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Novel pedagogies.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

What happens in a genre cource when you leave your "generic" syllabus behind? This narrative delineates the use of unconventional methods in two novel course, calling for pedaagogy change in college classrooms.

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The challenges common to all literature courses, involving class size, time limitations, and student attitudes and learning styles, occur at a greater order of magnitude in the novel survey. Students expect novels to be fun reading, but instead often find them too lengthy, too antiquated in language, and too mystifying in reference. Teachers who construct novel courses that depart from the norm--in my case, by expecting students to take on more responsibility and exercise decision-making power about the shape and content of the course--raise eyebrows and generate problems even while creating valuable learning experiences.

Opening Up the Novel Survey

At The College of Saint Rose, The British Novel is a 300-level survey, which means it is geared toward majors. While it presumes a background in literature, it serves a range of students. We have a large transfer population; many are taking their first literature classes. I took this and high enrollment into account in my first attempt at unconventional pedagogy, and allowed limited student input--choice of an alternative text during the nineteenth-century section, for example. But one element proved to be more "radical" in students' eyes than I could have expected. They were to produce 20-25 typed pages of writing, divided and individually weighted as they chose, with a sizable portion requiring research.

My goal was for students to make thoughtful decisions about focus and form. In a single-genre course with a final essay exam, binding paper deadlines sometimes seem more about convenience than pedagogy, confining students to topic/novel choices dictated by due date rather than by personal research interests. I encouraged students to think carefully about the creative possibilities of an open schedule, and match their focus with the suitable mode and length of paper. Students choosing to do several papers were to hand in 6-10 pages by mid-October, while students choosing one long paper were to have made progress on a bibliography by then. In individual conferences at the end of October, students were to discuss their work and set remaining deadlines.

Considering the Results

In responding to this format, students fell into three basic groups. One group handled their freedom competently, choosing appropriate modes, planning writing schedules, and handing in solid work. Another, larger, group was less focused; these writers were not always successful in their experiments with modes, and, sometimes, were not particularly rigorous in their efforts. The third, fairly small group waffled, couldn't focus, kept changing plans and topics, and ultimately...

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