Hi! Welcome to my snapshot. I decided my picture needed a caption because otherwise you'd just see me labeled as "The Problem." Which might be true in other situations but is not, in this particular case. I don't think. The Problem We know that rubrics improve student writing in composition courses. In creative writing courses, however, they are used very rarely. I have been using rubrics in creative writing since Spring 2007, and while I am pleased with some of the results, I want to know more about student processes related to using rubrics. Rubrics perform several functions, or at least we intend them to. They clarify assignments, both in terms of criteria and performance levels. They also guide feedback, both in peer editing and instructor comments. Referring to a rubric when returning a graded assignment clarifies "why you got the grade you got" for students. All this is aimed, ultimately, at improving student writing. In order to learn whether creative writing rubrics help students the way we intend them to, we need first learn how students use rubrics in those classes.

Evidence of Student Learning & Methods of Analysis Fall 2007 and Spring 2008: I surveyed students on their reactions to the use of rubrics in creative writing. Survey questions are below. Fall 2008: Students in my ENG 203 and 204 classes (which are stacked and taught as one class) took surveys three different times during the semester, the day they turned in assignments in three different genres (poetry, drama, fiction). It was a smaller section than usual--only 11 students registered at the end of the semester, and of those, only 10 actually finished the semester. Eight students regularly participated in the surveys, and those eight also gave permission for their grades to be correlated to their survey responses (after the semester was over). (Originally, nonfiction was going to be one of the genres/rubrics that I surveyed students about, but I ended up doing that rubric differently, so the survey questions did not apply as directly.) (One possibility for further data gathering--I would like to interview 2-3 former students about their use of rubrics.) Fall 08 Survey Questions I am still in the process of analyzing data, but here is the full set of questions asked Fall 08. Fall 07 Survey Questions Spring 08 Survey Questions

Project Summary What does it look like when students use rubrics in creative writing? How do they use them? This current project is a "what is" question. I am also very interested in whether and how well rubrics improve student writing in creative writing classes, and ultimately, I am interested in the overall encouragement and assessment of creativity in general. (I am analyzing data, annotating research, and drafting an article--Summer 2009.) Rubric for Lyrical Essay I used this in ENG 201, taught as a creative nonfiction class. Rubric for Memoir Essay I used this rubric at the beginning of the semester in ENG 201, taught as creative nonfiction. Poetry Rubric Fall 08 I used this in ENG 203, Beginning Creative Writing. Fiction Rubric Fall 08 I used this for fiction in ENG 203, Beginning Creative Writing.

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References Works Cited Amabile, Teresa M., and Mukti Khaire.. "CREATIVITY and the ROLE OF THE LEADER." Harvard Business Review 86.10 (Oct. 2008): 100-109. Business Source Elite. EBSCO. Miller Memorial Library, Richland Center, WI. 26 Mar. 2009 <https://ezproxy.uwc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=34402677&site=ehost-live>. Boulter, Amanda. "Assessing the Criteria: An Argument for Creative Writing Theory." New Writing: International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing. 1:2 (2004): 134-140. Cropley, Arthur J. Creativity in Education and Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Educators. Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2001. Kroll, Jeri. "A or C: Can We Assess Creative Work Fairly?" Text 1:1 (1997). http://www.textjournal.comau/april97/kroll.htm Runco, Mark A. "Correcting the research on creativity." Creativity Research Journal 19.4 (2007): 321-327. PsycINFO. EBSCO. Miller Memorial Library, Richland Center, WI. 31 Oct. 2008 <https://ezproxy.uwc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2008 -00552-001&site=ehost-live>. Ongoing

Frequency of Use of Rubric Fall 08 Preliminary Results, Findings, Conclusions, & Implications Fall 2008: I am still in the process of analyzing data, but one implication is clear already--I do not want a student to go through the process of an assignment and be able to report that they used the rubric zero times. I am anticipating doing more in-class activities using the rubric (in addition to using it during peer editing, which I already do). Of course, if a particular student is missing a lot of class, the reported frequency of use could still accurately be zero. I asked students for permission to have my assistant correlate their final course grades (with the plus or minus stripped off, to make it harder to identify particular students) with their made-up identities. This was a small section, and grades in creative writing are sometimes (always?) inflated. There does not seem to be a clear correlation between grades and frequency of use. Because of the class size, I may try to redo this portion of the survey in the fall's class. Fall 08 Analysis of Rubric Definitions Students were asked to "briefly define rubric" three times during the semester. This is my initial analysis of their definitions. Rubric Helpfulness Chart Fall 07 Students responded to the question "How helpful did you find the rubric?" Rubric Helpfulness Chart Spring 08 Although this was a creative nonfiction class, the structure of the rubrics is very similar.

Career Relevance & Impact My Individual Project When I first began using rubrics in creative writing, students were vocally grateful, and I was immediately pleased with my ability to clarify assignments and structure feedback. These rubrics need to be revised, however, and ultimately, I want to know how they work, and how to make them more effective. The immediate impact for the 08-09 academic year was that I reviewed survey responses and revised rubrics--revisions that continue as I analyze data and continue my literature review. WTS Activities I benefited almost immediately from some of the reading assigned for Summer Institute. Donald E. Hall has two very valuable books--The Academic Self and The Academic Community, both of which I read Summer 08. Now, in Summer 09, I am working with colleagues to organize reading groups on these and similar works. UW-Richland Impact For our January retreat (a gathering of UW-Richland staff and faculty from all disciplines), I facilitated a workshop called "Creativity: Failure Mess = Success," using some of the research for my WTS project. In these challenging budget times, we will all have to become more creative in order to continue to be successful and grow. The workshop seemed a particularly apt place to reflect on this quote from Teresa Amibile & Mukti Khaire: "...innovation is more likely when people of different disciplines, backgrounds, and areas of expertise share their thinking." Summer 2009: At our last collegium, we passed the following resolution: "We resolve to organize ourselves informally over the summer to brainstorm, plan, and begin implementing effective and innovative ways to enact our mission, especially in terms of increasing enrollment." At that meeting, I mentioned a new brainstorming technique I'd read about (from the book called The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson, p. 111): "While brainwriting, people simultaneously generate written ideas on the same problem, building off each other's ideas without speaking at all. Here is how you do it: Everyone sits at a table together, each person with a blank sheet of paper. Another blank sheet is in the middle of the table within everyone's reach. The basic problem to be solved or explored has been clearly described or written down. At the start of the session, each person writes (or sketches) one idea on the sheet in front of them, tosses that sheet into the center of the table, and then picks up a sheet put in by someone else. The person reads the idea on that sheet and tries to build on it in some way. Whether or not they can directly build on it, they write another idea, toss the sheet into the center, and continue. Whenever anyone picks up a sheet from the center of the table, they read through prior ideas, trying to make connections and ignite sparks of new ideas. This approach could also be used successfully in an online virtual environment where people continuously comment and build off one another's ideas." We are figuring out how to live up to this resolution, but I am advocating that we use this "brainwriting" technique, probably at an initial meeting and then throughout the summer with a very low-tech cork bulletin board that people can read and add to as they're on campus.