Exposing our "expert blind spots" to support student learning

At the Distance Teaching & Learning conference in Madison, WI this week, Sharon Derry and Susan Rundell Singer discussed the role of novices and experts in the classroom. According to Singer, research shows that experts can make visible only 30% of what they do unless a specialist in cognitive task analysis is there to help them unpack it. As learning practitioners, she stated, we need to help experts expose their "expert blind spots" in order to aid novices in their movement along the novice-expert continuum. The two scholars explained how faculty should be aware of their expert blind spots so they can put on the persona of their learners and learn how to solve the problem without this expert knowledge.

They went on to discuss how "worked problems", a concept discussed in earlier research by Derry, might be a potential way for experts to make their expert processes visible. A worked problem is making visible the thinking process one might go through to solve a problem or filling in the gaps that an expert may not be aware they need to show you in order to solve a problem.

But a worked example is very different than just a physics professor solving a problem on the board. There needs to be specifics, unpacking expertise, scaffolding/making the thinking process. She referenced Allen Schoenfeld's work on making thinking visible, which is still critical (and perhaps lacking application) in classrooms today. She also discussed how the novice and expert might work together to expose the problem and developed the worked problem model together.

When it comes to helping students develop their writing, it is critical that we provide similar "worked problems" in the classroom. One way I do this is to walk students through my own writing process and show them my progress on real writing projects throughout our time in the course. I also provide annotated examples of prior students' writing to show my new students what works, what is good evidence, and what are good "moves" in academic writing. I will admit, however, that I could use more time talking with faculty or other specialists about what makes me an expert writer and what my blind spots might be when it comes to teaching writing. With this in mind, I suggest we spend time talking through our process and our methods for solving our discipline's "problems" with others. And since cognitive task analysis experts aren't always hanging around the corner to help us unpack our expertise, perhaps we can gather faculty and experts in other disciplines who may not have the same blind spots as us to help us unpack these blind spots together.

Lessons in Peer Review from Eli Review

Eli Review has put together free curriculum in "Framing Feedback and Revision" for students that assists them in both providing helpful feedback and then using the peer feedback given to them. Check out Nick Carbone's blog post summarizing the student curriculum with additional links and examples.

A Helpful Resource for Academic Writing

The Academic Phrasebank is a resource developed out of the University of Manchester to provide "examples of some of the phraseological ‘nuts and bolts’ of writing." Originally designed for non-native speakers of English, the Academic Phrasebank offers a variety of phrases, context, and organizational information for all scientific and academic writers.

Click here to visit the Academic Phrasebank and here to learn more about its development.

Will you give life to a Chicago statue?

Statue Stories Chicago is hosting a public monologue writing competition in partnership with the Goodman Theatre. The winning pieces will be recorded by members of the Goodman and included as part of Statue Stories Chicago.

Submit entries of 350 words or fewer here by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.

Click here for more information about the competition and to see photos and descriptions of each statue needing a voice.

"The Writing Assignment That Changes Lives"

A researcher in Canada is discovering that certain writing prompts not only help students with edifying self-reflection and goal-setting, but also nearly erase the gender and ethnic minority achievement gap in those studied.

Jordan Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto, wanted to explore the relationship between writing and students' motivation. He created an undergraduate course in which "students complete a set of writing exercises that combine expressive writing with goal-setting." The course has already shown to reduce the drop-out rate of at-risk students and even increase academic achievement.

One educator theorizes that Peterson's course could be seeing results by limiting self-defeating behavior. "If you aren't sure you belong in college, and you don't hand in that paper," Melinda Karp explains, "you can say to yourself, 'That's because I didn't do the work, not because I don't belong here.' " Peterson's writing exercises might curb these thoughts by helping students to focus on their goals and motivations.

To learn more about Peterson's research and process, click here to read NPR's story, quoted above.

Summer Writing Boot Camp - Loop Campus

Invite your undergrad and grad students to the summer SNL Writing/Incomplete Boot Camp on Saturday, August 1st from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Loop! Walk-ins are welcome, but students may also register by emailing snlevents@depaul.edu. Click on the image below for more information.

Students should bring a flash drive, their copy of the incomplete contract if needed, and all prior assignment preparation—including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format (APA/MLA).

Yes, And…Not Just For Improv Anymore

by Steffanie Triller Fry

The Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello prayed that “Peace is only found in yes,” (qtd. in Manney 108) but these days it can be so much easier to say no; as in, “No I won’t consider thinking about this from another perspective.” “No, I’d rather watch CSI Miami/LA/Chicago/St. Louis/Naperville (you get the picture) than revise my paper for your class.” “No, I just don’t see how I can further develop this topic.”

Sound familiar? Students are great at saying no. But if you’ve read Tina Fey’s Bossypants, you know that she claims that the rules of improvisation will “change your life and reduce belly fat” (more so the former than the latter). The first of these rules is to agree. Say yes. The second rule is to “add something of your own” (84).

Saying yes starts with thinking yes. And while I’m not suggesting that Yes, And will change your life, I do think that it can change the way adult students think about the writing and thinking that they do during their college career.

As one of my students put it, Yes, And works like this:

Imagine you’re onstage and your scene begins at a party. Your partner says, “What a great party. Hey, there’s a gorilla.”

Picturing yourself there, you might hear yourself think, “I don’t know what to do with a gorilla … how does a gorilla fit in this scene … will this ever work as an idea?” To deal with this doubt, you might get a short laugh by saying out loud, “That’s not a gorilla … that’s her husband.”

The thing is, now you’re starting over. You’ve lost the trust of the person you’re on stage with, because you said “no” to them. The audience feels fooled, because they heard that one thing and started to picture it, then had it changed on them. Nobody is comfortable. Let’s try it again.

“What a great party. Hey, there’s a gorilla.”

“Yeah, and he’s making some killer Manhattans.”

Yes, there is a gorilla. And he’s putting those opposable thumbs to work as a mixologist. Your mind, and perhaps the audience’s mind, is starting to go places. You might start picturing the gorilla is wearing cuffs and a collar while working the shaker. Why is there a gorilla? Are there more animals working this party? Will the host enter and fill in more of this picture about the unusual catering? These possibilities have opened up because you said, “Yes, And”…

When you are writing, your writing voice is your scene partner. Say “Yes, And” to yourself. (Meyer)

Peter Elbow said that the “freewriting muscle” not only brought one to a “more intense state of perception” but also to a heighted awareness of “language production” (43). Tina Fey (had she become a writing theorist rather than a comedy writer) might add to this that getting writers and thinkers practicing the idea of Yes, And can help them think more critically and develop ideas and papers more fully. Patricia Ryan Madson writes in Improv Wisdom that “saying yes gets us into heaven but also into trouble” (27).

Ryan Madson teaches theater, but her book is written for anyone who wants to think about how the rules of improvisation can apply to their own life. She bases much of her thinking on the ideas of Keith Johnstone, a revolutionary educator and theater teacher who wrote Impro and Impro for Storytellers, awesome texts for any educator looking to glean more thought about storytelling out of their students. Impro for Storytellers in particular is full of improv exercises that can help students practice answering the question, “What comes next?” Here is one exercise from Johnstone and one from Ryan Madson that instructors of any subject can adapt to their purpose:

·      Yes, But: Two students sit in chairs opposite one another. Student 1 asks questions; Student 2 provides answers. Student 2 must answer “Yes, but…” to each of Student 1’s questions. For the first round of questions, Student 2 should pause and think before answering. For the second round of questions, Student 2 should answer without thinking. Repeat the exercise, using “Yes, and” instead.

When students are forced to answer “Yes, but” they are practicing what Johnstone and Ryan Madson call “blocking.” Blocking happens in the example above when the scene partner says, “That’s not a gorilla…that’s her husband.” This exercise first forces students into these dead ends, and then, by changing the “but” to an “and,” lets students practice continuing on with the story, thought, experience. Moreover, they don’t think before answering because Johnstone believes that students are less likely to block when they do not think about what comes next, but let it happen unconsciously.

·      The Proverb Game: Invent a new proverb by speaking it one word at a time. This works best when students are sitting in a circle. The first volunteer begins with any word. Go around the circle, each student filling in the next logical word that comes to them. When the proverb comes to its natural close, all participants should press their fingers together and chant “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Ryan Madson believes that blocking primarily happens because we need control. Control of our lives, control of our stories, control of what comes next. This game helps participants to practice giving up control. (Try it as a warm-up exercise before freewriting).

Getting students to play with the idea of Yes, And may not help them reduce belly fat, but it may invite them to enter into more complex ideas and details than they might have investigated on their own. On second thought, maybe it will change their lives. It’s worth a try!

Works Cited

Elbow, Peter. “Toward a Phenomenology of Freewriting.” Journal of Basic Writing 8.2. (1989): 42-71. Print.

Fey, Tina. Bossypants. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print.

Johnstone, Keith. Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre. New York: Routledge, 1979. Print.

---. Impro for Storytellers. New York, Routledge, 1994. Print.

Manney, Jim. An Ignatian Book of Days. “June 2.” Chicago: Loyola Press, 2014. 108. Web.

Meyer, Jason. “The Force of Improv: Yes, And…” School for New Learning Month of Writing Challenge 2014. Digication, n.d. Web. 2 July 2015. https://depaul.digication.com/snl_month_of_writing_2014/The_Force_of_Improv_Yes_and...

Ryan Madson, Patricia. Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up. New York: Harmony, 2010. Print.