Writing for Connection and Meaning-Making During Emergency Remote Learning

Video Presentation

Author:

Alice Pedersen, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell

Abstract:

Every fall I teach a cohort-model course that links two required courses, Composition and UWB’s first-year course, Discovery Core, for a total of 10 credits. When reimagining this course for emergency remote learning, I centered reflective writing at the heart of both courses. While low-stakes writing is common in Composition classrooms, the regularity of the assignments and the range of prompts was new; in this class, the approximately 250-word “Discovery Papers” (DPs) served as the primary mode for student engagement. Students wrote 25 DPs over 10 weeks, with topics ranging from reader responses to participation self-assessments to mental health check-ins. While I was the primary audience, students were also invited to share these on ungraded Discussion Boards. In this poster, I share my course design, selected prompts, and student response. Overall, students found the experience of intensive yet low-stakes writing to be gratifying. In final portfolios and course evaluations, students reflect that the experience helped them feel connected to me, even remotely; helped them to prepare and focus for synchronous sessions; and helped them to process what they were experiencing. As one student wrote: “I like how there are reflective DPs to check in on us … it feels that I am valued as a human being.” This poster examines what it means to value the human being during emergency remote learning, and how writing can enable that connection. It is established that regular short writing provides meaningful opportunities for students to take intellectual risks; here I demonstrate that it also allows space for connection and personal meaning-making even in disorienting and difficult times. While this poster speaks most immediately to those who work with first-year students, it will benefit any instructor who wants to surface personal and affective connections between the students, the material, and the classroom as community.

Poster PDF

View a PDF version of the poster in Google Drive to enlarge the image or download a copy.

Comments

The presenter for this poster will be available to respond to comments during Poster Session 1 on April 20, 2:00-2:50 p.m.