2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session D Humanities North Voyageurs
Effective Peer Review Groups: A Writing Center Approach
Many college composition instructors use peer review groups and peer review sessions as a component of their student-centered, socialconstructivist
pedagogy. Scholars such as Trimbur, Weiner, Bruffee, and Lunsford all seem to agree that peer review sessions should
foster a collaborative arena where students work together to question and challenge peer assumptions and ideas, which should lead to
clearer and more refined articulations. Peer review sessions should ultimately impact not only the student whose paper is being reviewed,
but also the student reviewer who is being called upon to share and revisit his or her own expertise. Unfortunately, this is not the
experience many instructors who use peer review groups and sessions have. These instructors, therefore, are unable to justify devoting
much class-time to peer review with the little knowledge students gain, and so instructors limit or stop using peer review practices
altogether. How can instructors ensure time devoted to peer review groups and sessions benefit students rather than watch students
bestow unwarranted praise on classmates or complete worksheets with no conversation during this class-time? In this presentation, I will
share findings from a three semester study on student and instructor perceptions of traditional and writing center orientated peer review
groups that I completed for my M.A. thesis. Through this study, I have found peer review sessions more beneficial to student writers and
reviewers when writing center practices are implemented. I will use a power point slideshow and handouts to detail and share my findings
and methods.
Presentation Index: D1
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Department: English
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Timp-Pilon, Michele
Mohrbacher, Carol
Regarding Davidson's "What Metaphors Mean"
Analyzing why Davidson believes grammar does not determine meaning, and in the course of doing this we will look closely at metaphors.
Presentation Index: D2
Time: 9:50 a.m.
Department: Philosophy
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Kohman, Josh
Nuccetelli, Susana
ESL Creative Writers: Motivation, Process and Product
Writing is hard work. Any writing, if done well, requires thought, organization, revision, and practice. This includes creative writing such as
poetry, fiction, and memoir. English as a Second Language (ESL) writers face unique challenges in an academic setting. College ESL
students are under pressure to achieve near-native writing skills—expressing ideas with clarity and conciseness as well as with
grammatical and syntactical accuracy. In this study, data was examined for insights into the motivation, process, and product of ESL
creative writers. The majority of data was collected from two students—one an ESL student and one a Native English (NE) student—that
included surveys, interviews, and creative work. Text produced was collected at various stages of writing (rough draft, revision, final draft)
and analyzed. Other ESL creative writers were surveyed and interviewed and creative writing teachers were also interviewed regarding
their teaching and evaluating of ESL creative writing. The analysis focused on three questions. What motivates ESL writers to write
creatively in a second language? What processes do ESL writers use in their approach to creative writing in English? What is the quality of
creative writing produced by ESL writers? Although no broad conclusions can be drawn, it is hoped that the information gained can lead to
increased understanding of ESL creative writers so that educators can formulate better strategies in teaching and evaluating creative
writing.
Presentation Index: D3
Time: 10:10 a.m.
Department: English;
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Deuser, Cindy
Robinson, James
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 38
April 22, 2008