Working with international students

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the spring Quarterly Instruction Roundtable. And thanks to Jenny Halpin from the UW Writing & Research Center for sharing her experiences. For me, the main takeaway was that we serve international students well when we follow best practices for inclusive pedagogy that will benefit all students, from providing materials in multiple modes/formats, to using open-ended questioning that allows the student to drive the interaction. We also have a responsibility to consider the cultural specificity of academic practices, supporting students in learning American conventions while also honoring their own rhetorical traditions.

Following are a few notes and resources...please feel free to add your own insights, websites, programs in the comments section!

• Writing across borders
  An excellent 30-minute film which explores the particular challenges that international students face in meeting academic writing expectations in American higher education. They also have a companion website that offers additional resources, including discussion questions for facilitating training with tutors and faculty.
  
  
• Journal of second language writing
  "...devoted to publishing theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction...personal characteristics and attitudes of L2 writers, L2 writers' composing processes, features of L2 writers' texts, readers' responses to L2 writing, assessment/evaluation of L2 writing, contexts (cultural, social, political, institutional) for L2 writing..."
  
  
• TESOL journal
  "...a forum for second and foreign language educators at all levels to engage in the ways that research and theorizing can inform, shape, and ground teaching practices and perspectives..."
  
  
• College English
  "...publishes articles about literature, rhetoric-composition, critical theory, creative writing theory and pedagogy, linguistics, literacy, reading theory, pedagogy, and professional issues related to the teaching of English..."
  
  
• Teaching international students: improving learning for all
  Book featuring discussion of writing, intercultural group learning, practical classroom strategies, and more.
  
  
• Teaching a diverse student body: international students
  Chapter in an online teaching manual from University of Virginia.
  
  
  

Georgia State copyright case - proposed injunction

Is this what the future holds for academic libraries? As Kevin Smith, J.D. points out in his Scholarly Communications blog post, if the publishers win and this injunction (with no mention on fair use) is adopted by the Judge, universities are going to be pressured to adopt this model to avoid litigation.

A nightmare scenario for higher education

In anticipation of the trial starting on Monday in the copyright infringement case brought against Georgia State University by Cambridge, Oxford and Sage publishers, and partially financed by the Copyright Clearance Center, there has been a flurry of motions, mostly relating to the admission of various pieces of evidence. But amongst that deluge of paper is a truly frightening document, the proposed injunction that the plaintiffs are requesting if they win the case. I have always known that there was a lot a stake for higher education in this case, but the injunction the publishers want would be a nightmare scenario beyond even my most pessimistic imaginings.

Saying no

Thanks for a great discussion at yesterday's Quarterly Instruction Roundtable. I could never capture all those great ideas in a single blog post, but I'll share a few issues that came up, and encourage you to add others that really stuck with you, or resources that you've found useful.

Here's one that I stumbled upon after our discussion, a blog post on saying no from In the Library with a Lead Pipe, a great resource for issues in library instruction. It addresses saying no in a broader scope, but some of the ideas and resources look helpful, such as this book, "The Power of a Positive No".

• There was a lot of discussion of alternatives that librarians can offer to instructors in lieu of the 50-minute one-shot session, such as short online learning modules or tutorials, creating class guides to point students to key resources, or providing a menu of more focused instruction sessions that target specific research competencies.

• Saying no to the 50-minute one-shot can be an opportunity to discuss assessment and invite further collaboration around developing the specific skills that students need to succeed. For example, asking instructors what they're seeing in student work that troubles them might be an entree to work together on assignment design. Or asking to see student work and assess using a rubric that identifies strengths and weaknesses in student skills as a way to target specific needs.

• One recurring challenge was the 50-minute one-shot session that was less than effective (for any number of reasons), which resulted in many one-on-one student consultations later in the quarter. Possible remedies included refocusing the class session to make it more targeted and effective, setting up office hours so that students can't drop in at all times, and scheduling small group consultations to make more efficient use of time.