As discussed in class, these presentations are about making a clear statement of what you are working on, and framing a question so the class can provide constructive feedback to help you work on your project.
Format for presentations:
The blog post with your work will be on the classroom screen, and individual students will be asked to look at your blog so they can follow your points. Standing at the front of the class is optional - though you might want to come up front so you can scroll to the parts of your blog you want to talk about.
In your conversation with the class, you should be prepared to:
1. State your research question;
2. Give a brief summary of the research that your project responds to/comments on/is based on;
3. Direct classmates to the section of your work you want feedback on;
4. Give your classmates some indication of what you want help with (e.g. you might ask for help relating the categories you have marked in your transcript to your research question, or for help with the organization /development of a posted draft, and so on).
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
11.26 Workshop
As we started class, I drew your attention to the connection between the blog posts and how you will earn credit for the data & analysis, and the writing process components of the research essay.
Post your data and analysis to your blog: When you turn in your final essay on the last day of class, you will post it on your blog, and send it to me as an attachment to an email sent to the course email. In the body of the email with your essay, you will list blogs where you have posted data & analysis, and where you have posts that present evidence of your planning/writing process for this project. Number your blogs. If you have more posts for data than I have allowed for numbers, post them as 12 a, b, c etc. Try to stay within the general number system for the prompts listed on this blog.
What you did in class: Today you worked on your research project. Most of you were working on analyzing data (marking up your transcripts in terms of categories and features, noticing re language moves associated with different features in your categories, thinking about points you might make as you develop your essay); some of you were working on transcribing, and some of you were working on writing sections of your essay. Great! That is exactly where you are supposed to be.
What to do for next week.
1. Keep working on transcribing and analyzing data and post it to your blog.
You might develop sections of writing for several or all of your categories. The reason you would do this is to figure out what you have to say about your data in some detail BEFORE you try to write what you have in the form of a coherent essay. This allows you to think through/develop your ideas without getting strangled by the pressure to put those ideas into coherent sentences.
Another analytic approach to writing about your data (rather than by category) is to identify conflicts, and write into them. You might write about:
Conflicts within the data (where your participant does something and says something that don't fit, or where s/he says two different things)
You would write about these conflicts/confusions in a way similar to the ways you wrote about the categories: notice where they occur (what were you talking about); the language moves they are associated with; how they connect to other parts of the data, and so on.
3. Read posts for your classmates who have agreed to do presentations:
Tania, Sam, Tanaera, Sarina, Rachel, Danielle J, Jaleel, Jennifer
Come to class prepared to provide feedback as discussed in class (and see post on presentations on research projects).
4. Post Blog 16 *and a, b, c, as necessary: more data, marked up data, analytic writing, or any draft writing you want feedback on
Have a great Thanksgiving - and see you next week.
Post your data and analysis to your blog: When you turn in your final essay on the last day of class, you will post it on your blog, and send it to me as an attachment to an email sent to the course email. In the body of the email with your essay, you will list blogs where you have posted data & analysis, and where you have posts that present evidence of your planning/writing process for this project. Number your blogs. If you have more posts for data than I have allowed for numbers, post them as 12 a, b, c etc. Try to stay within the general number system for the prompts listed on this blog.
What you did in class: Today you worked on your research project. Most of you were working on analyzing data (marking up your transcripts in terms of categories and features, noticing re language moves associated with different features in your categories, thinking about points you might make as you develop your essay); some of you were working on transcribing, and some of you were working on writing sections of your essay. Great! That is exactly where you are supposed to be.
What to do for next week.
1. Keep working on transcribing and analyzing data and post it to your blog.
2. Work on doing some analytic writing. This is an important part of writing research essays. In general, before you begin to write the analysis section of your essay, you should develop some analytic writing to explore the points you might make about your data. In each piece of analytic writing you might list the following:
- A category you want to explore
- The features of that category
- Some examples (quotes) from your data which deal with/show features of this category
- What you notice in the transcript about where this category seems to appear (in relation to what topics? in response to which questions? many times or just once? etc)
- The kinds of language moves associated with this category and its different features
- What you might say about this category with respect to your research question.
You might develop sections of writing for several or all of your categories. The reason you would do this is to figure out what you have to say about your data in some detail BEFORE you try to write what you have in the form of a coherent essay. This allows you to think through/develop your ideas without getting strangled by the pressure to put those ideas into coherent sentences.
This process of developing sections of analytic writing also allows you to identify the points you will make with respect to your research question BEFORE you try to put them in the best order. It lets you focus on content without getting stuck in where it fits in your argument/discussion.
Another analytic approach to writing about your data (rather than by category) is to identify conflicts, and write into them. You might write about:
Conflicts within the data (where your participant does something and says something that don't fit, or where s/he says two different things)
- Conflicts between your data and what the research predicts
- Parts of your data which confuse you (which don't seem to make sense)
- Pieces of your data which contradict the points you "want" to make
You would write about these conflicts/confusions in a way similar to the ways you wrote about the categories: notice where they occur (what were you talking about); the language moves they are associated with; how they connect to other parts of the data, and so on.
3. Read posts for your classmates who have agreed to do presentations:
Tania, Sam, Tanaera, Sarina, Rachel, Danielle J, Jaleel, Jennifer
Come to class prepared to provide feedback as discussed in class (and see post on presentations on research projects).
4. Post Blog 16 *and a, b, c, as necessary: more data, marked up data, analytic writing, or any draft writing you want feedback on
Have a great Thanksgiving - and see you next week.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
11.19 Short Analysis project, Introductions, Transcripts,and Data analyis
Short analysis discussion. We started class with a discussion of where we are in terms of how you can apply what you learned from writing your short analysis as you begin to work on your research project. Some of your observations were as follows.
1. The research question drives the essay. It determines the focus and your categories of analysis. to present a research question, you do not need to write "my research question is. . ." - but you do need to make clear, in specific terms, the focus, categories of analysis, and the purpose of your study.
Some of the moves to set up a research question include:
This essay focuses on. . .
In this essay, I examine (explore, take a close look at how. . .). . . > In particular, I describe (whatever) in terms of (your categories for analysis).
Look at the sample essays for further examples of how authors present their research question and categories of analysis.
2. Writing into what you know and getting your best approximation of what you are thinking puts you in a position for feedback. Lots of you felt "fuzzy" about what you were expected to do - and writing this paper created an opportunity for you to receive feedback on what fit the assignment expectations, and what was not quite on the mark.
3. The essay needs to include lots of specific examples from the data to illustrate/"prove" the points you want to make regarding your research question.
The form for presenting examples is as follows.
Discourse= identity
discourse= the way a group of people use language
Discourse Community= a group of people who share an identity which includes the way they talk, their belief systems, and their literate practices.
This includes creating the right stance toward your research participants, data, and readers. Writing studies tends to relate to participants from the ethnographic perspective, where the focus is on understanding their world view from their perspective (without judging it as correct/incorrect or as right/wrong).
You did a GREAT job on this project, and I am well aware that it was challenging to write an essay were you were unsure of the discourse, the focus, and the content! Good job turning in great essays, and I am hoping the feedback will allow you to continue to gather confidence and expertise which you can then apply to your research project.
Short analysis GRADES: As stated in class, if you receive a higher grade on your research project essay, you will receive that score for your short analysis. My reasoning is that if you have learned more about writing research essays and are able to apply it in the research essay, I will give you credit for that learning.
Review of forms/"moves" for writing research essays (focus on set up)
We reviewed the assignment sheet for the research essay and we came up with the following list of moves:
1. Set up the importance of your study
2. background: including review of the literature + definition of terms
3. present research question
4. methods
5. presentation and analysis of data (see requirements for Short Analysis essay)
6 discussion of findings
7. conclusions
We spent the rest of class examining the set up (the first four moves) in three sample essays (read earlier in the course = links at previous post).
You identified exactly WHERE and how each author made these moves, and noted some of the language author's used for each move. I am hoping you took notes, or can go back to the essays because I was so interested/involved in your discussions I did not write down all your good observations.
Creating transcripts/analyzing data.
We spent the rest of class looking at some of the data you have collected (posted on your blogs), noting the forms in your transcripts, and talking through processes for coming up with categories for analysis or looking for features of the data.
DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR PARTICIPANT'S NAME ANYWHERE IN YOUR WRITTEN NOTES, ANALYSIS or TRANSCRIPTION. ALWAYS refer to your participant by a pseudonym (false name). You may refer to yourself by your real name, but not your participant. Also, remove any identifiers that will reveal your participant's identity.
Not allowed: M teaches first grade at Jersey City PS 2122, on North Avenue.
Recommended: M teaches at a small (400 students) urban grade school in northern New Jersey.
Analysis: As pointed out in this discussion, analyzing data is a cyclical process. Researchers often begin by looking at their data in light of their research question, but then, once they have spent some time with the data and noticed patterns, they often modify their research question => which sends them back to their data with new perspectives, which may again lead to modifying the research question.
You are doing a great job so far!
After your presentations, I directed you to the Sample transcript and the Edited transcript, and we talked through a process for analyzing your "raw" data by looking for (and analyzing) "stories". We then noted how the form of the data's representation changes in terms of the researcher's interpretations for what the data "shows." Good participation in this discussion!
For next class:
More presentations on data/analysis so far; in-class workshop on data analysis and drafting
Blog 14: Data (if you have not already posted it already);
Blog 15: any section of your essay you want feedback on (or a marked up transcript) = anything you want to work on in class.
Great class this evening. It feels like this class is coming together.
1. The research question drives the essay. It determines the focus and your categories of analysis. to present a research question, you do not need to write "my research question is. . ." - but you do need to make clear, in specific terms, the focus, categories of analysis, and the purpose of your study.
Some of the moves to set up a research question include:
This essay focuses on. . .
In this essay, I examine (explore, take a close look at how. . .). . . > In particular, I describe (whatever) in terms of (your categories for analysis).
Look at the sample essays for further examples of how authors present their research question and categories of analysis.
2. Writing into what you know and getting your best approximation of what you are thinking puts you in a position for feedback. Lots of you felt "fuzzy" about what you were expected to do - and writing this paper created an opportunity for you to receive feedback on what fit the assignment expectations, and what was not quite on the mark.
3. The essay needs to include lots of specific examples from the data to illustrate/"prove" the points you want to make regarding your research question.
The form for presenting examples is as follows.
- Set up a point relevant to your research question.
- Present a chunk of data from your transcript, observations, or other source. Use to format for block quotes (see Purdue OWL).
- Discuss the transcript/data excerpt by making specific references to language in the quote. Make statements about what the quote as a whole/and the particular language moves show with respect to your research question.
Discourse= identity
discourse= the way a group of people use language
Discourse Community= a group of people who share an identity which includes the way they talk, their belief systems, and their literate practices.
This includes creating the right stance toward your research participants, data, and readers. Writing studies tends to relate to participants from the ethnographic perspective, where the focus is on understanding their world view from their perspective (without judging it as correct/incorrect or as right/wrong).
You did a GREAT job on this project, and I am well aware that it was challenging to write an essay were you were unsure of the discourse, the focus, and the content! Good job turning in great essays, and I am hoping the feedback will allow you to continue to gather confidence and expertise which you can then apply to your research project.
Short analysis GRADES: As stated in class, if you receive a higher grade on your research project essay, you will receive that score for your short analysis. My reasoning is that if you have learned more about writing research essays and are able to apply it in the research essay, I will give you credit for that learning.
Review of forms/"moves" for writing research essays (focus on set up)
We reviewed the assignment sheet for the research essay and we came up with the following list of moves:
1. Set up the importance of your study
2. background: including review of the literature + definition of terms
3. present research question
4. methods
5. presentation and analysis of data (see requirements for Short Analysis essay)
6 discussion of findings
7. conclusions
We spent the rest of class examining the set up (the first four moves) in three sample essays (read earlier in the course = links at previous post).
You identified exactly WHERE and how each author made these moves, and noted some of the language author's used for each move. I am hoping you took notes, or can go back to the essays because I was so interested/involved in your discussions I did not write down all your good observations.
Creating transcripts/analyzing data.
We spent the rest of class looking at some of the data you have collected (posted on your blogs), noting the forms in your transcripts, and talking through processes for coming up with categories for analysis or looking for features of the data.
DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR PARTICIPANT'S NAME ANYWHERE IN YOUR WRITTEN NOTES, ANALYSIS or TRANSCRIPTION. ALWAYS refer to your participant by a pseudonym (false name). You may refer to yourself by your real name, but not your participant. Also, remove any identifiers that will reveal your participant's identity.
Not allowed: M teaches first grade at Jersey City PS 2122, on North Avenue.
Recommended: M teaches at a small (400 students) urban grade school in northern New Jersey.
Analysis: As pointed out in this discussion, analyzing data is a cyclical process. Researchers often begin by looking at their data in light of their research question, but then, once they have spent some time with the data and noticed patterns, they often modify their research question => which sends them back to their data with new perspectives, which may again lead to modifying the research question.
You are doing a great job so far!
After your presentations, I directed you to the Sample transcript and the Edited transcript, and we talked through a process for analyzing your "raw" data by looking for (and analyzing) "stories". We then noted how the form of the data's representation changes in terms of the researcher's interpretations for what the data "shows." Good participation in this discussion!
For next class:
More presentations on data/analysis so far; in-class workshop on data analysis and drafting
Blog 14: Data (if you have not already posted it already);
Blog 15: any section of your essay you want feedback on (or a marked up transcript) = anything you want to work on in class.
Great class this evening. It feels like this class is coming together.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Resources/models for writing your introduction and literature review
Rhetoric
of Teacher Comments on Student Writing Robin
Martin
Texting and Writing Michaela Cullington
Coaches Can Read, Too Sean Brannick
Texting and Writing Michaela Cullington
Coaches Can Read, Too Sean Brannick
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
11.12 Research essay rubric
Short Analysis Essays. At the beginning of class you used the rubric we created last week to post a grade for your Short Analysis essay. I will be reading your essays over the weekend and will return them to you with coments by next class. You also gave me some feedback on how to adjust/tweak the teaching process for this essay.
Research Essay Rubric. We looked at the assignment sheet for the research project with special attention to the criteria for the essay. I talked a little about what I want to teach by assigning this project, and how it is those teaching goals that provide my basis for defining criteria and weighting different features that count toward the grade. On the assignment sheet we note the following criteria, and discussed the moves the writer would need to make in the essay to meet those criteria.
10 points: conclusions
Sums up findings, indicates limitations, applications, possible new questions raised, etc
10 points: organization & correctness
We used this rubric to assess the two sample research projects and found that in general, the rubric posed grades that were slightly different from the "wholistic" grades (gut grades) we would give to the essays. (My rubric grades were lower, some groups gave higher, and some lower).
The most important outcomes of this discussion was to think about how these evaluations might help these (very good) writers write stronger essays. Both these papers were very good in terms of exploring important questions in terms of questions raised by writing studies research, making particular references to that research, and using their data to add to (or raise more questions) for writing studies. We noticed that important areas to work on were:
stating the research question explicitly and in detail;
announcing or setting up the categories for analysis somewhere BEFORE the actual analysis section;
During the second part of class we will work on data analysis. I will talk about how to create and analyze transcripts, so bring any transcription you may have started + any other data you might have.
Research Essay Rubric. We looked at the assignment sheet for the research project with special attention to the criteria for the essay. I talked a little about what I want to teach by assigning this project, and how it is those teaching goals that provide my basis for defining criteria and weighting different features that count toward the grade. On the assignment sheet we note the following criteria, and discussed the moves the writer would need to make in the essay to meet those criteria.
20 points: background & relevance to WS
Presentation of relevant background + discussion of relevance of your project to writing studies
Include:1 or 2 writing studies references relevant to your research question; use those references to define your niche and the categories of analysis.
20 points: research question
Clear statement of a research question to focus your analysis=what the analysis will show
A good research question is relevant to writing studies, is "doable" in terms of your data set
A good research question is relevant to writing studies, is "doable" in terms of your data set
10 points: methods
Clear identification & explanation of methods to conduct your research
This should include discussion of how you will collect + analyze your data, and it should set up your categories of analysis and their connection to the research (if relevant)Clear identification & explanation of methods to conduct your research
20 points: presentation & analysis of data
Presentation and analysis of data or information (see requirements for short analysis essay)
This should include: identification of your analytic categories, examples to illustrate patterns from data; direct statements of what the analysis shows re the research question.
10 points: discussion
Discussion should point out relationships between patterns in the data and findings from WS research, direct statements of what in particular your research adds to WS10 points: conclusions
Sums up findings, indicates limitations, applications, possible new questions raised, etc
10 points: organization & correctness
We used this rubric to assess the two sample research projects and found that in general, the rubric posed grades that were slightly different from the "wholistic" grades (gut grades) we would give to the essays. (My rubric grades were lower, some groups gave higher, and some lower).
The most important outcomes of this discussion was to think about how these evaluations might help these (very good) writers write stronger essays. Both these papers were very good in terms of exploring important questions in terms of questions raised by writing studies research, making particular references to that research, and using their data to add to (or raise more questions) for writing studies. We noticed that important areas to work on were:
stating the research question explicitly and in detail;
announcing or setting up the categories for analysis somewhere BEFORE the actual analysis section;
selecting/including appropriate examples from the data;
providing detailed discussions of the data examples (paper 1),
providing enough examples (paper 2)
organization and development.
providing enough examples (paper 2)
organization and development.
Workshop on research projects
You are just about ready to start collecting data. A number of you turned in the consent form, and all of you spent class working on your research instruments (for example, the interview protocol, plan for observation, reflective writing => what every you tool or material you will use to gather/create data), developing a more in-depth research question, planning for data collection (identifying what you will look for/notice/ask about).
For next class:Turn in signed consent forms.
Blog 12: Grade for Short Analysis (posted in class)
Blog 12: Grade for Short Analysis (posted in class)
Blog 13: Whatever you worked on in class and during the week. This is one place where you accumulate credit for writing process for your project.
During first part of class we will work on writing the literature review (bring the research essay you used to frame your project) and the methods section.
During the second part of class we will work on data analysis. I will talk about how to create and analyze transcripts, so bring any transcription you may have started + any other data you might have.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
11.5 CaRS for research projects, grades, and finishing up the Short Analysis paper
NOTE: Bring your signed consent forms to class! You must turn in your consent form so you can begin colleting data.
Also: turn in your short analysis projects as an attachment sent to the course email.
During the first part of class, you read through John Swales' "Creating a Research Space" and noted the three moves he identifies as important in writing an introduction for writing studies essays. We restated them as follows:
How you will be graded for this course
Your syllabus (posted to the right) lists the following spread of points for the course.
1. Blog + comments (response to readings; practice analysis, drafts, reflections, etc) 150 points
2. Class presentations + group work + participation + homework 250 points
As noted on they syllabus, we may re-negotiate how points are assigned for your research project, as a class.
In tonight's class we talked in some more detail about exactly how grades would be calculated.
For blogs, you receive 10 points per post. We will probably have a total of 16 posts, so you have a possibility of 10 points extra credit.
For class presentations, group work, participation and homework, you earn 15 points per class (again, out of 16 classes). The remaining 25 points were credit for the NIH training.
For the short analysis project, and the research essay, the discussion on the syllabus says we will develop specific criteria in class (see below).
Criteria for writing to develop the project and for evidence of the writing process are listed on the Research project assignment sheet. Also, as we finish the term, you will have a series of blog posts where you will receive feedback on what you need to do to meet these requirements.
Grades for the course are assigned in keeping with the following scale:
91 and above = A, with 90% = A-
81 and above = B, with 80% = B-
71 and above = C, with 70% = C-
This means that to pass this course you will need to earn 701 points or above (out of the 1000 possible).
Criteria for Short Analysis project
We listed the criteria for the project on the board and had a discussion about how to "weight" the different features so they will add up to the total score, and so that the "value" or importance of each criterium corresponds to the number of points it is assigned.
I pointed out that in practice, assigning a grades is more whollistic, since the effectiveness of one component shapes and is dependent on the effectiveness of other components. At the same time, our work to assign points to each feature can give students a realistic picture of what they need to work on and the relative importance (for their grade) of the different features of their composition.
We first assigned a "range" of scores for each component, and then "tweaked" our ranges so that the total score came out to 100 points (the total allocated to the project). Our scoring was as follows.
20 quality of the research question
20 developed categories of analysis relevant to the data and to the research question
15 relevant, effective examples to demonstrate what the categories show with respect to the research question
15 clear, direct statements of what the examples show with respect to the research question
15 clear, logical organization appropriate for writing studies research esays
10 conclusion sums up findings and reflects on limitations of the analysis and/or further possibilities for study
5 grammar/readability
We then tested our rubric on one of the sample essays. Our scores were in the same general "ballpark" - which suggests that we all had a similar understanding for the expectations for the essay.
In general, my score was more demanding for the research question, the use of direct statements, the organization (because organization includes not just the order, but the details of what each section accomplishes), and the conclusion than most of the groups, and I was more satisfied with the essay's development of categories, its use of examples and the grammar than most other groups. This is important for you to notice because I am the "audience" for your essays, the person who will be evaluating them, and you need to be aware of my expectations.
For next class:
Blog 11: Write a draft for the introduction to your research essay. This is an important post! It will help you frame your research in light of what other researchers have written. This will help you nail down your research question and identify your categories of analysis. For those of you who don't have an essay yet - email me immediately so we can set you up to move forward.
Due: Final Short Analysis project. If you are stumped, let me know so we can set up a conference. I am not available for conferences on Friday. I am in my office most of the day Wednesday and Thursday.
Due: Signed consent forms.
In class we will look at some sample research essays, and develop a rubric similar to the way we did for the short analysis project.
The rest of class will be a workshop to go over your research instruments (interview protocols, prompts for reflective writing, observation protocols, etc).
Good class and see you next week!
Also: turn in your short analysis projects as an attachment sent to the course email.
During the first part of class, you read through John Swales' "Creating a Research Space" and noted the three moves he identifies as important in writing an introduction for writing studies essays. We restated them as follows:
1. Establishing a Territory (or writing what your essay is about/identifying the focus/connecting to the writing studies' topic you will discuss)
2. Establishing a Niche (pointing out what your essay adds)
3. Occupying a Niche (writing what your essay will do/providing an overview of the essay's contents).
Writing a particular essay ALWAYS depends on your audience, purpose, as well as the genre you are writing in, so there is no formula for writing an essay, BUT as Swales points out, these three "moves" are characteristic of writing studies research essay's introductions. Under each move he listed some ways which researchers achieve the 3 moves. These components are use, alone or in combination to accomplish the purposes of the introduction (which Swales sets up as the 3 moves).
If you check the introductions of the research essays we have read so far (including Swales essays) you can see exactly how the different writers made these moves.
You spent then some time looking at the research essay you have identified for your project, and thinking about how you can use it to "establish the territory" and "establish the niche" for your research project.
How you will be graded for this course
Your syllabus (posted to the right) lists the following spread of points for the course.
1. Blog + comments (response to readings; practice analysis, drafts, reflections, etc) 150 points
2. Class presentations + group work + participation + homework 250 points
3. Short analysis project 100 points
4. Research project 500
points
-
200 points = Writing for project planning, creation of data collection tools, presentation and preliminary analysis of data
- 150 points=evidence of writing process including invention writing, successive drafts, and writing to critique and plan revisions to successive drafts
- 150= final research essay
As noted on they syllabus, we may re-negotiate how points are assigned for your research project, as a class.
In tonight's class we talked in some more detail about exactly how grades would be calculated.
For blogs, you receive 10 points per post. We will probably have a total of 16 posts, so you have a possibility of 10 points extra credit.
For class presentations, group work, participation and homework, you earn 15 points per class (again, out of 16 classes). The remaining 25 points were credit for the NIH training.
For the short analysis project, and the research essay, the discussion on the syllabus says we will develop specific criteria in class (see below).
Criteria for writing to develop the project and for evidence of the writing process are listed on the Research project assignment sheet. Also, as we finish the term, you will have a series of blog posts where you will receive feedback on what you need to do to meet these requirements.
Grades for the course are assigned in keeping with the following scale:
91 and above = A, with 90% = A-
81 and above = B, with 80% = B-
71 and above = C, with 70% = C-
This means that to pass this course you will need to earn 701 points or above (out of the 1000 possible).
Criteria for Short Analysis project
We listed the criteria for the project on the board and had a discussion about how to "weight" the different features so they will add up to the total score, and so that the "value" or importance of each criterium corresponds to the number of points it is assigned.
I pointed out that in practice, assigning a grades is more whollistic, since the effectiveness of one component shapes and is dependent on the effectiveness of other components. At the same time, our work to assign points to each feature can give students a realistic picture of what they need to work on and the relative importance (for their grade) of the different features of their composition.
We first assigned a "range" of scores for each component, and then "tweaked" our ranges so that the total score came out to 100 points (the total allocated to the project). Our scoring was as follows.
20 quality of the research question
20 developed categories of analysis relevant to the data and to the research question
15 relevant, effective examples to demonstrate what the categories show with respect to the research question
15 clear, direct statements of what the examples show with respect to the research question
15 clear, logical organization appropriate for writing studies research esays
10 conclusion sums up findings and reflects on limitations of the analysis and/or further possibilities for study
5 grammar/readability
We then tested our rubric on one of the sample essays. Our scores were in the same general "ballpark" - which suggests that we all had a similar understanding for the expectations for the essay.
In general, my score was more demanding for the research question, the use of direct statements, the organization (because organization includes not just the order, but the details of what each section accomplishes), and the conclusion than most of the groups, and I was more satisfied with the essay's development of categories, its use of examples and the grammar than most other groups. This is important for you to notice because I am the "audience" for your essays, the person who will be evaluating them, and you need to be aware of my expectations.
For next class:
Blog 11: Write a draft for the introduction to your research essay. This is an important post! It will help you frame your research in light of what other researchers have written. This will help you nail down your research question and identify your categories of analysis. For those of you who don't have an essay yet - email me immediately so we can set you up to move forward.
Due: Final Short Analysis project. If you are stumped, let me know so we can set up a conference. I am not available for conferences on Friday. I am in my office most of the day Wednesday and Thursday.
Due: Signed consent forms.
In class we will look at some sample research essays, and develop a rubric similar to the way we did for the short analysis project.
The rest of class will be a workshop to go over your research instruments (interview protocols, prompts for reflective writing, observation protocols, etc).
Good class and see you next week!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
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