Teaching an Awareness of Conventions with Visuals

In spring 2006, 10% of students reported never engaging in activities that helped them understand that conventions vary. An additional 11% of students reported engaging in this type of activity only once.

In fall 2006, 9% of students reported never engaging in activities that helped them develop an awareness that writing expectations and conventions vary within the academy and in professional and personal discourse. An additional 11% reported engaging in this type of activity only once.

Even if we are conducting additional activities to develop this awareness, we need to help students identify differences in writing expectations and conventions. As a result, one of our 2006-2007 instructional goals is to provide activities that elicit an awareness that conventions vary. Furthermore, in addition to analyzing a variety of conventions, students should have the opportunity to compose for a variety of audiences and purposes in order to practice adjusting their compositions to account for differences in writing expectations.

Tags: visuals