ISU Writing

ISU Writing features three podcast series from the Writing Program at Illinois State University, “Let’s CHAT,” and “Beyond 101,” and "ENG 145 Podcast for Instructors."

Our “Let’s CHAT” podcast series was named for one of our key program concepts, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Our program differs from many general education writing programs in our active use of current research and theory in Writing Studies (and related fields that research learning and literacy), as well as our own Citizen Writing Research. We use research in genre studies and CHAT, research on learning transfer and cognition, as well as other kinds of research and theory. But in our efforts to engage with theory and research, we’re trying to move beyond just learning about it. We want to enact it: To observe its traces in our daily literate practices and to incorporate what we are learning into our personal knowledge as literate citizens. Our podcast series helps to bring together interested members of our community to talk about praxis—how the theories and research we read can make their way into our daily practice as writers, and as people who need to share our knowledge with others.

“Beyond 101,” our newest podcast series, invites undergraduate students to return to our program and talk with other students and/or their former instructors about their writing and research experiences since moving Beyond 101. Students discuss how learning program methods, concepts, and terms might have transferred to different areas of their life, whether in other courses, hobbies, or professions, in the way they think, or have come to view literate practices. Students also offer advice to current and future students as well as share tips, tricks, and a few laughs. Your voice matters.

The "ENG 145 Podcast for Instructors" was developed during the 2018-19 academic year by ISU Writing Program Leadership Team (WPLT) ENG 145 Coordinator Charles Woods to highlight the differences between teaching ENG 101: Composition as Critical Inquiry, ENG 145: Writing in the Academic Disciplines, and ENG 145.13: Writing for Business & Government Organizations. The majority of instructors teaching these classes are graduate students at the Master's & PhD level, as well as Non-tenure track (NTT) instructors working for the Writing Program. Even though these two classes share many, but not all, Learning Outcomes, the ways in which instructors approach courses in the writing program is different, as these classes consist of different objectives and different populations of students. As we continue to develop a community of learners devoted to strong pedagogy, feel free to continue the conversation in the comments section.