USU English Faculty Member Presents with National Council President
Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012
USU Department of English lecturer M. Whitney Olsen recently presented at two conferences.
Olsen (left), with Duane Roen, president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and Angela Clark-Oates, course manager of the ASU Writers' Studio, presented at the regional conference for the Two-Year College English Association.
M. Whitney Olsen, lecturer in the Department of English at Utah State University, presented at the regional conference for the Two-Year College English Association (TYCA-West) with Duane Roen, president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, and Angela Clark-Oates, course manager of the ASU Writers’ Studio.
The conference was held at Salt Lake Community College’'s Taylorsville Redwood Campus Oct. 19-20 and covered topics and issues related to general education and lower-division college and university English courses.
The discussion, titled “Using the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing to Foster Learning,” drew conference attendees from across the United States.
The framework on which Roen, Olsen and Clark-Oates presented was assembled by representatives from three major English associations: the National Council for Teachers of English, Council for Writing Program Administrators and the National Writing Project. The framework is a recent publication which outlines key areas for college and university students’ success in their writing, studies and lives.
Much like the Common Core State Standards Initiative for K-12 grade levels, the session responded to a growing interest in bringing national academic supports to local classrooms.
Roen, Olsen and Clark-Oates introduced the history of the framework and the newest part of the document, the Habits of Mind.
The Habits of Mind are eight key practices (curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, flexibility, responsibility and metacognition) instructors can foster to help students be successful writers, students and citizens. Session attendees shared perspectives on potential uses for these habits in the postsecondary classroom.
The official CWPA President's Message on the session can be found online.
Olsen also presented findings on her study of writing students’ research habits at a national conference, the annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, held in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 26-30.
Related links:
USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Contact: M. Whitney Olsen, Department of English, Utah State University, (435) 797-2733, whitney.olsen@usu.edu
