#writ1133

[carsongreggdu99-blog]

Methods:

To conduct our primary research, we used three different methods; observation, interviews and survey. For our observation, we went to the Coor’s gym on the University of Denver campus at three different times. The first was 7:20am, 2:40 pm and 7:00pm. We observed how many people were there and what specific activities they were participating in. For our interviews, we chose to interview three University of Denver students, two being non-varsity athletes and one being a varsity lacrosse player. We asked them about their enjoyment level with exercise related activities and what their preferred means of exercise was. Lastly, we conducted a survey. We handed the survey out to 25 students at DU in order to gauge how active they were. 13 girls and 12 boys took the survey from all different grades to ensure we got an accurate depiction how active students are at University of Denver.

Results:

         We found through our three methods of primary research that University of Denver students are very active. In our observations when we went to Coor’s gym we found that there was a different in the way that boys and girls prefer to workout. We found that the girls preferred cardio machines such as treadmills and workout classes whereas boys stuck to weightlifting and sports aspect of the gym. We also found that at different times there were different amounts of people that worked out, the evening being the most popular.

         Our interviews reflected similarities to what we found in our observations. After interviewing a female freshman on campus she indicated that she enjoyed using the Coor’s gym and attending workout classes such as Zumba and swimming with her friends. We also interviewed a freshman male who said that he didn’t frequent the gym very often but enjoyed playing club sports such as hockey and soccer. He also indicated that when he goes to the gym he sticks to the weight lifting section of the gym. Lastly, we interviewed a female on the division one women’s lacrosse team who stated that she doesn’t ever attend the Coor’s gym because she gets her work out through her daily practices, work outs and weekly games.

We also conducted a survey that found that 23/25 respondents indicated on our survey that they enjoy working out. In addition, we found that 19/25 respondent’s workout on campus weekly.

See graphs above…

Discussion:

We concluded that the University of Denver is a very active campus with many students taking advantage of the weather, the great outdoors and sports teams offered through the University. One thing that attracts students to DU is the active environment within the students. Celia Haims, one of our interviewees stated that, “being able to go on a hike in the mountains was something that drew me to DU on my college search.” In addition, the University also offers structured activities on campus. The University of Denver mission for club sports is:

“To bring together groups of students with similar interests to organize and participate in a specific sport and/or recreational sporting activity. We are a dynamic organization on the DU campus committed to developing students as active members of the University community.”

Ben Phelps, the male student we interviewed who is currently involved in club hockey stated that club sports benefited him socially as well as athletically. He stated that he used club sports as an opportunity to connect with students he wouldn’t have met otherwise.

After analyzing the primary research, we concluded that males and females prefer different means of exercise, boys opt more towards team sports and weightlifting whereas girls prefer more work out classes, treadmill and biking. Although this was true for the group that we observed and interviewed, we cannot assume that this is completely true for the entire population of DU. We did however find through our secondary research that this was a reoccurring theme between male and females at colleges across the United States. A study conducted by Egli and Bland found, “current findings demonstrated that males tend to be more motivated by intrinsic factors whereas females were more motivated by extrinsic factors.” This could be the reason why the students at the University of Denver have different methods of working out, because they are motivated by different things.

[erinsadlerblog-blog]

Theory of Writing: Take 1

(1) Key Terms for Writing

cohesiveness- Before I write I have all of these ideas in my head, so sometimes it’s difficult to not ramble on about them all. So one of the things I try to keep in mind when writing is to make sure the piece is somewhat of a cohesive thought/concept. Even if two topics might seem like they’re opposites, I try to include some connection just so my writing isn’t all over the place. 

personality- For me, it’s really important that my personality and tone shine through a piece. I think my writing style is pretty unique, and that’s what I want the reader to kind of think, also. Because who wants to read some boring, monotone kind of writing, anyway. I think bringing your own “sense of self” makes the reader wanna keep reading, ya know?

thought-provoking= And of course, the piece de resistance (couldn’t find the little accent things but let’s forget about that). is the thought-provoking element of whatever I write.And this doesn’t mean that my topic has to be some world changing or ground-breaking concept. I just try to bring the reader in, really let them understand what I’m writing about from my perspective, and leave them still thinking about it. And “thinking about it” could mean lots of things; agreeing, disagreeing, or maybe going to google to look up more about the subject. If I made my writing thought-provoking, I gave it some purpose. That’s the name of the game, friend.

(2) Writerly Identity

Hmmm...A tough question. I’m not the best at these “who are you”, “why are you” type questions. But I think that I’m a writer that tries to find balance. Balance between long words and short words, complex sentences and short sentences, jokes/puns and being somewhat serious. I try to throw in a little bit of everything. And my development as a writer has been fine-tuning this balancing act. Researching this quarter has kind of made me step up my game because now, not only am I balancing the way I write, but also what I’m writing about and the several sources I now have to take into account.

(3) Prior Knowledge and Experiences

Haha, yea, so like..Writing 1122 was nothing like this class. In fact, Writing 1122 is what made me dread registering for writing 1133. But you know, water under the bridge. Not like I’m still recovering emotionally from a 5000 word portfolio. Anyway, I definitely feel like this class is making me a stronger writer because we write about what we want to write about, and on so many platforms for so many different types of audiences. It’s helping to expand my range and have confidence writing for different purposes. Writing is a huge part of the sciences, so it’s nice to get comfortable now.

(4) Theory of Writing

Writing is a balancing act; keeping all of your elements in line is key.

[writingandresearchfall2019]

Homework Post #4

According to the reading, there are 8 habits of mind that help students be more successful in post-secondary writing experiences: curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, flexibility, and metacognition. The framework explains how instructors can help foster these habits. 

Based on how the reading defines these habits of mind, you are going to do 2 things:

(1) agree/disagree with the framework using your own personal experiences as direct and specific evidence. If you disagree, then you need to revise the framework and explain why your framework might work more effectively. If you agree, then you need to explain why you believe the framework is correct.

(2) based on your response to #1, create a hierarchy of the habits of mind and defend your response by using either a specific experience from this class, a reading from this class, or a specific piece of your own writing from this class. In other words, you have to defend your hierarchy using something from this course -- you are attempting to prove that your hierarchy (a) makes sense based on what you are learning and experiencing and (b) supports how you are understanding what you are learning and experiencing. 

ST: don’t forget to do a ST with this opening reading! It’s due by class time with this post.

DUE to YOUR Tumblr by class time on Monday, September 30, 2019. 

(The reading was emailed to you!)

[writingandresearchfall2019]

Week 3: Overview

[writingandresearchfall2019]

Homework Post #3

After reading Jenkins' chapter, you are going to be theorizing about knowledge and the research process. I want you to think about the following questions:

(1) what is knowledge?

(2) how does/can knowledge emerge from within communities?

(3) how does knowledge play a role in your everyday writing practices (think of how the chat rooms worked in this chapter)?

(4) where/how does knowledge fit into primary research?

Use these questions as a springboard to theorizing about knowledge, in other words, use the questions to help start your discussion of knowledge. By the end of the post, I want to see how you understand knowledge and its relationship to research.

ST: don’t forget to do a ST with this opening reading! It’s due by class time with this post.

DUE to YOUR Tumblr by class time on Wednesday, September 25, 2019.

(The reading was emailed to you!)

[writingandresearchfall2019]

Conference: Part 2

Part 2 of Conference Day: it is DUE on Monday, September 23, 2019 @ 11:59 pm to your Tumblrs. This is part of your attendance for the day.

Part 1, The Writing Self: Who are you as a Writer?

One thing that we don’t often take time to think about is who we are as writers in other words looking at our writerly identity. Each person’s writerly identity should be unique to them, should represent how he/she understands and approaches each writing situation, and evolves with them the more experiences he/she has in writing. However, often times, our writerly identity becomes wrapped up in superficial understandings about writing -- writing for sake of a grade, writing to please a teacher, writing only because we are told to do so -- so that we don’t truly understand who we are as writers. For the first part of this post, you are going to do just that: think about who you are as a writer. To do this, I want you to recall 2 different experiences with writing, one from your K-12 writing experiences, and one from your college writing experiences (not limited to only writing courses, you could use any writing experience in college, so it could be things you are write *while* in college), that have shaped your current understanding of writing. In 150-200 words a piece, tell these stories working on weaving them together so that you conclude by revealing your current understanding of who you are as a writer.

The goal is for you to use these 2 stories to explore your identity as a writer so that you can come to a conclusion about who you are as a writer, right now in this moment.

Part 2, The Theory of Writing: Take 1

The evolution of writing is something that helps us understand what writing is – to us, to others, to vast audiences, and so on. Part of this class includes you developing, or continuing to develop, your “theory of writing.”

Definition: A theory of writing gives you, the writer, the opportunity to think about your relationship with writing: it enables you consider what writing is to you. This can include, but is not limited to, what is your writing process(es), what is your practices, what types of key terms provide the foundation for your theory, how do you actually enact those key terms in your writing, and so on. It is within this theory that you can articulate – in your own words using your own language – how you understand writing, what you’ve learned about writing, and where writing can take you.

Research has proven that the theory of writing becomes the framework by which students utilize the transfer of knowledge moving out of their writing courses and into new writing contexts.

This will be your first attempt at creating a theory of writing. You can begin by thinking through what writing means/represents to you, how define (good) writing, and what it takes for you, the writer, to create good writing based on your definition.

Both parts are DUE by 11:59 pm on Monday, September 23, 2019!

[pbarajas16du]

Introduction for Writ1133

Hello everyone, my name is Patty and I am a second year transfer student from Colorado State University. My prior experiences with writing are from being forced to write all the time in English classes where they were all very conventional classroom settings with timed writes and no creative process. I believe good writing to be very clear and knowledgeable on whatever topic it is about. Some goals I have for myself this quarter are to be able to structure my sentences better and having better grammar, and overall being very concise about my writing without doubting myself.  

[joshua-beal-blog]

Research Journal: Week 7

I am waiting on the final touches for my interview as well as coming up with a few more responses. Trying to get everything done by the deadline and definitely not stressed at all.

When I say I am finishing up things for my interview, the guy I am supposed to interview needs to get back to me and quick cause it is getting close.

I have been watching tons of documentaries, both inside and outside of prisons walls. I enjoy watching these documentaries because it’s not only entertaining but I actually receive a lot of information and answers to questions I did not know beforehand. It’s actually pretty interesting to hear what these individuals have to say and all of the information that cannot be stored on the internet or at least aren’t (Ex: stories, visuals, etc.).

If my interview is not finished by tonight, I am going to change up my game plan and interview someone who I know I can get answers out of. It is definitely my last choice but at this point any knowledge is better than no knowledge. I am going to cut off my primary research before class time tomorrow. I had hoped to finish it off tonight as Dr. KT had suggested but of course school happened and now I am running behind.

I have learned a ton of new information from such interesting sources. When I question at times like these why I chose a topic that is so research driven with such vague answers, I know that in the long run researching about something I am passionate about is way more rewarding than an easy grade. To sum things up, all is well and gonna keep on going forward.