scholarly journals Practical considerations for establishing writing groups in interdisciplinary programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Bergen ◽  
Alzahra Hudani ◽  
Selim Khan ◽  
Natalie D. Montgomery ◽  
Tracey O’Sullivan
Author(s):  
Esa M. Rantanen ◽  
Hamza Khammash ◽  
James C. Hall

Education and career development of new generations of human factors professionals has rightly been a central concern the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for many decades. There have been periodic surveys to track the changing employer expectations for new professionals, and there have been several panel discussion at the HFES Annual Meetings to address various issues in education of future professionals. There have been significant changes in academia, where many traditional disciplinary programs are declining and new interdisciplinary programs are emerging. These trends may present novel opportunities for education of the future human factors workforce. In this project we surveyed all courses in a university course catalog to identify courses that offer training, to varying degrees, in the Core Competencies as defined by the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics. These courses could form a basis for interdisciplinary programs in human factors without being confined in any particular department or existing program.


2009 ◽  
pp. 113-137
Author(s):  
Luisa Pepe ◽  
Fiammetta Nicolardi ◽  
Fiorella Bucci ◽  
Luigi Solano

- J.W. Pennebaker's studies showed positive results on health through the use of the writing technique in different subjects. In line with these studies and Health Psychology's goals, in this research we applied Pennebaker's Writing Technique to subjects in a fire brigade sample who are often exposed to emotional experiences during their work. The sample was divided in three groups. The first group wrote about their most traumatic working experience (Negative exp. Gr.). The second group wrote about the most rewarding working experience (Positive exp. Gr.). The third group didn't receive any writing task (Control Gr.). The aims of the present study were to assess: 1) an improvement on health parameters in the two writing groups in respect to the control group; 2) an effectiveness of writing in the Positive experience gr. in the short period, in the Negative experience gr. in the long period; 3) a possible interaction between writing and alexithymia levels. Comparing the data of the three groups we found out significant differences confirming our hypothesis on our three dependent variables: sick leave days (F = 3.60; p < 0.04); SCL-90 scores (F = 5.56; p < 0.0005) and number of physical examinations reported in the Health Interview (F = 4.11; p < 0.03). Regarding our second hypothesis, results of this study suggest the need of adapting the writing task instructions to the context for a more effectiveness of the technique. Finally, interaction between writing and alexithymia was not found, possibly due to low alexithymia levels in the sample in general.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Rehling

Recent studies identify gendered differences in communication and collaboration styles which suggest consequences for professional writing classrooms. If, indeed, men tend to stereotype women as clerks, prefer hierarchical collaboration, and value product over process, and, too, if gendered differences tend to increase counterproductive dissent, then the gender balance of writing groups might affect their dominant styles in those respects. However, when I analyzed the behaviors of over sixty student groups in my professional writing classes, I did not find gender balancing to have such effects. Instead, however, I observed other gender-related effects on collaboration: tendencies to stereotype men as technical experts and to self-segregate into gendered working teams. These findings suggest new perspectives on the role of gender for collaborative groups in professional writing classrooms.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lois S. Sadler ◽  
Kelley H. Newlin ◽  
Ida Johnson-Spruill ◽  
Carolyn Jenkins

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Jenny Mattsson ◽  
Emma-Karin Brandin ◽  
Ann-Kristin Hult

The present study revisits writing retreat participants who have spontaneously formed writing groups before or after attending a retreat hosted by the Unit for Academic Language at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. All in all, 11 doctoral students and 1 post doc were interviewed using a semi-structured interview model. The answers were thematically analysed based on Murray’s (2014) concept of coherence in writing groups as well as parts of Aitchison and Lee’s (2006) key characteristics of writing groups. The two main research questions posed concern (i) whether the informants have changed their writing practice and/or the way they think and feel about writing since joining a writing group, and (ii) whether possible changes have aided the development of their identity as academic writers. Results show that the informants have indeed changed central aspects of their writing practice and that this in turn has positively influenced how they now think and feel about writing. This has to some extent contributed to the informants’ development of their writer identity; however, the present study also sheds light on the fact that more needs to be done at departmental levels across the university to make academic writing visible.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth DeVane Wall-Bassett ◽  
Archana V. Hedge ◽  
Katelyn Craft ◽  
Amber Oberlin

The purpose of this study was to investigate an interdisciplinary international service learning program and its impact on student sense of cultural awareness and competence using the Campinha-Bacote’s (2002) framework of cultural competency model. Seven undergraduate and one graduate student from Human Development and Nutrition Science disciplines participated in the program. Reflections from a synthesis paper post-travel were analyzed using an inductive approach. Six themes emerged from the reflective journals and were applied to Campinha-Bacote’s cultural competency constructs. Participating and learning together while reflecting helped deepen and progress this process for ISL students. Overall, the experience proved to be an effective educational tool for sensitizing students towards cultural competency within interdisciplinary programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Catherine E. Déri ◽  
Émilie Tremblay-Wragg ◽  
Sara Mathieu-C.

Over the past twenty years, graduate studies have seen significant growth, with student numbers more than doubling worldwide. Unfortunately, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development continues to report dropout rates averaging 50% for PhD and 40% for master’s programs, in all disciplines combined. Among the reasons quoted for abandoning study programs are deficient academic writing competencies that could not only hinder how graduate students progress through their academic journey, but also how they integrate with the scientific community as novice scholars. Accordingly, this article will present an overview of studies related to academic writing groups, which have been identified as one of the strategies to benefit graduate studies. Based on a systematic literature review, we present a chronological account of key issues and concepts that have influenced the phenomenon throughout history. Thereafter, we explain the various characteristics of academic writing groups in order to delineate this phenomenon through the description of its inherent elements and propose an all-encompassing definition. The analysis of 72 documentary sources also allows the observation of trends through the examination of geographical, disciplinary, and methodological factors drawn from scholarly publications. Finally, we highlight considerations for future exploration of academic writing groups used as a pedagogical strategy in the context of higher education, from disciplinary, sociocultural, and gender perspectives.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Stiller-Reeve ◽  
C. Heuzé ◽  
W. T. Ball ◽  
R. H. White ◽  
G. Messori ◽  
...  

Abstract. Science, in our case climate- and geo-science, is increasingly interdisciplinary. Scientists must therefore communicate across disciplinary boundaries. For this communication to be successful, scientists must write clearly and concisely, yet, the historically poor standard of scientific writing does not seem to be improving. Scientific writing must improve and the key to long-term improvement of scientific writing lies with the Early Career Scientist (ECS). Many interventions exist for an ECS to improve their writing, like style guides and courses. However, momentum is often difficult to maintain after these interventions are completed. Continuity is key to improving writing. This paper introduces the ClimateSnack project, which aims to motivate ECS's to develop and continue to improve their writing and communication skills. The project adopts a peer-learning framework where ECS's voluntarily form writing groups at different institute s around the world. The group members learn, discuss and improve their writing skills together. Several ClimateSnack writing groups have been formed. This paper examines why some of the groups have flourished and others have dissolved. We identify the challenges involved in making a writing group successful and effective, notably the leadership of self organized groups, and both individual and institutional time management. Within some of the groups, peer learning clearly offered a powerful tool to improve writing as well as bringing other benefits, including improved general communication skills and increased confidence.


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