Skip to main content

Week 21, Part 2 of 2. First person pronoun in Academic Writing, an error or a stylistic choice ?

continued from Part 1. Im using the Nguyen 5 level framework to structure my reflections.

Conceptual Framework - assumptions that underly my thoughts and actions

A major influence to improving my academic writing style, in a contemporary manner, by showing authorial voice is the book Stylish Academic Writing by University of Auckland academic Helen Sword. Corroborating this shift in academic writing style to include personal voice and first person is an article advocating use of the first person in Academic Writing by the Writers Studio from Duke University, and many others, listed in the references.

 View on Change

This reflection is not a reflexive rejection of Mindlab guidelines, but an opportunity for instructors and students at Mindlab to  consider  authorial choice on using first person pronoun in academic writing. The aim is good communication, and hopefully, stylish academic writing.

Self

What does all the above say about me? I found it necessary to find corroboration from multiple reference sources to back up my position. Perhaps because I am not a scholar of writing or literature studies, I find it  necessary, and comforting to refer to corroborating experts in the field. Why did I feel antipathy? perhaps because of the dissonance created from my recent change in position from a suboptimal status quo to a more enlightened one. Being forced to regress to a less enlightened position is a step backwards -  externally imposed which is an affront to my autonomy.


References

Sword, H. (2012). Stylish academic writing. Harvard University Press. pp36-47









 
Nguyen, Q. D., Fernandez, N., Karsenti, T., & Charlin, B. (2014). What is reflection? A conceptual analysis of major definitions and a proposal of a five‐component model. Medical education, 48(12), 1176-1189. available from

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 30. Activity 6. Analysing a global trend in education.

Self paced and personalised online learning - a global trend shaping education or an urban myth ? Analysing the gap between expectation and reality. Reflection using the Nguyen 5 component model. Trigger The OECD 2016 report on Trends Shaping Education Chapter 5 on technological development resonated with me, in particular, "self paced, interactive and personalised learning". OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. p101 OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. p110 Thoughts and actions  This resonated with me because in 2016  I created an open online library of elearning cases for learners to use as a self-paced and personalised resource. My learners are adults engaged in postgraduate higher education. This online library format was created as a resource to augment, not replace,  traditional teaching.  My assumption was that experienced Gen Y adult learners  have the knowledge, skills and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 29. Professional online social networks

Activity 5: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development. Perceived affordances of social media for PD vs low quality content and information overload:  Finding my place in the information flow.  Reflection using Jay and Johnson (2002) reflective model. Step 1 (Descriptive stage):   Social media platforms I use in my professional development are my Research Gate page and a collaborative Wiki . Research Gate has been described as  "Linked In" for academic reseachers, in addition to acting as a repository for my academic publications, I also upload abstracts of academic conference presentations, and pdfs of conference posters.  I share printed conference posters by including a QR code, so a conference participant can  to link to the online version via their mobile device. My Wikispace is called Digipathed, I developed it in collaboration with two other Pathology Teachers, one in Wellington and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 28. Activity 4:Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

What Critical Incident : A medical student at the University of Auckland has taken photos of specimens of colon and lung cancer  from the School of Medical Sciences Pathology Museum, annotated the photos, turned them into a study guide, and posted them on his open access blog, which he uses to collate  study notes for himself and to share with other students in the class. There is a no photography rule in this Museum Auckland University School of Medical and Health Sciences Pathology Museum Image: https://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/en/faculty/mslc.html   .. So What   Using Ehrich's framework, the most relevant competing forces are - University of Auckland policy that there is to be no photography in the Museum, - Society and community - some internet users may find such images disturbing, shocking or culturally offensive. On the other hand, the student has created a shared education resource for the benefit of his c...
Post a Comment
Read more