Graduate Students' Evolving Perceptions of Writing Collaboratively

• Published in: Canadian journal of higher education (1975) 2011-01, Vol.41 (2), p.62
• Main Authors: Ens, Anita H, Boyd, Karen, Matczuk, L Allyson, Nickerson, Warren T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collaborative Writing; Communities of Practice; Discourse Communities; Doctoral Degrees; Doctoral Programs; Educational psychology; Educational Research; Graduate Students; Graduate studies; Psychology of learning; Self Concept; Student Attitudes; Studies; Writing Processes
• ISSN: 0316-1218; 2293-6602

Nous sommes une cohorte doctorale de quatre étudiants dans le domaine de la langue et de la littératie. Nous formons une communauté de praticiens au sein de laquelle le savoir est construit socialement. Dans ce contexte, nous explorons nos identités respectives en tant que collaborateurs en recherche et en écriture. Cet article documente l'étude que nous avons entreprise en rédigeant collaborativement des articles académiques. Notre projet était encadré par trois questions portant sur le processus, le produit et la théorie : Comment un auteur aborde-t-il une tâche collaborative aux niveaux émotif et cognitif? Les auteurs perçoiventils un écart entre la qualité d'un texte rédigé en collaboration et celle d'un texte écrit individuellement? Quels rapports y a-t-il entre l'expérience et la théorie? Notre expérience a révélé une prise de conscience accrue quant au processus d'écriture de chacun et aux problèmes de style, de lectorat et de clarté. En outre, l'aspect relationnel de l'écriture avec collaborateurs s'est vu amplifié. Nous concluons que l'écriture collaborative a sa place au niveau doctoral en raison de son potentiel d'amélioration du dialogue au sein d'une communauté discursive. [Sakellariadis] et al. (2008) documented the process of a large group of faculty and student collaborative writers exploring identity construction. Their report illustrated the complexities involved in negotiating uses of technology, the role of face-to-face meetings, and the challenges to communication. Both process and relationship were integral to the evolving work, and the paper is littered with emotion- laden reflections. For example, to start each passage about sharing writing online, all three voices reference feelings, using words such as "scary," "exposed and quite alone," and "disappointing." All three writers spoke of the need for response from their collaborators. In [Kim] and Eklundh's (2001) study, participants' revisions of their collaborators' work was guided in part by not wanting to hurt others' feelings. Likewise, [Maher] et al. (2008) describe group members' initial reluctance in commenting on each others' work. At the beginning of the project we were slow to start and emotions were often mentioned in the reflections. Confidence in the collaborative process and in each other needed to be developed. Throughout the data, emotion-laden words such as "shy," "tentative," "hesitant," "awkward," "uncomfortable," "insecure," and "uncertain" spoke to the complexit