Susan,
Great post. I am with you with OWL (Online Writing Lab) . It is a great resource. You make great comments about the "dress rehearsal". This is true.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Susan,
What a great connection in the discipline. In my writing course, I now discuss numbers and the use of them as adjectives. Numbers must represent something!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Michael,
I think that is so important that you offer proofreading drafts, it also makes them do some time management. Great answer.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Rachelle,
Then you have used this as self analysis, what a great example of life long learning. I hope other instructors will do the same.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Michael,
Yes! You are so right about telling them to be thoughtful regarding their communication is so important.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
George,
yes, it is important to give them resources to help them with their writing. I do like Grammar Girl!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MaryCatherine,
You make a great comment. We should ask our students how they would say something better. It really does make them think. It also teaches them proofreading.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Alan,
What a great post. I think what you described is very much needed to help students improve their communication skills.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
Each student learns a different way. We offer options for various types of learners.
Jack,
How does that improve student learning?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jennifer,
You are on the right track. You have to provide templates and examples!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Srabasti,
Wow, you make great comments. I have a colleague that says students don't have math skills because they don't read and comprehend well.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kara,
You are right; detail detail detail! You show how by modeling. If you can tie it to the real world that make is real.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I encourage students to practice these skills as much as possible. I also stress that the importance is to practice on any subject area with they are comfortable. By practicing on material familiar to the student, the student may better prepare to consume the material for courses outside their area of expertise.
If the school has reading/writing labs or any tutoring resources, I would include those resources in the beginning of the class. Also, I will include web resources to assist them in writing APA style papers.
I help students improve their reading, writing, and communication skills by holding additional chats. I hold 15 minute chats to discuss reading, writing, and communication. Students can discuss returned assignments and future assignments.This is one students enjoy and benefit greatly from.
I teach a online leadership and management course where the student has to write a 2 page APA format essay every week. Citing is the one thing I have to explain every time I grade their paper. I provide feedback to the student on the correct way to cite their information and how at add the reference at the end of the essay. This help them when the do their next weeks' paper.
Greetings Liz:
I encounter similar issues within the accounting discipline. Students have difficulty with the math behind a discipline, and in an applied context, it becomes progressively more challenging to pinpoint exactly where the disconnect occurred. In addition, some students want to resolve the issue through email or chat and it is often too complex to manage through that medium.
Many times I have the student make a phone appointment to review, as often, the reason the student may not have acclimated in the first place is due to the fact that s/he may be an auditory learner and not aware of the opitmal learning style. This may resolve the problem.
Thank you for bringing this to light...it is a challenge we have in common.
Best,
Susan
Greetings Dr. Crews and Colleagues:
How do I help students improve their reading, writing, and communication skills?
Typically in the first week of the course, I indicate my expectations with respect to the tone as well as the grammatical accuracy of discussion replies and assignments. I also provide feedback regarding grammar and APA style compliance for my graduate students. This includes but is not limited to helping students rephrase content if characterized by awkward or incorrect grammatical form, in addition to directing them to resources (websites such as OwlPurdue, etc.) which will allow them to resolve common grammatical errors. I encourage certain students to work with tutors or Learning Centers of the institution if the need is great. I also emphasize that although they may not be accustomed to receiving such detailed feedback regarding their assignment, it is important that the “dress-rehearsal†which occurs in the classroom may improve when an interview or on-the-job performance requires perfection. Competition is fierce in some fields and students need to understand that putting their best efforts forward is the way to distinguish their performance from others both within and outside the virtual classroom.
Best,
Susan
Melissa, the fact that your guide is a written guide, will also help those students who have problems with cognition… because everything will be laid out in a form that they can go back and review.
Mike Crowley
