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Date:         Sun, 24 Jan 1993 12:54:12 -0500
From:         "Rhoda Carroll, Vermont College,
              Montpelier" <RHODA@NORWICH.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: cai assignments

Marcy, I'm very new at this too, and I queried the list in December
requesting suggestions, but I knew that I would have to be *in the class*
and *in the lab* and *with the students* before I would think up anything
remotely useful.  Doing the work of preparing for class will yield some
ideas about specific computer applications for specific goals.

For example: last week I wanted to introduce an intro lit class to
structural criticism ("New" Criticism, for all you boomers listening in),
so I gave some handouts laying out goals, methods, criteria -- the
usual sort of thing.  In lab, I clustered 2-5 students about a focused
analysis -- one group had "character," one had "point of view," and so on.

I asked each group to create a collaborative document that would set forth
their focused discoveries and would be ready to read about 2/3 through
the class meeting (we meet for 75 minutes).  Further, I asked
students to copy this draft group document onto their own data disks
for further solo work in the designated area of inquiry.  The collaborative
document and the solo document will become part of each student's
course portfolio (for presentation at midsemester and at the end of the
course).

So here's what really happened:

At first, there was a lot of anxiety, but within a few minutes, groups
were working noisily and productively.  I visited each group but pretty
much kept my mouth shut except to insist that textual evidence for some
of the wilder assertions be inserted right into the draft document.

Students arranged tasks for themselves.  People who could type fast assumed
the role of scribe.  Others, clustered around the pc, offered suggestions
and jokes and jibes and textual evidence.  Each group prepared a document
for reading to the whole class.  For each group's presentation, I offered
several ways to evaluate the work (clarity, complexity, amount of evidence,
and so forth).  Some of the groups did fine work, and some didn't.  By the
end of class, and after our discussion of the relative merits of each group's
analysis, I am sure that students had a feel for what kind of work
was solid and what kind of work was superficial.  Peer pressure may nudge
some people into higher productivity -- I don't know yet.

But during class, I saw people working, arguing, turning to the text
instead of the professor for arbitration.  I liked that.  It didn't
look like "class" and it didn't feel like "class," for which I am
grateful and pleased. At the end of "class" time, students were busy
at their individual pc's copying files and printing drafts and continuing
to argue about some of the ideas raised in class.

I would like to hear from others how they negotiated the change into
a writing lab with stand-alone pc's.

Rhoda Carroll
Rhoda Carroll*Vermont College of Norwich University*Rhoda@Norwich.Bitnet
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU