Collaborative writing
Success collaborative writing involves a division of labor that apportions particular tasks to those with particular strengths: drafting, providing feedback, editing, sourcing, (reorganizing), optimizing for tone or house style, etc.
[6] Other theories of collaborative writing propose a more flexible understanding of the workflow that accounts for varying contribution levels depending on the expertise, interest, and role of participants.
[7] In rhetoric, composition, and writing studies, scholars have demonstrated how collaborative learning in U.S. contexts has been informed by John Dewey's progressivism in the early twentieth century.
In 2012, Bill Tomlinson and colleagues provided the first extensive discussion of the experiential aspects of large-scale collaborative research by documenting the collaborative development process of an academic paper written by a collective of thirty authors; their work identifies key tools and techniques that would be necessary or useful to the writing process, and to discover, negotiate, and document issues in massively authored scholarship.
[14] In 2016, Researchers Joy Robinson, Lisa Dusenberry, and Lawrence M. Halcyon conducted a case study investigating the productivity of a team of writers who utilized the practice of interlaced collaborative writing and found that the team was able to produce a published article, a two-year grant proposal, a digital and physical poster, a midterm research report, and conference presentation over the course of three years.
[16] Another motive for using collaborative writing is to increase the quality of the completed project by combining the expertise of multiple individuals and for allowing feedback from diverse perspectives.
Instructors may utilize this technique to create more student-centered and collaborative learning environments, or they may use it themselves to cross-collaborate with other academics to produce publishable works.
[17] Linguist Neomy Storch, in a 2005 Australian study, discovered that reflections pertaining to collaborative writing in regards to second language learners in the classroom were overwhelmingly positive.
The two students who were stark opponents of collaborative writing revealed that it was hard to concentrate on their work and they were embarrassed by their supposedly poor English skills.
While many of the issues resulted from miscommunication, the study found that some nurse consultants resisted change in terms of altering their writing style to fit the understanding or standards of the attorneys.
[18] Obstacles to collaborative work include a writers' inability to find time to meet with the rest of the group, personal preferences for organization and writing process, and a fear of being criticized.
A study conducted by Stephen Bremner, an English professor at the City University of Hong Kong, investigated eight business communication textbooks to test the depth in which they provided students with a knowledge of collaborative writing in the workplace and how to execute those processes.
While much of the issues resulted from miscommunication, the article claimed that some nurse consultants resisted change in terms of altering their writing style to fit the understanding or standards of the attorneys.
One of these advantages of collaboration in writing is that it frequently leads to a deeper and more comprehensive examination of the topic or subject matter under consideration due to these diverse perspectives.
Students cannot be expected to achieve a satisfactory outcome in a collaborative writing project without a strong foundational understanding of the subject matter.
[25] A strong foundation might involve defining the writing's purpose, identifying the intended audience, conducting thorough research on the topic, and structuring and organizing thoughts and concepts.
Given adequate resources and education, the objective is for students to proficiently engage in writing tasks and feel at ease with collaborative efforts.
