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Essay Writing Rationale

Syllabus information

Stage 4 English outcome:

                   A student uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts.

Rationale

The English page (Essay Writing) was hard to make accessible for students who aren't as capable with language, as the nature of essay writing is for manipulation of language. To this end, writing-aids were made available with more explicit quality instruction (the Essay Creator powerpoint) (Gore, 2007) and with more visual emphasis where possible (Essay Map and the Youtube videos).

 

Although this learning is still highly scaffolded, the website format offers students an independence of learning in pace and in selection of materials (McDowell, 2002; Bonk, 2009). This means students who are ahead of the class have more to look at, and it means the students who will get through less content are still able to access all information. Students are required to engage with aspects of websites that include links, downloads and embedded videos.

Original Activities

Essay Creator powerpoint - a highly scaffolded (Vygotsky, 1978) template that takes students through how parts of the essay connect together and why they're written the way they usually are.

 

Find key words activity - a simple application of the find function to remind students how repetition can create clarity of intention and aid memory (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2007).

References

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. John Wiley & Sons.

 

Gore, J. (2007) Improving Pedagogy. In Butcher, J., & McDonald, L. (Eds.). Making a difference: challenges for teachers, teaching, and teacher education. Sense Publishers.

 

McDowell, L. (2002). Electronic information resources in undergraduate education: an exploratory study of opportunities for student learning and independence. British journal of educational technology, 33(3), 255-266.

 

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental process. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

 

Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2007). Educational psychology. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

Online Resources
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