“Reading in Context” for networked engagement with course readings

Abstract

“Reading in Context” is a networked instructional activity. I have been using it to help graduate students efficiently learn to (a) locate, interpret, and critique personally relevant articles, (b) uncover the ultimate meaning of those articles and assigned core articles as they have been taken up in the literature more broadly, and (c) learn the subtle nuances of scholarly referencing. These proficiencies are crucial for graduate students but difficult to foster in classroom contexts. They require extensive individualized guidance from someone with deep knowledge of the relevant literature. Some graduate students never really appreciate how the broadening meaning of a specific article ultimately resides in the way it is taken up and interpreted in the broader literature (Rose, 1996); this challenge is heighted within digitally networked scholarship (Ingraham, 2000). As such, many students don’t appreciate the broader meaning of core readings, or even see how they came to be “core” in the first place (Diezmann, 2005). Many don’t tackle the nuances of referencing (such as the appropriate use of e.g., i.e., and c.f.) in their own writing until they get to their thesis or dissertation (Cafarella & Barnett, 2000). This is laborious for advisors and aggravating for committee members. Worse still, some graduate complete their studies with culminating papers that knowledgeable editors or search committee members dismiss outright because of sloppy referencing.