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Thursday, June 3, 2010

TAA Text and Academic Authors Association - Five strategies for successful report and essay writing

by Dr. Kathleen P. King

Many people struggle greatly with writing reports and essays. From developing topics, to conducting research, to formulating their non-fiction documents, the process of writing reports and essays can be such an unwelcome task that some people consider it a cruel punishment.


Here are five successful strategies I have used with many professionals and students that can serve as a stepping stone to transforming these experiences of dread into confidence:


Strategy 1: Research. Regardless if one is writing fiction or nonfiction, the author must do sufficient research to provide substantial background for the work ahead. This research can take many forms, depending on the type of writing, but it is absolutely necessary to have deep, broad information to provide full detail and accuracy in the account.

Strategy 2: Determine Your Angle. Once you, the author, have the information, it is critical to determine your unique perspective or angle to approach the topic. How will you introduce your reader to this portrayal in unique way which will sustain his attention through a compelling account? Developing such an approach is a vital starting point.

Strategy 3. Discovering Your Concept Maps. In order to determine your unique approach, it may be helpful to write key points of information on paper or digital note cards. Examine the information and look for trends, patterns, and groupings of themes or topics. See if you can envision ways the information can be arranged to present it clearly and fully to the readers. In this manner, you may discover your unique angle, and certainly a good start on Strategy 4.

Strategy 4. Organize Your Work; Outline is not a nasty word! Our fourth grade teachers taught us to use outlines for our writing, but we all try to find a shortcut. After about five books and over 100 published articles and papers, I finally gave in and realized my teachers were right. Before I start writing in earnest, I now create a tentative outline that will morph with my work. It provides indispensable guidance and framing of my many hours of work. Colleagues I have worked with have found this approach equally as beneficial, and I expect you will as well.


Strategy 5. Cyclical Writing. The strategy of cyclical writing is a surprise to many professionals and students. Many people believe they must write documents from beginning to end in their entirety. Instead, I have found it very successful and rewarding to work through the outline in a cyclical manner. The first time through, I do a few sentences for each outline point; then maybe the next time through, I write a paragraph on each point. Finally, I begin settling down to write in different areas. By approaching the writing process in his manner, it keeps me focused on the big picture, the entire flow of the piece. Otherwise, the sections might become disjointed if two months are spent on one chapter before finally moving to the next. By working through all of the chapters and points repeatedly (iteratively) authors can weave together the style, voice, and flow of the content, details, and the plot or message.


Dr. Kathleen P. King (EdD), Certified Coach, Author, Keynote Speaker, Professor of Education ( http://www.facultyspeaker.com ) is an award-winning author of 17 books (3 more in process at this time) and a dynamic, interactive keynoter, and author who invigorates audiences on a variety of professional topics.
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Copyright Clearance Center - Licensing and Permissions Services from CCC


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Educational Research Networks for Faculty and Staff Professional Development

English & American Literature Research Network http://www.ssrn.com/lit/index.html
The English & American Literature Research Network (LIT) is directed by Susan Heinzelman. Heinzelman is Associate Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin.



Classics Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/crn/index.html 
The Classics Research Network (CRN) is directed by Lesley Dean-Jones. Dean-Jones is Associate Professor,University of Texas at Austin.



Marketing Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/mkt/index.html
The Marketing Research Network (MKT) is directed by Al Silk, Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School.



Management Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/mrn/index.html 
The Management Research Network (MRN) is directed by Michael C. Jensen, Managing Director, Organizational Strategy Practice, Monitor Company; Professor of Organizational Strategy, Monitor University; Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School, and Chairman of Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.



 Legal Scholarship Network
http://www.ssrn.com/lsn/index.html  
The Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) is directed by Bernard Black and Ronald J. Gilson. Black is Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Professor of Finance at McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, and Fellow at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). Gilson is Meyers Professor of Law and Business at the Stanford Law School, and Marc & Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business at the Columbia Law School.




Leadership Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/lrn/index.html
The Leadership Research Network (LRN) is directed by Nitin Nohria, Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean and Director of Faculty Development at the Harvard Business School, and Rakesh Khurana, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School.




Information Systems & eBusiness Network
http://www.ssrn.com/isn/index.html
The Information Systems & eBusiness Network (ISN) is directed by Erik Brynjolfsson, Schussel Professor of Management Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Marvin Bower Fellow, Harvard Business School.




Entrepreneurship Research & Policy Network
http://www.ssrn.com/erpn/index.html
 



 
 
The Entrepreneurship Research & Policy Network (ERPN) is directed by Robert Litan, Vice President, Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.




 
 
 
Economics Research Network
http://www.ssrn.com/ern/index.html
The Economics Research Network (ERN) is directed by Michael C. Jensen. Jensen is Managing Director, Organizational Strategy Practice, Monitor Company; Professor of Organizational Strategy, Monitor University; Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School, and Chairman of Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.




Corporate Governance Network
http://www.ssrn.com/cgn/index.html
 
The Corporate Governance Network (CGN) is directed by Lucian Bebchuk, William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law, Economics, and Finance, and Director of the Corporate Governance Program, at Harvard Law School, with input and help from other members of the Corporate Governance Program. CGN is creating an online community interested in the expanding area of corporate governance research.



Cognitive Science Network
http://www.ssrn.com/csn/index.html
The Cognitive Science Network (CSN) is directed by Mark Turner. Turner is Institute Professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University. A presentation of the evolving organization of CSN - including advisory boards, projects, keywords, topics, categorizations, and varieties of publication - is maintained at https://sites.google.com/a/case.edu/csnkeywords/. Please send your comments and suggestions to cogscinetwork@case.edu.




Accounting Research Network

http://www.ssrn.com/arn/index.html
The Accounting Research Network (ARN) is directed by Ross Watts. Watts is a Professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Watts is also Editor of one of the most important print journals in accounting - The Journal of Accounting and Economics.
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Social Science Research Network

Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences. We have received several excellence awards for our web site.

Each of SSRN's networks encourages the early distribution of research results by publishing Submitted abstracts and by soliciting abstracts of top quality research papers around the world. We now have hundreds of journals, publishers, and institutions in Partners in Publishing that provide working papers for distribution through SSRN's eLibrary and abstracts for publication in SSRN's electronic journals.

The SSRN eLibrary consists of two parts: an Abstract Database containing abstracts on over 286,100 scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers and an Electronic Paper Collection currently containing over 237,400 downloadable full text documents in Adobe Acrobat pdf format. The eLibrary also includes the research papers of a number of Fee Based Partner Publications.

The Networks encourage readers to communicate directly with authors and other subscribers concerning their own and others' research. To facilitate this we publish detailed author contact information including email addresses for authors of each paper. We also provide electronic delivery of the papers when authors wish us to do so from the SSRN eLibrary. You may also Browse the SSRN eLibrary, view our current Top Papers or search the electronic library for papers by Title, Author, or Journal/Topic.

SSRN also offers a range of high-visibility Advertising Opportunities for companies seeking to market their products to professionals in the social science or law areas.

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Innovative Educators Webinar: Enhancing Outcomes-Based Assessment for Student Affairs

Our Price: $750.00

3-Part Workshop
Part 1: Wednesday, June 30th ~ 1:00-3:00pm EDT
Part 2: Wednesday, July 14th ~ 1:00-3:00pm EDT
Part 3: Wednesday, July 28th ~ 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Webinar Description

This on-line workshop is a 3-Part workshop designed to facilitate your campus team's learning as you design programmatic assessment plans. The ultimate intention of this workshop is for you and your institutional team to walk away from the 3-part workshop with a refined assessment plan and/or report, depending on where you are in your assessment process. The webinars are designed to be highly interactive with assignments that you complete and share with colleagues going through the workshop. Such a process ensures the sharing of ideas and solutions across institutions. How fun is that?


Session Titles, Descriptions and Objectives
SESSION 1:
History and Importance of Outcomes-Based Assessment and Components of an Outcomes-Based Assessment Plan and Report (2 hours)
Participants will:
• Describe the history of outcomes-based assessment (OBA)

• Explain the purpose for OBA
• Explain why OBA practice and documentation is so important
• Identify the necessary components of an outcomes-based assessment plan and report (OBAP)
• Align components of the OBAP with program review, annual planning, strategic planning, and budgeting processes.
• Explain the importance of evaluating student learning
• Distinguish between learning goals and outcomes
• Identify characteristics of measurable and meaningful outcomes

Assignment:

Note: Participants will be able to post their assignments on a web site and view the assignments of the other participants.
A criteria check list will be provided so that participants can self-evaluate their learning and review the work of their peers. Although the speaker will not be able to provide individual feedback, she will review all assignments and base the following session's content on the progress/learning that is reflected in the assignments.
• Draft a conceptual framework for assessment
• Identify a common language for OBA
• Draft a template for OBA
• Draft Mission/Purpose, Goals, and outcomes
• Self-critique outcomes
• Peer evaluate at least 2 other sets of outcomes

SESSION 2:

Mapping SLOs to Programs and Services and Designing Evaluation Tools and Criteria (2 hours)
Participants will:
• Explain the mapping process
• Identify at least two different ways to evaluate each outcome
• Identify how outcomes need to be refined
• Explain the most systematic place to evaluate learning
• Explain the difference between methods and tools
• Identify evaluation method/tool limitations
• Articulate expectations for performance level for each evaluation method
• Identify appropriate criteria for each evaluation method/tool, as appropriate


Assignment:

• Map their SLOs to their programs and activities
• Self critique 5 current student learning outcomes and their mapping
• Peer evaluate at least two other sets of learning outcomes and their mapping
• Self-critique evaluation methods and criteria
• Peer evaluate at least two other sets of evaluation methods and accompanying criteria
• Determine how decisions can be made with this type of data


SESSION 3:

Q and A and Closing the Loop (1 hour)
Participants will:
• Determine how decisions can be made with this type of data
• Identify some documentation solutions that will aid decision-making
• Questions and Answer

Who Should Attend?

This webinar will benefit student affairs professionals who are doing any level of assessment, from assessment of a single workshop to assessment of the entire program. Those responsible for assessment of their division will also benefit.


Who is the Speaker?

Marilee J. Bresciani, Ph.D. is Professor of Postsecondary Education Leadership at San Diego State University, where she coordinates the masters in Student Affairs/Services in community colleges and higher education, the certificate in institutional research, planning, and assessment, and the masters and doctorate in community college leadership. The curriculum at San Diego State University emphasizes student learning centeredness, integration of the curricular and co-curricular learning paradigms, and analysis, planning, and responsible practice of leaders in a socially just and global environment.
Dr. Bresciani'sresearch focuses on the evaluation of student learning and development. She uses grounded theory to explore how systems and processes contribute to student learning centeredness, which includes the study of leaders' roles in these systems and processes.
Dr. Bresciani has held faculty and higher education administration positions for over 21 years. In those positions, she has conducted enrollment management research, quantitative and qualitative institutional research, course-embedded assessment, and academic and administrative program assessment. Previously as Assistant Vice President for Institutional Assessment at Texas A&M University and as Director of Assessment at North Carolina State University, Dr. Bresciani led university-wide initiatives to embed faculty-driven outcomes-based assessment in the curriculum. She has led reforms in outcomes-based assessment program review, assessment of general education, quality enhancement, and assessment of the co-curricular.
Dr. Bresciani has been invited to present and publish her findings on assessment and is a leading author of five books on assessing student learning and outcomes-based assessment program review. Dr. Bresciani has developed and delivered several courses on assessment of student learning and is reviewer for the Australian Quality Assurance Agency and is also a managing partner in an international assessment and enrollment management consulting firm.
Dr. Bresciani holds a Ph.D. in Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction from the University of Nebraska and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Hastings College.
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African-American Bookstores Mailing List


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The Afro American Book Stop New Releases Upcoming Events June 2010


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Inside Higher Ed: 'Parenting Out of Control' June 3 2010

        

Discussion of -- and complaints about -- the rise of "helicopter parents," whose involvement in their children's lives lies somewhere between excessive and obsessive, has reached a fever pitch over the past few years. This is particularly true in academe, where professors charge that the trend contributes to the ignorance or laziness of today's students, while parents wonder how much is too much when it comes to guiding their collegiate offspring. Students, on the other hand, may not see the problem at all.

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