WPAs Promoting Integrative Thinking Through Composition Across Campus By Heather Listhartke WPAs Promoting Integrative Thinking Through Composition Across Campus Part of the Writing and Campus Culture panel @CWPA2017

How many have personally experienced or dealt with push back on curriculum from the university? Stand.

How many have experienced the university telling you what things you should and should not be teaching? Stand.

Now, how many of you felt like you or your department got to influence the curriculum that was being pushed on you? Sit.

What This IS This is a case study where the English department has taken a leadership role in university curriculum and pedagogy instruction.

MT Engage Start Started as a QEP proposal. MTSU asked local employers of Alumni what they wish MTSU graduates had. Their answer: Students love instruction, but are exceptionally poor at thinking through problems and projects on their own

What They Found A need for: Real World Experiences Opportunities for connecting classes, experiences, and disciplines More situational learning (project or problem based) Need for interdisciplinary connections Connections with the campus community (peers and faculty) More practice to match the time on theory Finally, opportunities for students to professionalize Apprenticeships

“MT Engage focuses on academic engagement beginning with freshman and sophomore courses and how students can better understand and integrate their learning through reflection; thus, they are better prepared to apply and communicate their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Successful reflection facilitates self-awareness as well as personal and professional growth.” MT Engage Final Plan

MT Engage Course Design Beyond the Classroom Experience At Least Two of: Connections to Experience High Impact Pedagogies Connections to Discipline E-portfolio artifact that has: Integrative Thinking and Reflection AND Transfer Integrated Communication

High Impact Pedagogies First Year Studies Civic Engagement Common Intellectual Experiences Undergraduate Research Service Learning Learning Communities Collaborative Internships Reacting to the Past Writing Intensive Education Abroad Flipped Classrooms Global Learning E-Portfolios Capstone Courses Experiential Learning Problem/Project Based Learning

Reflection has become a buzzword where everyone thinks about something different. What do you think Reflection is? At this Point, I’ve said reflection a few times. Just like our discipline as a whole, reflection has become something of a buzzword that is thrown around.

Five Outcomes

“Learning is not a spectator sport “Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much by just sitting in class listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.” Chickering and Gamson, 1987, p. 3

Reflection Some tips for accessing and getting them to integrate their knowledge. There’s 3 basic types of questions for this process: Retrieving- This allows them to identify where they learn. --What was something that stood out, interested, confused, or challenged you (during that activity, reading, etc)? Unpacking- This gets at the why that experience was a learning one. --why did that reaction occur in that instance? Applying- allows them to take that experience and apply to new ones. --How might you apply it to your future (classes, career, etc)?

Where Our WPAs Come In Our WPAs and professors have been involved in the process at every step. Implementation through piloting, participation, and faculty and student support for the program through: Topic selection Development Our Classes Proposal Writing Center Faculty Development Workshops

Our Classes Our WPAs and several of our FYS instructors teach these within our department. Things we encourage students to focus on sills growth– Practices and Activities: Reflective notebooks, “habits of mind,” and a composition philosophy Genre Studies: connection to discipline

What reflection practices or activities do you use in your classes?

Our Writing Center Writing Studio Multimedia Composition Studio Writing practices inside traditional text Multimedia Composition Studio Composing practices for Multimedia projects from presentation slides to websites including a dedicated person for ePortfolios and faculty development workshops

Faculty Development Workshops ePortfolio as a Genre: theory and practice Assignment Design Promoting Integrative and Reflective Thinking in Writing-Intensive MT Engage Courses Dr. Julie Barger Faculty Book Groups over texts: Robert Lawrence

What ways does your department already influence or can influence the university curriculum?