English
605 is the lone course in the department with the objective of introducing you
to college level teaching skills. We will meet this objective by exploring the
(now-vast) archive of theory and research in Composition Studies, the
sub-discipline of English that has prized and problematized teaching more than
any other. You will study some key texts that present helpful theory and
research for teaching your own composition course, in whatever institutional
context you find yourself. We will cover topics such as course
conceptualization, syllabus design, lesson design, writing activities,
responding to writing, conducting instructor-student conferences, positioning
students as peer respondents, and evaluating writing. We will also study
“place” as it has been treated in composition scholarship of late,
our goal being to consider local issues of place that can help us think in
concrete terms about how the theory and research we study can be leveraged fruitfully
in classrooms in Hawaiʻi, thus fulfilling an objective of the MA curriculum map. We will
also study tenets from writing across the curriculum to help you conceptualize
your composition course for learners across the disciplinary spectrum, given
that so few of them will go on to major in English. We will explore “writing
to learn” activities that position students to use writing as part of
inquiry as they “invent” the university and learn disciplinary
conventions. In the tradition of Composition Studies, we will consistently
nurture learner-centered approaches to instruction.
Major Activities
You will post weekly responses to readings in
Laulima and you and your peers will lead class discussions grounded in those
responses.
You will complete a syllabus for a composition
course, complete with a 3-5 page explanation of its rationale as related to our
readings.
To engage with teaching in its performative
dimensions, you will devise a teaching experiment and deliver it, with your
classmates playing the role of students in whatever context you stipulate. Your
classmates and I will provide formative evaluation for this experiment via a
GoogleForm, enabling you to revise your lesson plan and contribute it to the
archive of experiments produced by the class, available for others to adopt and
modify according to their contexts.
You will complete a research project on a topic
in Composition Studies, thus fulfilling objectives of the MA and PhD curriculum
maps.
Pre-determined Student Learning Outcomes
- College-level
teaching skills - Foundational
knowledge of the theories and methods of Composition & Rhetoric - Understanding of
advanced research methods - Written and oral
ability to place one’s own scholarly work within broader critical conversations
- Independent
research (using primary and secondary sources)
Texts
Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical
Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom, 2nd edition.SanFrancisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Vandenberg, Peter, Sue Hum, Jennifer Clary-Lemon, eds. Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition
Theory for Writing Teachers. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2010. ISBN/ISSN:
0-8141-2400-3