Social Work Student Writing Workshop: From conceptualization to end product

1. Social Work StudentWriting Workshop:From conceptualization to end product MSW I – Fall 2007 Teiahsha Bankhead, PhD, LCSW

2. Why have a writing workshop for MSW students? • Pause to think about writing style, techniques, process, quality of outcome • Requested by practice community • Grade inflation can allow for poor writing • Achievement (caring & emotional connection) + cognitive skills + written expression = professional success • Identify students whose skills need improvement • Framework for approaching a “serious piece of intellectual work”

3. Ground Rules • Take risks, be free & creative with your thoughts • Truly engage with process • Be open to new ideas • Don’t be afraid to be silly or goofy – nonlinear process • Suspend judgment • Additional suggestions???

4. What do we hope to accomplish today? • 9:30 - 10:15 • Approaching graduate level writing • Diverse Experiences in Writing • Literature Review • 10:15 – 11:15 • Completing Writing Assignments – • Process of Conceptualization • Problem Statement • Topic development • Concept in Images • 11:15 – 11:30 • Tips on Improving Your Writing • APA Style & a Hunt for Mistakes • 11:30 – 12:00 • Writing Assignment for Submission • Questions & logistics on assignment

5. Exercise: Diverse Experiences in Writing • Hold hands & silently form a straight line facing me • Release hands, but stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a straight lie without speaking • Listen carefully to each sentence and take the steps requested if the sentence applies • Imagine a prize at the front of the room that everyone is competing for • Make your movements based upon an honest self assessment

6. Diversity in Writing: Process Questions • Remain where you are & look around to assess your position and the position of other students • Who do you think among you would win the prize? *********************** • What happened? • How did the exercise make you feel? • What were your thought as you did this exercise? • What have you learned from this exercise? • What can you do with this information in the future? • What did most of the questions have in common?

7. Why is writing a literature review often viewed as difficult or mysterious? • There is not one way to complete it • There is no formula • You may approach it from many different angles • How it is organized depends upon the content, main points and argument of the piece • Often not taught to undergraduates, but expected of graduate students

8. What does a literature review do? • Provides background to a problem & explains the relationship between previous & current studies • Places research in historical & theoretical context • Identifies risk factors, problems, current trends & debates in field • Gives direction to the project (recent work cited) • Allows author to contributing new knowledge by analysis and synthesis of primary works • Requires use of libraries – subscriptions & limitations of web – (interlibrary loan, reference librarian) • Depends on search methods – synonyms & key words – relevant article subject headings – use in subsequent searches

9. Formal systematic search of the literature Mental work – cognitive processing Generate useful knowledge - Make a contribution to knowledge by analyzing and synthesizing existing work Access data Gain knowledge Argue points using mental models Determine what has been written about a topic Clearly present and critique existing findings Build on existing findings & point out why and how your paper adds a unique perspective Goal – to constantly refine and develop and evolve the research community’s body of knowledge in any given area What do we hope to accomplish in the literature review?

10. Steps to Completing Writing Assignments • Choose a topic • Narrow the topic • Research the topic • Reading related manuscripts • Create an annotated bibliography • Group themed findings together • Analyze & critique the findings • Conceptualize the paper • Plan the main points & thrust of the paper • What is your central argument and how do you prove it?

11. Problem Statement • What is the difficult situation, item, relationship or issue for which more knowledge is needed? • What do you know about it? • How can we know more?

12. Research Topic Development • Approaching the research topic • Which intervention impact clients most in your placement? • What are the treatment methods you use in practice? • What would you like to know about the population or intervention you use? • What is done well in practice? • What could be done better? • What are you passionate about? • Things to consider when approaching a research topic… • Intent or goal • Knowledge of topic • Audience • Key words • Example: gay men, psycho/social/sexual behavior, culture, homophobia, dating patterns, sexual practices

13. Sharpen the question Is the question about who, what where, why or when? Explanatory or descriptive? What are the variables or factors under consideration? Be specific, relevant & reasonable for the field? Targeting the population Activity or practice Gender Age Race/ethnicity Region Program/agency Sexual orientation Ability/disability Illness Narrowingyour research topic…

14. Exercise: Paper Concept in Images Instructions • At table fold paper into 4 sections • Draw a circle in the middle of the page • Each table has a broad topic • Assignment - Create a visual concept for a paper that explains the underlying conditions giving rise to the social problem you have been assigned • You may use drawings, images, shapes, arrows & symbols • You may not use words or numbers

15. Process Exercise: Paper Concept in Images • Share & describe your conceptualization with student colleagues at you table • Provide a justification for the 4 major areas you covered • Come to consensus at the table on the best approach to conceptualizing the paper • Practice acting out your concept to present to the group

16. Nonverbal Presentations of Concept Papers

17. Process for Clarity in Writing

18. Do what you need to do … • Meditate • Think quietly • Write a zero draft • Engage in challenging spirited dialogue • Draw it out • Act it out • BECOME CRYSTAL CLEAR – about what you want to say

19. Common Pitfalls in Graduate Student Writing • Poor conceptualization – piece not thought through • Taking on too much at once – (i.e. you can do anything but not everything at once) • Poor organization, opening sentence or thesis statement • Too broad, too general and lacking depth • Formulaic writing • Fragmented flow of ideas • Colloquial vs. scholarly language • Poor use of references or poor references • Inaccurate or biased assumptions used as facts • Anxiety that stifles creativity

20. What do you mean by poor use of references? • General • Inaccurate • Overuse of a single reference • Overuse of direct quotes • Use of ideas of author’s for which they have not received credit • Ideas inappropriately referenced • Annotated bibliography

21. Well done Integrated Synthesized – use of multiple authors referenced in a sentence Convincing Appropriately critiques and challenges existing works Provides details Lead the reader through a logical sequence of ideas Well organized, w/ref. to begin., mid., end Impeccable grammar Makes sense Poorly done Fragmented Disjointed Leaves gaps in argument Encourages debate for which there is no response Assumes literature is comprehensive and correct all the time General Illogical presentation of ideas Poor grammar Doesn’t make sense How do you know when a paper is in good enough shape to turn it in?

22. Hierarchical Value of Scholarly References • Rated on objectivity • Scrutiny – levels of outside review • Originality – primary vs. secondary ******************************** • Peer reviewed journal articles – narrow and current • Government reports & documents – large & not user friendly • Chapters in edited book – secondary data • Researched manuscript – biased w/o peer review • Edited book – biased, secondary • Newspaper article – NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post – conceptualization is narrow, not scholarly, reactionary • Books – lack peer review, secondary analysis ********************************* • Popular periodicals • Personal testimony

23. How do you best use references? • Annotated bibliography • Group common themes • Critique – • Methods • Findings • Sample • Time period • Purpose • Assumptions • Gaps • Reduce / eliminate use of direct quotes

24. …(Cox, 2007). …(Cox, 2007; Jones, 2003). …(Cox, 2007, p. 126). …(Cox, Om & Takaki, 2003) then (Cox et al., 2003). Single author Two authors in a single sentence, alphabetical order Direct quote, page number List all authors first time mentioned in an article. If more than two, infuture refs., use first author, et al.) Examples of proper use of APA style references in a sentence

25. Hunt for APA Mistakes Exercise • Identify number of mistakes • Describe the mistakes

26. Writing Exercise: Assignment • Review the annotated bibliography that I will hand out and use selected references to complete your assignment • Your assignment is to write a paper that will… • Describe the factors contributing to the disproportionately high representation of people of color in the criminal justice system • Your paper should be no longer than two typed double-spaced pages • You do not need to attach a reference list or cover page, but include your name, email address and telephone number on the first page in the header section • Please email your paper to Dr. Bankhead at bankhead@csus.edu by Friday, Sept. 8, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. In the subject line write MSW I Writing Exercise • If your writing is acceptable you will not here from us. If improvement is needed we will contact you within two weeks to suggest that you see a writing tutor. If we do not receive a paper from you we will ask that you see a tutor.

27. Keys to Successful Writing in Graduate School • Be critical of your own work • Write and rewrite – walk away from your work and reread it at a later time to assess clarity, logic and perspective • Be organized and clearly articulate the position for which you are advocating • Let your clear vision be your guide • Your ideas, beliefs and values may be transformed in graduate school, so expect this to be true as well for your writing • You can get to “good enough” in your writing but a piece of serious intellectual work is never really finished