Re: anti is ok (getting to 'why')

Beth W. Baldwin, Ph.D. (bobaldwi@HAMLET.UNCG.EDU)
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 17:18:15 -0400


On Wed, 31 Jul 1996, Eric Crump wrote:

> I get frustrated
> with our program sometimes because it's stated goals are to prepare
> students for academic discourse, to help them write well while they're in
> college.

At least you have these stated program goals. I could work with something
like that, work towards that end with many of our current pedagogical
models (whether or not I believe in them).

Many programs don't bother to state goals. Ours does, but we've pretty
much moved away from trying to teach students how to write successfully
for their college careers. Our stated goals are to teach critical
thinking, reasoning skills, rhetorical skills. So, your program goals
have *writing* as a stated goal while ours has something else, something
more abstract, as a stated goal even though we concentrate on writing as
the means to attain that goal.

Anyway:

> That brings to my mind what maybe should be the next technical step, now
> that two (rough) pieces have been created. We've got a way to collect
> stories. We've got a way to start collecting research. How do we get them
> to interact? How can the stories help us evaluate our methodologies and how
> can the research help us apprehend and interpret and apply the stories?

Let's invite people to contribute their stories in one place. We could
create it as an electronic, collaborative "book." We could append to this
"book" a webliography as you say wherein those of us who feel it very
important to recognize the work of others could make significant
contributions. I would ask that the bibliography be an annotated
bibliography because it would be so much more useful.

After a period of collecting stories, those of us who are interested
can then work on a meta-narrative of some sort. Perhaps others out there
in cyberland will find this project useful. Perhaps we could tuck this
away as an idea for a Rhetnet workshop or conference forum in the future.

Just some thoughts.

Beth
********************************************
Beth Baldwin, Ph.D. *
Office of Continuing Education *
University of North Carolina at Greensboro *
Greensboro, NC 27412-5001 *
910-334-5140 *
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