Spring, 2024:
-Thesis Statements:
Thesis statements are one of the most important elements of successful student essays, especially in the Researched Argument genre, which is at the core of our portfolio. Over twenty-four years of teaching, I’ve added to my lesson on thesis statements countless times, the result of which is that what began as a fairly brief set of tips has become a gargantuan 12-page document with single spacing, narrow margins, and a very small font.
I believe this document has much helpful material, and evidence from the papers I’ve received suggests that many of my students have been able to use it to help them construct effective thesis statements. But in recent semesters, a number of sources (hearing students talk about their attitudes towards longer documents, remembering a presentation made by my PWR colleague Shyam Sharma which drew on his research relating to how students utilize longer and briefer course materials, and learning more about inclusive/accessible design from the six-week CELT Online Teaching Certificate course I completed in the Fall of 23) have caused me to question whether or not the lesson is as effective as it can be in its current, rather dense and long form.
Below, I’ve posted the original, lengthy version of that lesson on the left, with the new, far shorter version I’ve created in an attempt to streamline it considerably (from 12 pages to 1.5) on the right.
And after the two documents, I’ll talk about (1) some of what I tried to do in my revisions to the lesson as well as (2) when I plan to utilize the new document and (3) how I might assess its effectiveness once its been in use by my students.