Abstract

A clustering technique developed to improve writing skills and previously used to facilitate thinking in classroom settings was used as a stimulus for class discussion. The technique involved presenting a relevant word at the beginning of each meeting of discussion sections of an introductory psychology class. Students wrote down any associations they had to the word, followed by a brief explanation. Each student told the class about what he or she had written. At the end of the discussion, students recorded things they did not say in class and summarized their reactions to the discussion. Benefits to instructors are discussed.

Beasiswa Australia Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) 2013

Program beasiswa luar negeri ke Australia dari Australian Development Scholarships atau disingkat ADS telah dibuka kembali untuk tahun ajaran 2013. Bagi Anda yang tertarik untuk melanjutkan studi ke Australia program studi S2 dan S3, sila baca info beasiswa berikut ini:

Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) are long term development awards administered by AusAID. ADS aim to contribute to the long term development needs of Australias partner countries in line with bilateral and regional agreements. They provide opportunities for people from developing countries to undertake full time undergraduate or postgraduate study at participating Australian universities and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions. Syarat Umum:

be an Indonesian citizen and not have permanent residence in Australia or New Zealand not be married or engaged to a person who is eligible to hold Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent resident status, at any stage of the application, selection, mobilisation processes or while on-scholarship in Australia satisfy Australian Government requirements for international student entry to Australia (health, character etc) not have obtained an academic qualification outside their home country in the 24 months preceding the application closing date, calculated from the date of arrival back in the home country not be applying for another long-term AusAID scholarship unless they have returned to their home country and resided there for twice the length of the total time that they were in Australia (for example, a previous AusAID Scholar who has been on AusAID

scholarship/s in Australia for five years will not be eligible to apply for another AusAID scholarship until they have been home for ten years) be applying to commence a new course of study and not be seeking support through ADS for a course already commenced in Australia. be able to take up the scholarship in the year for which it is offered be able to satisfy all requirements of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for an AusAID student visa and be able to satisfy the admission requirements of the Australian university at which the Scholarship is to be undertaken.

Pendaftaran beasiswa ADS 2013 telah dibuka sejak 12 Maret 2012 17 Agustus 2012 untuk pendaftar dari Indonesia. Anda yang berniat mengirimkan aplikasi, silakan pantau tata cara dan dokumen yang harus disiapkan via brosur resminya di sini atau Anda dapat mengirimkan email ke info@australiaawardsindo.or.id.
Examples and Observations:

"Clustering (sometimes also known as 'branching' or 'mapping') is a structured technique based on the same associative principles as brainstorming and listing. Clustering is distinct, however, because it involves a slightly more developed heuristic (Buzan & Buzan, 1993; Glenn et al., 2003; Sharples, 1999; Soven, 1999). Clustering procedures vary considerably, although the fundamental objective is to equip students with tools for arranging words, phrases, concepts, memories, and propositions triggered by a single stimulus (i.e., a piece of information, a topic, a provocative question, a metaphor, a visual image). As with other [invention] techniques . . ., clustering should first be modeled and practiced in class so students can eventually incorporate the tool into their own repertoire of invention and planning strategies." (Dana Ferris and John Hedgcock, Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice, 2nd ed. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005)

What instructions should you give to begin this prewriting process? I have found the following both appropriate and effective: 1. Tell students that they are going to use a tool that will enable them to write more easily and more powerfully, a tool similar to brainstorming.

2. Encircle a word on the board--for example, energy--and ask students, "What do you think of when you see that word?" Encourage all responses. Cluster these responses, radiating outward. When they have finished giving their responses, say, "See how many ideas there are floating around in your heads?" Now, if you cluster all by yourself, you will have a set of connections as unique to your own mind as a thumbprint is to your thumb.

3. Now ask students to cluster a second word for themselves. Before they begin, tell them that the clustering process should take no more than one or two minutes and that the paragraph they will write should take about eight minutes. Ask them to keep clustering until the "Aha!" shift, signaling that their mind is holding something they can shape into a whole. In writing, the only constraint is that they "come full circle": i.e., that they do not leave the writing unfinished. Some excellent words are afraid or try or help.

4. After they finish writing, ask students to give a title to what they have written that is suggestive of the whole. (Gabriele Lusser Rico, "Clustering: A Prewriting Process," in Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing As a Process, ed. by Carol B. Olson. Diane, 1996)

Mind-Mapping "Mind-mapping is a colorful and creative method of generating, organizing, and remembering ideas. To mind-map, write your topic in the center of a blank page within a visual representation of your topic, such as a giant musical note, a sailboat, or scuba gear. If no central image comes to mind, use a box, heart, circle, or other shape. Then use various colors of ink to color-code related ideas. From the central figure draw radiating lines like the rays of the sun or branches and roots of a tree. Then, as you think of parts of the subject you wish to discuss, jot down pictures, key words, or phrases on or near these lines. Also add examples and subparts using branching lines and more images and words. If you do not already have a central focus for your essay, watch for a key phrase or image as you complete your exploration." (Diana Hacker and Betty Renshaw, Writing With a Voice, 2nd ed. Scott, Foresman, 1989)

Also Known As: branching, mapping

Writing is usually considered as the most frustrating to master for the students who are learning English. This is also true for senior high school students. The 2004 English curriculum, the most recent curriculum used in schools in Indonesia, takes the genre approach. One the genres introduced in senior high school is analytical exposition. This particular genre requires its writer to be able to convince the audience about a case through the writing. Students often feel discouraged to write a genre of this kind. Prior to the implementation of the study, a preliminary study was conducted. The preliminary study, which was set at SMA NEGERI 8 Malang, was aimed at determining the senior high school students actual difficulties, especially in writing analytical exposition. The result of the preliminary study shows that the students of SMA NEGERI 8 Malang have difficulties in writing analytical exposition, particularly in terms of the content and organization. The result of the preliminary study also reveals one of the major problems the students have in writing is how to start writing. This fact encouraged the researcher to

focus on helping the students generate ideas. The present study focuses on implementing clustering technique to generate ideas for writing analytical exposition. The research problem is How can clustering technique improve the students ability in generating ideas for writing analytical expositions? This study is classroom action research covering one cycle which consists of four meetings conducted in a single classroom containing 30 students as the subjects of the study. The instruments used to collect the data are observation checklist, field notes, and a writing task. The findings of the study suggest that the appropriate procedures to help students generate ideas by means of clustering involve some strategies. First, at the planning stage, the teacher designed the lesson plans and instructional materials. Second, at the implementation stage, the teacher introduced the genre of analytical exposition. This activity required the teacher to provide a good sample of analytical exposition and explained the structure of it. Concerning the technique of clustering, the teacher needed to introduce it as a pre-writing activity and give practice to the students in generating ideas through clustering. In her teaching, the teacher (1) gave practice to the students on generating ideas through clustering for a target topic, (2) asked the students to brainstorm to generate ideas of the target topic, (3) gave a model of analytical exposition developed through clustering, (4) assigned the students to generate ideas of a topic individually, (5) assigned the students to work collaboratively in generating ideas, (6) assigned the students to develop the ideas generated through clustering into analytical iexposition, and (7) provided more practices in generating ideas through clustering and developing the ideas into analytical exposition. The findings of this study show that the students participation increased, and it was followed by the improvement of the students achievement in writing. The improvement can be seen from the increase of the students mean scores. Prior to the implementation of the action, the students mean score on content was 2.27. It increased to be 2.62 after the implementation of clustering technique in a single action. Meanwhile, the students mean score on organization also increases from 2.20 to 2.63. Based on the findings some recommendations are proposed. The classroom English teacher should consider applying the procedures developed in this study in the teaching of analytical exposition. The procedures developed in this study are also recommended to the English teachers who possibly find similar problem in helping students generate ideas when writing analytical exposition. Finally, other researchers are suggested to conduct further research related to conduct further research related to the use of clustering to improve the students abilities in writing other genres.

http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/clusteringterm.htm