Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Transfer And The Commodification Of Practice., Kenneth Andrew Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation engages in a close reading of the research in composition on transfer, a concept that refers to how the practices learned in one situation influence what a person can do in a future situation. In the studies that have appeared over the last two decades, the results have indicated that not much transfers between writing courses and future contexts, whether they be disciplinary courses or professional workplaces. Yet, despite the increasing prominence of transfer research, little time has been spent discussing the uses and limitations of the concept. To better understand its growing popularity among researchers, I examine …

Impact Of A Grade Contract Model In A College Composition Course: A Multiple Case Study, Nayelee Villanueva

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Due to the complex nature of assessment in critical pedagogy practices, continued research is necessary in order to investigate the constantly evolving nature of education and the way we come to know how people learn. To research assessment in the critical classroom requires both instructor and students. This qualitative multiple case study investigated impacts of a grading contract as a form of assessment on student writing in a Basic Writing composition course. This study examined the impacts of a grade contract on students' writing, motivation for writing, revision practices, authorship and expectations of a Basic Writing composition course. Through a …

"We Can't Reclaim What We Don't Understand": Teachers' Perceptions Of Advocacy And Voice In A Rural Institute Of The National Writing Project, James Anthony Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines teachers' perceptions of advocacy and voice in a summer institute of the National Writing Project. The Rural Advocacy Institute, a first-time initiative through the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project, offered three weeks of professional development centered on rural education and teaching English language arts in rural public schools. The study is a grounded theory study; grounded theory forces the researcher to stay "close to the data," compare data sets, and use reflective writing to identify conceptual categories in the data. Data collection in the study included semi-structured interviews with six K-12 teachers participating in the Institute and twenty-seven …

Unraveling Cultural Knots: Exploring Narratives Of Intercultural Marriages Between Mexicans And Americans, Adrianna Renata Valenzuela

Theses and Dissertations

Narratives function to help us make decisions about what we do in our lives and in the lives of others. This study focuses on the intercultural marriages of three women who share Mexican and American cultures. Being a wife of a native Mexican, I proceed to examine the stories of how these three women were able to preserve or merge their cultural identity in the marriage and how they coped with the differences based on the following themes: culture, religion, and traditions. I composed three narratives based on the experiences of these women and incorporated an analysis of my findings …

Visual Fantasy Themes In The Ebony Fashion Fair (1963-1965): An Interdisciplinary Study, Brittany Estoria Blanton

Theses and Dissertations

Ernest G. Bormann's fantasy theme criticism and the media studies analysis were used to analyze and critique images from the Ebony Fashion Fair from 1963 - 1965. The importance of this fashion show was revealed during a time when the Civil Rights Movement was at its climax. The results concluded that John H. Johnson and Eunice Johnson, founders of Ebony magazine and the , challenged the prevailing social situation with their actions by showcasing positive images and experiences in Black and European communities.

"You Can't Be Creative Anymore": Students Reflect On The Lingering Effects Of The Five-Paragraph Essay, Jennifer P. Gray

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The five-paragraph essay continues to make headlines in composition and pedagogy journals and on teacher listservs. This long-cherished genre has been touted for teaching the basics to writers in college, and teachers often claim that it is the best foundation for solid essay writing. In contrast, there are numerous five-paragraph essay critics who claim that the essay is a “school-created thing” that has no real-world value and persists due to an enshrinement in textbooks as preparation for objective standardized testing. Regardless of the debate, one thing remains: there is little research on the essay from the students’ perspective. This essay …

Three Heuristics For Writing And Revising Qualitative Research Articles In English Education, Ann M. Lawrence

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this essay, I present three heuristics for writing and revising qualitative research articles in English education: “PAGE” (Purpose, Audience, Genre, Engagement), “Problem Posing, Problem Addressing, Problem Posing,” and “The Three INs” (INtroduction, INsertion, INterpretation). In so doing, I describe the rhetorical functions and conventional structure of all of the major sections of qualitative research articles, and show how the problem for study brings the rhetorical “jobs” of each section into purposive relationship with those of the other sections. Together, the three curricular resources that I offer in this essay prompt writers to connect general rhetorical concerns with specific writing …

A “Great Balancing Act:” Becoming Dexterous And Deft With New Literacies Pedagogy, Jill Mcclay, Shelley Stagg Peterson, Christine Portier

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In response to recent mandates in literacy curricula, literacy teachers must integrate Web 2.0 and new literacies perspectives into their writing instruction. Such transitions in their pedagogy, however, are often accomplished without adequate support or opportunities for professional development. How do teachers approach the difficult task of changing their perspectives to take new literacies practices into account? This article traces the learning and pedagogical practices of five teachers who worked with the authors in a dual-sited action research study (one in a large urban district, one in a small rural district) for more than two years. We present two themes …

Learning To Develop A Culturally Relevant Approach To 21st Century Writing Instruction, Detra Price-Dennis, Molly Trinh Wiebe, Michelle Fowler-Amato

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In a position statement, Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing (2004), NCTE outlines eleven broad principles to serve as a guide for teaching language arts. Among the key ideas in this document is the call for language arts teacher educators to consider how literacy courses can create opportunities for pre-service teachers to account for the multifaceted and multimodal world of literacy with students in K-12 settings. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to learn from the experience of one pre-service teacher during his language arts methods course. Drawing on a subset of data from two, our research team …

Asking And Understanding Questions: An Inquiry-Based Framework For Writing Teacher Development, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Teachers develop when they critically examine the questions they ask about their work because questions make pedagogical beliefs visible and available for critical reflection and revision. In a standards-based educational climate—a time when writing becomes a set of measurable skills rather than a complex social practice—teachers may feel that a critical examination of their questions is (at best) a luxury or (at worst) a distraction to work they need to accomplish. Therefore, writing teacher educators may find it increasingly challenging to help teachers engage in reflexive inquiry. This essay describes a Deweyian-informed framework that shows how addressing inquiries and critically …

Co-Planning And Co-Teaching In A Summer Writing Institute: A Formative Experiment, Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Janine Nieroda, Bryan Ripley Crandall

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This paper reports findings from a two-year formative experiment (Reinking & Bradley, 2008) investigating a summer writing institute for students entering ninth grade at an urban high school. The three-week program was staffed by both university researchers and teachers. In contrast to traditional summer school, it was intended as enrichment, not remediation, for a heterogeneous group of students, and a learning experience, not just a teaching opportunity, for practitioners. The pedagogical goals of the intervention were two-fold: 1) increase students’ writing engagement and skill, and 2) improve teachers’ capacity to teach writing to diverse student populations. Findings focused on co-teaching …

Navigating Collaborative Teaching Waters: Professors Go Back And Pre-Service Teachers Move Forward To Embody The Promise Of Story, Jill Adams, Kathleen Deakin, Gloria Eastman, Jay Arellano, Andrea Nieto, Eliza Spencer, Brianne Barber

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

A group of English education professors and secondary English education collaboratively planned a 3-week class for future high school freshmen in an academic summer camp held on our campus. Reflections of lessons learned from a variety of perspectives are shared.

Introduction: Building Bridges In Writing Teacher Education, Jonathan Bush, Erinn Bentley

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This introduction discusses the editors' decision to support publications in both APA and MLA formats and also provides contextual introductions for all articles.

Please Help Your Teachers Play Hookey With Us, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Posting about the 2014 National Council of Teachers of English annual convention and why it's good for both teachers and students from Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care - a blog advocating for authentic writing instruction.

http://writerswhocare.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/please-help-your-teachers-play-hookey-with-us/

Forum: Teacher-Writers: Then, Now, And Next, Anne Elrod Whitney, Troy Hicks, Leah A. Zuidema, James E. Fredricksen, Robert P. Yagelski

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In this article, the authors reflect upon “the teacher as writer” and describe how they see this concept and movement developing. They articulate a view of the teacher-writer as empowered advocate. Using examples from their scholarship, they illustrate how this powerful idea can transform research conducted about and with teachers. Finally, they draw attention to the potential of the teacher-writer stance as a means of resistance to current reform efforts that disempower teachers.

Crime Control, Due Process, & Evidentiary Exclusion: When Exceptions Become The Rule, Elizabeth H. Kaylor

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

This paper uses the dichotomy between Herbert Packer’s (1968) two models of criminal justice advocacy – “crime control” and “due process” – as a rhetorical paradigm for understanding policy debate about the exclusion of relevant evidence at trial. Understanding the opposition between crime control and due process advocates as a rhetorical controversy, in which commonly-used ideographs camouflage dramatically different constructions of the concepts at stake, helps to illuminate the way each side mobilizes public support for their narrative of doing . While both the exclusionary rule (which prohibits the use of illegally-obtained evidence in criminal cases) and the “fruit of …

Reduction Vs. Expansion: The Conflicting Projects Of Kenneth Burke And Michel Foucault, Michael David Measel

Theses and Dissertations

This project is an intertextual study of the theoretical projects of Kenneth Burke and Michel Foucault. It outlines their relationship in terms of points of cohesion and points of departure in their works. The similarities and differences between the projects of Burke and Foucault is described in terms of the relationship between language, knowledge, power, and society, then described in terms of the dichotomy of Reduction and Expansion. This dichotomy gives us a starting point from which to outline the commonalities and differences between these authors' projects. It also gives us a tool for other types of investigations concerning language …

The Legacy Of Alexander Bain, Stephen Lindsay Satterfield

Theses and Dissertations

Alexander Bain's key works are reviewed once again from a rhetorical and historical perspective. Bain was a Scottish empiricist who lived during the Industrial Revolution and contributed to rhetoric, psychology, education, and logic. Bain's emphasis on contiguity, modes of discourse, and grammar are explained. A brief Bain biography is provided along with Bain's interactions with notable friends. Researching Bain again from an interdisciplinary perspective is undertaken to avoid the usual problems with simply repeating prior academic findings and set opinions. However, the way in which Bain was accepted and then discredited is also discussed.

Makers: Technical Communication In Post-Industrial Participatory Communities, John Timothy Sherrill

Open Access Theses

In the past few decades, web technologies and increasingly accessible digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printers and laser cutters have made it easier for individuals and communities to create complex material objects at home. As a result, communities of individuals who make things outside formal institutions, known as maker communities, have combined traditional crafts and technical knowledge with digital tools and web technologies in new ways. This thesis analyzes maker communities as post-industrial participatory design communities and examines them as participatory spaces where technical communication occurs between individuals with varying levels of expertise and sometimes drastically different knowledges. Ultimately, …

Reimagining Relationships Between High School And College In The Wonderful World Of Writing Centers, Tammy Conard-Salvo, Richard Severe, Bridget Carey, Collin Baker

Purdue Writing Lab/Purdue OWL Presentations

This panel presentation given at the 2014 International Writing Centers Assocation (IWCA) conference shows two ways that high school and college writing centers can intersect. The first presentation describes a partnership between a college and high school to form a “sister writing center.” The second presentation addresses shifting tutor identities when high school tutors go onto college. Both presentations identify direct and indirect relationships between high school and college writing centers, and attendees will be invited to share ideas about collaborating with high schools.