How does the axiom “show, don’t tell” translate to an online environment in CRW 150?

Submitted by Tawni Auxier on
Duration
-
Abstract

 

One of the most fundamental rules of writing is “show don’t tell.”  To introduce the concept, I do an exercise in my face to face classes called “an interesting story.” I ask my students to pair up and tell one another a story from their lives, bringing the story to life by using rich, sensory details. In my face to face classes, this exercise is a turning point. The writing that the majority of my students turn in is much more detailed, engaging, and focused after the exercise. I recreated this exercise for an online environment, asking my students to tell a story to a partner outside of class. For my CATS, I will the collected data to ascertain whether or not the exercise is successful in an online environment. 

Division/Department
Completed Full Cycle
No
Course Number
CRW150
Files
Attachment Size
cats-questionnaire.doc 17 KB

Comments

Peter Turner Thu, 01/02/2014 - 12:15pm

Tawni - If the exercise is not successful in the online environment, will you tweak it to get better results, or will you not include the assignment in your next offering of the class? In any event, I look forward to the results!

Erik Huntsinger Mon, 01/20/2014 - 5:45pm

Tawni, how have your online students done compared to your face-to-face students on this assignment before hand?  The answer to this question could help support if your intervention truly added-value above and beyond the status quo.