Writing Strategies for Action: The 2016 Annual Convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication

Writing Strategies for Action: The 2016 Annual Convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication

Grant:
Lecturers' Professional Development Fund (LPDF)
Academic Year:
2015 - 2016 (June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016)
Funding Requested:
$1,337.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
jsteiff
Overview of the Project:
I am requesting funds to attend the 2016 Convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Houston, Texas, from April 6-9. Having spent the last nine years as the only writing instructor in the Urban and Regional Planning program at Taubman College, I have received a rich education in the interdisciplinary field of planning and learned a great deal about the many kinds of writing planners do; however, I have become fairly isolated from my fellow teachers of writing. If I am to keep improving my teaching in the MUP program, I need to seek out opportunities to remain engaged with composition studies and keep abreast of developments in writing pedagogy and theory. That is why I would like to attend the 2016 CCCC Annual Convention, the most important national conference in the field. This year's theme, "Writing Strategies for Action," is especially relevant to writing instruction for planners, who write to make something happen in the world. I propose to renew, enrich, and reflect upon my teaching by attending sessions in the following areas: writing pedagogy and processes, professional and technical writing, second language writing/writers, and theories of pedagogy and writing in society.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

As the sole writing instructor in Taubman College, I don't get many opportunities to discuss my work with colleagues. My objectives in attending this conference were to immerse myself in conversations about the teaching of college-level writing and to do some professional networking.

Project Achievements:

The conference will influence my teaching in three main ways. I gained useful insights on managing the dynamics of power and authority in one-on-one writing conferences, on how students understand (or fail to understand) the written feedback they receive on their papers, and on the importance of models and imitation in learning to write in a new field or genre.

Continuation:
No.
Dissemination:
Given the importance of models and imitation mentioned above, I plan to encourage my colleagues in the Master's of Urban Planning program to start collecting and offering their students examples of the kind of writing the students need to learn. I will offer to coordinate the effort and start a Canvas site for that purpose.
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