Your Survey Responses on Our F'15 Writing 2 Course

Alright, so what were your feelings/attitudes about the course readings and our in-class activities?  Before I tell you, please know that, below, I’ve collapsed the two sides of the Lichert scale spectrum—for the 5-point scale, I lumped the “4’s” and “5’s” together to provide an aggregate percentage.  Now without further adieu, to channel Family Feud—one of the great gameshows of all time—the suuuuuuuurvey says:

• Most interesting reading: Two Kinds of Thinking (88%) and How to Read Like a Writer (96%)
• Least interesting reading: Finding Evidence and Annoying Ways People Use Sources
• Most helpful reading (for studying/learning writing): Navigating Genres (100%) and How to Read Like a Writer (88%)
• 50% of you reported feeling motivated to complete the course readings.
• The most helpful activities were Deconstructing Letters of Rec (86%), Mark Smith’s Murder (82%), and Anna’s + Bella’s Reflections (84%)
• The most interesting activity was Parallelism in Resumes (88%)
• Videos that you found helpful for studying/learning writing: country music (88%), horror movie clips (84%), “moves” videos (88%), and 4 Disney Artists (80%)
  

Here are the other quantified thoughts/feelings/attitudes that you collectively had about various teaching’n’learning aspects of this course:

• Only 76% of you liked the Evil Duck (timer).  One of you hated it; another person kinda hated it.  (Really?!)
• 80% of you said that the music helped you focus.  (I will do my very, very, very best to play lyric-less music in the future.)
•  96% of you liked the structure of class, and of that 96%, 50% of you “loved” it.  (Wow!  Awesome!)
• 85% of you thought the digital lesson plans were helpful.
• 88% of you liked posting your journal responses to the anonymous Google Doc.
• 100% of you thought my feedback on your WPs was helpful!  (Woooooooo!)
• 72% of you found the feedback matrix (textual features + textual qualities) helpful in improving your writing.
• 70% thought the feedback marix was helpful for justifying your grade.
• 77% of you enjoyed WP3 the most!
• 80% of you thought WP2 was the most intellectually challenging.
• 62% of you thought WP2 was the most time consuming; 30% thought it was WP2.
• 75% of you learned (53%, a lot!) about your own group project; 64%, for the other presentations.
• 70% of you think I should keep the thlogs for next quarter and beyond.  I will.
• 70% of you liked posting your PBs to the blog; 72% of you reported taking pride in your blog work. 
• 60% of you found the peer/reader review workshops helpful.  (That’s a pretty significant drop from the last time I asked after WP1…)
• 77% thought this course required more time/effort than your other courses.
• 81% of you thought the time/effort was worth it.
• Everybody but 2 people enjoyed the course; 38.5% chose “4” and 53.8% chose “5.”

 Your open-ended comments on the course readings:

• “I didn't really like that we always had to include them in our writing. I understand maybe in a few papers but after awhile it got repetitive.”
• “I feel that maybe incorporating some shorter readings would be better for your next class. Sometimes the readings felt so long that finishing them felt like the most difficult task in the world.”
• “…I also think that Writing With Pictures could have definitely helped a little earlier in the course instead of so late.”
• “I didn't read most of them to be honest. The ones I did read were mostly helpful, some weren't.”
• “It would have been cool if we just looked them up online, instead of having to purchase the course reader.”
• “I found that the writings that were the most helpful were also the most interesting. If I know that what I'm reading is relevant and could potentially help me improve my own writing, I'm much more interested in what I'm reading.”
• “I saw the articles as a technique to enhance and advance my paper. I did not look at it as an assignment or homework. I used the articles as a tool to refer to that would allow me to grow as a writer”
• “In the beginning I was a lot more motivated because there was less writing (before the first WP was assigned), so doing the readings was the main homework assignment to assist with the PBs…”
• “…I also knew that we would go over it in class, so I did not feel as inclined to complete the readings all the time.”
• “…they gave me inspiration for my thlogs!”
• “They were always very helpful to what we are doing in class and help me grasp a deeper understanding so I always felt inclined to read them and if for any reason I couldn’t get to it, I would make sure to at least scheme them.”
• “A lot of the readings were not crucial to understanding what was going on in the class, but it just gave you a little bit of an advantage if you completed them.”
• “I, personally, don't enjoy reading very much. So the fact that I did read most course readings surprised myself.”
• “They were never checked so sometimes I was too lazy or had other work that I deemed more important.”

Your open-ended comments on the in-class activities:

• “I think spending a little more time on thesis statements for the WPs would have been nice because it seems to be a common concern for most of us.”
• “I didn't really enjoy reading the starting lines pieces. I didn't particularly see the point.”
• “I felt like the activities that involved collaborating were the most effective because it gave us a change to understand how different people perceive the topic which enabled me to form a more cognitive position on the topic.”
• “I just loved the activities waaaayy more than course readings. I feel like they help teach a lot more.”
• “I really did like looking at examples of work as a class, because I feel as if it gives me a better sense of what not to do and what to do. It is helpful to see, because as a reader you can see what is effective and what is not effective, whereas when you are looking at your own work, this can be hard to do. However, practicing it with other pieces definitely helped me do it with mine.”
• “Starting Lines is a really boring text. No students likes reading another student's writing.”
• “Activities that required comparing two or more documents were definitely helpful…”

 Your open-ended comments on our “reading” approaches:

• “I learned how to approach reading with a mindset of deriving not only the content in the piece, but the reasons behind the content. It has taught me that there's a reason for almost everything embedded in a text so approaching a text with this mentality enables me to take a completely different message out of it than I would from simply looking for content. It allows me to then read a piece with a certain connotation because I'm then aware of the author's intentions and what they are trying to making you think or perceive from the piece.”
• “I read like a writer. I ask questions like how and why the author wrote this sentence…”
• “I remember you saying something along the lines of if we found a piece of reading to be boring that we should pretend it is something interesting­­having a positive attitude and basically psyching ourselves out to thinking it isn't boring. Most of the readings were engaging because of the colloquial language and relatable to the class.”\\\\
• “This is a tough question, I think that different ways I could approach reading is by looking for the key details in writing such as arguments and thesis statements. Also another approach to reading is when we are revising another student’s work in a peer review. We have to ask questions about their writing and not tell them what is right or wrong.”
• “We did critical reading.”
• “We had to be open­ minded so we can pick out all the different "moves" a writer makes even if we usually wouldn't identify it as a move.”
• “Bunn's article, "How to Read Like a Writer," has enlightened me on some approaches to reading. Now, when I read an article, an essay, and even a Facebook post, I start to pay attention to some of the author’s “moves” and why they wrote what they wrote. I no longer merely read something and move on ­ I look at each passage as a decoder and try to figure out why the author choice to include this. This approach to reading that I learned in Writing 2 has enabled to see and evaluate the importance of everything I read.  Also, as a reader, I now pay attention to conventions and rhetorical features of each piece."

Your open-ended comments on the videos:

• “I liked that the videos were almost always of something modern and funny or entertaining. That kept my interest piqued and made me want to be engaged in the activities.”
• “Liked the self­referential ones because they did a good job of showing me what exactly self­referential meant.”
• “I feel indifferent towards the videos.”
• “I loved these videos because they were able to relate to our lives, yes they were meant to teach us topics for this class, but they were things that we could actually see interest in. A big problem with students about what they learn in school is that they never know that they are ever going to use any of the stuff they learned ever again, in the real world. These videos related to our everyday life so it will stick with us, and it will avoid the all the “just learn it for the test” jazz.”
• “Analyzing the horror movies was also super cool; it made me think about all the little details that make a horror movie a horror movie. I can definitely use that kind of analysis to break apart a genre.”
• “I loved it when you showed us videos that seemingly had nothing to do with writing but you somehow made them really relevant to what we were learning as well. Those videos were the best at getting messages across in my opinion.”
• “Although the Bob Ross vids were a little creepy, those videos are the ones that stuck out to me the most.” (Poor Bob Ross...)

Your open-ended comments on structuring class/lessons:

• “Cut down on the journal discussion time a little since you seem to always be running out of time”
• “I thought the structure was nice; it was kind of a good, constant routine to the day. From the beginning of class, you would already know what the schedule was unless otherwise stated and that thought made me comfortable. I would suggest timing things better, since some of the tasks and journals we completed went over the evil duck.”
• “I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. STRUCTURE OF THE CLASS IS WHAT MADE IT SO EFFECTIVE. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT”
• “The “for next class” preview was great in allowing me to know what to expect and what to come prepared with for the next class. Journal questions were a good way to open up for class discussion. I did not really see a purpose out of the small group work. I learned much more though the class discussions.”
• “I felt there was very little time to write a constructive journal. I felt the only times I was able to write a good journal was if I came to class 5­10 minutes early and got a head start. Because this is supposed to be such a big part of our final portfolio, I think we should spend more time on journals or have less journal questions per day.”
• “I feel like it was a good balance between you teaching and lecturing and us contributing, so it kept it interesting and interactive, while we were still able to learn a lot.”
• “I think class was organized as effectively as possible. I liked that we always had a lesson plan for us to see as well so that we could see where we were and what we were doing. We always did the most important things and stayed focused and on track. LOVE THE NO PHONES.”

Your open-ended comments on posting journal responses, anonymously, to the Google Doc:

• “I like being anonymous because I tend to be a little self­conscious about my writing and my opinions.’
• “I did like posting it anonymously because I didn’t have to worry about writing a really stupid answer and then people thinking about how dumb I am.”
• “I enjoyed posting my responses anonymously because it allowed you to say what you really wanted too. I didn’t really have to fear of being called out on because of what I said. While some things I said weren’t that personal some; however, [others] were.”
• “Yes, because it allowed me to compare my experiences and knowledge to other students. I also learned more from other's knowledge.”
• “I feel indifferent about it because we didn't really spend a lot of time reading other people's responses. But when we did look at other responses and hear from them in class, it was interesting.” 

Your open-ended comments on my feedback to your WPs that you found helpful/effective:

• “On my second WP you would tell me to dig a little deeper and put my voice into it, I found that very helpful because when writing that paper I found myself stopping myself from putting my own voice into it because I thought I should stay strictly factual without putting in my input, but I now see that with the combination of putting my own voice in and digging deeper, it can make my paper a lot stronger.”
• “Comments when you asked what was the connection between two sentences made me stop and think how they were connecting and what I wasn't getting across as a writer.”
• “One comment that helped me the most was the one you said about keeping the train rolling and reducing the fluff. This helped me because in high school I was used to teachers who wanted fluff. They believed fluff meant more analysis when most of time it didn't…”
• “…the humorous comments help because it gives a lighter side to the grading, when I know many people are already worried that their essay is horrible. Even if you criticize the whole essay a bunch, the funny comments you make show i guess that you're not mad, only trying to help.”
• “I really liked the positive comments. Constructive criticism is great and all, but sometimes they got a little bit harsh. It was nice to see a little reassurance every now and then. It helps me, at least, to stay motivated and know what I am doing right. That little boost of self­confidence helped me work through the other comments.”
• “I really appreciated comments on my structure. I've been using the same structure for my essays/papers for years now, and it's gotten so boring and lame for me (and I think it's why I disliked writing so much). You're the first person to suggest another way, and that was super helpful­ it made my whole writing process a lot less of a drag. I also really like how you pointed out not only things that I could work on, but things that I did well. It lets me know what I'm doing right, and what I can use again in future writing (also it's a self­ esteem boost lol).”
• “I like how you would ask me questions in your comments. You weren't necessarily tearing apart my work, but just asking me questions that made me question why I made the decisions I did in my writings.”

Your open-ended comments on my feedback to your WPs that you found unhelpful/ineffective:

• “Certain positive comments were just like a few words that basically said "good" or "excellent point here" rather than elaborating on why it was good.”
• “"I'm not seeing it yet, I need more convincing". Would've been more helpful if you'd elaborated & explained what I could do to convince you.”
• “There was one comment in which my statement was too exact and unchanging in its discourse which may not be agreeable to everyone, and he had told me to hedge it. At that time the comment was ineffective for me cause I did not know what hedged language was.”
• “All of your words matter, Z. The only thing is when you told me my topic sentences were to basic, maybe you could have given an example what to add to make it not so basic.”  (I’m a bit overwhelmed by that first sentence in a holy crap, I’m honored kind of way…)

On the feedback matrices:

• “It was useful for identifying why you graded it the way you did, but I felt the table seemed inconsistent with the grade. I had similar tables but different overall grades for my WPs.  I think paired with the Google Doc comments, these two were perfect and helped a lot!”
• “I didn't even really look at the feedback matrices. I read your comments very thoughly but the actual feedback matrices meant very little to me.”
• “More difficult than I expected for a writing req class but I gained a lot from it.”

Other awesome, miscellaneous nuggets:

• “My favorite part of the course was probably learning about genres because after I learned that I felt like I saw the literary world so differently.”
• “Translating genres was really cool because I was able to apply everything I learned in the course in a creative way. It was a cool way to reflect on my learning and see how much I learned in just one quarter.”
• “The thlogs [were one of my favorite parts of Writing 2]. I liked putting my own personal touch on things. I also loved the activities where I had to pay attention, because most of the time it's hard to keep myself focused on one thing, however a lot of your activities and demonstrations kept my attention very well….’
• “The constant interactions between the teacher and students [was my favorite part of the course]. I thought this class was going to be very anti­social as a writing class, but I have enjoyed constantly learning and asking questions throughout the course.”
• “Favorite part [of the course] was coming to class, I always got a good laugh.”
• “… My writing used to be mediocre, and now I feel like I can write anything for any audience in any genre. Woohoo!”
• “…Like I said before, being able to blog was amazing. I have never felt more related to a course because blogging and visuals are something I find incredibly interesting. I think the entire online/Internet approach to your course is really clever too. I think it keeps students interested. Instead of feeling as if they are writing essays, they're just writing a cool blog post which is awesome.”
• “The toughness behind [the course was my favorite aspect]. I can honestly say that because you were a tough grader, and slack wasn't handed out, it helped me so much. I honestly feel like I've improved greatly as a writer and am continuing to improve so I find it nice that I had a teacher who cared enough to be mean/harsh/realistic when it was needed because it helped me soooo much.”
• “The best thing about your course was how laid back it seemed at the beginning. We started out with the reading that included the picture on the back of the reader. You told us exactly what to expect; you told us that you were mostly like the "Fabulousness!" professor but you tried to be somewhere in the middle between the "Rules" and "Fabulousness" professors. You encouraged us to approach both our reading and writing with an open, creative mind­­which I feel most other professors/teachers don't do enough. You taught us, or me at least, that it's okay to start out rough.”
• “Thanks for being a style icon all quarter.”  (Ha!)
• “I hated writing... until now I can't thank you enough for these 10 weeks.”
• “...It was really comforting to have a TA/professor (whatever you are) like you during my 1st quarter here at UCSB. I love how you give nicknames to students and treat us like your friends but still keep it professional…”
• “…I genuinely believe that I've become a much better writer. I even feel more confident speaking to adults because my vocabulary has expanded and I'm more eloquent than I was in high school. I may even pursue a minor in journalism or something that involves writing because I've come to love it so much.”