The most troubling problem I find among my introductory-level media writing students is that inevitably, a few don't know basic grammar or even the difference between a fragment and a complete sentence. And then there are those students who lack the critical thinking skills needed to write coherent sentences, paragraphs or papers.
When I first started teaching, I blamed these issues on the quality of high school education in the U.S. But now, six years later, I believe the lack of basic writing skills we see in so many college students is associated more strongly with students' general disinterest in reading the written word.
I recently sent an informal survey to other media writing instructors throughout the U.S. asking them their views regarding past, current and future teaching challenges. I received many interesting responses to the question "What are the biggest teaching challenges media writing instructors currently face?" Here are some of the answers:
"I believe students don't appreciate the need for rigor in their writing. They fail to put forth the effort. I think this is an area that is worsening in academia."
"Disengagement from anything beyond themselves and their own little lives, and their pop culture. This has been shocking to me."
"Profound lack of even basic writing skills and worse, thinking skills. This has been going on since I started in 1986, but of course has declined markedly in the last ten years or so.
"The adjunct system itself. I can't be there enough to help students with problems."
"Short attention spans, nice weather." (This from a professor of an upper level course who also said his students were well-prepared for his classes.)
"Probably the fact that these kids don't read. I'm hoping the upcoming Harry Potter generation will know how to write a simple sentence correctly and how to use a comma."
"Students do not have the basics of written language. Their grammar is oral, where a slip is not so noticeable. With written work, a grammar error continues on forever. I don't think it's that different from when I first started teaching writing 16 years ago."
"We can lament this or get over it. I chose to teach basic clarity (some rules MUST be obeyed) but I don't think this lapse signals anything important. It's just an oral culture they live in."
Monday, July 9, 2007
Something old, something new: Teaching for new media
Most of the media writing instructors I know are in their 40s or 50s and learned to write before the advent of the Internet.
With that in mind, it's not surprising that teaching students how to write for new media takes extra effort for the instructors.
For my classes, I present a lecture on Web writing, which covers the basic differences in writing for the computer screen versus print media. I also use my Web-enhanced classroom tools and require participation in several online discussions. (I learned immediately that I had to have my students spell-check and grammar-check their comments before posting--it was far too easy for them to forget that these online discussions were part of a writing class and not just text messages.) In addition, when we get to our advertising/PR assignments, I give students the option of creating a Web site.
Here's what other media writing instructors have told me on this topic:
"I suggest that all journalism educators integrate blogs and audio into their courses to force the students to get ready for the future."
"I consider new media and media convergence to be integral parts of my course. The business world integrated the skills and techniques of all the media many years ago, so I think it's critical that we do the same in the classroom."
"I have not included writing for the web in my media writing class yet."
"I'm still looking for effective assignments and would appreciate suggestions from others."
"Not sure, but I expect to spend time analyzing websites in class and getting students to understand how to assemble information online."
"Convergence courses provide a challenge in teaching a number of skills. The key remains solid fundamentals, including reporting, news judgment, writing, rewriting and editing. However, students are asked to master several skills in convergence courses and sometimes these fundamentals fall short. Re: new media, I suggest emphasizing fundamentals to storytelling."
"When we discuss writing for the Web, I have the students analyze web sites and pages and discuss what's effective and what's not effective in how they're written. Since it's an introductory course, we can't delve into every kind of new media or go into much depth, but I emphasize again the importance of concentrating on their goals and finding the best way to reach them using the new media."
With that in mind, it's not surprising that teaching students how to write for new media takes extra effort for the instructors.
For my classes, I present a lecture on Web writing, which covers the basic differences in writing for the computer screen versus print media. I also use my Web-enhanced classroom tools and require participation in several online discussions. (I learned immediately that I had to have my students spell-check and grammar-check their comments before posting--it was far too easy for them to forget that these online discussions were part of a writing class and not just text messages.) In addition, when we get to our advertising/PR assignments, I give students the option of creating a Web site.
Here's what other media writing instructors have told me on this topic:
"I suggest that all journalism educators integrate blogs and audio into their courses to force the students to get ready for the future."
"I consider new media and media convergence to be integral parts of my course. The business world integrated the skills and techniques of all the media many years ago, so I think it's critical that we do the same in the classroom."
"I have not included writing for the web in my media writing class yet."
"I'm still looking for effective assignments and would appreciate suggestions from others."
"Not sure, but I expect to spend time analyzing websites in class and getting students to understand how to assemble information online."
"Convergence courses provide a challenge in teaching a number of skills. The key remains solid fundamentals, including reporting, news judgment, writing, rewriting and editing. However, students are asked to master several skills in convergence courses and sometimes these fundamentals fall short. Re: new media, I suggest emphasizing fundamentals to storytelling."
"When we discuss writing for the Web, I have the students analyze web sites and pages and discuss what's effective and what's not effective in how they're written. Since it's an introductory course, we can't delve into every kind of new media or go into much depth, but I emphasize again the importance of concentrating on their goals and finding the best way to reach them using the new media."
The Word from Others on Their Teaching Styles
Here's what a few other media writing teachers have told me (via my informal emailed survey) about their individual classroom styles:
"I would describe my teaching approach as interactive. Reading the text and listening to me or guest speakers are important ways to learn, but students learn even more by doing...I emphasize writing and re-writing. I use 15 ungraded assignments, six team competition writing assignments, eight major graded writing assignments and one final comprehensive writing assignment."
"I was taught basic inverted pyramid in j-school and not too much else, as far as style goes. By using a lot of peer review and team projects, I try to teach my students to make it clear, in each story WHY the story MATTERS. I don't recall much attention being paid to being interesting, when I was a j-school student."
"Hands on."
"I use a combination of process and product techniques in teaching writing. For example I encourage several drafts/revisions but hold students accountable for structure, organization and mechanics."
"My approach is simple and I tell each class: you don't have to be a brilliant or creative genius. Just make sense. It takes the pressure off them to be the best writer in the world. I'm not, but I can write a clear sentence. I also think that clear thinking makes clear writing and I urge them to separate the two processes. First, plan. Then write. It makes the task easier than trying to do two things at once. I love to teach writing. I love to see the students get it. And most of them do."
"I would describe my teaching approach as interactive. Reading the text and listening to me or guest speakers are important ways to learn, but students learn even more by doing...I emphasize writing and re-writing. I use 15 ungraded assignments, six team competition writing assignments, eight major graded writing assignments and one final comprehensive writing assignment."
"I was taught basic inverted pyramid in j-school and not too much else, as far as style goes. By using a lot of peer review and team projects, I try to teach my students to make it clear, in each story WHY the story MATTERS. I don't recall much attention being paid to being interesting, when I was a j-school student."
"Hands on."
"I use a combination of process and product techniques in teaching writing. For example I encourage several drafts/revisions but hold students accountable for structure, organization and mechanics."
"My approach is simple and I tell each class: you don't have to be a brilliant or creative genius. Just make sense. It takes the pressure off them to be the best writer in the world. I'm not, but I can write a clear sentence. I also think that clear thinking makes clear writing and I urge them to separate the two processes. First, plan. Then write. It makes the task easier than trying to do two things at once. I love to teach writing. I love to see the students get it. And most of them do."
What's your style?
The fact that my introductory-level class is required for various majors in the School of Communications has influenced my teaching style extensively. Regularly faced with teaching classes of individuals whose skill levels have been generally low to moderate, I decided early on that my instruction should be individualized and process-driven. Sharing and peer reviewing takes place in my class as an integral part of each major assignment.
For example, we study features and how to write them using examples, handouts and a lecture. Then, students come in with their topic ideas and present them to the class for discussion. The next step is drafting the article and then emailing me a comprehensive first draft, which is then shared with the class (without any prior comment or correction from me) via projector in a workshop setting. Peer reviewing is integrated into the workshops.
Next, the students revise their papers before submitting them to me for grading and review. I grade each paper, make extensive comments and then strongly encourage students to revise papers again for a final grade (the initial, lower grade disappears with a decent revision).
My approach is admittedly time-consuming for me as well as my students but seems to work well. The feedback I receive from my students has been largely positive--many have told me that they have a new confidence in their writing ability and now plan to take additional writing courses. The main complaint I get is that the workshops are too long, but I think that's a small price to pay to get and receive the type of feedback students need.
For example, we study features and how to write them using examples, handouts and a lecture. Then, students come in with their topic ideas and present them to the class for discussion. The next step is drafting the article and then emailing me a comprehensive first draft, which is then shared with the class (without any prior comment or correction from me) via projector in a workshop setting. Peer reviewing is integrated into the workshops.
Next, the students revise their papers before submitting them to me for grading and review. I grade each paper, make extensive comments and then strongly encourage students to revise papers again for a final grade (the initial, lower grade disappears with a decent revision).
My approach is admittedly time-consuming for me as well as my students but seems to work well. The feedback I receive from my students has been largely positive--many have told me that they have a new confidence in their writing ability and now plan to take additional writing courses. The main complaint I get is that the workshops are too long, but I think that's a small price to pay to get and receive the type of feedback students need.
Beyond the inverted pyramid...
I've recently been reviewing the literature on trends in media writing pedagogy. An ongoing topic is how far have instructors moved toward adopting methods associated with the "writing as process" approach. Basically, this teaching style is associated with breaking down assignments into stages (such as brainstorming or invention, planning, "pre-writing," revising) and providing feedback from peers and/or the instructor at various points in the writing process.
Feedback may take the form of peer review, graded drafts, collaboration, writing workshops, assignments broken into multiple stages and graded drafts. Instructors who adopt these teaching methods often view themselves as "coaches" who provide the impetus for students to learn at each step of the writing process.
To those of us who attended journalism classes prior to the 1980s, these ideas were unheard of! Our instructors were feared (often) and respected (always). They were figuratively, if not literally, the "editors." We were expected to turn in final products that we wrote on our own. There were no peer reviews, workshops or graded drafts. The professor looked for problems and told us what they were. An "A" grade meant "publishable." This pedagogical approach (which I've probably oversimplified to be brief) has since been labeled "writing as product."
The outstanding and exhaustive "National Media Writing Faculty Study" (authors Mark Masse and Mark Popovich, published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 59.3 2004) surveyed 1,287 faculty members who were teaching media writing courses at 425 journalism and mass communications schools in 2002. Among the authors' findings were that these old and new pedagogical approaches were still being blended.
The authors predicted that a new paradigm that would balance the two approaches most effectively was yet to emerge.
This made me realize just how much of the process approach I've adapted to my own classroom, while still recognizing how well taught I personally was in a far more traditional environment.
I'd love hearing from some recent communications graduates with a few years of professional experience: Did your professors prepare you well? What worked and what didn't in learning how to write for the media?
Feedback may take the form of peer review, graded drafts, collaboration, writing workshops, assignments broken into multiple stages and graded drafts. Instructors who adopt these teaching methods often view themselves as "coaches" who provide the impetus for students to learn at each step of the writing process.
To those of us who attended journalism classes prior to the 1980s, these ideas were unheard of! Our instructors were feared (often) and respected (always). They were figuratively, if not literally, the "editors." We were expected to turn in final products that we wrote on our own. There were no peer reviews, workshops or graded drafts. The professor looked for problems and told us what they were. An "A" grade meant "publishable." This pedagogical approach (which I've probably oversimplified to be brief) has since been labeled "writing as product."
The outstanding and exhaustive "National Media Writing Faculty Study" (authors Mark Masse and Mark Popovich, published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 59.3 2004) surveyed 1,287 faculty members who were teaching media writing courses at 425 journalism and mass communications schools in 2002. Among the authors' findings were that these old and new pedagogical approaches were still being blended.
The authors predicted that a new paradigm that would balance the two approaches most effectively was yet to emerge.
This made me realize just how much of the process approach I've adapted to my own classroom, while still recognizing how well taught I personally was in a far more traditional environment.
I'd love hearing from some recent communications graduates with a few years of professional experience: Did your professors prepare you well? What worked and what didn't in learning how to write for the media?
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