The Pathways 2 textbook is designed to build upon students’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills at a post-secondary level. The exercises and lessons in this book help to reinforce key concepts that are important for academic success at the university level and beyond. Some of the key skills and ideas promoted in Pathways 2 include:
Close reading of both fiction and non-fiction texts. Students learn techniques for carefully analyzing the meanings, arguments, and implications in the written works they encounter. This includes considering word choices, rhetorical devices, organizational structures, evidence used, intended audiences and purposes of texts. Exercises guide students to look beneath surface level understandings and draw out deeper analyses and interpretations.
Academic writing. From thesis statements to outlines to drafts and revisions, Pathways 2 provides scaffolding to help students develop strong academic writing abilities. It emphasizes structuring arguments logically and coherently, using appropriate style and vocabulary for different audiences and purposes, integrating and citing outside evidence to support ideas, and fine-tuning writing through feedback and editing. Extended writing assignments allow students to practice these skills on substantial works.
Research skills. The book introduces students to the research writing process. It orients them to developing focused research questions, searching efficiently and evaluating the credibility of sources, taking notes, avoiding plagiarism, and presenting findings in written work. Students learn to discuss, compare and synthesize multiple perspectives on a topic.
Critical thinking. Exercises are designed to get students actively questioning assumptions, identifying strengths and weaknesses of arguments, weighing evidence fairly, recognizing biases, developing independent evaluations, and changing perspectives when presented with valid counter-examples or counter-arguments. Students are pushed to think for themselves and form well-reasoned opinions rather than passively accepting information.
Ethical reasoning. Some assignments explore how to apply principles of honesty, fairness, and social responsibility when researching, evaluating sources, weighing different viewpoints, and developing one’s own arguments. Students consider ethical dimensions of topics and how to conduct discussions and present information in a manner that is inclusive and respects diverse communities.
Multimodal/visual literacy. As the modes of communication have expanded beyond solely written texts, Pathways 2 introduces principles of visual design, how to interpret and analyze data visualizations, infographics, diagrams and other non-text elements. Students learn to effectively incorporate and properly cite visual materials into their own presentations and writings.
Self-assessment and metacognition. Built into lessons are opportunities for self-reflection on reading comprehension, strengths and weaknesses in writing, research processes used, ability to think critically about issues. Journals, surveys and individual/group discussions encourage students to think about how they learn and what strategies are most effective for themselves. This fosters habits of lifelong learning.
Collaboration. Recognizing that knowledge development occurs dialogically, the text provides structured occasions for peer review, small group activities, joint projects, and class discussions to share insights. Students hone skills in respectful exchange of ideas, integrating feedback, compromise, consensus building, and division of labor – all valuable for future academic and workplace settings.
Disciplinary literacy. The overarching goal is not just to teach generic “skills” but to enact discipline-specific habits that will serve students within their chosen fields of study. Readings and assignments are chosen to reflect authentic issues and methodologies from a range of subject domains. Students connect what they learn to their own academic and career aspirations.
Pathways 2 attempts to cover the wide range of foundational abilities needed for collegiate success in line with what research has shown to define strong writers, critical thinkers and life-long learners. It presents a carefully-sequenced curriculum that gradually builds more advanced competencies upon previous understandings. Formative and summative assessments provide opportunities for application, practice, feedback, and continual improvement. If implemented properly, the objectives, strategies, and scaffolded nature of the content within Pathways 2 could well prepare students to meet the multifaceted intellectual demands they will face beyond the classroom.
Andrew Stroud