Bad Ideas about Writing

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Dual-Enrollment Writing Classes Should Always Be Pursued" by Caroline Wilkinson (@wilkicg). It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: college-level writing, composition/rhetoric, dual enrollment, writing studies, writing-program administration Caroline Wilkinson is an associate professor of English at New Jersey City University. She writes about dual-enrollment writing courses and the relationship between high schools and colleges. She also writes about the portrayals of what college-level writing might mean. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Andrew Hollinger (@ashollinger) reads his chapter "You're Going to Need This for College." (Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title.) It's a chapter from Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) produces the show and will be back as narrator next week. Chapter keywords: FYC/first-year composition, high school to college transition, threshold concepts, writing pedagogy Andrew Hollinger is coordinator of First Year Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is a recipient of the University of Texas System’s Regents Outstanding Teaching Award. His work focuses on first year writing and curriculum, WPA work and definitions, as well as materiality, publics and circulation, and genre. In addition to his teaching, scholarship, and published work, he is interested in maker rhetorics and is a practicing bookbinder and linocut artist. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants" by Phill Michael Alexander. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe).  Keywords: digital literacy, digital native, technoliteracy, tech savvy, prosumer Phill Alexander is an assistant professor in the Games Program at Miami University and serves as the co-director of their varsity esports program. His most recent book, Esports for Dummies, is available now. His research deals with race, communication, collaboration and identity formation in digital spaces, particularly video games. More about Phill can be found at phillalexander.com. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "The More Digital Technology, The Better," by Genesea M. Carter (@GeneseaC) and Aurora Matzke. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: cognition, digital literacy, digital writing, multimodal writing, technostress Genesea M. Carter is associate director of composition and assistant professor of writing, rhetoric, and digital literacy at Colorado State University and co-editor of Class in the Composition Classroom: Pedagogy and the Working Class. Aurora Matzke is senior associate provost at Azusa Pacific University. As members of the iGeneration who teach and have taught at laptop-heavy campuses, they enjoy researching and teaching how to use technology in the classroom effectively and mindfully. Because of the importance placed on technology in society and on their campuses (and their love for their iPhones), they have first-hand experience with how technology can interfere with daily life and learning. As such, Genesea and Aurora are always looking for ways to get some tech-balance in their classrooms and after hours. Follow Genesea on Twitter @GeneseaC or visit her website at geneseacarter.com. (2022 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network. Oh, and sorry for the lousy audio quality this week. I had to record on campus because of a busy schedule, and after I found the quietest room I could, I recorded with a winter coat draped over the mic and my head—but hey-oh, that didn't help so much. Sorry.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Gamification Makes Writing Fun," by Joshua Daniel (@FoxyJoshyD). It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: avatar, design, gamification, gaming, ludic, play, procedural rhetoric Joshua Daniel (previously published under Daniel-Wariya) is an assistant professor of rhetoric and professional writing at Oklahoma State University, where he also serves as associate director of First-Year Composition. His research interests involve the intersections of new media, computer games, and play, especially as they relate to the teaching of writing. He has published research about the ways people interpret and express both themselves and the world through the act of playing. He can be reached—and welcomes questions about his work—through his Twitter handle @FoxyJoshyD. (Slightly adjusted 2017 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Texting Ruins Literacy Skills," by Christopher Justice. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: colloquial language, digital literacy, digital rhetoric, linguistics, nonstandard language, orthography, standard language, texting Dr. Christopher Justice is a writer, professor, independent scholar, and conservationist working in the Baltimore metropolitan region, where he has also taught at various local universities including Loyola University, Stevenson University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and University of Baltimore. His scholarship focuses on writing theory and non-traditional writing systems such as texting and different forms of animal communication. His writing has appeared in numerous publications and presses. For more information about his work, please visit http://christopherjustice.weebly.com. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Texting Ruins Students' Grammar Skills," by Scott Warnock. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: computers and composition, correctness, digital writing, error, grammar, linguistics, texting Dr. Scott Warnock is a Professor of English and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education in the College of Arts & Sciences at Drexel University. In his 18 years at Drexel, he has taught courses in various modalities and contexts, including onsite, hybrid, and online and ranging from first-year writing to the senior literature seminar to a graduate course. In 2020, he won Drexel’s Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Warnock is the author or co-author of five books and numerous chapters and journal articles about online writing instruction, computers and composition, and educational technology. He served as President of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators from 2018 to 2020 and Co-Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction from 2011 to 2016. He has maintained the blog Online Writing Teacher since 2005. (2022 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "SAT Scores Are Useful for Placing Students in Writing Courses," by Kristen di Gennaro. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: criterion-referenced tests, norm-referenced tests, placement testing, SAT, test use and misuse, validity, writing assessment Kristen di Gennaro is an associate professor of English and the director of composition at Pace University's main campus in New York City, where she teaches undergraduate courses in composition and linguistics. She has published on a variety of topics including writing assessment and pedagogy, microaggressions, and catcalls versus compliments. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Plagiarism Detection Services Are Money Well Spent," by Stephanie Vie (@digirhet). It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: Blackboard, Creative Commons, plagiarism, SafeAssign, Turnitin Stephanie Vie is Associate Dean of the Outreach College and Professor of English at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She is the co-editor of Social Writing/Social Media: Publics, Presentations, and Pedagogies, and her scholarship has been published in numerous journals like Computers and Composition, Technical Communication Quarterly, Kairos, and First Monday. She is the 2016 recipient of the Charles Moran Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field and the 2018 winner of the 7C Committee Technology Innovator Award. She tweets at @digirhet. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Machines Can Evaluate Writing Well," by Chris M. Anson and Les Perelman. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: essay grading, high-stakes writing tests, machine scoring, standardized tests, writing assessment Chris Anson is Distinguished University Professor and director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University, where he works with faculty across the curriculum to improve the way that writing is integrated into all disciplines. For almost four decades, he has studied, taught, and written about writing and learning to write, especially at the high school and college levels. He is past chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and past president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. He has studied and written about writing and computer technology and is a strong advocate of increased attention to digital modes of communication in instruction, but his research does not support the use of computers to score the evaluation of high-stakes writing tests. (2017 bio) Les Perelman recently retired as director of Writing Across the Curriculum in the department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has also served as an associate dean in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education. He is currently a research affiliate at MIT. He is a member of the executive committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and co-chairs that organization’s Committee on Assessment. Under a grant from Microsoft, Dr. Perelman developed an online evaluation system for writing that allows student access to readings and time to plan, draft, and revise essays for a variety of assessment contexts. Perelman has become a well-known critic of certain standardized writing tests and especially the use of computers to evaluate writing. (2017 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Christopher R. Friend (@chris_friend) reads his chapter "Student Writing Must be Graded by the Teacher." (Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title.) It's a chapter from Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) produces the show and will be back as narrator next week. Chapter keywords: open peer review, peer review, rhetoric and civic engagement, student writing self-assessment, writing community engagement Chris Friend has been teaching writing classes since 2000, from middle schoolers to collegiate seniors, teens to septuagenarians, in-person, online, and everything in-between. He also teaches faculty to use critical pedagogy in digital spaces and advocates for extreme student agency. As assistant professor of English in new media at Kean University, Chris helps students engage their communities through a variety of digital projects. As director of Hybrid Pedagogy, Chris works with authors and editors in a double-open peer-review process that he believes brings out the best in authors and writing alike. He tweets about these and other topics from @chris_friend. (2021 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network. (And yes, you heard Kyle say at the end that it's the end of the first week of class. That's how long ago he recorded that introduction. Oh well! Getting back on schedule feels good!)

TRANSCRIPT (read by Kyle Stedman, with no music or effects or anything): Oh, hey, what's up, remember me? This is Kyle Stedman, host of the Bad Ideas about Writing podcast, and wow, it's been a while, right? This is a friendly in-between episode to let you know what's up. The short answer is that I've been busy and that the rest of the episodes are coming soon. I mean, you probably get it: as I record this, it's December 2021, the pandemic is still raging, and teaching this last fall felt, in some ways, harder than ever. So my original thoughts of, "Oh, I'll get to that episode soon" eventually faded into "I'll get to that episode once I'm out of survival mode?" So here I am, nearly four months after the last completed episode was posted, finally rocking and rolling and planning for the future. How about that! I do feel bad if you were relying on this podcast-slash-audiobook in a time-sensitive context like a class, but otherwise, I'm trying pretty hard not to feel too bad about the delay, because after all we all need a little grace these days. So: look for new episodes this January (or this December if I get really into it), and just don't pay too much attention to the weather updates at the end of each episode, since a couple of these were initially recorded quite a while back. Numerically, the book will be done when I record chapter 63, and chapters 1-48 are out now, on all your podcast apps. That means what, 15 more episodes? 3 or 4 months' worth? Sounds like fun, right? No big deal! And after that, that'll be it, with maybe one wrap-up reflective episode from me, or maybe not. But I'm NOT planning to keep the podcast going hardcore in some new reimagined way after I finish reading the book. If anything, I'll just find another book to read! As always, feel free to reach out: you can find my email if you search Kyle Stedman Rockford University, and I'm on Twitter @kstedman, where I'm probably posting something about Christmas movie soundtracks or Nancy Drew or how awesome my students are. See you soon—I mean, hear you soon. I mean, you'll hear me soon . . . this is complicated, avoiding visual-based metaphors, right? How about this: peace to you and your loved ones.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "When Responding to Student Writing, More is Better," by Muriel Harris. It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: evaluation, feedback, grading, response, writing center Muriel Harris, professor emerita of English at Purdue University, initiated and directed the Purdue Writing Lab where she learned a great deal from students she met in hundreds of tutorials, including which strategies for grammatical rules might work and which needed to be tossed out. Working with graduate student tutors, she initiated a website with instructional handouts on writing, the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab). Most of her professional writing has focused on writing centers and individualized instruction in writing. She authored Teaching One-to-One: The Writing Conference, co-authored two textbooks on writing, and is Editor-in-Chief of WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship. However, she and her husband consider their finest accomplishment in life to be their children and grandchildren. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Rubrics Oversimplify the Writing Process," by Crystal Sands (@CrystalDSands). It's a chapter first published in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: critical thinking, faculty course loads, rubrics, self-evaluation, writing assessment Crystal Sands earned her Ph.D. in rhetoric from Texas Woman’s University in 2005. She has nearly 20 years of experience teaching writing at the college level. Having worked in the field as a full-time adjunct, a writing program director, and a director of an award-winning online writing lab, Sands has a wide variety of experiences working with students, teaching, and assessing writing. She is now an adjunct writing instructor at Walden University and Southern New Hampshire University, a full-time mom, and a hobby farmer with her husband, Ron. Her twitter handle is @CrystalDSands. (2017 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.

Kyle Stedman (@kstedman) reads the bad idea "Rubrics Save Time and Make Grading Criteria Visible," by Anna Leahy (@AMLeahy). It's the chapter she wrote in Bad Ideas about Writing, which was edited by Cheryl E. Ball (@s2ceball) and Drew M. Loewe (@drewloewe). Don't miss the joke: the author of the chapter is disagreeing with the bad idea stated in the chapter's title. Keywords: assessment, formative feedback, revision, rubric, summative feedback Anna Leahy is the author of the nonfiction book Tumor and the poetry collections Aperture and Constituents of Matter. Her essays and poetry have appeared at The Atlantic, Crab Orchard Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, The Southern Review, The Pinch, and elsewhere, and her essays have won top awards from the Los Angeles Review, Ninth Letter, and Dogwood. She is the editor of Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom and What We Talk about When We Talk about Creative Writing and has contributed to a variety of other books and journals about teaching. She directs the MFA in Creative Writing program at Chapman University, where she edits the international Tab Journal and curates the Tabula Poetica reading series. See more at www.amleahy.com. (2020 bio) As always, the theme music is "Parade" by nctrnm, and both the book and podcast are licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The full book was published by the West Virginia University Libraries and Digital Publishing Institute; find it online for free at https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas. All ad revenue will be split between the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Computers and Writing Graduate Research Network.