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All of the readings suggested for CWI are also appropriate for Studio, though these students may need to begin with more approachable readings and move to longer, denser texts for papers 3 and 4. Particularly appropriate texts are those that address reading and academic performance explicitly, such as the following:
“How to Read a Scientific Paper” Adam Ruben
“How to (Seriously) Read a Scientific Paper” American Association for the Advancement of Science
“Literacy Practices” Mary Hamilton
“Dweck’s Theory of Self-Attribution and Achievement Motivation” DeLoache et al
“The Picture Problem” Malcolm Gladwell (on plagiarism and creativity)
“Who Gets to Graduate?” Paul Tough
Suggested Assignments
All assignments suggested for College Writing I are also appropriate for Studio. Assignments like the ones below are particularly appropriate.
Assign one of the denser readings from the list (Gladwell, Dweck, Tough, or one of the readings from Parfitt). The prompt: What does this article demand of a reader? First, describe the difficulties. Identify particular passages or sentences that present difficulties, as well as larger issues (it’s boring; the parts don’t seem to fit together; it’s difficult to find the main idea). Then design a plan for dealing with those difficulties. What will you need to do? What help or resources will you use? Finally, carry out your plan. Describe your engagement with the text. What happened? What remained difficult?
Use an academic resource related to writing. Go to the writing center, ask a junior or senior in your major to read your draft, or go to a professor’s office hour. What did you learn? What still confuses you? Quote from your own work and from your conversation. [Instructors can also tie this into one of the other assignments. You could have students analyze their experiences using ideas from Dweck or Tough or Hamilton].
Use Dweck, Tough, or Hamilton along with one or two personal stories. Just Google “college dropout story” or “college success story” to find some. The prompt: How would Dweck/Tough/Hamilton explain this story? What important elements of this story would this writer notice? From the perspective of this writer, what does this story suggest about education?
