We have presented the writing-project framework to groups of instructors, and they commonly raise a question about the framework’s impact on course content. Does the framework reduce the amount of time spent on writing instruction?
The writing-project framework supports an environment of collaborative learning and does not interfere with writing instruction. Planning, team updates, increment reviews, and team retrospectives all focus on writing goals and teammates' understanding of writing project priorities.
Teammates discuss writing requirements and tasks in their small groups. Testing naturally takes place during team meetings when teammates compare understandings of goals, deadlines, standards, and definitions, and comparewhich understandings are most accurate or productive.
With proper planning, the framework and the writing instruction reinforce each other--they don’t compete with each other--as the following table illustrates.
Writing project feature
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How the writing project feature supports course content objectives
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Project vision
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The project visioin provides students with discipline or department-specific reader expectations for genre, purpose, content, style, and other dimensions of communication in the field.
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Team roles
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Teammates collaborate by comparing their understanding of course concepts, writing requirements, and how writing and content support course learning goals.
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Team planning
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Teams interpret course content and writing requirements and discuss how they translate into writing tasks such for researching, annotating, critical thinking, structuring genres, deliniating ideas, and editing content.
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Team updates
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Teammates practice estimating how much time they need to complete writing tasks well. They compare writing and content strategies and they discuss learning and writing obstacles and how to overcome them.
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Increment review
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Teams give and receive frequent feedback on teammate writing and understanding of course content with the goal of increasing the value of both.
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Team retrospective
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Teams practice evaluating team work processes, the tools they use, and the relationships they've developed while working; they learning how to adapt practices after review and evaluation.
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Table 1. The writing project framework serves specific learning goals through writing instruction.