Elizabeth Novotny is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture at Michigan Technological University. She teaches First-Year Composition and other writing courses, such as Advanced Composition and Technical and Professional Communication. She is also a Composition Graduate Assistant and assists the program director in delivering instruction in the graduate-level Composition Pedagogy and orientation for new instructors, as well as supporting curriculum development and administrative tasks. Elizabeth’s research interests include writing studies, pedagogy, rhetorical theory, and continental philosophy. For her dissertation, she is working on a project that examines the relationship between FYC student conceptions of rhetorical agency and their writing practice.
How does the next generation of students inspire you?
In our composition course at Michigan Tech, students research a topic of their choice throughout the semester. The variety of topics is amazing! Just last semester, I read about microtransactions in gaming, improving air traffic flow, the evolution of jazz music, factors impacting the processed food industry, linear infrastructure’s effect on wildlife, and much more. Students always keep me on my toes and remind me that there’s more to learn. I am constantly impressed by the questions they ask and the answers they find, and it’s inspiring to see them pursue their interests and gain confidence as researchers. My favorite part of teaching is being a genuinely interested and invested reader of student work.
How do you engage students in your course, whether f2f, online, or hybrid?
Too often, students think that struggling with writing means that they are bad at it or there is something wrong with them. At Michigan Tech, a STEM-focused institution, we have a lot of students who are hesitant about writing. To engage them, I focus on making my own writing process visible, especially messy works-in-progress. It is important to acknowledge that writing is not perfectible and that it is difficult for everyone, not just for beginner or novice writers. Students need to see me as a fellow writer who is engaged in the same kinds of activities that I am asking them to do. For example, I share critical feedback I’ve received on my own writing and talk about the writing or research projects I’m currently working on. I’ll share examples of pieces of my undergraduate work in comparison to more recent work to demonstrate my growth. Another strategy I will often use is completing an activity along with students and projecting my work on the board as I do it. These kinds of practices lead to a comfortable classroom environment where it is accepted and encouraged to struggle. As a class, we view a challenging writing or reading experience as evidence that we are ready to learn something new.
Elizabeth's Assignment That Works
Below is a brief synopsis of Elizabeth's assignment. For the full activity, see the Exploring Place assignment prompt.
The assignment I presented during Assignments that Work is a supplementary assignment that I created collaboratively with another PhD student in my program, Kendall Belopavlovich. This assignment asks students to reflect on their story of being in the Keweenaw (the area where Michigan Tech is located) and go to a new place of their choice. Students explore their chosen place, and while they’re there, write a reflection on how their experience of being in the Keweenaw has changed as a result of interacting with that place. Students have responded very positively to this assignment. Most often, students mention a newfound appreciation for the unique natural beauty of the area or observe cultural differences that come from living in a remote place. Many students also express that this assignment has helped them value exploration and curiosity about the places around them.
From my Assignments that Work presentation, I received valuable feedback from the other Bedford New Scholars that will help develop the assignment further. For example, I might have students complete a pre-reflection in a familiar place, which will allow them to reflect more intentionally about what changes they notice about themselves and about their writing when they go to a new place. I also got new ideas for incorporating multimodal elements into this assignment, such as asking students to make a map of how they moved through space and how they communicated there. I’m excited about making these updates moving forward!
