Angus Woodward: Whose Outcomes Are They, Anyway? A Teaching Story

Caution: Guy Writing

Angus Woodward is a writer and a teacher of writing. He has taught college writing since 1990 and is the founding director of the Center for Innovative Teaching & Engagement at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His books of fiction are Down at the End of the River (Margaret Media, 2008), Americanisation (Livingston Press, 2011), and Oily (upcoming in 2018 from Spaceboy Books). His writing has been published a variety of periodicals, including recent scholarly pieces in Faculty Focus and Impact, short stories in Fiction Southeast and Alimentum, and personal essays in Medical Literary Messenger and Normal School.

Oxford American hailed Americanisation as “a hilariously crafted postmodern novel wedged into the template of a social-studies textbook for immigrants.” Of Americanisation’s innovative form, the New York Journal of Books said, “Since the novel is 500 years old, it has been hypothesized that the idiom is exhausted of original ideas. With Americanisation, Mr. Woodward disproves this hypothesis….” Americanisation also made Library Journal’s list of notable first novels for fall 2011. Michael Griffith called it " A darkly comic, delightful book.” Michael Martone said it was "...a hilarious simulacrum, a map more detailed than the thing it is meant to represent," and added, "It is drop-dead, deadpan funny.” You can contact Angus at awoodw64(at)gmail.com.

Journal and Anthology Publications

NON-FICTION:

*"I Wrote Something. This Is Not It," (Normal School, 2009)

*"Eleven in the Huddle," (Sport Literate, 2008)

*“Louisiana’s New Political Landscape,” (Living Blue in the Red States [anthology], University of Nebraska Press, 2007)

*“Lessons from Joe,” (Voices of Lung Cancer [anthology], LaChance, 2007)

*“Subjects for Other Conversations by John Stigall,” (Xavier Review, Summer 2002)

*“Frozen Embraces/Zamrznuti Zagrljaji by Biljana Obradovic,” (World Literature Today, Winter 2002).

*“Le Riche Monde by Biljana Obradovic,” (Prairie Schooner, Fall 2001).

*“Voodoo Poems and Magic Prose,” (The Writer's Chronicle, March/April
2001).

*“Trespassers,” (Brevity, Fall 1999).

*“Aviary Slag by Jacques Servin,” (Iowa Review, December 1997).

*“Anthony Kellman's Watercourse,” (Northwest Review, Spring 1992).

*“Toward a Definition of Poetic Fiction,” (Calypso, December 1990).

*“Anne Waldman's Helping the Dreamer,” (New Delta Review, Fall 1989).

*FICTION:

*"Applesauce" (Stolen Stories [anthology], Forest Publications)

*“The Product Tester’s Report” (Mochila Review, 2007)

*“Bad Word Storm” (Nightsun, 2007)

*“A Brief History of Toast” (Alimentum, Summer 2006)

*“Captivated” (Xavier Review, Spring 2004)

*“One Thing You Must Never Do” ( Sudden Stories [anthology], Mammoth Books, 2003)

*“Out There in TV Land,” (Pennsylvania English, Spring 2001).

*“Don't Put Me Down,” (Talking River Review, Summer 2000).

*“All Hail Digredi,” (In Praise of Pedagogy [anthology], Calendar Islands,
2000).

*“The Ride,” (Habersham Review, Spring 1998).

*“Hampton Figs,” (Gulf Stream Magazine, Spring 1997).

*“Qatar Is an Emirate,” (Louisiana Literature, Fall 1992).

*“The Story of Jane and George,” (The Dominion Review, Spring 1992).

*“Arrivals and Departures,” (The Laurel Review, Winter 1992).

*“Sooner or Later,” (Innisfree, July-August 1991).

*“Ice Cold,” (Innisfree, May-June 1991).

*“First Things First,”(Tucumcari Literary Review, September 1990).

*“Curiosities,” (Soundings East, July 1990).

*“That Particular Incident,” (Poultry, Fall 1989).

*POETRY:

*“The Recipe for Tomato Cabal” (Alimentum, Summer 2006).

*“A Tour of the Ferocious,” (Visual Poetry: An Artistic Dialogue, Baton Rouge Gallery exhibit and exhibition catalog, 1999).

*“Sisterhood,” “Gunland,” and “El Cheapo Poem About My Old Guitar Teacher,” (KingLog, Fall 1998: ).

*“Untitled Ode #5,772,” (Satire, Spring 1997).

*“The Seven Thousandth Day,” (Wisconsin Review, Winter 1993).

*“Azalea Street Winter,” (The Bellingham Review, Spring 1992).

*“The Newsman's Premonition,” (Birmingham Poetry Review, Summer 1991).

*“Love Song in Two Dimensions,” (Rhino, Fall 1990).

This is just a little story about learning outcomes.

I teach college writing. As of today, at the end of week one, I have seen my Fall 2017 Writing 1310 students twice. On the first day, I did what I usually do, asking them to spend the last 10-20 minutes introducing themselves in writing. Please tell me who you are as a writer. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What kind of writing experience do you have? What is your usual process for writing? Write a paragraph or two below.

This semester, I added an activity to this writer’s introduction. I had gone over the syllabus and pointed out the course learning outcomes, but I wanted them to examine those outcomes and actually think about them. I hoped to trigger a kind of metacognition, an awareness of the big picture that would enhance their learning throughout the semester. The goals for WRIT 1310 are listed below. These are skills you are meant to master by the end of the course. On a scale from 1 to 10, how much mastery of each skill do you have at this point, as we begin the course?

The results were a little surprising, as many students indicated that they already had good mastery of most of the skills. As I read over their work, however, I wondered how well they understood the course learning outcomes. I had developed the outcomes in collaboration with my colleagues who teach writing at my institution. I found myself feeling somewhat disappointed in the lack of audience awareness in the outcomes, realizing that I had not practiced what I preached about being mindful of all readers. The outcomes used words like “rhetorical” and “discernment,” and referred to pieces of writing as “texts,” which to students may sound like things composed on smartphones.

So on the second day of class, I asked my students how “user-friendly” they had found the outcomes. I explained that course learning outcomes are written for multiple audiences—not just students, but also deans, curriculum committees, other institutions, and accrediting agencies. I confessed that my colleagues and I had not done a very good job of keeping students in mind. We had gotten caught up in the academic exercise of writing for other academics. We had stated that we would teach students to “construct texts” and “analyze rhetorical situations.” I displayed the outcomes, discussed each one, and took the students' suggestions for putting them into more user-friendly terms. Here are some of the results of our collaboration:

"Construct texts using diverse readings as sources of ideas and content" became "Write things using different readings as sources of ideas and content."

"Analyze rhetorical situations when planning, drafting, revising, and editing texts for diverse audiences, purposes, and genres" became "Analyze writing assignments when planning, drafting, revising, and editing papers for a variety of readers, purposes, and types of writing."

"Apply appropriate writing processes to produce texts for a variety of rhetorical situations" became "Apply appropriate writing processes to write papers for a variety of writing assignments."

The next step will be getting together with my colleagues to revise these outcomes. There are nine of them, which is too many, and they don't all work for students, who should be our primary audience. We should imagine them looking over our shoulders as we write learning outcomes. All of those other people--professors, deans, committee members, and accreditors--should stand behind our students.

Angus Woodward

Caution: Guy Writing

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Whose Outcomes Are They, Anyway? A Teaching Story

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