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Things are going awry in my tech writing course this term. Somehow students are struggling with assignments\u2014not understanding the purpose, working on topics that don\u2019t fit the assignment, mixing up the genre conventions, and more. I\u2019m not happy. Students aren\u2019t happy. I need to figure out why, and that means that I write to think it through and determine what I can do to make it better. So here goes.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not a fan of blaming students. It\u2019s easy to say that students aren\u2019t reading the assignments or buying the textbook. Likewise it\u2019s not that they have pandemic fatigue or the fault of online learning. When the majority of students are struggling, there has to be something bigger going on. It\u2019s not reasonable to argue that 80% of the class is at fault for what\u2019s going wrong. <\/p>\n
I use an ungrading approach, with grades of either Complete or Incomplete. Students have to reach a certain level of effort by attempting a number of drafts, completing a number of logs and class activities, and so forth. It\u2019s possible to pass the course without getting everything perfect. Taking risks and trying the projects is more important than perfection in my philosophy. That said, putting in strong effort and working to improve is also extremely important.<\/p>\n
With the range of what is possible, a devious student could aim low with the knowledge that they could easily do better later. Sure, that could happen. But it\u2019s not going to happen with 80% of the class. Most students are trying to improve. Their logs show me the work that they do. Giving students the chance to try again just isn\u2019t at fault. They want to get it right the first time, but they appreciate the chances to try again. Bottom line: I don\u2019t believe that so many students are trying to game the system.<\/p>\n
To fit the requirements of our PTW program, I have adopted assignments I don\u2019t like. They\u2019re okay. They just don\u2019t sing to me. They don\u2019t excite me to read what students have to say. I have written them. They\u2019re not adopted from other teachers. But they still don\u2019t fit me. They don\u2019t feel like activities that will be fun or interesting to students. They\u2019re not full-on busy work, but sometimes they feel like it. And if they feel like busy work to me, I\u2019m sure students are feeling the same way.<\/p>\n
Assignments and activities that have smooth connections provide students build on consistent content knowledge and related audiences. With this approach, students aren\u2019t asked to learn new content while they are also learning new genres and writing strategies. Following this philosophy, my assignment sequence follows the same issue and connected assignments through the entire term. To connect things further, I have tried to create assignments that build together toward the final longer project (a recommendation report). For example, students write instructions for someone else to gather the primary data they will use in their recommendation report, with the goal of making duplication and validation of their research possible. The instructions end up discussed in the methods section of their recommendation reports and included in the report appendices.<\/p>\n
While the philosophy of connecting projects and using a consistent content focus work, the assignments aren\u2019t connecting well. I can see the connections, but I don\u2019t think students do. I\u2019m forcing things to connect that don\u2019t fit well together. It\u2019s an awkward structure, which seems to make the goals of the assignments harder for students to understand.<\/p>\n