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Transcripts for Writing Center videos

Prewriting Demonstrations: Outlining

Last updated 8/29/2018

 

Audio: Guitar music plays in the background throughout the video.

Visual: The video opens to a completed outline and the title Outlining Demo. The full outline can be seen at the end of this transcript.

The following direction is given: Start with your paper’s thesis or topic at the top (or both!). The topic/thesis in the outline is highlighted.

Another direction is given: Start writing out your main ideas and filling in your ideas for those main ideas!

Arrows indicate the different levels of ideas in the outline hierarchy.

Another direction is given: You can also include quotes or paraphrases from sources, if you’d like. Just be sure to cite them!

Arrows show how the outline includes a quote with a full citation.

Another direction is given as the author scrolls through the outline: And continue!

Another direction is given: Once you’re done, each main idea will be a paragraph or a section of your paper (depending on scope).

A final direction is given: Then, make sure to use your outline to guide your writing!

 

Audio/Visual: The video’s music and visual fades out.

Example Outline Used in the Video

Topic: Service learning requirements in university programs.

Thesis: Service learning is a valuable asset for students in higher education programs, but faculty should ensure it is incorporated authentically.

  1. Service learning helps expand students' classroom learning
    1. Students see the topic from a new angle
      1. “The students who completed a service learning component as part of their program reported better ability to apply the theory they were learning in the classroom to their first jobs once they graduated” (Swaso, 2016, p. 76).
      2. Students’ pre-conceived notions might also be challenged by having to work within the field in real-life situations.
    2. Students get to engage with the community and people they might not otherwise know
      1. Students can also better explore the community around them, helping them to identify with the city where they are going to school (if they aren’t from that city).
      2. Students may also be taken out of their comfort zone.
  2. Service learning should also be used in online classrooms
    1. Different considerations for online learning is needed.
      1. “Faculty report difficulties transferring service learning for a traditional classroom to an online classroom, as students in online classrooms are often busier and more geographically diverse” (Chapnick, 2015, p. 6).
      2. There can’t be a one-to-one transfer from the classroom to online classroom; some adjustments have to be made (a different approach).
    2. Students could work collaboratively on the same service learning or for the same organization online
      1. For example, I read about a teacher of an editing class where all the students became Wikipedia editors and worked together on a Wikipedia page (Murphy, 2016, p. 18).
    3. Students could also do service learning in their own communities, then bring back what they learn to the classroom.
      1. This seems like it’d be helpful in that students can learn about other students’ communities.
      2. Students could go into different organizations and in different contexts this way, making the experience even richer.
  3. Service learning needs to be authentic and have some structure
    1. Should incorporate reflection
      1. Without reflection, students may not recognize the value of the service learning.
      2. Faculty should guide this reflection to help students engage (Swaso, 2016, p. 81).
    2. Should have a project or end result; could provide students options about what end project they do
      1. Different ideas: End presentation; end product for the organization/business they work with; paper reflecting on their experience; video or multimedia piece.
      2. Different options will ensure to engage students and allow them to cater their end project to their interests and service learning project.
      3. This will also help faculty grade the service learning.
    3. The service learning has to be clearly and authentically connected with the program (not random or unrelated).
      1. Students should choose their service learning.
      2. But, faculty should guide their service learning too.