Writing as design
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1) The document discusses Pirsig's book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and its criticism of how writing is traditionally taught through imitation rather than focusing on cultivating quality. 2) It argues that students have a tacit understanding of quality in writing and that assessing peer assignments can help students learn, without explicit criteria. 3) The document proposes teaching writing as a design process, where students think and act like designers by embracing possibilities, understanding constraints, and continually improving through analysis.
![“The problem with this advice [to students of writing] is that
unknown concepts are used to explain unknown concepts”
“[Tutors do not have] sufficient knowledge of the characteristics
and requirements of [academic writing] to adequately support the
students”
“It may also reflect a broader uncertainty over the requirements
of the essay, of which tutors tend to have only ‘tacit’ knowledge”
Recent paper on teaching writing quality
Wingate, U. (2012) ‘Argument!’ helping students understand what essay writing is
about. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11, 145-154.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/writingasdesign-190905205004/85/Writing-as-design-7-320.jpg)
![“But even though Quality cannot be defined,
you know what Quality is!”
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 194 [his emphasis]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/writingasdesign-190905205004/85/Writing-as-design-8-320.jpg)
Writing as design
- 1. Mike Sharples Institute of Educational Technology The Open University www.mikesharples.org Writing as design Keynote talk at Writing Analytics conference Zurich, September 2019 @sharplm
- 2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Is not about primarily about Zen Buddhism - or Art - and you won’t learn much about how to maintain motorcycles It’s about writing analytics!
- 3. 1958 MA in journalism 1958-1960 Professor at Montana State College, teaching English composition 1974 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance published, sold more than 5 million copies worldwide Robert Pirsig An investigation into Quality
- 4. “What you’re supposed to do in most freshman-rhetoric courses is to read a little essay or short story, discuss how the writer has done certain things to achieve certain little effects, and then have the students write an imitative little essay or short story to see if they can do the same little things. He tried this over and over again but it never jelled. The students seldom achieved anything, as a result of this calculated mimicry, that was remotely close to the models he’d given them. More often their writing got worse. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 163 Pirsig and teaching of writing
- 5. “Schools teach you to imitate. If you don’t imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more sophisticated, of course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way as to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking the essence of the instruction and going ahead with it on your own. That got you A’s. Originality, on the other hand could get you anything – from A to F. The whole grading system cautioned against it.” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 180 Pirsig and teaching of writing
- 6. You can teach some students to imitate good writing, but you can’t teach quality because good writers, and writing teachers, can’t explain quality.
- 7. “The problem with this advice [to students of writing] is that unknown concepts are used to explain unknown concepts” “[Tutors do not have] sufficient knowledge of the characteristics and requirements of [academic writing] to adequately support the students” “It may also reflect a broader uncertainty over the requirements of the essay, of which tutors tend to have only ‘tacit’ knowledge” Recent paper on teaching writing quality Wingate, U. (2012) ‘Argument!’ helping students understand what essay writing is about. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11, 145-154.
- 8. “But even though Quality cannot be defined, you know what Quality is!” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 194 [his emphasis]
- 9. Students know what Quality is Students asked to compare pairs of peer assignments in maths and decide which shows better conceptual understanding No rubrics or grading criteria Each student made 20 comparisons Students were similar to experts in assessing quality (.77 correlation between students and experts) Similar studies are being carried out for student writing Students learn from reading and comparing peer assignments Jones, I., & Alcock, L. (2014). Peer assessment without assessment criteria. Studies in Higher Education, 39(10), 1774-1787.
- 10. “by reversing a basic rule that all things which are taught must first be defined, he had found a way out of all this. He had pointed to no principle, no rule of good writing, no theory – but he was pointing to something, nevertheless, that was very real, whose reality they couldn’t deny…. The whole Quality concept was beautiful.” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 196 Students know what Quality is
- 11. “You’ve got to live right, too. It’s the way you live that predisposes you to avoid the traps and see the right facts. You want to know how to paint the perfect painting. It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. That’s the way all the experts do it.” Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 307 How does that help students to write better essays?
- 12. There must be a better way of helping students to write than asking them to become perfect, then write naturally!
- 13. teach them to think and act like designers To help students write better
- 14. teach them to think and act like designers of … writing media software learning To help students write better
- 15. Designers… • embrace multiple possibilities • are focused on products • understand the properties and constraints of materials • sketch and develop their ideas visually • consider how others view their products • continually improve their working practices • work effectively in groups towards a shared goal • are oriented to action – they make changes to the world Design thinking Lawson, B. (2005). How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified (4th edition). London: The Architectural Press.
- 18. Shifts writing from being a mysterious creative process, to a design activity Connects writing with other fields of design (software design, multimedia design etc) Helps with multimedia and interactive writing Re-conceives quality Writing as design
- 19. firmitas (robustness) utilitas (utility) venustas (beauty) Quality in design Good design should show … Vitruvius De architectura
- 20. Firmitas (robustness) Writing Text structure, grammar, spelling, referencing Media Rendering, contrast, white balance Software Bug free, efficient, secure, usable Learning Goal setting, planning, testing Easy for writing analytics Accurate and usable
- 21. Utilitas (utility) Serves its purpose Writing Fluency, word choice, argument, style Media Immediacy, relevance, salience Software Useful, flexible, customisable Learning Relevant, just-in-time, appropriate Possible for writing analytics
- 22. Venustas (beauty) Pirsig’s Quality – you know it when you see it “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell, 1984 Impossible for writing analytics?
- 23. indicating errors in structure, grammar, spelling assisting students to write sound arguments, clear explanations and coherent documents enabling students to compare and critique peer assignments and find beauty in writing Writing analytics can support writing as design by …
- 24. Writing analytics and writing as design Analytics as part of writing as design Learn about users Help writers create new ideas Analyse and improve draft texts Gain insights into writing problems Help writers define the problem
- 25. Writing is a continual process of design and analysis To become a good writer, think and act like a designer The Zen of Writing