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Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

5-1996

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

English: M.A.

Department

English

College

College of Liberal Arts

First Advisor

David Sebberson

Second Advisor

Debra Japp

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Keywords and Subject Headings

Collaboration, writing, critique, composition, pedagogy

Abstract

Collaboration in composition has existed since writing became a form of communication; however, collaborative writing as a pedagogical practice has not been discussed until this century. Discussion has centered around group and paired activities, but an exercise in which an entire class collaborates in the production of one essay has not been addressed.

For the purpose of more efficiently demonstrating the writing process, I have developed a "Whole Class Collaborative Project." During this project, the class is divided into groups, and each group is responsible for writing one portion of a single essay. This project creates an environment in which students may practice skills of drafting, revising, editing, and critical evaluation. Additionally, audience awareness increases due to the dialectic and dialogic activity which propels the project. Students are graded on their individual responses and evaluation of both the project and the final draft of the whole class essay.

Future applications of this whole class project could include not only the English Composition I course, but also developmental and research writing courses. The addition of collaborative software may also make the process more efficient.

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