Research and Writing and Theses-Oh My! The Journey of a Collaboratively Taught Graduate Research and Writing Course

摘要

In the fall of 2000, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program at SUNY Plattsburgh added to its curriculum: MLS589 Graduate Research and Writing. This collaboratively designed course reviews research skills and strategies, examines writing style, and outlines the process for formal research proposals for graduate students. While the original collaboration and design process of this course are in itself remarkable, the continued growth and evolution of this course is the truly dynamic aspect of this collaboration. This article outlines the journey of this evolution, focusing on how continuing collaboration between an administrator, thesis advisor, and an instruction librarian is shaping the course. It takes a semester-by-semester look at the issues that came up and the solutions that were found and put into practice. These issues include: addressing the needs of distance learning students by moving to a Web-based format, rearranging the sequence of the course to facilitate the development of students' research topics and projects, and the revision of course assessment tools to monitor the changes made in the course. Through shared responsibility and collaborative processes, the course benefits and continues to evolve and improve.