Folks,
I like Jeffrey's idea very much. A combination of précis writing and then
longer writing assignments can be effective. The précis allows close
analysis and assessment, including presentation to an entire class for
discussion. It teaches respect for individual words and for sentence
structure. Précis writing reveals many bad habits. It is also a good place
to begin class discussions. Progressively longer essays then build on the
mastery of clear, direct statement.
A classic twentieth century article on writing is Wayne C. Booth's "The
Rhetorical Stance." I use the essay in design classes to explain the use of
rhetoric in practical design work. I also use it as an example of clear
writing--even for the structuring of a master's thesis. It is short, well
structured, and effectively argues its point. It offers antidotes to the
"traditional essay" and to many bad habits of writing--pedantry and other
vices.
I also use George Orwell's classic "Politics and the English Language." I
use other works, too, of course. Of special value is Herbert Read's English
Prose Style, particularly the chapter on paragraphs. Some students seem to
benefit a great deal from this.
In college I had the great good fortune to take classes with Joseph J.
Schwab--if the name is not familiar, I suggest looking him up in the
library, because he is widely regarded as one of the great educators of the
twentieth century. As a freshman at Chicago, I took his course on
"Philosophical Aspects of Biology." It was a course for seniors, but he
allowed me to take the drubbing anyway. He used the précis approach with
great success. Later courses that I took with Wayne Booth, Joshua Taylor
and others helped me gradually to understand how to write extended prose. I
don't regard myself as a good writer yet, but I am working on it.
By the way, many of my best students--not always the "A" students--come back
to me and explain how much their writing ability has helped them in various
branches of design practice. They explain to me--to me--that writing an
essay or article or memorandum or proposal is just another kind of design
thinking. It involves strategy, regard for the user, the ability to analyze
situations clearly, and the value of form and structure.
One last comment. Has anyone noticed how the writing style of many of the
best designers has a close relationship with their approach to design in the
studio? I think this is not an accident.
There is a long tradition of work to bring writing and speaking into design
education. We stand on the shoulders of many distinguished educators, and I
think it is well to remember that when we discuss this subject.
Dick
Richard Buchanan
School of Design
Carnegie Mellon University
On 5/23/07 3:13 PM, "Jeffrey Bardzell" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have used structured précis (summaries) as a mechanism to get HCI design
> students (both grad and undergrad) to write about difficult readings (e.g.,
> digital culture theory).
>
> As an undergrad, I had to write précis for philosophy classes, and they
> helped me wrap my head around Hegel and the like. So I tried précis with our
> students, but the open-endedness of a traditional précis led to very uneven
> results, so I subsequently developed a structured précis template. It's a
> compromise, in that it doesn't give them practice structuring an argument,
> but at least it encourages them to read carefully and to develop a sense for
> how to read academic theory productively.
>
> If it's helpful, here are links to the instructions and the template itself.
>
> http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/jbardzel/images/precis_instructions.pdf
>
> http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/jbardzel/images/precis_template.pdf
>
> Jeffrey
>
>
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