Seminar in Writing Program Administration 2000
Purdue University
Representing Writing Program Administration: Narratives, Maps, and Metaphors
English 680A
Professor Shirley Rose

Course Projects
Shadowing
Mini-Ethnography of WPA as Writer
Situated Performance Activity

Shadowing

Some Notes on Expectations for those of you " shadowing" a WPA: (one of the course projects options)

Initial Data Gathering

• Your focus should be on the WPA's activities, though you may want to do some observation of the WPA's setting.
• Discuss your purpose and approach with the WPA and determine when would be a good time to observe.
• Plan to spend at six to eight hours observing--a "day in the life of …"
• Plan to spend at least an hour in follow-up discussion with the WPA once you've finished the observation.

Write-Up (Draft)

Your write-up should include the following parts (500-1000 words)

• Brief explanation of your choice of subject and approach to observation
• Initial analysis and classification of WPA's activities
• Tentative thesis/hypothesis characterizing WPA's activities
• Speculation on ways your observations could contribute to better understanding of writing program administration
• Suggestions for one or more ways in which the project might be extended (comparison, elaboration, etc.)
Follow-up
• Give the WPA subject a copy of your draft for review; if appropriate, meet to discuss it.
• If appropriate, revise write-up.
• Schedule a presentation to class or prepare a web document (if choosing this option).
• Final draft of the shadowing report is due with the course portfolio. I encourage you to allow me to review a preliminary draft.
• In a brief cover memo, suggest changes to this assignment in the future.
What questions do you have about this assignment?
 

Mini-Ethnography of a WPA as a Writer

Some Notes on Expectations for those of you doing a "Mini-ethnography" of a WPA: (one of the course projects options)

Initial Data Gathering

• Your focus should be on the WPA's writing activities, though you may want to do some observation of the WPA's other activities in order to understand the rhetorical situation(s)
• Discuss your purpose and approach with the WPA and determine what writing you will examine and how (and when) you will collect it. If necessary, establish when would be a good time to observe the WPA.
• Plan to examine at least 5000 words initially; you will probably closely analyze about half of this.
• Plan to spend at least an hour in discussion with the WPA in order to understand the WPAs' construction of the various rhetorical situations addressed.

Write-Up (Draft)

• Your write-up should include the following parts (500-1000 words)

• Brief explanation of your choice of subject and approach to collecting data
• Initial analysis and classification of WPA's written texts
• Tentative thesis/hypothesis characterizing WPA's writing
• Speculation on ways your observations could contribute to better understanding of writing program administration
• Suggestions for one or more ways in which the project might be extended (comparison, elaboration, etc.)
Follow-up
• Give the WPA subject a copy of your draft for review; if appropriate, meet to discuss it.
• If appropriate, revise write-up.
• Schedule a presentation to the class or prepare a web document (if choosing this option).
• Final draft of the mini-ethnography is due with the course portfolio. I encourage you to allow me to review a preliminary draft.
• In a brief cover memo, suggest changes to this assignment in the future.
What questions do you have about this assignment?

 
Situated Performance Activity

Some guidelines for generating, designing, and enacting an SPA.

• Identify some issues that might be the focus of a situated performance activity.
• Choose a focus issue and generate some ideas for possible scenarios in which this issue might arise.
• Choose a scenario and identify the main positions (characters/roles).
• Select participants for various positions, clarify the focal issue, and organize the space for the performance activity.
• Set a time limit and begin to play out the situation.
• Stop action for discussion if necessary
• At end of performance, discuss with participants—
• What did you see that you hadn’t seen before?
• What points were clarified?
• What points were made more complex?
• In what ways did your assigned position determine your actions? What choices were you aware of making in that position?
• What else would you like to discuss?
• Is there any part of the performance you’d like to replay?

• Prepare and turn-in a short (250-400 words) debriefing statement in which you reflect on the benefits of the SPA and discuss possible changes in the procedures for future SPAs
What questions do you have about this assignment?