Teaching English Academic Writing in a Global Online Course: Lessons From Reflective Practice.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Teaching English Academic Writing in a Global Online Course: Lessons From Reflective Practice.
Authors: Cotos, Elena1 (AUTHOR) ecotos@iastate.edu, Walton, Amy1 (AUTHOR) acwalton@iastate.edu, Davis, Sarah S.1 (AUTHOR) ssavage@iastate.edu
Source: Writing & Pedagogy. Jun2026, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p322-348. 27p.
Subject Terms: *Teacher development, *English language education, *Online education, *Student-centered learning, *Reflective learning, *Academic discourse, *Adult education, *Curriculum planning
Abstract: The Developing and Teaching Academic Writing (DATAW) Global Online Course (GOC) is a teacher professional development course for writing educators in diverse contexts. The DATAW GOC was designed to employ a flexible, learner-centered pedagogy that combines Backward Design principles, foundational concepts of academic writing, andragogical strategies, and sheltered English instruction standards to create optimal learning activities for a highly heterogeneous group of adult learners with different language skills and teaching experience. It also integrates modeling and scaffolding of teaching strategies, experiential learning tasks, project-based activities, and application of knowledge to GOC participants' teaching contexts and their students' needs. In this reflection article, we make connections between our DATAW course design decisions and our observations from course delivery. Teaching the GOC across 8 terms to 850 participants from 103 countries revealed significant variation in teaching contexts, class size, workload, pedagogical practices, educational systems, and English language proficiency. These insights guided our iterative revisions at the end of each term, which allowed for continued tailoring and improvement of materials and tasks in response to the contextual possibilities and inhibitors in participants' global contexts. By balancing theory and research-based best practices with participants' real-life needs, the DATAW GOC provided a flexible, responsive platform for educators to improve their teaching practices, ultimately cascading their pedagogical knowledge to positively impact academic writing instruction in a globalized educational landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Writing & Pedagogy is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 194419207
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Teaching English Academic Writing in a Global Online Course: Lessons From Reflective Practice.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cotos%2C+Elena%22">Cotos, Elena</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ecotos@iastate.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Walton%2C+Amy%22">Walton, Amy</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> acwalton@iastate.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Davis%2C+Sarah+S%2E%22">Davis, Sarah S.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ssavage@iastate.edu</i>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Writing+%26+Pedagogy%22">Writing & Pedagogy</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p322-348. 27p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+development%22">Teacher development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+language+education%22">English language education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Online+education%22">Online education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student-centered+learning%22">Student-centered learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reflective+learning%22">Reflective learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+discourse%22">Academic discourse</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+education%22">Adult education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Curriculum+planning%22">Curriculum planning</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The Developing and Teaching Academic Writing (DATAW) Global Online Course (GOC) is a teacher professional development course for writing educators in diverse contexts. The DATAW GOC was designed to employ a flexible, learner-centered pedagogy that combines Backward Design principles, foundational concepts of academic writing, andragogical strategies, and sheltered English instruction standards to create optimal learning activities for a highly heterogeneous group of adult learners with different language skills and teaching experience. It also integrates modeling and scaffolding of teaching strategies, experiential learning tasks, project-based activities, and application of knowledge to GOC participants' teaching contexts and their students' needs. In this reflection article, we make connections between our DATAW course design decisions and our observations from course delivery. Teaching the GOC across 8 terms to 850 participants from 103 countries revealed significant variation in teaching contexts, class size, workload, pedagogical practices, educational systems, and English language proficiency. These insights guided our iterative revisions at the end of each term, which allowed for continued tailoring and improvement of materials and tasks in response to the contextual possibilities and inhibitors in participants' global contexts. By balancing theory and research-based best practices with participants' real-life needs, the DATAW GOC provided a flexible, responsive platform for educators to improve their teaching practices, ultimately cascading their pedagogical knowledge to positively impact academic writing instruction in a globalized educational landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Writing & Pedagogy is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=194419207
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.3138/wap-2025-0017
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 27
        StartPage: 322
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Teacher development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: English language education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Online education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student-centered learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Reflective learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Academic discourse
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adult education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Curriculum planning
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Teaching English Academic Writing in a Global Online Course: Lessons From Reflective Practice.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Cotos, Elena
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Walton, Amy
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Davis, Sarah S.
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 17565839
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 16
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Writing & Pedagogy
              Type: main
ResultId 1