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Collaborative Practices
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Course Structure-StudioEntitled the “Writing Studio” by Rhonda Grego and Nancy Thompson, [internal link to corresponding citation], the studio model is a compromise between baseline and mainstream approaches to basic writing. Typically, in the first week or so of class students enrolled in introductory composition courses respond to writing prompts designed to display their writing history, ability, and needs. This work, combined with a portfolio of the student’s previous writing, is examined in order to identity students who might benefit from small, required group sessions in which students work on writing assigned in the general composition course. Studio sessions consist of small numbers of students and may be taught by the same instructor, a different instructor, a teaching assistant, or a writing center tutor. Studio sessions are designed to aid and promote the discussion of grammar, rhetorical issues, and generally improve writing through more intimate and specific instruction. Although Lalicker likens the regular general education credit of the studio model to a “lab section,” in the case of the University of South Carolina, the studio carries no grade or credit status of its own: “students either pass or fail based on attendance at Studio sessions, though they may also ‘pass with distinction’ if they are strong participants. Their composition instructors use the Studio staff’s weekly communications and final reports when factoring students’ final course grades, as recommended by the studio and our Freshman Composition Program” (Grego and Thompson 63). University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina initiated the “studio model” of basic writing courses. Freshman English consists of English 101, “Freshman Composition,” and English 102, “Composition and Literature.” All first year students are required to enroll in English 101. During the first few weeks of this course, students submit work samples, both of writing from the past and writing from the present. This packet is examined by graduate student instructors and Writing Studio staff who determine which students would benefit from work in a studio. During studio time, students work on their writing assignments from English 101. The studio does not bear any type of credit and meets once per week. They engage in peer editing and revision. Although students do not receive credit for the studio, they do receive credit for passing English 101, “Freshman Composition.”
California State University Chico California State University, Chico, uses a version of the studio model which gives students partial credit for a basic writing course. All students take English 130, “Academic Writing,” a credit course. Students with low English placement test scores take English 130, but they also must take an adjunct workshop called English 030, “Writing Workshop,” to accompany freshman English. The adjunct workshop meets twice a week for 50 minutes and is limited to 12 students; the workshop does not offer any credit towards graduation.
Bibliography Grego, Rhonda, and Nancy Thompson. “Repositioning Remediation: Renegotiating Composition’s Work in the Academy.” College Composition and Communication. 47.1 (1996): 62–84.
At the University of South Carolina, writing histories and portfolios are examined to identify students who would benefit from participation in the Writing Studio. The studio emphasizes the relationship between words, institutions, and people—not textbooks and mass writing assessments—at the center of the professional work of writing instruction. QUOTED?
Lalicker, William B. “A Basic Introduction to Basic Writing Program Structures: A Baseline and Five Alternatives.” BWe: Basic Writing e-Journal 1.2 (1999). 7 Jan. 2007. <www.asu.edu/clas/english/composition/cbw/bwe_fall_1999.htm#bill>.
Lalicker describes a brief survey that was conducted via the Writing Program Administrators listserv, asking respondents to identify their basic writing program as approximating one of five models. Respondents also provided insight into advantages and disadvantages of each model.
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