Reading Response 2

Summary:

     In the article by Michael Kleine entitled "What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One--and How Can We Get Students to Join Us," Kleine begins by describing a library scene in which students are scattered everywhere writing research papers and not focusing on their work. He mentions how they're copying work, and not actually writing it themselves. Kleine then flashes back to the nights when he was in the same position as those students. He describes how he was once doing the exact same thing. He describes the entire scene as a "nightmare."
     Kleine then comes up with questions that become meaningful for him to answer. He wants to discover if college teachers who participate in academic writing live in the "night library" such as those kids he described in the scene at the beginning of his article.
     He discusses the model for the writing process which he developed with two of his colleagues and argues that research in writing should be "strategic" and "heuristic," which by definition in the article means "a problem-solving pattern." He uses metaphors to compare his model with hunters and gatherers.
     A little later in the article, Kleine mentions how the use of his model in his classes improved the writing and overall work of his students. He then talks about interviewing eight professors to find out what they did when they were at work. He explains his discoveries through his research and makes the point that all of his interviewees were always excited to talk about their writing and work and how they did it out of interest mostly, instead of other reasons. He basically found that each person he interviewed did things similarly with their work, yet very different at the same time. Kleine concludes that researching is "too complicated to code."


Pre-reading (pg. 23):

     About half of the classes I am taking require researched writing. I imagine spending a lot of time studying and trying to develop my own process of writing and researching, with a slight base on past research and sources. To accomplish the projects, I'll need to manage my time well, do much research, and think deeply into my writing. I will have to really analyze and evaluate all research and focus on the subject matter and even relate it to my own experiences.



Questions for Discussions and Journaling:

1. Kleine's ideas are very detailed and beyond how I have researched and written in the past. His model for writing is complex and I have never really thought deeper into the research process the way Kleine has.

3. Sources have always played an important role in research. The professionals Kleine interviewed still used sources, as well as their own translations and thoughts. The difference is that many students who have done research papers have based it more on other research and sources, and did not use as many of their own ideas and put less thought into it. Like Kleine said in the beginning of his article, the students in his library scene were just "copying" and not writing. This explanation Kleine makes is similar to past experiences I had with research papers.

4. If I did what Kleine talks about, my research would definitely improve. It would take a lot of effort and getting used to, but I would be focusing less on the ideas of other people and their research, and more on my own thoughts.


My thoughts:

     This article by Michael Kleine was full of much information and was at times confusing. However, Kleine put a lot of work, thought, and research into his article and seemed to care deeply about the subject matter. He cares about students and wants them to better understand the complicated process of writing and researching. I could tell that he really wants to help students.