Dr. Neal Learner Visits BGSU

Dr. Lerner is co-author of The Meaningful Writing Project: Learning, Teaching and Writing in Higher Education with Dr. Michele Eodice and Dr. Anne Ellen Geller.

Neal Lerner is professor of English at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is the director of the writing center and co-director of the undergraduate program in English. He teaches courses to undergraduate and graduate students on writing, literacy, teaching and tutoring writing, and creative nonfiction.

Dr. Lerner presented findings and insights from his multi-institutional study investigating the writing projects students find to be most meaningful in the morning presentation, "Learning from College Students' Meaningful Writing." According to the study, students' most meaningful writing experiences occur when a strong personal connection is apparent to the student and when the student has some degree of choice in how they approach a writing project.

In the afternoon, Dr. Lerner led a group discussion-based workshop, "Giving Your Syllabus a Meaningful Makeover," in which insights from his research on meaningful writing were integrated into the design of syllabi, assignment sequences, lesson plans, and assignment sheets. Participants discussed the strengths of their courses and assignments and considered ways to make them even more meaningful for students.