Thinking Creatively About Research: Explorations of a Pedagogy and Development
of a Research Writing Workshop for Humanities & Engineering Graduate Students
Final Report of an Instructional Development Grant (IDG) 2011-2012
September 18, 2012
Objective of Project
The key objective of this project was to develop and offer a multi-stage, intensive
research writing workshop that considers all stages of the research writing, from reading
well to thinking and writing clearly and effectively, and thus to break down the barriers
of real and imagined writing restrictions.
Research Goals
At the centre of this project was the “Thinking Creatively about Research” pilot program
of workshops intended to enhance the self-efficacy, confidence and productivity of
graduate students for writing academic papers and dissertations. The key purpose of the
accompanying research study was to study the workshop pedagogy for its effectiveness in
transforming student perspectives of research and writing.
In order to examine how that transformation occurs, we were guided by three main
pedagogical questions:
1. What does the writer need to know about research/academic discourse?
2. What does the writer need to understand about writing/creativity?
3. What does the writer need to know about him/herself as a researcher/writer?
The research study was structured as an interpretive qualitative research study
(Merriam, 2009) with three stages:
o Stage 1: Conducting the workshops themselves;
o Stage 2: Workshop data collection (samples of student work; surveys and
program evaluations);
o Stage 3: Longitudinal data collection to explore the effects of the workshop
intervention over time.
A thread which wove through the entire project was based on repeated sampling of
participants’ self-identifications as research writers through free-writes starting with “I
am the kind of writer who….” Participants were invited to reflect on how these
statements and their self-identifications changed over time. This repeated activity led to
revisions (i.e. re-visionings) by the participants not only of their ongoing writing
project(s), but also re-visionings of themselves and their relationship to their community
of academic discourse.
The research data collected during the workshops and in the longitudinal study have
allowed us to examine the pedagogy of research writing for its efficacy in transforming
graduate student perspectives on research and writing.
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Description of Project
The “Thinking Creatively about Research” pilot program in 2011-2012 offered an
intensive, multi-day, co-curricular workshop * that seeks to break down the barriers of
real and perceived writing restrictions. It is grounded in a pedagogy of transformation
and change in higher education; this curriculum was captured in a book (Badenhorst,
2007) and the workshops at Memorial University were adapted from this source. The
pilot offering of the workshop was conducted with a small, volunteer cohort of students
from Memorial University’s Graduate Program in Humanities and the Faculty of Arts in
Fall 2011 (workshop dates October 3-6, and November 7-9, 2011; numbers of attendees:
17, number of completions: 8), while the second offering occurred in Winter 2012 with
graduate students from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (workshop dates
January 30-February 2, and February 27-29, 2012; numbers of attendees: 17 , number of
completions: 13)
Regardless of the student’s discipline and stage of research, the program guides
the participant through the process of research writing, from conceptualizing his or her
research question to revising the final draft. While some tailoring of the workshop
materials occurred for the second offering to Engineering students in Winter 2012 to
make the experience most relevant to engineering (e.g. research genres in engineering,
choice of sample research papers, etc.), the creative exercises were repeated from the
workshops offered to the Humanities and Arts students in Fall 2011.
Each offering of the workshop involved seven 3.5-hour mornings of instruction.
The workshop is divided into two parts to simulate the two stages of the writing process:
composition (Part 1, four consecutive mornings) and revision (Part 2, three consecutive
mornings), with daily homework assigned to reinforce key learning points. Between these
two sessions, participants had approximately a month to work on the first draft of their
chosen research writing.
Each of the seven workshop mornings was divided into two sections. In the first
section, activities and facilitated dialogue provided participants with information on
academic discourses (e.g. what counts as evidence in different disciplines, how
arguments work, research writing genres, etc.), guided participants through theories on
writing (e.g. writing as process, what goes into different forms of writing, why writing is
difficult, how self-criticism can be crippling, how to deal with procrastination, how
academic writing is situated in a discourse of criticism, what constitutes a writing
identify, etc.). Following a nutrition break, the second half of each morning included
‘play’ activities intended to allow, and even encourage, participants to move out of their
usual way of writing and thinking, and to foster the growth of a community in the
workshop.
The sessions were facilitated by Cecile Badenhorst, with the other team members
present as observer-participants per Merriam’s research methodology (see “Being a
careful observer”, Chapter 6 of (Merriam, 2009).)
*
Participants who completed the workshop, i.e. participated in at least 5 of the 7 morning
sessions, were eligible to have the workshop added to their MUN co-curricular record.
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In addition to the text (Badenhorst, 2007) which was supplied to all participants,
other articles on writing or on research success were recommended, e.g. for the
Engineering workshops: (Anderson, 2011; Huang, 2012; Montgomery, 2003), as well as
online resources, e.g. (UofT 2012).
Data for the research component of “Thinking Creatively about Research” were
collected during the workshop sessions (i.e. reflections written by participants; freewriting, sketching and concept-mapping activities) and by surveys and program
evaluations at the end of each part. We recruited a subset of the participants who
consented to take part in a longitudinal study intended to assess the longer-term effects of
the pedagogy.
Project Status (September 2012)
We have completed the workshops and the workshop data collection. These data have
been analysed and initial papers have been written and conference presentations made
(see full list of outcomes to date below); however, we are continuing to analyze the data
from the perspective of creativity, the element of fun, comparisons of the two cohorts,
lasting transformation over time, etc.
We are currently engaged in collecting data from the longitudinal study, based on
interviews. We will be continuing over Fall 2012 and Winter 2013 to analyze these data,
and their relationships with the workshop data.
To date, two articles (one book chapter, one journal) have been submitted and are
under peer review. Three abstract-reviewed conference presentations have been made,
one with a full non-peer-reviewed paper. In addition, we have written various briefs on
the pedagogy of the pilot program of the workshops, which we have used to engage
Memorial University administrators with the idea of institutionalizing the workshop as a
regular offering.
In addition to the dissemination of our research findings in scholarly venues, we
are interested in sharing our research results with the Memorial teaching and learning
community through an IDO seminar or workshop.
Ethical Approval
Ethical approval for the research of this IDG project was granted by the Interdisciplinary
Committee on Ethics in Human Research (ICEHR) at Memorial University, initially for
the period August 26, 2011 to August 31, 2012. An extension of ethical approval has
been granted to August 31, 2013 to allow completion of the longitudinal study and
further analysis of all data.
Key Findings of this Project
The “Thinking Creatively about Research” workshops are the pedagogical outcome of a
interdisciplinary Instructional Development Grant (IDG) which explored how academic
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writers of differing backgrounds and skill levels might think more clearly about their
research, write with impact, demystify the discourse of their discipline, communicate
with a more diverse audience, and tap into a deeper well of creative potential.
Graduate student participants who completed the workshops were enthusiastic
and committed. That they continued to attend the workshop sessions despite the
significant co-curricular time commitment speaks to the value participants perceived in
the workshop. Moreover, the research data shows that participants experienced growth in
writing output, confidence and self-efficacy over the course of the workshop.
Although the “Thinking Creatively About Research” pilot program of workshops
was offered to graduate students only in two broad disciplinary areas of the university,
there is the potential, based on the results of the pilot program of workshops and its
accompanying research study, to expand the offering of the program on an ongoing cocurricular or curricular basis across a wide range of disciplines, to senior undergraduate
and graduate students as well as to faculty members and other staff members who need to
write on a regular basis as part of their work at the university.
Due to the interdisciplinary and multi-factorial nature of this IDG project and
research, it is difficult to summarize its findings succinctly. Indeed, much more could be
written about its specific findings than space allows here. Connecting all of the findings
is the possibility for the pedagogy of the “Thinking Creatively About Research”
workshop to lead to transformation in the participants. The transformation may be
measurable in relation to research writing, such as productivity, grades, or success rates
in papers or grants. More difficult to measure are changes in the qualitative aspects of
writing, and more difficult still even to observe are the links between thinking and
writing. While often subtle, many small hints in the data collected in our research suggest
changes in participants’ writing or their approach to writing as a result of their
engagement with the “Thinking Creatively About Research” workshop. Such change in
their outlook and approach to writing is typically accompanied by a wider vision, a vision
which is sometimes accompanied by surprise, or a sense of challenge or difficulty, or
even by a resolute gaze into their academic future. We end this report with a quote
suggesting insight and change, taken from the evaluations at the end of the seven days of
the engineering workshop:
- “[The workshop is] not just about writing. The techniques are about every
aspect in research.”
Outcomes of this Project (September 2012)
Peer reviewed journal article
Badenhorst, C.M., Moloney, C., Rosales, J. & Dyer, J. (submitted, under review).
Graduate research writing: A pedagogy of possibility. Submitted to LEARNing
Landscapes special issue on Creativity: Insights, Directions and Possibilities.
Peer reviewed book chapter
Badenhorst, C.M., Moloney, C., Rosales, J., Dyer, J. & Murray, M. (forthcoming).
Thinking creatively about research. In T. Lillis, K. Harrington, M. Lea & S. Mitchell
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(Eds.), Working with academic literacies: Research, theory, design, Parlor Press:
South Carolina. (Peer-reviewed, final revisions completed).
Non peer reviewed paper:
Rosales, J., Moloney, C., Badenhorst, C., Dyer, J. & Murray, M. (2012) Breaking the
barriers of research writing: Rethinking pedagogy for engineering graduate research.
Proceedings Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA12) Conference.
Conference presentations:
Badenhorst, C., Moloney, C., Dyer, J. & Rosales, J. Rethinking pedagogy for graduate
research. Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education (CSSHE), 27-30 May
2012, Waterloo, Ontario. (Abstract peer reviewed, Badenhorst presenter).
Rosales, J., Moloney, C., Badenhorst, C., Dyer, J., & Murray, M. Breaking the barriers of
research writing: Rethinking pedagogy for engineering graduate research. Canadian
Engineering Education Association Conference (CEEA), June 17-20, 2012 Winnipeg,
Manitoba. (Abstract peer reviewed and accepted, Rosales presenter).
Badenhorst, C., Moloney, C., Rosales, J., Dyer, J., & Murray, M. Breaking the barriers
of research writing: Rethinking pedagogy for graduate research Society for Teaching
and Learning in Higher Education 32nd Annual Conference 2012, "Learning without
Boundaries?" Montreal, QC, June 19-22nd. June 21st, Roundtable 22. (Abstract peer
reviewed and accepted, Rosales presenter)
Badenhorst, C. Thinking creatively about research: Explorations of a pedagogy for
research writing. To be presented at the Conference on College Composition and
Communication (CCCC), to be held Las Vegas, March 13-16, 2013. (Abstract peer
reviewed and accepted, Badenhorst to present)
MUN Internal Documents
Badenhorst, C., Dyer, J., Moloney, C., Murray, M. & Rosales, J. Thinking creatively
about research. Memorial University, Jan 16, 2012. (A one-page brief)
Murray, M. Thinking creatively about research: Where academics become writers.
Memorial University, Jan 16, 2012. (A one-page brief)
Poster for the Engineering workshops, distributed to the graduate student list-serve in the
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, on December 12, 2011. Also posted
online at http://www.engr.mun.ca/~cmoloney/IDG/IDGposterEngineering.pdf
Knowledge Mobilization via Meetings with Administrative Units at MUN
With the School of Graduate Studies, on January 18, 2012. Present from SGS: N.
Golfman, F. Murrin; from the IDG team: C. Badenhorst, C. Moloney, M. Murray, J.
Rosales.
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With the Instructional Development Office, on February 7, 2012. Present from the IDO:
Joyce Fewer, Amy Todd; from the IDG team: C. Badenhorst, C. Moloney, M. Murray,
J. Rosales.
Seminars at MUN
Badenhorst, C. Thinking creatively about research. Seminar for the Faculty of Education,
to be held on November 8, 2012.
Other Knowledge Mobilization
Following the roundtable presentation by J. Rosales at STLHE 2012 (see above), an
attendee from the McGill Writing Centre contacted C. Badenhorst for further
information on running the “Thinking Creatively About Research” workshop, and
now plans to conduct workshops at McGill based on the materials of the workshops
and textbook by Badenhorst.
References for Final Report
Anderson, D.V. (2011). “Storytelling—the missing art in engineering presentations,”
IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 109-111, March 2011.
Badenhorst, C.M. (2007). Research Writing: Breaking the Barriers. Pretoria: Van
Schaik.
Engineering Communication Program, Online Handbook, Toronto: University of
Toronto, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Available as of May 17, 2012
at http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/Directory/students/ecp/handbook
Huang, A.S. (2012). “Passions,” Science, Vol. 334, pp. 1362-1366, 9 December 2011.
Available as of Feb 21, 2012 from
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1362.full.pdf
Merriam, S.B. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Montgomery, S.L. (2003). The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Final Report prepared by:
Dr. Cecilia Moloney (PI), Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
in collaboration with IDG co-investigators:
Dr. Cecile Badenhorst, Faculty of Education
Dr. Janna Rosales, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Dr. Jennifer Dyer, Graduate Program in Humanities, Faculty of Arts
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