12.20

You should have received a grade sheet with your grade for the term, and a copy of your final research project with a grade and feedback. Look them over and let me know if you need something corrected. I will be posting your grade to Keanwise on Saturday.

I have enjoyed our time together in class, and reading your work. Thanks to each of you for participating in our class. Good luck in your studies - and stop back to let me know how you are doing!

12.18 Grades

Grades: As soon as I finish grading the research papers, I will send you an email with your final score for the course. I will also return the research essay with a score & some comments.
Grades will be calculated according to the point system listed in the syllabus.

1. Blog + comments (response to readings; practice analysis, drafts, reflections, etc) 300 points

2. Class presentations + group work + participation + quizzes 150 points
3. Best short analysis project 250 points

4. Research project 300 points

If you receive a higher grade on your final research essay than on your short analysis, you will receive a percentage score based on the research essay. If your research essay grade is lower than the short anlaysis score, you will receive all the scores as listed.

After you receive your grade, look over the points. If you are good with your score, we are all set. If you feel I made a mistake or that your work has not been evaluated accurately or fairly, you have 24 hours to send me an email stating what you feel should be re-considered - and I will re-examine by assessment and get back to you.

One day after sending your grades, I will post your final grade to Keanwise.

12.11 Presentations

After reviewing the requirements for the assignment, you gave presentations and your classmates gave you feedback on how to meet the criteria.   I also gave you either oral or written notes for revising your essay.  

Important note:  If you have not turned in a copy of the interview protocol  and the transcript/data, do so as soon as possible.  Your protocol and transcript are the basis for your data collection and I will need to read them  in order to evaluate your essay.  These documents are necessary for you to receive full credit for your essay (an A).  The  interview protocol was posted as Blog 16, and your transcripts were requested as part of your assignment on my blog 11.27.

Next week all work for your grade is due by the end of class. Grades will be calculated as listed in the syllabus and discussed in class.

In class we will hear the remaining presentation, and do some reflecting on the course.

Have a good week and if you have additional questions or want additional feedback - send me an email.

           

           

12.4 Analyzing data, writing a draft

It took this a little longer than I expected to get this posted.  Yesterday was full of surprises!

What we did in class. Most of you have collected your data and are ready to begin looking for patterns that will help you explore/answer your research question.  In class tonight, we started by listening to Antoinette and Brian talk about their data and what they "saw" within the materials they were examining.

Antionette identified a number of thematic issues that connected literacy and economics in the conversations with her participants.  For example, she saw issues with parents: (parents' need to work/lack of time, their lack of preparedness in terms of doing the "pre-teaching" that young children need, a relationship that valued reading and writing but did not necessarily "push" literacy as Antoinette put it (encourage children to go to school beyond high school.   All three of these connected economic realities to literacy accomplishment - and therefore to the ability to move beyond the difficult economics where the children began.

Brian presented a discussion of methods for exploring differences in how Doc Holliday and Ike Canton were represented in transcripts, interviews, and materials written by the press (and others).  His analysis will account for how and why these two men - who  were both "ornery" - acquired very different "reputations" and personae within the public "lore."  (did I get that right?)

Making sense of (messy and unfocused) data:  After these presentations we briefly discussed several general approaches to finding patterns in your data.  These patterns will be the basis of  three to five solid observations about what your data "show" with respect to your research question.  Your discussion of these observations - what they mean, your "proof" that they are indeed in your data, and how they answer your research question => will pretty much be the focus of your paper.

1. Categorizing and coding.  One approach for "making sense" of data is to name and classify what you see going on in your data, sentence by sentence.  This approach gives you language to talk about the ideas, actions,  interactions, actors, contexts, outcomes, and other characteristics  you see within your data.  This is the approach we took for the analysis of the shaggy dog stories.

2.  Focused analysis or naming big chunks of text or connected materials.  If you apply this approach to a transcript, you might watch for where the focus of conversation shifts and mark places where the conversation moves from one focus to another.  You would then give each section a name (much like coding, except that you are naming larger sections of text.  The sample for finding a focus (posted to the right) uses this approach.  The student researchers named the different "stories" she found in her transcript, and then selected a series of related stories (with a similar focus) for the focus of her research essay.

3. Thematic analysis.  This approach is similar to the way readers approach literary texts.  You identify repeating themes or ideas or phrases and look at how they work within your body of data.

Writing up your essay.  During the second half of class I drew your attention to the different "parts" of a research essay that gathers and analyzes data: introduction, literature review, methods, presentation of data, analysis of data, conclusions.  These sections are sometimes merged or divided into slightly different headings = but this is the general organization.  Each of you did some writing to set up the statements you would make in each section - and then we generalized the kinds of "moves" you make in each section.  You can look at the research essays we read as models - or view research essays in journals like Computers and Composition or The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (through the Kean Library databases).

For next week:
Blog 20:  Post your draft research essay so far.

In class you will be giving presentations on your project.  In your presentation you will:

• identify your research question
• talk about what other researchers have written about your project
• point out what your project adds to this area of research and state why it is important
• describe your method for collecting and analyzing your data
• present your findings
• and state your conclusions (as they relate to your research question and the importance of your project to research in the field)

Our purpose for these presentations is to provide you with feedback for your project so you can strengthen it before you turn it in for your grade, the following week. I will be assessing your talks as a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching for this semester.  I will use the rubric posted on the previous blog.  Your grades and the scores on the rubrics will not necessarily correlate.

If you have not done so already, you should send me your data/transcripts so I will be able to help with your analysis and findings sections.  If you have questions or would like to talk through your data before class, send me an email and we can set up a conference.

Presentations

Criterion	4	3	2	1	0
Explanation of Issues
Evidence
Influence of context and assumptions
Student’s position (perspective thesis/hypothesis)
Conclusions and related outcomes (implications and consequences)

11.27 Ethnography

We started class with a discussion of the short analysis projects.  You are on target in terms of forming research questions, and most of you are moving in the right direction in terms of using an analytic process to "show" your answer to that question.  I have posted your classmates' sample analysis essays (to the right) for you to think about as models. We reviewed the components of an introduction (state the research problem, connect to what others have written in a general way, state the problem's importance => set up what you will do in your essay), and we talked  about the difference between the lit-crit papers you have written for humanities course and the more "sciencey" genre of writing studies research.  This is not to say that some writing studies essays do not look very close to lit-crit essays.  In fact, many are written in the same forms as literature analysis.  I have focused on teaching the social-sciencey kind of analysis because you already have a strong basis in analyzing literature.  

The rest of tonight's class focused on ethnographic research.  We used ideas and practices from Robert Emerson's Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes as a basis for our discussion, and then took a look at the sample ethnographic writing and field notes (jottings) I presented as handouts.

Emerson set up his piece by noting that participation, observation, and writing are each components of ethnographic research - and that in practice these three components are essentially inseparable.  He notes that choices about how and what to observe will shape (and are shaped by) how we choose to participate, and that the writing necessary to put our observations in to language will influence both the experience of participating and of observing. 

We looked at the three examples of ethnographic description from Emerson's essay and noted his characterization of them as (respectively) focused on:

• physical descriptions of environment/elements of the experience
• moment by moment accounts of what happens (chronological)
• a shifting perspective that "spotlights" characters or scenes

These three different perspectives (and the many possible other perspectives that we began to list on the board) for turning experience into writing select for certain kinds of information and "reduce" or leave out other information.  Because experience is so rich and messy - it is inevitable that much will be left out.  The ethnographer's job is to document as much is as possible (or as is relevant to his/her purpose) from multiple perspectives so as to create a "thick description" of the cultural meanings associated with the people s/he is studying.  These perspectives will necessarily include the ethnographer's reflections on his or her feelings, assumptions, values, and beliefs and how those feelings etc influenced his/her observations & participation.

Emerson stressed that his definition of ethnography  and how it worked had 4 important implications for ethnographers.

1. What is observed is inseparable from assumptions about what is important and the way the world works
2. Fieldnotes should pay deep attention to the values and meanings of the people studied
3. On-the-spot fieldnotes are essential
4. Fieldnotes should detail interactional processes

We then looked at the sample write-up of an event by a student ethnographer in light of questions raised by Emerson's discussion of ethnography.

• which perspectives/approaches to observation did this ethnographer step into? 
• what did she document?  what did she leave out?
• what were her assumptions associated with this event - and how did those assumptions shape what she included/left out of her write up?

While this student ethnographer did an excellent job writing up her experience, our reflections on it revealed features of her perspective (assumptions about senior citizens, race - or maybe urban areas) that  shaped her perceptions.  She was aware of some of her assumptions - but only partially aware or even unaware of others, and as we talked we saw how her observations and participation and her writing = all three elements of ethnography, were interactively shaped by her perspective.  As ethnographers become more experienced - they dig deep into their perspectives and those of others - and part of ethnography is theorizing/thinking about how meanings are made across the gaps between self and other and between insiders and outsiders to any given culture. 

On the spot fieldnotes.  The rest of the class focused on taking field notes. We talked about how choices about what kind of event, and positioning within the event set you up to for different kinds of note taking experiences.  Observing a classroom taught by a teacher who does not require you to interact will result in notes that differ from what you can produce when you are a student in the class - and expected to have a larger participatory role.

We also talked about issues associated with how your participants might feel about you taking notes, whether and how to ask for permission, and how the note-taking process can be influenced by the level of "sharing" you establish with your community.

I directed you to Emerson's 5 recommendations for "how" to take jottings - and we looked at sample notes taken during a participatory event.  We noted the difference between what the note-taker wrote down during the event - and what she wrote after the note => her "headnotes."  Adding to your notes immediately after your experience - and writing them up as soon as possible after your observation contributes to strong documentation. Your at-the- time-of-the-event impressions are key to creating an accurate representation of the experience - and in some ways they are only available to you while you are "there." 

For next week:

Conduct your interview + create your transcript.  Bring your transcript to class so we can work on analyzing your data.  For this paper - you will not know what your essay is saying until you have spent some time working with your data.  

Email me your transcript as soon as it is available so I can be prepared to work with you.

During class we will talk through methods for analyzing transcripts - and you will work on exploring answers to your research question through analyzing your data.  

11.20 Introduction + literature review; creating transcripts

In class we analyzed the organization of the introduction & literature review for Glynda Hull's essay.Our analysis showed the following sequence of 'moves.'

Introduction
starts with an example
explains what the example in terms of the essay's focus
states what the essay will do ( what the essay is about in general)
re-states what the essay will show in terms of the specific content of the essay's discussion
States why discussion of this content is importnat
Point by point discussion of what the essay will do (how she will analyze/study the content)
detailed statement of the importance of this kind of analysis/study

Literature review
Set up the material she is reviewing + why
- Hull points out why the sources she is reviewing are relevant/important to her research question.  Your reasons may include the following:

• similar topic
• similar problem
• widely cited as the authority on your topic

point out the importance of how/what your work adds to the study of this topic
- identify/define specialized language

For her discussion of the particular references, Hull discussed one idea at a time.  She introduced the idea, provides quotes from the literature, and then discussed what the quote show with respect to her focus.

In this part of your literature review, you can organize your discussion in terms of the points made by other researchers, by the points you will make, or by researcher.  As you discuss what other researchers have written, include a discussion of what your project will add.

In our overall discussion we pointed out the the form for writing studies research essays is different from the form used in literary criticism (the kind of writing you have done for your lit courses.)  Forms for writing studies essays borrow from scientific essay - but are not exactly the same.  You can review the essays we read on commenting and Writing about writing - or look at a journal like Computers and Composition (which has clear headings) or Composition Studies.  

Creating transcripts.
We talked through the mechanical process of creating a transcript => listening to your audio recording, typing what you hear into a document and marking where you are in the audio record on your written record so you can go back and forth between the two.  We also discussed how as you transcribe, you will make decisions about  what features you will record. For example, what was said, who said what,  laughing, long pauses => what ever else you choose) and what you will not. I suggested making some notes on your interview protocol to help yourself out with recognizing terms that won't be immediately obvious within the flow of conversation (names for places, people, slang, unusual words, etc.

We then looked at the sample posted to the right and talked about the process of creating a transcript. Transcripts area a written record of what was said in your interview = but they are never a complete representation of what happened.  What you choose to represent in your transcript and how you arrange that representation on the page will depend on the different purposes for your projects. As we talked through the different representations in the sample, we noted that we could "see" patterns in what was happening more clearly depending on the way the talk was presented on the page. 

Catch up:
Turn in your Final Short Analysis paper as an attachment sent to the course email so I can grade it and we can talk about them in class on 11.27.  The idea is that you will get some experience analyzing data + using the forms for writing for writing studies essays.

Get started on your interviews + transcribing if you are that far along. If you want me to take another look at your interview protocol - I can look through it Monday.  

Turn in your permission form if you have not done so already.

Up-date the post for the introduction + literature review (Blog 19) 

For next class:
Read: writing ethnographic fieldnotes, p. 1-13
Blog 20: Reflect on your introduction/literature review in terms of the following prompts.

1.  What are the strengths your writing for the introduction?  What do you need to add as you continue to write your essay? 
What are the strengths of your writing for the review of the literature?  What will you need to continue to work on?

2. What is the research problem identified in your introduction?  How do you point out what your research project will contribute toward resolving this "problem"?  In other words, what have you written about  the importance of your project for writing studies?

3. What have other researchers found out about your topic that is relevant to your research project?

4.  How do you connect findings from question 3 to the purpose of your project?

5.  What is your plan for finishing/revising your introduction and literature review?

6.  What feedback do you want from me?

In class we will talk about the short analysis projects, catch up with anything you need to know or work out in terms of interviewing + transcribing, and we will talk about & practice ethnographic methods.

Have a great Thanksgiving and see you next week.

11.13 Short Analysis workshop + Interview practice

A revised course calendar is posted to the right.  As with the original calendar - it gives an overview of where we are going and when things are due - but you will need to check with this blog to get the up-to-date details.  We will do our best to get through the remaining material in a resonable way.

Short analysis projects:  In class we looked at sample short analysis projects from the other section -and from our section.  We developed a rubric (pasted below) to assess how well the writer was doing and what s/he needed to work on.

If the project is worth a total of 100 points, the work for the following five qualities would be evaluated as follows:

1.    Quality of the research question= relevant to the data, critical (not yes or no) (25)

2.    Clear identification of features that can answer the research question (needs to define these features) (20)

3.    (show analysis)Builds an answer to the research question by discussing relationships between features within the data (20)

4.    State what the analysis shows (20)

5.    Uses forms for research essays (15)

We talked through one sample paper using the rubric, and then we used the rubric as a way to develop feedback for what you needed to work on for your drafts.  

Interview protocols.  During the last part of class I handed out an excerpt from a research methods text on how to prepare for interviews (extra copies are in my mailbox).  We talked through the suggestions - and you "tested" what you had so far to see how your draft protocol was working.

For next class:
We will work on the introduction and literature review section for your research essay. I passed out the introduction to Gynda Hull's essay (extra copies in my mailbox) as a sample introduction.  Post what ever you can on your blog so you have something to work with.  We will talk through the sample - and then workshop your writing.
We will also talk about how to transcribe your interview tapes.

If you have not turned in the informed consent form - turn it in as soon as possible.

Read: Excerpt from "Hearing other voices" by Glynda Hull

Blog 18: Introduction + literature review = draft writing so far
Blog 19: Final Short analysis

I will be catching up on blogs -and will provide comments for everything up to Blog 17 by the end of the weekend.

11.6 permission forms and interview protocols

Short analysis projects:  Most of you have attended conference on the short analysis project. A complete draft suitable for workshopping is due, posted on your blog, for November 13.  

General suggestions  based on earlier drafts posted by both sections of ENG 3029 are as follows :

• Set up your essay with a clear statement of your research question.  State the purpose of your essay (what you will show) with respect to that question.
• Make sure to define your codes and categories.  Break down large categories in terms of particular codes.  For example, if you are analzying comments in terms of "positive" and "negative" comments, identify the features (assign codes) for what is positive and negative. For negative, you might code comments as direct fault-finding; unexplained corrections, unclear demands for change, etc.  Give examples from the data to help define your codes and categories
• Present your analysis in a way that illustrates what the codes and categories show about your research question => for most of you, developing a table that illustrated patterns between your codes and categories and a central feature relevant to your research question would be a good idea.  For example, for an analysis of how positive comments cause (or not) students to revise their work, you might have a table that displays comments you ranked as causing lots, some, and no change along the left side of the table, and then characterizes them by codes/categories for positive/negative features.  This table should give a visual display of what categories correspond with willingness to revise.
• Discuss patterns among the  relationships between codes and categories and the focus of your research question (e.g. how features of the punchline contribute to the "funniness" of shaggy dog stories; or how the features of a comment's complexity contribute to whether students will respond to that comment; etc)
• Use your conclusion to re-state and develop a discussion of what the patterns you identified in your analysis mean.  Also state what questions remain unanswered, and what additional questions your analysis might raise

Distributing + collecting informed consent forms from your subjects.  We walked through how to distribute + collect the informed consent forms.  I handed out copies with my signature.  You are required to use two copies of the form for each participant: one for the participant, and one that you will turn in to me => so that means you will need to make additional copies of the one form I provided.  Make sure to fill in your contact information in all three places.  Also, when you present the form for signing - talk through each section, and be sure to make clear that the interviews will be audio recorded.  We will talk about the "debriefing" forms that you will distribute when your interview is complete next class.  Do not collect data until after we have worked on your interview protocols.  .  

Designing interview protocols.  We spent the most of class talking about interview protocols (the set of questions you will use to guide your interview) and theories for conducting interviews and for designing questions.

We began by talking about general practices for conducting an interview that included the following suggestions..

Beginning questions should set up the purpose of the interview, get the participant oriented to the interviewing process, and establish your persona (about 10 minutes)  These questions should be "easy."
Provide an opportunity for an overall story about the interview's focus near the beginning of the interview. This story can set up "themes" or reveal the participants general orientation to your focus.
Many interviews are organized chronologically.
Allow participants multiple opportunities to answer the same or similar questions from multiple perspectives.
Ask primarily open questions, though changing-up with yes/no questions can allow participants to access their memories from different orientations.
The interviewer's primary task is to direct the participant's attention to the focus; at the same time, do not assume that "off-topic" answers are always off-topic (follow up with = can you tell me more, or what do you mean. . .) 
Choose respectful, non-confrontational language

You then read through Hawisher & Selfe's interview protocol from Literate Lives in the Information Age and described how it was "built,"  and whether or how you could use their organization as a pattern for your interview.

Most of you seemed to have lots of ideas for how to develop your protocols. .

For next class:
BRING COMPLETED PERMISSION FORMS.

Read: Review Gee, Chapters1-8 = these chapters provide lots of tools and ideas for asking questions of the data you will collect for your projects.
Blog 16: Post your draft interview protocol
Blog 17: Post your draft short analysis.  Also send your short analysis project to the course email as an attachment. 

During class you will workshop your short analysis projects, we will take a look at your interview protocols, and  we will review Gee by applying using some of the tools he identifies = particular the ideas associated with "figured worlds" and context.  

11.5 After the storm

I hope all of you are safe and well.  I feel pretty lucky my house didn't get crunched by a tree or flooded so that's good.  I don't have power or internet.  I am here at an internet cafe so this is going to be a short post, but I wanted to give you a heads up - and let you know that ENG 3029 will be here waiting for you when you get back.

When we meet (this Tuesday or next - depending on Kean and whether or not you can get to campus) we will talk over how to put things together for the rest of the term.  

I have not had a chance to do any more on your drafts for the short analysis (no internet) but will be able to work on that as soon as school opens (Kean will certainly get power before me - I live in an urban forest => or used to.  Lots of trees/power lines down).  

I am expecting to pare back on readings and to focus on finishing your projects (lots of workshops).  I am thinking we will finish Gee (because you will need to apply his methods for your projects), and read the Coach Bombay article as an introduction to ethnography.  The rest will pretty much be focused on supporting you in collecting and analyzing your data, and on writing and revising your papers.  

I will be on campus as soon as  school opens..  If you can't attend class and you let me know and I will try to be in touch with you.

I am sending  all my thoughts and nonsectarian prayers your way.  Take care and be safe.

10.23

NOTE: assignments are now significantly different from what is listed on the calendar. DO NOT use the calendar as a reference for what to do next class.  Use the Read/Blog assignments listed at the end of Blog posts as directions for how to prepare for class.

Using Gee's language in our own example.  During the first part of class, we started an analysis of a community of practice (school classroom= students and teachers  in general with some attention to the way we do things in our research methods class ) in terms of the kinds of saying, doing, and being that takes place within that community.  This was an effort to "play the game" (as in the Yu Gi Oh example from your book) as a way to get a more clear understanding of the terms Gee has introduced.  We made a list on the board of the kinds of things we do in the classroom, the kinds of communications we engage in, and the ways we are => in terms of being students and a teachers.  We included information about what we all knew was expected of us in order to be accepted in the classroom (eg the teacher stands at the front of the class and can move about, students will not circulate around the class, during class discussioins students address their comments to the teacher,  etc).  Within this example, this list of what it is OK to say/do/be is the set of practices defined by (or expected) in our classroom (a community of practice).  These ways of saying, doing and being are also important features of  the  Discourses associated  with this community of practice = Discourses for being a student, and Discourses for being a teacher.

After we noted the ways of saying, doing, and being associated with our community of practice, we raised questions about the kinds of building activities language (and meaning making activities associated with language) were associated with what we said, did, and were.
:
1.  what kinds of meanings (significance) were created through what particular kinds of activities & language;

2   what kinds of practices were both created through our talk = and  assumed as normal or important to the functioning of our classroom;

3.  how our physical location in the room, and how the kinds of things we said and didn't say created particular identities (eg. teacher, student)

4. how our use of language, the physical structure of the room, and our agreed upon practices created certain kinds of relationships (where the teacher "gives" up some power in group work - but continues "surveillance" by circulating through the groups)

5.  what kinds of politics are created? the relationships from #4 often are related to the distribution of power or control over social goods (grades, the right to speak, prestige), and we looked at how the "social goods"  created through teacher/student interactions influenced what we would and would not say => as when you observed that students often do not ask about material they don't understand because the social goods of "respect" and "being thought of as a good student=> able to understand the material on your own, may feel more immediately valuable that what might be gained through asking a "stupid" question.

6. We also looked at how the (often unconsciously) agreed upon practices within our classroom created certain kinds of connections between identities (being a good student) and practices (coming to class prepared, answering the teacher's questions, staying on topic, demonstrating knowledge of the teacher's preferred topic) and that sometimes "being a good student" could be an obstacle to student's learning needs (asking questions, going back over material from a previous lesson, going off topic to connect to something the student can use to understand the material on the teacher's agenda).

7. Finally, we might have mentioned the different systems for communicating  (the blog, emails, teacher comments, spoken communications) favored students or the teacher.  We might also have considered how the different modes of communication favored different assumptions, values and beliefs about what needed to be communicated regarding our class activities - and how it needed to be communicated.

The purpose of this exercise was to use Gee's language in terms of an experience you are part of.  The reason for identifying & practicing the use of his terms for the "building tasks" is because you can used an examination of what is created in your data (both for your short analysis, and the research project)= as a way to explore what is happening.  Asking about which building tasks are most important, what they are doing, and how they work in your data can help you identify codes and categories for what your subjects are "saying, doing and being" = and you can use those codes and categories to build your theory.

Form-function correlations, situated meanings, and figured worlds.   After we finished analyzing the classroom in terms of how we talked in class, the way writing was assigned and assessed, and the physical space, we talked through a transcript from an interview with a Kean student who was very experienced with computers and gaming.  The focus of the interview was on defining literacies and gaming practices - and whether there were any points of overlap in these definitions.   We noticed in the talk between Ch and B that Ch very much wanted to identify the kinds of learning, problem solving, and social interaction associated with gaming with academic literacies, and that B was - if not reluctant to do that - then at least he was not initially seeing the connections.  We noted the persuasive moves Ch made and the ways B received those moves.  We also noted B's comments with respect to gaming (fooling around, for leisure & recreation, not as important as work - but at the same time it was his passion) and noted that taken together these two conflicting sets of orientations towards gaming seemed to include assumptions, values, and beliefs about video games that might come from two different figured worlds/cultural stories = one for the mainstream or standard story about of video games as a waste of time or "fooling around,"  and another where they are part of an identity (Discourse) for a group of people who are very good at a set of interactive practices, who see themselves as "outsiders" in some ways (at least outsiders with respect to the mainstream - maybe including school)..  Ch's comments seemed directed toward linking the learning strategies in video games with literacies where literacies are ways to make meanings through practices associated with reading + writing  ("that's literacy. . ." "so you know a lot of software?" etc).  Her assumptions, values and beliefs about games (and literacy) seem to come from a different cultural story => one common among composition teachers and researchers who study learning and new communication technologies.  So in some ways - Ch and B were using the same words = but with different assumptions, values and beliefs attached to them, so they were not really understanding each other.  B would need to re-arrange the way he thought about "gamer Discourse" - in some ways - to receive what Ch was saying about gaming and literacy, and Ch needed to think about the difference B was pointing out in more detail.

At the end of class, we took a minute to do some writing/thinking about the nature of what was at stake for B to remain in his story, and for Ch to get him to change, and vice versa.  Keep thinking about that one - as it brings together the three points in chapter 5 about form-function correlations (how meanings are made with "rules"), situated meanings (how the ways certain uses in particular times & places make meanings) and figured worlds - how the assumptions, values & beleifs attached to certain language and use ALSO make meanings.   


Permission forms and debriefing. We ended class discussion of the permission forms & conferences.  I handed out signed copies of the permission form you need to provide to your research participants.  I role-played (thank you, Tshandi) the kind of talk you need to go through with your research participant to present the permission form, and pointed out the different places on the form that you need to sign and provide contact information.

I have posted electronic copies of the forms to the right.  If you lose the signed copy - you will need to print another copy (from the link to the right) and ask me to sign it.

You will need to give one signed copy to each participant, and one collect one signed copy to give to me.  You should provide me with the signed copies either before or when you begin collecting your data.

We also looked at the de-briefing form.  Be sure to fill in your name, email, and phone information so that your participants can be in touch if they want to.

For next class:
We will be working on interviewing - so come to class with some notes, ideas for the kinds of questions you want to ask your interview subject.

We will also continue to review + apply the material from Gee.  

I will collect signed informed consent forms as soon as you have them ready.  That way - as soon as we finish your interview/research tools = you can begin collecting data. 

Read: Gee 6-8.  Focus on the new terms.  Make notes about concepts you want to spend time going over.  

Blog 15:  Post your best version of your research question for your final research project.  Write a description of what kind of information you want to gather from your research participants, and begin a list of the kinds of questions you want to ask to gather your information.

Blog 16: Post your plan for finishing/revising your draft short analysis.  You should also post any questions/confusions you have about what you need to do to finish the project.  You are welcome to be in touch with me (schedule a conference) as part of your work on this blog.  The final short analysis project will be due.Nov. 6.

NOTE: At this point we are not using the calender in an accountable way.  USE THE BLOG as your guide for how to prepare for the next class.  If you have questions, send me an email.  

We started class with a workshop on the short analysis projects.  You used the worksheet (posted to the right) to brainstorm, focus + develop your analysis for this project.   I circulated through the groups - and by the end of the first half of class everyone seemed to have a clear workable question, some ideas of the codes/categories they would use to describe patterns + develop hypotheses, and some of you had some theories to explain overall patterns.  So GOOD!

Model essay for Senior Seminar reflection piece + writing process as research
During the second half of class we had a discussion of Mary Elizabeth Pope's "Composing Teacher Training."  This essay is both a "model" essay for the kind of writing you will create to accompany your Senior Seminar project for the Writing Option Major, and it is an illustration of how reflective, analytic writing both complements a research process, and IS a research process in its own right.

After we read excerpts from the essay, Teacher Training - we talked through "Composing 'Teacher Training'" with particular attention to the steps Pope took to compose her "Teacher Training."

We noticed the following (below is what we wrote on the board followed by an overview of class discussion):

Activities associated with finding a focus
thinking back on a childhood experience (bad)
a journaling activity where she made a list of topics she would never writ about = conflicted material

freewriting

With respect to these activities, we noted that onflicted  material - things we feel bad or confused about - can often provide good material for research and creative work.  They are "unresolved" = so there is a drive to explore them, and the researcher/writer will have a REASON (other than whatever the assignment demands) for digging into the project. We also noted that freewriting, random associating, talking to friends, browsing the internet, taking a walk = anything that lets material pour into your mind (and turns off your editor) can work as a way to get you to open up new ideas. Putting ideas together in ways you haven't put them together before is central to seeing things "new." 

Research activities

connecting to experience (thinking back on what happend)

visiting physical  places and things associated with your idea

talking to others who were there - or have similar experiences 

peer workshop (discussions with other writers about what connects to your ideas)

As with the "brainstorming" ideas - we noted that the research process seemed to take place through out the writing process . Pope went back and forth between writing - finding more ideas - deciding how to put her ideas into words - writing - and then going through the loop again.  Research activities are not only about reading other texts - for Pope they were about going back to her early experiences.  Psychologists have observed that physical objects - and other people - can serve as "triggers" to detailed memories that might otherwise remain inaccessible.  Photos, places, objects, and other physical artifacts actually seem to "hold" memories for human beings. 

Writing process

trying to write the introduction = part of discovery process

discovery/invention takes place throughout the whole writing process

journaling - to find truth + to craft essay to meet audience demands

clustering = organization association exhaustive categorization/coding

reflective rhetorical analysis = balance between audience + individual truth

We noted that Pope seemed to use her writing process AS PART OF her research process. We also noted that she used her movement among brainstorming, researching, and writing activities as a way to negotiate HER truth into a truth appropriate for her audience.  In some ways, she found what she wanted to say by thinking (and writing) about how BEST to put her feelings into writing.  

Gee and Discourse Analysis

We spent the last half hour of class reviewing Gee.  In many ways this book is very readable - with lots of examples.  You are READING this text as practice for reading other research methods texts - for when you do research on your own => so you can learn new methods through reading what others have written.  

I noted that Gee's book is set up so that it defines terms, uses them, and then used the terms it has already defined to define and illustrate new terms.  You need to be comfortable with the language in the early chapters in order to be able to understand and use the methods described later in the book.  We identified important terms and page numbers - and that was about all we had time to do.

For next class:

Read: Gee, chapter 5

Blog 13 & 14: (this counts as 2 blogs): post your draft short analysis project

In class next week we will go through some of the examples for Gee and as a class, apply some of his tools to our own data sets.  

We will also spend some time working on your data collection tools (many of you will be using interviewing), and  going through the permission forms and talking about how to use them.