Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ray Castle, PhD, ATC on February 23, 2009 at 3:53pm

Very good idea! I see this throughout our department and also with my athletic training students the issue of how to write (from a technical standpoint). I believe we (the older generation) learned how to write before the advent of the short-hand method on emails (abbreviations; etc.). While not a solid argument, I do feel that we have to un-teach students on always writing in their usual formats, which believe their formal education in english grammar (high school and college-level) is insufficient.

Students need learn the difference between factual writing (e.g. SOAP notes) versus persuasive or general writing. I instituted a WIKI writing project this past fall with our 1st year athletic training students in which 3-4 students were "collaborative" groups, where each student was a lead author on one topic and then a co-author on the other group's papers. This required them to be very concise in their writing while also learning to critique their writing and the other writings.

Just a thought to consider, and again, great idea with the grammar tutorial!

Ray Castle

Permalink Reply by Cindy Harms on February 24, 2009 at 1:29pm

Ray, Thanks for your input. It is my understanding that MERLOT doesn't have the resources to devote to actual course development. Jason, the MERLOT webmaster, suggested that "many of our members and/or partner institutions may very well be interested in this." I was thinking of somehow developing a powerpoint presentation that a student could go through in perhaps 5 minutes to get some helpful hints on grammar usage and see examples that correctly use commas. (The comma seems to give my students the most trouble.) To post a lesson on this site, I need a URL, which I don't have. Any suggestions on how to get started?

I went to the English sections on this site but saw nothing on grammar.

Cindy

Permalink Reply by Lyn Johnson RN,MS on March 13, 2009 at 6:47pm

This is a very good idea. One of the issues I have found to be quite overt is the need for basic English grammar. When grading projects and even discussion posts; one continual area of weakness that i've found has been grammar. There seems to be little emphasis on grammar these days.The online Harbrace handbook website is quit helpful.
http://wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&a...

Lyn

Permalink Reply by Cindy Harms on March 15, 2009 at 2:42pm

Lyn
Excellent website! I will tell my students about it. A resource I find helpful is Medical Transcription Guide Do's and Don'ts by Marcy Otis Diehl. I am working on developing a tutorial through my college.

Cindy