Best Practices and Challenges in Integrated Reading and Writing: A Survey of Field Professionals, Part 2. NADE Members Respond.
This is the second of a two part column that reports the results of a qualitative study of instructors and their implementation of Integrated Reading and Writing (IRW) courses. The study participants include members of the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) and had attended an IRW professional development event at the NADE 2015 annual conference. The methods of the study and a listing and discussion of the most frequently cited challenges to teaching IRW courses have been offered in part one (Saxon, Martirosyan, Vick, 2016) A listing and discussion of the most popular strategies applied in teaching IRW courses are described here along with some general discussion and conclusions.ResultsGroup WorkThe highest ranking instructional strategy by survey participants was the use of group work. The following details about this strategy were offered: Group activities are administered that are first modeled. Students are engaged in group work. Students learn through collaborative activities. Collaborative groups are applied to promote processing text more deeply. Peer review groups are employed with structured response sheet prompts.This strategy was supported by the results of a phenomenological qualitative study of five developmental English instructors who teach IRW at a community college in Northeastern North Carolina (Vick, 2015) Vick (2015) identified the use of an active learning environment with an emphasis on collaborative learning as a featured pedagogical approach. One specific collaborative activity referenced by an instructor in the study was the construction of a paragraph completed in small groups based on a previously assigned reading. A collaborative atmosphere could be more engaging for students (Vick) Boylan (2002) also cited collaborative learning as one of several instructional techniques that are important in working with developmental education students.Apply the Same Topic for Reading and WritingThe second highest ranking strategy offered by participants was the use of the same topic across the instruction of reading and writing. Participants elaborated with the following comments: Students read a passage, annotate the text, answer comprehension questions, and then write an essay based on ideas in the passage. Students use one topic for both reading and writing, and then really engage with that topic in a meaningful way. Article reviews are required with a summary and response. Reading and writing assignments are linked thematically. Students are always writing about the reading that they do. I teach strategies for identifying main ideas in readings. Then, students practice writing a topic sentence or thesis statement for their essays and paragraphs. All students read the same novel, and the class uses that to study reading and writing.Considering the ways in which reading and writing complement each other as disciplines offers instructors opportunities for creativity in terms of selection for reading content and subsequent writing assignments (DuBrowa, 2011) For example, DuBrowa (2011) shared specific examples including the use of a Sports Illustrated article dealing with overcoming adversity and the use of a recipe for a food dish. Both of these readings involved writing assignments and incorporated lively class discussions. According to DuBrowa, "Integrating reading and writing is more a logistical challenge than an academic problem" (p. 32) Indeed, engaging reading selections has been used as exploratory ways to involve students in the writing process.Technology ApplicationsThe third most commonly cited instructional strategy in IRW courses was the application of technology. The following were offered as examples: Supplemental grammar instruction is offered via computer software. The program uses a computerized support system.