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Articles Conference Reviews |
F.39 Experiential LearningF.39 "Why Do I Need Composition if I Want to Be a Chef?”: Connecting Composition and Experiential Learning in the Career University This early morning session attracted nine attendees, and it is a shame that more people were not able to hear this presentation from three faculty members of Johnson and Wales University based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnson and Wales University, a non-profit, tuition driven university, was established in 1914 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the areas of business, hospitality, culinary arts, technology, and education, emphasizing both the academic and practical skills that graduates will need in order to succeed in their professional careers. This environment, however, offers some unique challenges for a composition classroom. As the presenters pointed out, many students choose this career university because they assume they have avoided (or escaped) the academic requirements of liberal arts institutions. When students, many of whom are already working in their career fields, enter and discover that they must focus on an English course, they resist. This presentation offered sensible and practical approaches to improving engagement and performance under these circumstances. Alana Sherrill, Johnson and Wales University, Charlotte, NC: “Salvaging Connections: Recontextualizing Composition in the Career University”Alana Sherrill presented first on the topic “Salvaging Connections: Recontextualizing Composition in the Career University.” Invoking Peter Elbow a number of times, she argued for a new look at composition classrooms, particularly the students that make up those classes. She says, “We need to reevaluate and redesign the field to become multidisciplinary” because “English is no longer the center of a college degree.” The emphasis should be on the discourse, not the content, if we are to achieve true interdisciplinarity. Like Elbow, she feels that students can draw upon their experiences in their majors and their work outside of the university in college composition. She uses field trips and field note and campus walks, encouraging students to “write the text of the world.” Daphne Williams Thompson, Johnson and Wales University, Charlotte, NC: “Prewriting Strategies for Bakers, Takers and Shakers: Rethinking Traditional Composition Activities in a Career University”The second presenter, Daphne Williams Thompson, offered “Prewriting Strategies for Bakers, Takers and Shakers: Rethinking Traditional Composition Activities in a Career University.” She led the group through a number of activities that she uses within the classroom, based on information from The Bedford Guide for College Writers, 5th ed. She advocates experiential metacognition because students need self reflection on their composing process. She pointed out that Johnson and Wales has the motto “learning by doing.” While students like their majors, they are less thrilled with their general education requirements, so she seeks ways to help them push past their resistance and to engage with writing, based upon what they already know and enjoy. Using a number of prewriting activities, she has students create a learning style inventory that helps them to establish and then use the preferences in writing situations. She led our group through some of those activities so we might have the student experience. Uzzie T. Cannon, Johnson and Wales University, Charlotte, NC: “Relocating the Composition Classroom: Fieldworking as Experiential Learning in the Career University”The final presenter, Uzzie T. Cannon focused on “Relocating the Composition Classroom: Fieldworking as Experiential Learning in the Career University.” She acknowledged that some students choose career universities to avoid writing courses, and she recognizes that most freshman composition is not based in experiential education. She uses ethnography and qualitative research with students, leading them to produce written products of their ethnographic research. Students become ethnographic researchers. They observe their context, ask questions, make assumptions and draw inferences. They use the rhetorical triangle, thinking about how they, as writers, transmit the material to a reader or audience. They take field notes, narrative interviews, and site descriptions. She feels that these activities match the skills we want students to have in English and the skills the students want for their careers. All three presentations were excellent, but it was the final presentation that sparked most of the questions and discussion. Attendees wanted to know if ethnographic terminology is used and taught, how sites were negotiated, and what students thought of the course. Others asked about the place of technical writing at the university. This presentation was especially helpful in focusing attention on the different needs, expectations, and backgrounds that students have in college composition course, no matter the university. |