WR 152 Additional Ideas and Supplemental Resources

Students will develop a sustained research inquiry, scaffolded by low-stakes (ungraded) assignments and communicated in the form of two or more high-stakes (graded) assignments. This project will encourage students to explore a range of modes of research and information sources in ways that guide their engagement with and development of research questions; it will include both scholarly and other information sources in ways that highlight how research works in different contexts, such as academic disciplines, civic and personal life, and professional fields. When students shift to their DME projects, they will need to revisit their initial inquiry and focus on different aspects of their research and/or further pursue related avenues of research.

One or more graded DME projects communicating all or part of the research project may be assigned. At least one graded DME project (one of the high-stakes assignments described in Unit 5 of the semester schedule) must be a remediation of all or part of the research essay. At the instructor’s discretion, one or more additional graded DME projects may be assigned. These additional graded DME projects do not need to be remediations and may be a form of process writing (e.g., a proposal in the form of a poster).

Because of the variety of rhetorical situations students will find themselves in, both students and instructors should conceive of research and information literacy broadly. While all WR 152 students should engage in forms of traditional academic research, students should also engage in research/info lit activities that are non-academic or not purely academic, such as the following:

• researching the types of genres used to discuss a particular topic;
• researching the conventions of a particular genre (such as citation conventions) and making conscious choices about how much to follow or depart from those norms;
• searching for the best tool for a DME project and learning how to use it;
• creating, disseminating, and analyzing a survey or series of interviews;
• producing and/or selecting and analyzing photographic evidence.

By keeping in mind the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, the instructor can help students understand and apply principles that underlie most forms of research, whether it is academic or non-academic.  

Some sections of WR 152 may focus on a single genre (e.g., graphic memoir), so that students in these sections will read, study, and at some point in the semester compose in that genre. Other sections may not be genre specific. For example, a section on the American Dream might read a variety of genres, media, and modes, and it might ask students to compose their DME work in a genre, medium, and mode of their choice. Another variable across sections will be the degree to which they focus on DME. With such significant differences, different sections of WR 152 will likely need to address research/information literacy, design, and multimodality in different ways. While minimum requirements and a general course structure are presented in this template, a certain amount of flexibility has been built into the requirements, and the course structure has been left intentionally general in order to accommodate different topics and instructors. For this reason, sample syllabi may be especially useful for instructors designing or redesigning their sections.

To help prepare students for the main research inquiry and/or main DME project, you may find it useful to assign a short graded assignment near the beginning of the semester. For example, in a DME section of BU and the Culture of College (research guide, BU Today article), students might spend three weeks working in small groups to create podcast-style reports on an aspect of the college experience at BU. This project could involve research in the form of genre analysis of podcasts, reading of essays about college life, direct observation, and interviews. It could also involve considerations of design (e.g., how material can be organized or emphasized in the oral/aural mode).

As with other Writing Program courses, WR 152 students should gradually develop major graded projects by means of frequent low-stakes assignments, drafts, and exercises.

At least one conference with the instructor is required, usually to give formative feedback on a draft. Some faculty prefer to offer formative feedback on all drafts through one-on-one or group conferences; others alternate between written and conference feedback throughout the term.

In WR 152 students should produce some form of metacognition/reflection (e.g., traditional written reflection or audio recording) to accompany each graded DME project. These reflections should focus on core aspects of the assignment (such as its rhetorical situation and use of research), explain the rationale behind the student author’s choices, assess how the project did or didn’t fulfill its objectives, and count for 10-15% of the project grade. Reflective assignments of this sort are required and should factor into the project grade because

1. they enable the instructor to grade DME projects in a more consistent, objective manner,
2. they help students to learn the rhetorical, design, and information literacy frameworks that underlie both traditional and multimodal/multimedia composition, and
3. they foster risk-taking and learning through failure.

Though it is not required, instructors are encouraged to consider creating a final product to share student work within or beyond the class. This could take the form of a publication, reading, performance, presentation, or another product or event.

Course Foundations

Just as research and information literacy should be woven throughout the semester, instructors are advised to incorporate rhetoric, design, and multimodality throughout, with frequent small touches probably being best. Before the final graded remediation (Unit 5 of the schedule), one or more minor graded or ungraded multimodal composition projects may be assigned.

Unit 1 focuses on how research works within a specific community: the “specific community” may be a specific academic discipline, with its genres of discourse. However, it may also be a non-academic community, associated with different genres.

During this foundations unit, each of the following learning goals should be addressed, but different sections may focus on them in different ways and to different degrees, depending on what is most appropriate for the topic and instructor:

• Develop an understanding of the topic and appropriate methods of analysis
• Approach sources according to the BEAM/T paradigm
• Appreciate the value and usefulness of scholarly and non-scholarly sources
• Practice relevant and rigorous methods of analysis
• Locate scholarly and/or non-scholarly sources that raise interesting problems and research questions
• Develop awareness of relevant genres for communicating findings

Additionally, instructors may wish to focus on design principles if doing that complements other goals (e.g., if foregrounding principles such as organization, repetition, and emphasis supports understanding the genre(s) studied).

Research as Exploration

Design your activities and assignments to build on the previous unit and to work toward the following learning goals:

• Formulate and revise a research question
• Strategically search for a range of sources that help you both shape and address that question
• Reflect on research questions and practices
• Respond to peer work productively and use peer feedback to revise effectively
• Communicate research plans clearly in a genre and style appropriate to your audience
• Reflect on writing in assigned research genres

If the rhetorical situation of academic research within a specific discipline was not introduced during the previous unit, it should be introduced during this unit.

Reaching an Academic Audience

Design your activities and assignments to build on the previous unit and to work toward the following learning goals:

• Revise project design in response to feedback
• Engage a range of sources in order to address a research question
• Analyze evidence using discipline-specific methods
• Plan and draft efficiently and effectively
• Communicate findings in a responsible, well-structured argument
• Apply principles of prose style to improve prose clarity
• Reflect on writing and researching for an academic audience

Gateway to Remediation: Introducing a New Genre and Mode

Design your activities and assignments to build on the previous unit and to work toward the following learning goals:

• Engage a range of sources in a new genre
• Identify the distinguishing features, audience, purpose of a new genre
• Revise a research question in response to a new rhetorical situation (a new genre, mode, audience, and/or purpose)

The more choice students are given in terms of rhetorical situation (the more choice of genre, mode, audience, and/or purpose), the more time may be needed for this unit in order to permit students to explore the range of genres in which their topic has been discussed and, after selecting a genre and mode, understand its norms/conventions. Also, depending on the amount of choice given to students, the instructor may wish to devote some class time to exploring DME technologies appropriate to the genres and modes under consideration, perhaps with the assistance of a CAS Educational Technologist, especially Dan Rabinowitz (djr255@bu.edu).

Remediation: Translating Your Research into a New Genre and Mode

Design your activities and assignments to build on the previous unit and to work toward the following learning goals:

• Strategically search for a range of sources relevant to a different genre and mode
• Revise project design in response to the constraints and affordances of this genre and mode
• Craft a digital/multimedia project in response to the new rhetorical situation

Reflect on remediating a research-based argument in response to the new rhetorical situation

Closing Reflections

Design your activities and assignments to build on the previous unit and to work toward the following learning goals:

• Reflect on composing in different genres and modes for different audiences and purposes throughout the term
• Connect the semester’s learning to other contexts