Planning a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research Project for Graduate Level ESL Writing

Last week, I started teaching a graduate level ESL writing course. It's a very small class composed of three students, two of whom are studying Economics and the other who is studying Early Childhood Development.  Since the class is so small, and we will only be meeting for four more weeks, I wanted to make sure to spend some time discussing how I could structure the class in a way that would benefit them the most and help them to reach their goals in writing.

On the first day of class, Wednesday, I asked the students to write a traditional five-paragraph essay about the three most important writing strategies or skills required for graduate students in general and/or for students pursuing their chosen academic majors. I also assigned an in-class writing activity, which was to respond to a Maya Angelou quote. Finally, after we briefly reviewed the first two themes from the first unit of the text - writing strategies and audience, we discussed the questions from a task from the textbook (Academic Writing for Graduate Students, 3rd Ed. by Swales & Feak; Unit 1, Task Two, p. 3). For homework, I asked them to complete Task Four (pg. 6), which required them to write about a term in their academic field for two different audiences.

On Friday, we started with a review of verb tenses using Exercises for Practice from Writing Clearly: An Editing Guide, 2nd Ed. by Lang and Lange (Unit One: Verb Tenses, Part III, pg. 22, Exercises 1 and 3). Through the completion of these exercises, we determined that the first thing we should focus on in grammar should be the perfect tenses. For homework, I assigned Exercise 5, which is a verb tense editing activity. I also assigned Writing Topic C from Part IV. I plan on marking this assignment for grammar error tracking purposes.

Next, I returned their responses, which I had marked with error correction symbols. We discussed the difference global and local errors, and we completed an error correction tracking worksheet, which will allow the students to track the relative abundance of different types of errors that they make so that they may focus their grammar studies on the points that they find most challenging. I will ask the students to complete one of these worksheets each time I mark a paper that they have written so that they are able to track their progress and continue to identify grammar points that they need to review and practice.

Then, we discussed their ideas from the five-paragraph essays they had written:

From this discussion, we decided that it would be helpful to practice two things each time we met for class - grammar and discussing/analyzing visual and numerical data in writing. We also began discussing potential writing assignments that they felt would benefit them the most.  We decided that we should definitely practice writing critiques and a literature review. We also decided that synthesis writing for research would be very important for both all of them. 

In the midst of our discussion, I began thinking about how a fun and engaging way to accomplish these goals through a meaningful and relevant writing assignment would be to have the students complete a collaborative writing assignment on a topic that would synthesize concepts and issues from their respective academic fields - economics and early childhood development.  I proposed the idea to the students in class, and they seemed excited about it. I think this will be a great opportunity for them to be exposed to multidisciplinary collaborative research, which is an important skill for really any academic or professional in any field.

I now at the point where I'm in the process of developing the guidelines for this assignment, so I've started by collecting some useful resources on collaborative research writing:

• Adams, Richard. "Using GoogleDocs to Write Collaborative Research Papers." Bitesize Bio. N.p., 29 Aug. 2011. Web. 31 May 2014. http://bitesizebio.com/13648/using-googledocs-to-write-collaborative-research-papers/
• I'd like to use GoogleDocs as the platform for coordinating the students' collaborative work. This is the best option since all students have a university email address that is hosted by gmail, so they will already have access to Google Drive.

• Barton, Matt, and Karl Klint. "A Student's Guide to Collaborative Writing Technologies." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 2 (2011): n. pag. Colorado State. Web. 31 May 2014. http://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces2/barton-and-klint--a-students-guide.pdf
• I will have the students read, summarize, and critically respond to this article as an assignment. This assignment will not only meet a number of the course learning objectives and student goals, but it will also prepare the students for the collaborative writing project by introducing them to a number of Google applications that can be used as tools for the project.

• Bashore, Joy. "The Collaborative Research Paper." The Collaborative Research Paper. Virginia Community College System, 1999. Web. 31 May 2014. http://www.vccaedu.org/inquiry/inquiry-spring99/i41bashore.html'
• This article is a bit outdated, but it has a few good ideas for assignment guidelines that can be adapted for the Web 2.0 student generation to take advantage of new learning technologies. Tasks for the assignment will include choosing the topic; gathering resources; paraphrasing, summarizing, responding to, and synthesizing relevant information; drafting, revising, and editing their work; and conducting self and peer evaluations. 
• "Collaborative Learning/Learning with Peers." Institute for Writing and Rhetoric. Dartmouth, 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 31 May 2014. http://writing-speech.dartmouth.edu/teaching/first-year-writing-pedagogies-methods-design/collaborative-learninglearning-peers
• This article starts with considerations for encouraging active learning in the classroom, and then offers a number of recommendations for how to design and evaluate activities and assignments for effective collaborative learning.

• "Collaborative Research and Writing." CAIS 21st Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2014. https://cais21stcentury.wikispaces.com/Collaborative+Research+and+Writing
• These sample guidelines provide some general steps for assigning a collaborative research paper.

• "Collaborative Writing Assignments." The Writing Program. University of Massachusetts Amherst, 3 Sept. 2008. Web. 31 May 2014. http://www.umass.edu/writingprogram/jy/collaborative%20assignments.html 
• This article provides some good advice for teachers assigning a collaborative writing project, to include elements of a good collaborative writing assignment, staging of tasks, style of collaborative work, assigning the groups, and monitoring student progress.

• Cooper, Tuesday. "Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly." Essays on Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy 19.1 (2007): n. pag. Podnetwork.org. The Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. Web. 31 May 2014. http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V19-N1-Cooper.pdf
• This article offers excellent advice on considerations for assigning collaborative writing projects such as making clear expectations, defining team vs. individual accountability, being clear with students about the purpose of the assignment, following-up with assignment tasks with written feedback, giving students detailed guidelines, focusing on the process of writing a research paper, and information literacy.

• "Group Essays." (n.d.): n. pag. Writing Studio. The Thompson Writing Program Duke University. Web. 31 May 2014. http://twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/ws-group-essays-handout.original.pdf
• I will have the students read, summarize, and critically respond to this article as an assignment. This article assignment will help students understand some of the challenges associated with collaborative writing projects and will offer some tips and strategies for overcoming those challenges.

• "Group Writing." The Writing Center Group Writing Comments. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, n.d. Web. 31 May 2014. http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/group-writing/
• This handout will be part of the assignment guidelines. "This handout will offer an overview of the collaborative process, strategies for writing successfully together, and tips for avoiding common pitfalls. It will also include links to some other handouts that may be especially helpful as your group moves through the writing process."

• "Not a Research Paper: Alternative Assignments to Teach Research Practices." Not a Research Paper: Alternative Assignments to Teach Research Practices. Western New England University, n.d. Web. 31 May 2014. http://www1.wne.edu/library/index.cfm?selection=doc.7793
• This page provides a list of links that lead to resources for "assignments that provide meaningful research practice."

• "The Collaborative Research Model: Student Learning Teams in Undergraduate Research." Strategies: Sequencing Deliverables. University of Oregon, n.d. Web. 31 May 2014.http://tep.uoregon.edu/showcase/crmodel/strategies/sequencing_deliverables.html
• This article describes how to "sequence deliverables" as a method of assessment for a collaborative research project. I like the ideas presented in the table because the suggested assignments will not only walk students through the research process, but they provide opportunities for the students to reflect on their experience and progress while completing individual elements of the project.

• Wertheimer, John. "College Board." AP Central. College Board, n.d. Web. 31 May 2014. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/22495.html
• This article offers some unique suggestions on how to plan, implement, and assess a collaborative research project. One idea that stands out for me from the description is having outside readers come in to read a draft of the students' paper. I think this could be an interesting opportunity for each student to get feedback from someone different on the paper and then come back to the group to discuss the feedback and discuss how to incorporate any potential revisions.