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Schedule for ‘Composing
the New Classroom’ series Jan. 16, 3-5 p.m., CUE 518: Mike Edwards and Patricia Freitag Ericsson (English) explore the movement toward multimodal classroom work and the questions and possibilities raised. A reception will follow. RSVP to jennifer.obrien@wsu.edu.
Feb. 4, noon-1:30 p.m., CUE 305: David McLean (civil and environmental engineering) shares experiences and best practices for incorporating multimodal communication requirements into the senior capstone design course.
Feb. 25, noon-1 p.m., CUE 305: Lorena O’English (libraries) explores the connection between information literacy and technology-assisted research.
March 4, noon-1 p.m., CUE 305: Trevor Bond (MASC, libraries) reveals “surprising examples” of results of bringing archives into the classroom.
March 25, noon-1 p.m., CUE 305: Rich Zack and Laura Lavine (entomology) examine the idea that “the rote saying of anything is the enemy of understanding” and discuss the use of interactive methods to enhance learning in the general education environment.
April 8, noon-1 p.m., CUE 305: Leeann Hunter (English) shares strategies for creating poster assignments that promote critical thinking, design literacy and rhetorical awareness.
May 8, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., CUE 518: “Changing Modes to Focus on the Moves: Multimodal Writing and Outcomes-Based Evaluation of Communication Learning Goals,” an all-day workshop with William Hart-Davidson, co-director and senior researcher at the Writing in Digital Environments (WIDE) Research Center at Michigan State University.
Faculty will focus on rhetorical moves aligned with communication outcomes outlined in the WSU Learning Goals and Outcomes. Faculty will learn how to use multimodal composing in order to zero in on what makes a message meaningful, persuasive, compelling and accurate across media and to build curricular frameworks appropriate for their discipline starting with evaluation criteria.
Contact Jen O’Brien at jennifer.obrien@wsu.edu to register for this workshop; space is limited to 50 participants.
May 8, 3:30-5 p.m., CUE 518: Universitywide address by Hart-Davidson: “Many-to-Many: Networks, Peer Learning and the Long Arc of Learning to Write.” In an age of “peer production” of widely distributed messages and information using global networks and the Internet, educators must consider how learning opportunities for communication may be changing. This talk will present evidence supporting a model of learning many-to-many – in networks, in writing – which includes the full range of digital composing options.
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PULLMAN, Wash. – Teaching with effective communications tools, and ascertaining what students have learned, is the focus of an eight-part spring seminar series created for faculty members at Washington State University. It begins Jan. 16, and concludes with a guest expert workshop and lecture May 8.
“Composing the New Classroom: The Teaching and Learning Remix” is sponsored by the University College and hosted by its writing program. Faculty from all disciplines are invited to attend, said Diane Kelly-Riley, director of writing assessment and co-director of the writing program.
“Higher education is experiencing a national trend toward what is termed ‘multimodal teaching and learning,’ and there are innovators here at WSU who have already implemented it with success in their courses,” said Kelly-Riley. “We have asked several of them to lead the seminars and share their expertise. They represent diverse fields universitywide, such as English composition, digital technology and culture, engineering and sciences.
“Because my area is involved with writing-in-major courses, and because multimodal teaching and learning is a hot topic, we initiated this series as a faculty development opportunity,” she said. “Each session will be valuable for anyone who assigns and grades writing in classes and also for anyone who seeks to use some very modern methods of cross-communication between teachers and learners. In naming the series, we used the word ‘remix’ very intentionally.”
‘Multimodal’ and what’s in a word
A Web search for “multimodal” turns up millions of hits and reveals that the word is applied to much more than education; it appears in references to music, transportation, grammar, philosophy, logic, statistics and medicine, for example.
In higher education, multimodal has many meanings but typically refers to using communication methods that “go beyond the alphabetic” written text. Research shows that learning, comprehension and retention of knowledge cognition – are boosted, even dramatically, by expanding the teaching toolbox to include visual, verbal and auditory stimuli.
Classrooms, assignments and assessments
Teaching a lesson in a multimodal fashion might include a lecture and readings, plus such things as moving images, animation, color, music, sound, interactive illustration, narration and video.
Beyond how information is delivered in the classroom, multimodality also can involve how students respond to assignments. In addition to, or in place of, a written text, they might want to express their understanding by preparing a poster, composing a song, developing an app, creating a Web page, cooking a pudding or filming and editing a short video. Some, but not all, methods use modern technology.
It follows that multimodality requires faculty members to be prepared to assess what students submit – in civil engineering, for example, where the senior capstone course requires students to incorporate multimodal communications when presenting their final design project.
Multimodality in engineering and English
“Both our mission statement and our engineering accrediting agency ABET require new engineers to be able to effectively interact with other engineers, diverse groups of clients and the public in a professional manner,” said David McLean, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “When the students are out of college and working as engineers, employers demand that they be effective communicators in multimodal ways.
“We make sure they are,” he said. “For their senior project, they work in teams of three or four on a real-world project. They prepare a written report on their design. They also deliver an oral presentation using PowerPoint, develop technical drawings and prepare a poster summarizing their design. The audience is made up of faculty, students and their clients, who are firms and practicing engineers outside of WSU.”
The engineering students are evaluated according to rubrics incorporating 12 required outcomes, including use of new technologies and knowledge of current issues relating to the project.
“Students have the rubric from the start of the semester, so they know they must demonstrate proficiency communicating their project using several different modes,” McLean said.
Faculty in the Department of English frequently use multimodality in their classes.
The composition program offers a professional development series for instructors called “Minimally Multimodal – At Least!” Nationally prominent multimodal experts deliver presentations to faculty via Skype, said Patricia Freitag Ericsson, associate professor and director of composition. With a background in multimodal education, she previously directed the WSU Digital Technology and Culture Program in Pullman.
In December 2011, Ericsson and Crag Hill, assistant professor in English education, polled state K-12 and college teachers about their interest in multimodality. In a WSU survey, with 131 respondents from more than 50 disciplines, there was “very strong interest,” said Ericsson. “Faculty said they would do more to use multimodality with their students if they knew how.”
Spring faculty series on implementing multimodal strategies
Kelly-Riley noted that McLean and Ericsson are among select WSU experts who will lead seminars in the upcoming series. It concludes May 8 with an all-day workshop and lecture led by a guest expert from Michigan State University (MSU), William Hart-Davidson.
He is co-director and senior researcher at the MSU Writing in Digital Environments (WIDE) Research Center and associate professor and director of the graduate program in rhetoric and writing. He is president of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.
For the first session, RSVPs to jennifer.obrien@wsu.edu would be appreciated since space is limited to 50 participants.