I think that’s a little excessive. A writing formula should have a
balance to it and students should be able to advance beyond it and also should
not use it as a crutch for everything writing. I agree with James Collins when
he said that, “when writing
is taught as a formula, teachers are providing students only ‘declarative
knowledge’ about writing.” He defines declarative knowledge as information
about writing facts. Collins argues that aside from learning "declarative
knowledge,” such as introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions, topic
sentences supporting details and so on, students should also be taught two other kinds of knowledge: procedural
and conditional. Procedural knowledge answers the question of how to accomplish
a given task, and conditional knowledge answers the question of when to make a
particular choice. Like I have mentioned before I like formula writing especially
for struggling and ELL writers because it gives a foundation to work from. I
myself have used and created them, however I don’t think it should be use for to
long of a period, I also don’t think formulas should be restricted or should be
followed to a tee because writing varies and students need to develop several
strategies in identifying and dealing with variances in writing.
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