Grammar girl is good! I've never used her for my classes... but, being a former editor, I will stumble approvingly across her blog from time to time.
First, I must disagree with this: “During the online chat, I demonstrate the Spell Check feature available to them in the DB pop-up window, and show how easy it is to find and correct errors.†Without question, Spell Check and it’s cousin Grammar Check are the worst banes to a student learning how to write effectively. As we all know, Spell Check only checks for spelling, no context, so “going to the beach,†“going too the beach,†and “going two the beach†are all correct as far as Spell Check is concerned. And students must also remember it is not Mr. or Ms. Spell Check whose name is on an assignment – it is the students’ names. Yes, use Spell Check as an aid, but nothing more; a student must first rely on his / herself when it comes to spelling.
As for Grammar Check, students’ reactions are pretty much, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!†when they see that little green squiggly line. But there’s an old computer adage: GIGO, i.e., garbage in, garbage out – and I have nearly 3 dozen examples of where Grammar Check is just flat out wrong., It was input by humans, humans are not perfect, and thus errors are going to occur. As with Spell Check, students should look at Grammar Check as a POSSIBLE aid … but first rely on themselves.
And herein – in my closing sentences to the two above paragraphs – are what are the basics in helping students improve their reading, writing, and communication skills: relying on themselves. Thus, the more we provide students with tips or guides to help them improve their reading and writing skills the better their overall communicative skills will be. Giving the students detailed feedback on their writing, providing good input on their reading – especially pointing out important items AND treating it to the “real world†of their professional lives -- and reminding students of the importance writing holds for them in their professional lives are basic, yet crucial, approaches to this overall improvement we seek.
As I teach composition, this is actually my main objective. For reading skills, I like to use the discussion board and ask pointed questions about particulars of the readings that encourage students to go back into the text and think and read critically. In addressing writing skills, I look at various elements of writing, emphasizing each in different assignments and exercises- good paragraph development, word choice, coherence, organization, and the use of specific and detailed examples.
Darcy Schultz
I help students improve their reading, writing, and communication skills by modeling the same. Additionally, I provide a wealth of resources and examples to give students a clear picture of how to improve reading, writing, and communication skills. It's imperative that students are guided in the right direction to ensure academic success.
I teach math therefore the majority of writing I receive is email. I like to remind some students that they can set their email to automatically check spelling once you hit send. Demonstrating proper email etiquette is a great way to teach by example.
I like to give pointers and direct them to some great resources that can provide the necessary tools they will need to communicate effectively. I also encourage them to continue to write more essays to improve their ability.
I teach accounting mainly so not many papers to grade usually. I do think that by going through the writing assignment and pointing out the good and bad parts of what they turned in is the best way. Then I can also point them to websites that can help them with reading and writing.
You hit on a very important motivating concept - the fact that resumes with spelling and grammar errors are set aside. I try to stress the importance of effective written communication skills by using the same example. I think it helps students understand why it is so important to spell and grammar check work. Not only is it important for their course grade but it has much more important broader implications.
I teach courses to train students for positions in the medical environment. Therefore, I stress the importance of preventing medical errors which can cause patient harm or create other delays such as reimbursement etc. Communication is the key and I stress that accuracy is one way to prevent costly errors.
This obviously includes accuracy in spelling (e.g. medications) as well as the importance of clear communication.
I typically provide a guide outlining what I expect from the students in terms of communication. I also include information for the students regarding what I expect from them and what they can expect from me in terms of a reply to an email, etc. on the syllabus for the course.
Since I am currently instructing high school students online via a cooperative agreement between the high school and the college, I am working on helping the students to accept constructive criticism and improve their writing skills. I accomplish this through chat room help sessions, bonus opportunities for essays, discussion boards, etc.
I provide an annoucement regarding plagiarism and how to avoid it. This does not always work with some students as they don't all read my announcements. If a student does committ plagiarism, they receive a warning and a 0 for their work. This usually works in my class.
Marie Moran
How do you help students improve their reading, writing, and communication skills?
In the material for the second unit, the lecture reveals that good communication should have focus, be clear and concise while a message and feedback are necessary between the sender and the receiver. The message, and the feedback can involve reading or writing, and the greater these skills, the better the communication between the sender and receiver.
One of the tools that an instructor can use to help students improve their reading and writing, thus improving overall communication, is the feedback that is left in Discussions, or to any submission. (ex. the comment section in the Dropbox) By helping students understand the errors they have made, and providing extensive, well explained and constructed feedback, the student will have clear expectations on how to obtain higher grades.
Cheers
Dr. E. Somnarain
I suggest that you assign assignments that will spark their interest. This will cause them to seek out the information and will be better prepare to speak on it.
I have noticed in that last few years that students write the way that they text. It is important to give examples to students to what a good discussion looks like and what a good paper looks like.
Denise
I usually try to provide them with examples of how to cite, how to check their spelling and grammar, and I usually provide correct writing samples.
Hello Tena,
To assist my students, I try to engage them in discussion post as much as possible. Frequently I post articles from the internet for them to read and provide feedback. While grading the post, I provide them with corrections and proper grammar.
There are many ways to help students improve their writing skills. One way is to provide a grading rubric that clearly outlines what is acceptable. Another tool that I used is to embed comments directly on the document the student submits. This allows the student to see their mistakes first hand and how to correct them. I have found this to be the most successful.
i would give an outline of what reading,writing and communication skills that we will be covering and also if they are looking to expand their knowledge set up something within a library to show where they can set up a group if they want and study what other resources there are for the couse.
As an instructor, I usually assume students know how to read and write already, so I focus on teaching the material. After studying this unit, I realize that giving students tips to increase their reading and writing effectiveness can help lead them to greater overall success in the course. I plan to incorporate such tips into my teaching and discussion materials in my online classes. Thanks.
This is a real challenge for me, and one that requires using all the resources I have available. I tend to give very detailed feedback, including a 'rewrite' of what the student has offered in discussion boards or projects.
I find that many students don't understand what it means when I use grammatical terms -- fragment, passive voice, run-on -- but they learn by seeing the mistakes fixed. So I will usually give them feedback that says here is what you wrote "X" and here is how it could sound better " X the rewrite."
