posting assignments
Posting Assignments | Mary Lynn Hughes | January 23rd, 2002
Dear All,
Now, the main topic I want to raise for discussion. Periodically, the idea of making assignments available to other participants has cropped up here, but as far as I know, this has only happened informally between individuals. What I would like to suggest is that some mechanism be set up whereby any participant who's willing to share their work could post completed assignments for others (i.e. participants, not necessarily the whole world!) to look at. An optional extra could be to include the mark the assignment received and perhaps brief comments (e.g. how the final assignment compared to your intentions/interests; problems experienced, etc)? If assignments were posted to some central facility (a webpage?), they would then be accessible to all participants at any time.
ONE of the reasons I'm suggesting this is that I find writing assignments excruciating and would like to be able to see how other people do it, especially the 'successful' ones (in terms of marks received), so I can get some ideas on how to improve mine. (I know we have clear criteria in the Study Guide, but it's not the same thing as looking at authentic text, is it?) ALSO (and at least equally valuable in my opinion), it would be very interesting to see the work that others have done, in terms of topics of particular interest, specific areas explored, etc. (The LSU website has a few MSc papers, but they're mostly dissertations. There's also the 'LSU Bulletin' where participants can publish papers, articles, etc, but it seems to be dead. Nowhere that I've looked are there any actual MSc assignments, although Phil Quirke has been asking for some for the Study section of his website).
What do you think?- Would this kind of 'repository' be useful?- Would you be prepared to post any of your assignments? (I know some people consider this kind of openness a sort of violation of hard-won intellectual property, while others may simply feel self-conscious or nervous about letting others read their work. And yes, I will post mine, such as they are). Any other reservations or thoughts? Alternative ideas or sugggestions for how and where to do it?
This might also be a step in the direction of James's suggestion/request for participants who are finishing/finished to share their experiences of the course as a whole. Actually, this is just the sort of thing Phil Quirke is trying to get on his website, but so far noone has responded to his pleas. (That Pinkie again! No, I'm not getting paid to spout off about it, I just think it's an excellent site. And his recent Newsletter provided more interesting information, like Danyal's impressive webpage for Taiwan participants).
Too long as usual. But hope others will respond and take this further.
Cheers,
Mary Lynn
Re: Reply to Mary | Francesca | January 23rd, 2002
My goodness Mary, four modules and a dissertation in one year ! Yikes: Let this be a warning to us all.
As for your idea about sharing assignments, it's one I had myself at the beginning of the course when I didn't really know what was expected of me and later when I thought it would be interesting and useful to read assignments on topics related to my own areas of interest. I think it would be a good idea if Aston established a website for past assignments of candidates willing to submit them. Another benefit, which you didn't mention, would be that more than one reader could read some of the excellent work produced. It seems a shame that only our tutors get to read a piece of research worthy of a 'A' grade.
In short, I couldn't agree more and if a site is set up, of course, I'd be pleased to contribute to it.
Good luck with your challenge to finish this year
Francesca
Reply to Mary | Jerry Talandis Jr. | January 23rd, 2002
I'll second Francesca's comments. A section of the LSU website devoted to assignments seems like a good idea. Thing is, however, would there be a problem if the grade is posted? Which would you model yourself after? An A paper or a B? It could be useful to compare, however, and see why one paper is a B and another an A. I have received a few assignments for other CPs, and they have helped me a lot. It might also be useful to discuss some of the transcripts on this message board.
I can't help but think that this is not a new idea, however. If it's not, why hasn't anything been done to implement it yet? Perhaps there are some downsides that I'm not considering...
Anyway, it seems like a good idea at first glance.
Jerry Talandis
Re: Assignments | Julia Rodriquez | January 23rd, 2002
Hi , this is Julia from France,
In the first Aston summer workshop we used an assignment without knowing the mark to go through the different parts of the evaluation grid. I thought it was very interesting. Also I think that having a look at a variety of assignments can help. But I have just finished CSD and I remember when I read the assignment by Shamsudin (Unit 7) it put so much pressure on what I was doing because I thought my assignment was not up to that level that I stopped writing my paper. I am mostly interested in developing my own writing and research process and of course I want a good mark, but I do not like the idea of having a model to follow. Also when you are writing your assignment it is so difficult to apply other people's work to your own paper that I do not really think it can be helpful in that way...
Thanks!
Cheers,
Julia Rodriguez
Re: extra modules/assignments | James Hobbs | January 23rd, 2002
Mary Lynn and others: interesting idea about posting assignments. It would certainly be nice to see at least one example of a successful assignment supplied with each module. For some modules the only specific guidance about assignments seems to be in the study companion, and when I'm reading modules I often find myself thinking "Very interesting, but how about a few hints about how this could connect to an assignment?"
But I can see a few potential problems with giving CPs access to too many completed assignments. If too many were available then there would be a clear incentive to take a shortcut and go straight there to look for ideas without trying to get a general overview of the module first. It would certainly make things a lot easier, but there's a risk that the process of narrowing down a focus would be reduced to looking for an A-grade assignment that could be reworked to match your own work situation. Personally I'd rather not have that option, because I know I'd have trouble resisting it. I still think the best way is to narrow down your own potential areas of focus, and then sound them out on the list. I've done so with my last two modules and the feedback from other CPs, both on the list and privately, has been an enormous help.
James Hobbs
Re: Posting Assignments | Mary Lynn Hughes | January 24th, 2002
Julia,
Re making assignments available to everyone, I agree with you that developing our own writing and research process is the goal, not trying to copy someone else's style or following a formula for a 'successful' assignment. I don't think reading other peoples' assignments is going to inhibit that process for me. What I feel I need is exposure to a range of assignments and styles, so that I can (hopefully) develop my own with more confidence and success. Maybe it's like the saying, 'You have to learn the rules, before you'll know how to break them?' Well, something like that.
To take up James's comments re 'looking for an A-grade assignment to re-work', I suppose there's a danger of people trying to do that (mostly to their own detriment, I suspect), but what a pity it would be to miss out on all the potential benefits of sharing our work (as Francesca pointed out) just because of that possibility!- Although I suggested (optionally) posting the grades received, from an information point of view, I am just as interested in reading the 'less successful' assignments as the A and B grade ones (what's wrong with a C anyway?), since the variety of topics, approaches, insights, etc may well be of equal value or interest to me. And where else are we going to get such a broad range of relevant information and data?
Obviously, there are (at least) two potential uses or purposes for having assignments available: providing examples of 'good' assignments and sharing our work with each other. Maybe there's an argument for separating the two in some way? The advantage of having a central site (cf the present situation where someone posts a message asking to see assignments and then, a few months later, the information is gone or forgotten for the rest of the group) is that the information would be available whenever anyone wants to access it. (This is the way some other groups work, e.g. Yahoo Groups, with a members' website where messages are archived and files can be down(up?)loaded on-site for access any time).
I didn't intend to get carried away with this, but there you are. (Jeez! If email contributions counted towards the MSc, I'd have been finished long ago!) I hope there are some more views on this topic out there.
A corpus of MSc assignments would make great data for a very specific study of academic writing!
Best,
Mary Lynn
Re: Assignments | James Hobbs | January 25th, 2002
Hi again,
As Mary Lynn said, "I hope there are some more views on this topic out there".
I for one am open to persuasion on this one and would really like to know what other people think about it. It's something that affects us all, so I really can't believe that there are only 5 people who have anything to say about it.
Like many CPs I don't have the time or money to make it to the discussion workshops, and almost never see another CP in the flesh, so this list is my main route of access to other CPs. So I'm always disappointed when a good debate starts, only to fizzle out like a dud Mount Vesuvius on bonfire night.
Have a nice day!
James Hobbs
Re: Posting Assignments | Steve Mann | January 25th, 2002
Hi,
Thanks for some interesting comments on the web issue. I think we'd like to look seriously at trying out a few of these ideas and I have put an item on the agenda of next week's LSU meeting to discuss some practicalities.
Best wishes,
Steve Mann
Re: Assignments | Brigitte Reber | January 25th, 2002
Hello,
My view is the following:
I don't write my assignments for being published and so I would rather not have other people read them. I would simply feel embarrassed if any other people could read my sometimes unfinished and unpolished thoughts. In addition, I would not have the time to read through other people's work. I already waste too much time surfing the Internet. (Maybe my surfing techniques are faulty...). However, I must say that I do meet other participants in flesh and can share ideas with them and this also happens via e-mail. This I think is much more helpful than surfing around other people's assignments.
All the best,
Brigitte Reber
Re: Assignments | Raymond Sheehan | January 25th, 2002
Just catching up on more than a week's email in an Internet cafe in Berlin! The z and y key are in opposite positions in the German kezboard which slows me down quite a bit... But New zears Resolutions and assignment-swapping seem to be hot issues.
As regards reading other assignments:
I have very mixed feelings. I can appreciate the arguments that have been made that such familiarization with a range of work might be useful, but I think what really matters is the whole process that brought a particular CP to choose a particular focus... I know that I find my own focus because something in a module or a bit of a unit resonates with me to the extent that I can feel myself nodding happily in that I recognize a way of looking at things or doing things that makes a huge amount of sense to me. Then, the real benefits come from trying out ideas on a tutor, via email or a more formalized proposal, rethinking things (usually down to a smaller scale in my case), and of course the feedback one gets can go a long way to shaping future assignments. So while the writing plus feedback process is great for increasing one's awareness of one's own strengths and weaknesses, I'm not sure about the benefits of studying other people's strengths and weakness as well. I certainly don't want to see assignments that I might take as exemplary because they got A, because the risk of modeling, adapting or even being remotely influenced by them could inhibit the much more valuable process of working through things in my own way irrespective of what anybody else is doing. In the end, I wonder how much of real value we can get from exposure to other people' work in such a format. If it were to form the basis of a workshop, then I could see the point more.
And now back to the winter chill and gluhwein of Berlin....
Raymond Sheehan
Re: Assignments | Eddy White | January 27th, 2002
Dear Everybody,
I thought I'd better throw my two cents in about assignments, a few more coals on the fire before I miss my chance. At the moment I'm waiting for TD and DL to arrive (waiting, waiting ..I think the Royal Mail Pinkie is delivering them himself and taking the tourist route to Japan!) and I think that it would be great to be able to access a web site and look at some previous papers.
Perhaps Aston could arrange to have 2 or 3 assignments that got an A grade for each module available for course participants with the main idea of letting people know the kind of focuses that are being addressed and also the quality of work required for each module to get top marks. I think this would also be beneficial for anybody new to the course in deciding on a pathway and also for anybody rethinking his or her game plan. For anybody not wanting to look at other peoples work, worried about being influenced by it, that's easy enough, don't look! I think the pro's outweigh the con's here and would like to see some kind of assignment bank set up for anyone who wanted to take a look.
My goal by the end of the year is to have my dissertation land on someone's desk in Birmingham, most likely S Wright or S Mann because I've gotten positive feedback on a potential focus.
Meanwhile, I'm leaning on my fence bright and early every morning waiting for the mail to arrive.
Eddy White
Japan
Re: assignments | Jake Kimball | January 27th, 2002
Greetings everyone,
I'm happy to see another thread continue long enough to gather such a variety of input.
As for myself, I've been thinking about the topic for sometime now but my thoughts have been focused more on the process of writing and its continual improvement rather than being able to look at examples of good and bad research papers. I'm more or less just looking to see a variety of formats used to write an assignment, SPRE or otherwise.
So as not to keep anyone in suspense, I think it'd be fine to collect items of excellence and ugliness in one place. Where to store them is the question. My vote goes to the already mentioned website of Phil Qirke's. I'm sure he has room for a view. The other option may be to append the Study Companion. Why not add an appendix of brief notes/samples, illustrations of common problems, or even a full paper? or just expand and elaborate on chapter 7.
For anyone living in an area with an LRC, would it be possible to leave copies of assignments for others to read? After all, CP's within an LRC share a teaching context. But then again, that leaves some of us out in the cold.
However, in all honesty, I'm not that interested in reading everyone's assignments and I just don't have time to do that. I'm much more interested in collaborating on module tasks with someone so that we can share thoughts about a topic/task. I think it'd narrow the gap between the isolation of DL and the interpersonal dynamics that are seen in a traditional classroom. Perhaps a better source of ideal 'assignments' can be found in professional journals and the like.
Just in case anyone hasn't seen it or seen it lately, chapter 7 of the Study Companion (pages 55-73) offers great incite as to the criteria for evaluation. It ends with a checklist of 20 things to do right and/or things to avoid. Be sure to give it a read over before sending in each assignment.
Last year some one gave some good advice about posting feedback remarks by his/her desk while writing. After reading that bit, I wrote in my notebook some of the tutor feedback I've received via cassette so that I can refer back to it (including Study Companion advice) easily.
Also, It'd be fine to read examples of good work but how about some bad stuff that can nip a grade. Perhaps some of the tutors can replicate or paste together some poor choices CP's have made in the past in order to illustrate a point. It can be left anonymous, taken out of context, or simply fabricated as a learning tool. I know I've got a few zingers I could offer up as a sacrifice but I'd rather keep them in the closet.
Jake Kimball
Re: and one last item (re: assignments) | Jake Kimball | January 28th, 2002
On assignments one last, brief item.
Since some of us are shy to publicize our work, what if part of the feedback from tutors included a word of encouragement to post our assignment (if our work was indeed something to write home about)? We could then revise it in light of our tutor's feedback and then submit it for posting.
As an added bonus, posting assignments on Phil's site may be a kind of showcase for the MSc and attract future candidates.
Jake Kimball
Re: lost in space (re: assignments) | Jake Kimball | January 28th, 2002
Seems my lengthy comments written on Sunday afternoon have gotten lost in cyberspace- kind of like a sock in the dryer. If a piece titled 'The good the bad and the ugly' pops up one day, be advised that this is the abridged version.
The gist of it being my take on the assignment's thread. I don't necessarily need them or even have the time to go through them. But having them around is better than not.
As a bonus it may even help to attract new CP's onto the course by virtue of that one resource. My vote for where to place them is on Phil Quirke's already mentioned site.
My reasoning is that I'd like to refer to professional journals for guidance or my own previous work.
What we're all looking for (OK maybe just me), it seems, is direction in the writing process and how the development of an assignment is brought to bloom. I don't think I'll discover that process by reading an end product. I'm much more interested in the how and why that went into making an assignment.
I would, however, enjoy going through a module with someone else, collaborate on tasks and generally just (as my high school French teacher always said) 'read and digest' the material together. That would be more productive for me and also make learning much more meaningful by bridging the gap between DL and the traditional classroom. I miss that dynamic and that's the only deficiency of this MSc for me to date.
So, may I suggest that we all read and/or reread the Study Companion. Chapter 6+7 do provide guidance as to the criteria used in marking papers. Chapter 7 ends with a check list of what we should or shouldn't do. I have them written in a notebook along with previous tutor feedback so that I don't make the same mistakes twice. I recall someone once mentioned in a thread last year that they keep such advice posted by their desk for easy reference.
Perhaps the Study Companion can be updated to include illustrations of good and bad - even ugly - examples of what or what not to do so that the do's and do not do's don't seem so darn abstract. I know I can share a few blunders myself.
For those of us who are shy about posting our assignments, it may give us a shot in the arm if tutor's encouraged us via feedback by letting us know if our assignments are worthy of posting. That way we can at least edit or revise before showcasing it without fear, shame, or ridicule.
Jake Kimball
Re: lost in space (re: assignments) | Raymond Sheehan | January 29th, 2002
I agree with all of Jake's comments below.
I also think the issues of not posting assignments and not quite seeing the value of reading other assignments are quite different.
I've offered to let Phil post some of my assignments and would also be quite willing to include tutor's comments etc as an optional extra! My understanding is that these are raw works, works in progress ...no more than that, at the moment anyway.
I have also found that the feedback I get from a B+ assignment was extremely useful in that it incorporated very specific comments from the tutor about what it lacked to make it an A. How about if tutors could incorporate such comments as an integral part of feedback? I appreciate the individual and free-flowing nature of the feedback I've got ...it's direct, personal and to the point and I appreciate that far more than standardization. But...
I remember that the MET module included a complete assignment and (because it was the first module I completed after FND), I initially gave it more weight than I should have until I began to find my own two feet. I've also received an assignment from another CP, on an exchange basis, but I prefer to put it completely aside after scanning it, in order to find my own focus in my own way.
I mentioned to Phil that it might be a good idea to have a list of completed assignment titles. If the title is good, it reflects the focus and research area adequately. A brief statement might accompany the title on the limitations of the research and what further research might be done in this area. This I would find far more useful than reading completed assignments.
But as Jake said, one might as well have these 'sample' assignments available as not, and if people can find ways of making good use of them, good luck to them.
How about Jake's idea of CPs working through a module simultaneously, sharing ideas on tasks? It's something I'd really like to do, but haven't quite managed.
Raymond Sheehan
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