CWRR Student Research Fellow

Greer Williams
Commercial Art Major

Reflecting on Reflection

During my freshman year at Millikin, along with other first-year students, I took the class, Critical Writing, Reading and Research (CWRR).  At first glance this class, which is divided into two components, CWRR I (first semester) and CWRR II (second semester), seems like any other universities’ required first-year writing course.  However, it is more than that.  Through my experience I have found that this class does more than increase a student’s writing ability.  It ideally improves the student’s whole process of thinking, reading and writing for professional, as well as for personal gain in understanding the world around him or her.

CWRR I is the first half of the course.  Through the readings we were assigned we were introduced to the idea of critical thinking.  Then, using critical thinking we applied the ideas we read about to write a variety of essays.  For me, the written assignments were a new experience.  Much of the writing I had done previous to the class had just related to reading for surface information, not for a deeper meaning or understanding of the reason why we write what we write.  Because of all the different types of writing assignments (literacy narratives, comparative essays, synthesis/analysis essays, application essays and process narratives) I had to complete, I learned how to incorporate my own voice into my writing.  After reading all different types of essays I realized that I, as the reader, felt the most interested in the essays where the author personally engaged me in his or her story.  When a reader is more engaged with what one is reading he or she is bound to pay more attention and therefore better understand the ideas the author is attempting to get across.

Where CWRR I exposes students to using their personal voices, CWRR II cultivates those same ideas to enhance the students’ original ideas of “the research paper,” that is, what we are used to being told to write: a paper that, in essence, is just an accumulation of facts about a specific topic.  CWRR II helps students find a balance of outside, reliable sources and their own informed and evaluative thoughts.  Some of the class’s first assignments included writing an informed opinion essay on Turnitin.com and a group project presentation.  My group explored the legality of Amazon.com collecting and “selling” a user’s personal information and buying habits.  I felt these assignments complimented the final research essay well.  They introduced us to the research aspect of the course and helped with developing informed opinions about the topic.  In CWRR II we also had several sessions as a class where one of the Staley Library’s librarians instructed us on how to use the library’s databases.  I know I found (and can only assume that others did, as well) that these sessions were extremely helpful.  They taught us to use the online catalogue and databases in effective and evaluative ways, skills which are extremely vital to finding credible information for research.
         
I was fortunate enough to have both of my CWRR classes in electronic classrooms.  I honestly have trouble thinking how the class could be conducted without such a learning environment and still have the same positive impact on student learning.  The relationship between writing and information technology is invaluable to the progression of a student’s development.  In an electronic classroom, the students are able to compose on the computer, and because of that, are able to do several other things.  Posting to Blackboard during class is one of the greatest benefits.  When students are able to post to Blackboard during class they can receive classmate input almost instantly.  Also, when there is an electronic copy of a student’s work and a hard copy it is easier to keep track of and have access to a comprehensive collection of student writing.  A hard copy could easily be lost, but an electronic copy can be saved in multiple places.  Also, in the electronic classroom my professor was able to give power point presentations.  This was beneficial to me as I am a very visually oriented person.  Rather than just saying or writing instructions on the chalkboard, the power point, I felt, was more stimulating.  Since the presentation was able to gain and keep my attention I was able to better focus on and complete my work. 
         
All in all, I found the two sections of CWRR to work together well—the first beginning with personal writing and introducing the students to more academic styles of writing, and the second refining those skills and abilities to help students learn new research skills and apply what they have learned in a more professional way.  Also, throughout the year students are able to reflect on what they have learned in order to learn more about themselves.  For example, everyone in the class set goals for themselves at the beginning of the semester and then came back to them at the end and re-evaluated his or her situation.  This gives the students a chance to see how far they have come, and also realize how what really matters to them individually as readers, writers, researchers and thinkers evolved over the course of the semester.  Being aware of the self is one of the most important things that I have gained throughout this course.  I believe that when you know why and how you read, write, research and think you are able to become more intellectual and professional about everything you do.