Co-Creating on Google Docs

My assignments and practices within the composition classroom have changed greatly through my exposure to different composition pedagogies. Collaborative Writing, specifically Lunsford and Ede’s definitions of dialogic and hierarchical collaboration: “dialogic collaboration office of benefit of discovery:  students learn more by working together. Hierarchical collaboration offers the benefit of efficiency:  work done by individuals is stitch together and reviewed by the group. Many collaborative writing projects involve both types of collaboration” (Kennedy, et al, Composition Pedagogies,40).  One of my most favorite places to work allows me to teach freshman composition 1, 2 and 3. Freshman composition 1 in this University is a true intro to composition where the writing assignments are shorter and slightly superficial in critical thinking while freshmen composition number 2 starts to expose the students to the critical thinking and research skills that are going to be demanded of them in freshman composition 3. Comp 3 is one big research class where the student is asked to come up with a research question fully independently, conduct secondary and primary research, and create a voice for him or herself in the academic  conversation. While I enjoy teaching all of the courses in the University due to the demographic of student and the atmosphere of the classroom, the cleanliness of the campus, and the support of the administration, I struggled to teach the first freshman comp class as it was boring for me to teach these more simplified modes. One of them was the “Review”. I didn't see a need for the ability of the students to know the organisation and structural hallmarks of the review genre, but I was new in teaching the class and wasn't about to challenge things that had been done in the institution.

One way that I made it a little less boring, more innovative and interesting for myself and the students was to conduct a field trip to the University Library which was hosting a student art show. Prior to this a field trip, the class had discussed the genre of review: organization and rhetorical situation, so the students were aware of what information to gather on the Art Show field trip.  The students were placed into groups; each group was in charge of a section of the review, and a Google Document link was shared with all. The class was given 30 to 40 minutes to co-construct within their group of three to four people that section of the review while keeping an eye in the Google Document of the other review sections to help make it more cohesive writing.  Keeping in mind the rhetorical situation of the text, the students co-created the body paragraphs and sections of the review.   Later, the discussion of the semi-completed text, the students and myself were flabbergasted at the speed, cohesiveness, and overall interest of the piece. Concurrent with Kennedy’s assertion that two benefits are provided through this collaborative writing:  students see“ firsthand how others articulate and so writing problems”  and “ how much more they can accomplish than if they were working alone” (Composition Pedagogies, 40), feedback from the students hinted to a more higher level of comfort in the Review genre and a confidence in ability to write his/her own Review at home.