Intellectual Creativity in First-Year Composition Classes: Building a Case for the Multigenre Research Project

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Todays first year composition classrooms are largely reflective of the writing pedagogy that has been used for the last 200 years. Unfortunately, this methodology does not meet the research or writing needs of todays college and university students. Burns and MacBride were determined to make their first year composition courses more relevant to their students and sought a way to revolutionize their syllabus to do so. Building on the work of Tom Romono, Nancy Mack, Camille Allen, Sirpa Grierson, Melinda Putz (and others), Burns and MacBride set out to determine if a multigenre research project could better teach their students research, writing, and critical thinking skills than a traditional research-based essay. The findings of their semester-long study indicated that not only does a MGRP teach these skills, but it far surpasses a traditional essay in teaching engagement, intellectual creativity, and transferable writing skills. Burns and MacBride demonstrate two different ways to integrate a multigenre research project into the college composition classroom.

Reviews

This book has helped me reconnect with what it means to go beyond the multigenre project and into a mindset where growing writers out of authentic experiences helps them find their best writing selves. It is a testament to what happens when we practice what we know is true: extending choice, authenticity, and purpose is extending a promise to our students that we care. -- Sarah Brown Wessling, National Teacher of the Year 2010
Michael MacBride and Heidi Burns have created a helpful book for college teachers who are interested in trying multigenre writing in an introductory course. The first chapter provides a rationale for multigenre that is a solid foundation for planning a unit or a whole course. As a useful teaching resource, Intellectual Creativity in First-Year Composition Classes offers readers flexible ideas for implementation rather than one lock-step method. My favorite parts of this book are the plug-in activities that help students learn about important concepts through participation and reflection. -- Nancy Mack, Professor of English, Wright State University
Intellectual Creativity in First-Year Composition will give you a solid start to your exploration of multigenre research writing as a way to teach students to think critically, research soundly, and write with intellect, imagination, and passion. Heidi Wall Burns and Michael MacBride write with insight and authority that come with solid research and plenty of experience teaching students to write in multiple genres. Their writing is clear, their teaching tips helpful, and their students voices illustrative. Based on my 28 years teaching high school and college students to write with multiple genres, I believe youll step back in amazement at the quality, range, and depth of your students multigenre research papers. Burns and MacBride will get you started. -- Tom Romano, author of Fearless Writing: Multigenre to Motivate and Inspire (2014) and Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers (2000)
Critical thinking and research aptitude: two necessary skills for the study of history, but whose ubiquitous absence inhibits college students ability to grasp and interpret complex historical materials. Given the current emphasis on outcome-based education, the multigenre research project offers a sensible mechanism for teaching and assessing these skills from matriculation forward. By demonstrating the projects pedagogical savvy and explaining the practicalities of its implementation, Burns and MacBrides Intellectual Creativity in First-Year Composition Classes offer a clear solution to a well-known problem that will benefit instructors and students in a variety of disciplines and settings. -- John D. Hosler, Associate Professor of History, Morgan State University

Author Bio

Heidi Wall Burns has over 15 years of experience teaching introductory courses in first year composition, literature, and speech. She has an M.A. in English from Iowa State University. Michael MacBride received his Ph.D. in English from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 2014, his M.A. in Literature from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and his B.S. in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. He teaches English, Literature, and Humanities courses.