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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you're an experienced instructor slated to teach
one or more 1B classes next quarter, would you be willing to fit in a
collaborative essay I have designed? The assignment is an experiment connected
with my dissertation research on team authorship, and I'm looking for up to
a dozen classes, in order to ensure a good sample size. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The assignment is a team version of the
Justifying-an-Evaluation essay, with a few alterations (described below, under
my signature). It is designed to replace the usual Justifying-an-Evaluation
essay, and would be followed by a quick survey for students as well as an online
survey for instructors. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It should not impose a great deal on your schedule,
aside from the 5-minute surveys. The assignment is one that's normally included
in a 1B course, and you'll end up with fewer papers. Moreover, since part of my
research entails scoring the essays and comparing them, you wouldn't even have
to grade them if you didn't want to -- all you'd have to do is ask me to give
you a report with my scores on it, and then you could do with those whatever you
wish. This isn't to say that there aren't some possible disadvantages: My
assignment might not match well with the way you've themed your course, or with
your usual approach to teaching. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Some details appear at the bottom of this document,
below my signature. If you're at all interested, glance through them, and if
you're still curious, contact me. If at any point (even mid-experiment) you
decide you don't want to participate, just say so. </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Also, if you have a quid-pro-quo in mind (like subbing for you on one of
your classes or something), go ahead and fire away, and we'll see what we can
work out. I need as many classes as I can get!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gray Scott</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>=============================================================</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Procedure: </STRONG>If you decide
to participate, I'll assign each participating class you have to one of two
sets. For one set, much about the assignment will be
predetermined: Classes in that set will have to write within a particular theme
and follow specific instructions. They'll have some models for team procedures
that they will have to follow closely. Their work will be evaluated according to
a set rubric, provided to them. For another set of classes, the assignment will
be more flexible. Teams in those classes will be permitted to choose their
topics with relative flexibility, will get to set many of their own team
procedures (based on the same models that the first set is required to use), and
will even be permitted to negotiate changes to the rubric with the rest of the
class, subject to approval or veto by you. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Both sets will be asked to turn in full packets,
including their final drafts, previous drafts, invention work, planning work,
and individual reflective statements. They'll also turn in a cover sheet with
their names on it, which you'll keep. Their names should not appear on any work
in the rest of the packet -- just their team, class, and participant numbers.
(This step is designed to ensure that they remain anonymous.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Once they've turned them in, you're asked to
distribute a quick survey, collect the survey when it is completed (in about 5
minutes), and then put both the surveys and the papers in my departmental
mailbox. I'll make the photocopies I need and then return the originals to you.
If you want to use my scores and let me know, I'll send you a report with scores
by team number as soon as I've finished with them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lastly, there's an online survey (also about 5
minutes) that I'd ask you to complete, once the class is done with the
assignment.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's pretty much it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Confidentiality: </STRONG>Just as the
student teams will use numbers to ensure confidentiality, your class will be
assigned a number. Once I've collected all of my materials, I'll destroy my key,
so that it will theoretically not be possible for others to determine which
essays go with which instructors. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Research Goals: </STRONG>The purpose of all
of this is to determine how much of an impact autonomy has on team performance.
Research in tangent disciplines like psychology and management suggest that the
autonomous teams should outperform the restricted teams significantly in most
activities, but there hasn't been much research to establish whether this effect
holds up for <EM>writing</EM>, specifically. Hence, my
experiment.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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