College Writing 2.0

This post is based on “Mutt Genres” and the Goal of FYC: Can We Help Students Write the Genres of the University?, since I’m not feeling well and missed our special artifact day.

“The goal of teaching students to write across the university in other academic courses assumes that students in FYC can be taught ways of writing (genre and genre knowledge) that they can then transfer to the writing they do in other courses across the university.” (Wardle 766)

When everyone talks about their past work in English 130, I can’t relate simply because my memory of English 1A [equivalent course at Shasta College] is foggy. The only work I remember writing is a compare and contrast essay. I based my essay off of airlines. I know what you’re thinking. A compare and contrast essay? That’s so middle school! I thought it was one of the most boring courses I’ve ever signed up for (as a requirement!) and that community college was a joke.

When I transferred to Chico State, I didn’t know that reforming freshman composition writing was an issue. However, when I compare to the changes I had to adapt once I did transfer, everything else made sense.

I was never taught the basis of writing at Shasta. I was taught the differences of writing essays, but never what subject they relate to and what types of genres those essays could follow. Whenever I took my science courses, we never had to write papers. But if we wrote observations and conclusions regarding our labs, we were never shown how to write. Rather, the professors assumed we knew how to write.

I registered for a PSSC (Plant Science) 392 course for my pathway minor. I thought that it would’ve been interesting, since I’ve never taken anything like it before. However, when we had to do research papers, they had to be formatted APA style and written a certain way. I had to learn on my own, thanks to the life-saving website Purdue OWL. Funny, you’d think that I’d know how to write a science paper because of the fact I have an Associates of Science in Natural Sciences – I’ve had my fair share in science courses.

Wardle voices that one reason why this movement in changing the discipline of composition writing is because in order to introduce different disciplines of genres, teachers must know what each genre and discipline entails – especially if the genre is in the sciences. I think that professionals within each in-demand field earned experience in writing (especially if they hold doctoral degrees), then genre writing within the university would be a lot more beneficial to those who are interested in going into that field. To hold the expectation that all English/Composition professionals to teach aspiring non-English majors raises the bar and pressure for them to prepare those students.

Even then, the voice of concern that stayed with me as I read this article was the argument that students who are undeclared or second-thinking their choice in major. I originally declared as a Meteorology major straight out of high school and I had my eyes set in the sciences whenever I changed. No English class I took focused on science writing, so there was no preparation and confirmation that I was truly meant to be a science major. If a student focuses their time in a science writing class and decides to change afterward, then a person can blame on the system that their writing classes weren’t beneficial and a waste of time and money. In the end, it’s a gamble and it’ll make them a well-rounded person.

I’m happy that these reforms have been an address for quite awhile. Being a science major in community college, I [ironically] saw English classes and writing as a waste of time. I never knew that I’d dedicate my academic career at Chico in the English classes and department. College prepares students for their education and composition writing needs to go along as time well spent instead of a nagging requirement.