Digital Composition Integrating Digital Video Production into the Undergraduate Research Paper

What You’ll Get How I integrated digital video into a student research paper assignment Background about ENGL 120 and course learning goals Two sample student videos Examples of how I assessed the effectiveness of the assignment Challenges I identified through assessment

How I integrated digital video into research assignment What: Digital Teaching Initiative, ENGL 120 When: Fall 2015 Why: To find new strategies to meet course learning outcomes; to promote digital literacy How: Faculty experienced with digital composition mentored less-experienced faculty

But first…

What is ENGL 120? Expository Writing course required of all students, with a few exceptions Challenges: Diverse student educational backgrounds and academic interests Provides English Comp (EC) credit at CUNY Prerequisite or co-requisite for courses in other college departments Skills translate to every college department

ENGL 120: Students should be able to… 1. Craft coherent essays and presentations that express clarity of thinking and logical progression of thought. 2. Develop analytic reading and research skills. 3. Make effective use of instructor and peer critiques to revise and edit drafts.

ENGL 120: Students should be able to… 4. Write in standard English prose, observing conventions of grammar, spelling, and audience-appropriate diction. 5. Produce papers that incorporate others’ ideas and scholarship with sources properly credited. 6. Create a final research paper employing standard academic requirements (MLA style).

The Research Project Media, representation, and influence How does the rhetoric of television news encourage Islamophobic sentiments? What are the consequences of gender stereotypes in commercials for children’s toys? How does the co-opting of punk music into the mainstream discourage the formation of new counter-culture musical movements? How does the rising popularity of the zombie genre in mainstream television and cinema relate to Americans’ fear of foreigners? What does the rising popularity of queer hip-hop artists mean for hip-hop’s current mainstream?

Research Project Scaffolding Annotated Bibliography, 3 drafts Literature Review short paper In-class presentation Research Paper, 10 pages, 3 drafts Digital assignment????

My Digital Assignment minute video presenting student research page written “treatment” outlining plans for video, including chosen imagery, messaging, and other elements Between drafts 2 and 3 of research paper 3. Short reflection on process of creating digital video and relationship to final research paper

Final Product Cut to sample videos! “Destroying Latino Stereotypes – Jane the Virgin” “Cyber-bullying”

Grading Rubric See here here

How did this support course research and writing goals? Papers were stronger overall than previous year Let’s ask the students!

Student feedback “The digital video treatment helped me make revisions between my second and third draft because it helped me realize which evidence is the most effective... I realized that I can not put out just any information, instead put out my strongest information because I only have a certain amount of time. I also removed evidence that seem[ed] repetitive and did not connect to my overall research.“

Student Feedback “…it helped me understand my own thesis in a different way. It turned the research paper into something more dense and concentrated, stripping it down into the most essential points for the time allotted. This definitely helped me realize that the information I decided to show in the video needed to be the most supported in my research paper because those were the most important arguments.”

Student Feedback “…being able to condense ten pages into something short and visual really helps give personality to a paper. This was also a chance to, if I felt passionate enough, attempt to convince my peers to think differently about the issue I had raised (eliminating the stereotype associated with video games).”

Positive Outcomes Enhanced student engagement Fostered camaraderie Students helped each other learn technology and/or produce videos Some students who struggled with writing rocked the video Visual learners or techies could strut their stuff Something to do on the last day of class or designated final exam time! Students could use as part of portfolio for internships/jobs

Challenges Citing digital sources Rolling credits? Copyright issues Inconsistency in results Replace draft 2 of paper with draft 1 of video?

QUESTIONS ???