Heather's+Research+Response

I was surprised to read that the writing process approach is supported by so little //experimental// research. Pritchard and Honeycutt discuss the many confounding and confusing variables that make precise study of the effects of the process approach difficult to ascertain even when experimentation is attempted. The variables and the outcomes are both difficult to measure, but most importantly, the process itself has a wide spectrum of interpretation as does the classroom implementation of that process. I think what affected me most in this discussion was the listing of NWP's past "new" concepts. Prewriting, sentence combining, the use of rubrics, revision strategies, portfolios, read/writing connection, and writing across the curriculum are all topics exploded at their moment in time and have been slowly internalized by the educational system. The writing approach has likewise had its big moment. I think the biggest obstacle in the way of researching process approach today is that process approach is pervasive and ingrained. Even if teachers could unsee the process they have been taught, have themselves used, and have been taught to teach, process would subversively appear in the classroom. While traditional methods persist, I would guess that they are rarely presented in the utter absence of process-aware instruction. This list (including writing process approach) helped me see that effective instruction requires awareness flexibility and change, because there are new big things a-comin, and if i'm not watching out, I could be failing to teach process, or prewriting or revision strategies. That is one of the many minilessons that will eventually help me swallow digital literacies.

Pritchard and Honeycutt also note that while it is quite difficult to determine the effects of writing process instruction on students' actual writing, significant increases in other important areas of writing have been observed and recorded: most notably: social writing skills, and disposition toward writing. Having learned what I've learned so far in this course, I'd have to say those are some fan-friggin-tastic outcomes.