Jiwon Han

Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow 2020-2021

Giving feedback to students is an integral part of teaching. Many instructors often find offering feedback as time-consuming and labor-intensive, but it is still an important part of communication between the instructor and students. Based on Professor Maria Treglia’s research on feedback for BCC students and interviews with veteran tutors at the BCC Writing Center, here are what you can consider for effective feedback.

Be clear and precise as possible

• Avoid simple vague phrases such as “Good job!” or “Well done!”
• Identify and specify how students can fix errors or improve the writing.
• Do not assume your comments are self-explanatory. Since many of our students come from different educational backgrounds, students often find it difficult to understand short succinct comments. Many students prefer to see detailed feedback (Treglia 2019).
• Point out what the student is doing well in the writing.
• Be consistent with your feedback either in oral or written form. Many instructors tend to remain “nice” in in-class oral feedback but focus on the negatives in written feedback. This can confuse students.

Be aware of disparities in knowledge and power between the instructor and students

• Forget your “ideal writing” sample and consider that students are just beginning to gain knowledge of the discipline; the gap between the instructor and students is often larger than seen from the instructor’s side.
• Remember that your feedback is a conversation between you and the student. Directive and authoritative feedback can discourage students, especially for many students who experienced discomfort with authority.
• Be careful not to penalize for stylistic preference, non-standardized English particularly by Multiple Language Learners (MLLs); language proficiency and critical thinking skills are often irrelevant.

Use feedback as a guide to assist students’ process of development 

• Encourage students to incorporate instructors’ feedback in their revisions.
• Allow multiple attempts to fully incorporate the feedback offered by the instructor.
• Or, scaffold the tasks and assignments so that the students can practice what they learned.

Sources
Treglia, Maria Ornella. “Feedback on Feedback: Exploring Student Responses to Teachers’ Written Commentary.” Journal of Basic Writing 27, no. 1 (2008): 105-137.
———————-. “Marginal Commentary: Are Students and Instructors on the Same Page?” Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education 6, Issue 1 (2019): 112 -131.

Interviews with Betty Doyle, James Noguera, Jose Reyes, and George Sorrentini

• Using Writing to Improve Student Engagement in the Online Classroom
• Plagiarism and Its Prevention
• Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the Community College Classroom
• Creating Inclusive Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students at Bronx Community College

Brenna McCaffrey

WAC Fellow 2020-2021

Sex, gender, and sexuality are topics that arise across our disciplines. Whether in  psychology, history, literature, languages, sociology, or biology, students may encounter these  concepts, which can be difficult to talk about. Students may come to the classroom with their  own beliefs about gender norms and sexualities, and readings that challenge their existing  viewpoints can sometimes lead to a lack of fruitful discussion. Below are a few suggestions,  based on instructor experiences and pedagogical publications, of assignments that can help  students work through these ideas in the classroom. Many of these assignments or classroom  activities draw from the tenets of “Writing Across the Curriculum” — meaning they focus on  using writing as a tool for learning and thinking (Bean 2011). These activities also focus on  “low-stakes” writing, which is usually ungraded. The goal of low-stakes writing is to get students  to practice writing as thinking, rather than writing as merely communicating what one has  already learned. Low-stakes writing can be especially useful as students work through their own  ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality, because it lessens the fear of being shamed, embarrassed,  or getting something “wrong”. It also allows students to think through class readings or lectures,  which might present new ideas about these topics, alongside their own experiences.

1. VALUES CLARIFICATION: WHERE DO YOU STAND? 

OVERVIEW: The aim of a values clarification activity is to start students in thinking about  their own feelings and assumptions about a topic. This can work for any topic at all, but it  especially interesting for thinking about sex, gender, and sexuality. This can be done at any point  during a course, but some instructors find it especially useful as a first day of class activity. For

more detailed ideas on this activity, see Chapter 1 in Activities for Teaching Gender and  Sexuality in the University Classroom (Murphy and Ribarsky 2013).

GUIDELINES: Have the whole class stand up and make sure students have enough space to  move around the classroom (this can mean rearranging desks or chairs). Designate one side of  the room as “AGREE” and another side as “DISAGREE”. Alternatively, if space is an issue, you  can have students remain seated and have them point to sides of the room. The instructor will  then read out previously devised statements. Some examples might include:

• “I learned gender roles from my parents”
• “Men and women are fundamentally different”
• “Women make better managers than men”
• “Having sex outside of a committed relationship is normal”

Then, let the student’s physical bodies indicate their thoughts on the question. Highlight that  students may walk (or point) to the middle of the room if they are unsure, and may use the space  as a continuum. Ask students to keep their original thoughts in mind throughout the semester.  You can revisit the overall class assumptions and where they stem from as you cover those topics  throughout the semester.

2. GENDER WORD CLOUDS 

OVERVIEW: This activity allows students to begin thinking about their individual and social  ideas about gender in a fun, collective way. Like the values clarification, it works best at the start  of a course or unit about gender. It takes a bit of preparation from the instructor, but students  really enjoy the visual representation of their thoughts. There are a number of free online word  cloud generators that can be used for this activity (i.e. wordclouds.com). For more ideas on this

concept see Chapter 2 of Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University  Classroom (Murphy and Ribarsky 2013).

GUIDELINES: This activity is best done in class where students can speak freely with one  another. If possible, divide the class into several smaller groups of about 4-6 individuals, and  randomly assign each group either “men” or “women”. You can print out blank “man/woman”  icons for students to write on, or if the space facilitates, you can draw them on your chalkboard  or whiteboard in class. Give students 5-7 minutes to write any words that come to mind that they  associate with either “men” or “women”. Prompt students to think about how we describe  physical bodies, skills and abilities, qualities, and words we use to praise and words we use to  insult. It also helps if you remind students that any words are okay (even “bad words”!), and they  can write them if they do not feel comfortable speaking them.

After students write their group lists, you can facilitate a discussion about what words came up in  their group discussions. After class, designate a student from each group to type up the list in a  shared Google Doc. Then you can run that list easily through the word cloud generator, which  shows which words were most common among all groups. In the next class meeting, revisit the  word cloud before a discussion about a reading on gender.

3. THE INVISIBLE KNAPSACK 

OVERVIEW: Peggy McIntosh’s classic 1989 text on white privilege has been a staple in  courses that examine hierarchies and stratification due to race, ethnicity, class, gender, and  sexuality. This short essay walks students through the concept of “white privilege” to help them  see ways in which they may (or may not be) benefiting from Any course that examines sex and  gender as one aspect of identity should also attend to the intersection of gender with race and  class (see Combahee River Collective 1977; Davis 1981; Crenshaw 1991). This text can be  paired with many different in-class activities or writing assignments to facilitate reflection and  discussion on the “invisible knapsack”.

GUIDELINES:  

McIntosh’s text contains a list of 26 statements for the reader to reflect on. For example:

• I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.  ● If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area  which I can afford and in which I want to live.
• I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to  me.
• I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed  or harassed.
• I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my  race widely represented.

Because this text is short (3 pages) you can ask students to read it in class and select one  statement that affected them. Then ask students to free write exploring their feelings about that  statement. Did they have a personal experience of discrimination described in the example, or  did the statement make them realize a new facet of their own privilege? Then allow discussion or  sharing of these writings verbally, only if students volunteer. This text can be heavy for students  and the class reaction can vary widely depending on the racial make-up of the class and their  overall comfort with talking about topics like race. Allowing space for ungraded, personal  writing to reflect on this text can be beneficial for students who feel called-out or threatened by  the realization of their own privilege.

ADAPTATION: Unpacking Knapsacks of Gender/Sexuality  

You can adapt this concept by having students read McIntosh’s original text and then  asking students to translate their text to think about other forms of privilege. In the case of  gender and sexuality, this can work well with thinking about cisgender privilege (the assumption  that everybody’s gender aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth) or heteronormativity (the  assumption that every will be and is heterosexual).

4. LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD  

These activity ideas help students think about how objects like beauty products, clothing,  children’s toys, and more are gendered. It can contribute to thinking about how social ideas

about gender permeate material culture, and can be especially relevant for courses in psychology,  marketing, art, media culture, and design. For more ideas, see Chapters 17-21 of Activities for  Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University Classroom (Murphy and Ribarsky 2013).

This works well as a low-stakes written assignment. Have students take a trip to a local grocery  store or drug store and look for an item like a razor, deodorant, or soap. (You could also do this  more quickly with websites like Unnecessarily Gendered Products). Have them snap photos of

the products. Ask them to compare the packaging design, the copy, and the price. Then ask them  to write up their thoughts on what they saw: What gendered ideas is the product selling? Why do  you think those ideas about gender are highlighted in that product? What ideals or insecurities is  

the item playing on? How is language, from the product name to the tagline or product copy,  gendered? How is the design, like colors, icons, package shape, gendered?  

Rather than collecting and grading this writing, have students swap papers with a peer during  class and discuss their analysis of the gendered product in pairs. Then allow the peer to share the  writer’s analysis, and vice versa, opening a broader class discussion about the gendered products.

CUNY SOURCES:  

Bronx Community College LGBTQI+ Resource Room

CUNY Central LGBTQ+ Hub

WORKS CITED:  

Bean, John C. 2011. Engaging ideas: The professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical  thinking, and active learning in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.

Combahee River Collective. 1983. “The Combahee river collective statement.” Home girls: A  Black feminist anthology: 264-74.

Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1991. “Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and  violence against women of color.” Stan. L. Rev. 43:1241.

Davis, Angela. 1981. Women, race, & class. Vintage.

Murphy, Michael and Elizabeth Ribarsky. 2013. Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in  the University Classroom. United States: R&L Education.

Pre-Writing

Teach students how to evaluate sources and brush up on their note-taking skills.

Developing & Organizing Ideas

Introduce students how to develop thesis statements, overcome a writer’s block, summarize, and quote.

Low-Stakes Writing

Make writing fun and effective through these informal writing assignments.

Scaffolding Assignments

Help students perform better by breaking down your assignments in steps.

High-Stakes Writing

Guide students through developing a research paper or writing a lab report.

Brenna McCaffrey

WAC Fellow 2020-2021

Creating Inclusive Classrooms for LGBTQ+ Students (PDF)

Zoe Cunliffe

WAC Fellow 2020-2021

Using Writing to Improve Student Engagement in the Online Classroom (PDF)

Spring 2022 Faculty Workshop Series

Beyond the Breakout Room: Group Work for Online to In-person Teaching

Facilitators: Maddy Lafuse (PhD candidate in History) and Chandni Tariq (PhD candidate in History)

Group work is one of the most difficult challenges of teaching online. Please join us for a discussion of techniques and tools that support meaningful group work in online classes. Emphasis will be placed on low-stakes, easily graded activities that assist in student participation and learning. This workshop will also focus on discussing how to move forward as we slowly transition from teaching online to in-person. This will be a space to reflect on what it means to cultivate meaningful student engagement for the purpose of your course through group work.

Building Community Beyond the Classroom

Facilitators: Lisa Babel (PhD candidate in Developmental Psychology) and Dongwoo Kim (PhD candidate in Philosophy)

How can we build rapport with our students, encourage peer connection, and promote classroom engagement? What in-class exercises and out-of-class activities will encourage community, promoting positive school experiences for both faculty and students? Join us to discuss what’s working, what’s not working, and brainstorm what can still be done both virtually and in-person, to continue to build community at Bronx CC. (presentation slides)

How to Teach Difficult Texts through Interpretive Discussion

March 2, 2022

Facilitator: Pedro Monque (PhD candidate in Philosophy)

While students are likely to forget most of the specific facts they learn in a class, they tend to remember and be transformed by the key concepts they have mastered (for example: gerrymandering or ableism). Yet, teaching a discipline’s central concepts is difficult because these are closer to skills, to be incorporated into our thinking in various ways, than to definitions which can simply be memorized. What’s more, the texts where we find important concepts can be difficult to read or interpret. This workshop will provide tools for teaching difficult concepts through Sophie Haroutounian-Gordon’s idea of “interpretive discussion.” We will look at how to craft discussion activities and reflective writing assignments that facilitate learning difficult concepts. I will use examples from having taught five times a class on theories of human nature that involved teaching difficult concepts each week (such as the social model of disability and the spurious logic of scientific racism). (presentation handout)

Writing through Infographics for the Sciences

March 16, 2022

Facilitator: Irina Mindlis (PhD candidate in Psychology)

Infographics are a way for students to engage in research, brief & targeted writing in the sciences that helps them focus on key messages – and it reduces grading time. Join us for a workshop on teaching, creating, and assigning infographics to students, including grading rubrics. (presentation slides)

 Students often have a difficult time organizing their ideas before and during writing. Here are some tips and lessons to scaffold students through this process.

• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
• Interpretation
• Paragraphing Lessons with Handouts
• Graphic Organizers
• Developing a Thesis Statement
• Summarizing

Break down complex assignments into smaller tasks that focus on specific skills and developing ideas over time. See how scaffolding has been applied to assignments across disciplines in the following posts.

• Scaffolding an English Response Paper
• Political Science Assignment
• Scaffolding a Psychology Paper
• Scaffolding an Art History Formal Analysis Essay
• Nuclear Medicine Research Paper

Teaching WAC and WI courses doesn’t have to add hours of grading to your workload. Learn how to give better feedback on student writing and how rubrics can reduce grading time.

• Holistic Rubric
• Responding to Student Writing
• Checklist Rubric for Mechanics
• Checklist Rubric for Content

Use these resources to develop formal writing assignments

• How to Develop a Research Paper
• Writing Lab Reports

A key component of WAC curriculum, low-stakes assignments encourage “writing to learn.” These short exercises and provocations can be used in-class, as homework, or part of a scaffolded assignment.

• Twenty-Five Ideas For Exploratory Writing
• Low-Stakes Writing Ideas for Political Science
• Short Writing Tasks to Generate Discussion