Education Commons^™

Generation(Al) Matters: Story, Lens, And Tone, Louise Weatherbee Phelps

English Faculty Publications

This essay tells a story of how “generation” came to matter in rhetoric and composition/writing studies; analyzes and advocates for “generation” as a lens through which to examine disciplinary studies and activities; and considers how we can productively engage in generational relations between individuals and groups. It adopts a framework of “hospitality” (adapted from Richard and Janis Haswell) to develop a concept of “cross-generational relations” as an aspirational category. An ethic of hospitality is proposed to facilitate respectful, productive relations among generational groups, which recognize and enact interdependence but allow for a wide range of stances and strategies of interaction …

Language Revitalisation In Gaelic Scotland: Linguistic Practice And Ideology, Woloyat Tabasum Niroo

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Through their native languages, certain groups of people claim political, social, geographical, and ethnic identity and a legal base for their existence. Colonialism, however, has vanished minority spoken languages in many parts of the world. Additionally, despite claims of a “global village,” the advent of internationalization has further isolated indigenous languages in some parts of the world. Revitalizing and preventing those languages from dwindling from their spoken communities is crucial for scholars of linguistics, sociology, cultural studies, and education. Dunmore, in the book Language Revitalisation in Gaelic Scotland: Linguistic Practice and Ideology, offers profound perspectives on preventing the potential …

I Told You That To Tell You This: Metagaming And Metacognition In The Hybrid Classroom, Marc A. Ouellette

English Faculty Publications

This paper theorizes the use of play and gamified methods to foster metacognition, or strategies for learning and learning about learning, in online graduate instruction. In the process, it calls into question the determinism of “serious” games as being the only means of facilitating metacognition. Ultimately, by adopting metagame approaches—that is, approaches based on0 goals and achievements that are external to the game and/or are developed by the players themselves—metacognition can and does occur because students participate in the development of the rewards. Moreover, any metagame feature ultimately becomes a commentary so that an approach based on metagaming offers its …

Global Language Variation In Online Writing Instructional Spaces: English As A Lingua Franca Among Global Participants In A Massive Open Online Course, Angela May Dadak

English Theses & Dissertations

Two vectors of the internationalization of US higher education—online courses and student diversity—intersect at a point where a broad mix of culturally and linguistically diverse students enroll in online courses, including writing courses. This study applies an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) lens to examine language in an online writing environment in order to understand how the participants use their linguistic resources to communicate in English across varieties and around the world. This study employs discourse analysis to two discussion forums from a US-based composition MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). More than three quarters of the MOOC participants came …

New Possibilities For Field Experiences: Learning In Practice In A University Writing Center, Michelle Fowler-Amato

English Faculty Publications

In this article, I discuss an initiative to support preservice and practicing English language arts teachers in their growth as teachers of writers through a field experience in a university writing center. In addition, I highlight how I modified these plans when our campus transitioned to online teaching and learning in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Demonstrating how teachers grew, despite the challenges we faced, I argue the importance of teacher educators considering new possibilities for field-based teaching learning, particularly during a time in which preservice teachers may have limited access to learning in practice in K-12 schools.

Introduction: The Politics, Praxis, And Performativity Of Teacher Neutrality, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Full Disclosure / Now What?, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

I Had To Do The Reading: A Phenomenological Case Study Of College English Students, Jennifer Eleanor Frank

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purposes of this qualitative phenomenological case study were to investigate multiple student experiences in a general elective introduction to literature course when music was added as an autonomously structured assignment. Music and song lyrics are no strangers to the classroom setting, but there is a gap in the literature examining the space where students can create meaningful links between music they enjoy and assigned course readings in college English. Informed by social constructivism and English studies theories this study was designed to investigate any impact that autonomously driven music-link assignments may have on students. The structured assignments were called …

Lexical Complexity Of Academic Presentations: Similarities Despite Situational Differences, Alla Zareva

English Faculty Publications

The present study examined the lexical complexity profiles of academic presentations of three groups of university students– native English speaking, English as a second language, and English as a lingua franca users. It adopted a notion of lexical complexity which includes lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication as main dimensions of the framework. The study aimed at finding out how the three academically similar groups of presenters compared on their lexical complexity choices, what the lexical complexity profiles of high quality students’ academic presentations looked like, and whether we can identify variables that contribute to the overall lexical complexity …

The Public Fallout Of The Humanities Crisis: Critiquing The Public Turn In Rhetoric And Composition Studies, Mary Beth Pennington, Tonya Ritola, Belinda Walzer

English Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

RECENTLY, KENTUCKY GOVERNOR Matt Bevin stated unequivocally that college students majoring in electrical engineering were more deserving of state funding than those majoring in French literature (Cohen). In a primary debate for the election of 2016, Republican presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio cautioned philosophy majors that they would be better off learning how to weld (Rappeport), and within the last two years, the Obama administration proposed that we begin ranking US colleges and universities on earnings after graduation—a proposal that rankled colleges and universities and sent humanities scholars into an even deeper tailspin (Shear).

Scientific Literacy Matters: Using Literature To Meet Next Generation Science Standards And 21st Century Skills, Cynthia Tomovic, Sueanne Mckinney, Clair Berube

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Scientific literacy matters. It matters because it is vitally important to the education and development of America’s children, tomorrow's workforce, and the keepers of our future. If the future of American individual decision making, engagement in civic and cultural affairs, and valuable contributions to economic development is to be protected, it is critical that American students become more scientifically literate than they are today. Today, most Americans, including students, are considered scientifically illiterate. Recognizing the need to develop and enhance scientific literacy (also known as science literacy), science educators have worked diligently at developing new science standards, new approaches to …

Fostering Habits Of Mind: A Framework For Reading Historical Nonfiction Illustrated By The Case Of Hitler Youth, Kaavonia Hinton, Yonghee Suh, Maria O'Hearn, Lourdes Colón-Brown

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A disciplinary literacy approach encourages students to engage with nonfiction in a way that allows them to consider discipline-specific tasks associated with understanding the past and exploring the world around them. In this article, we offer a three-part framework ELA and social studies teachers can use when fostering students' responses to historical nonfiction and encouraging investigations of the past. This article introduces each part of the framework, using Hitler Youth (2005) by Susan Bartoletti. We discuss Hitler Youth in two ways. We first illustrate how Bartoletti used the three habits of mind in her writing and then list ways in …

Historical Fiction In English And Social Studies Classrooms: Is It A Natural Marriage?, Kaavonia Hinton, Yonghee Suh, Lourdes Colón-Brown, Maria O'Hearn

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) The authors report outcomes of a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort through a study group developed to make connections across content areas (English and history/social studies) and grade levels (middle school, high school, and college).

Shannon Hitchcock: A New Voice In Historical Fiction, Kaavonia Hinton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Low-Stakes, Reflective Writing: Moving Students Into Their Professional Fields, Joyce Neff, Garrett J. Mcauliffe, Carl Whithaus, Nial P. Quinlan

English Faculty Publications

This study examines low-stakes, written commentaries from a graduate counseling course to better understand the role writing plays in the transition from being a student to becoming a professional practitioner. The cross disciplinary research team used methods from Grounded Theory to analyze 60 commentaries and found that: (1) low-stakes, reflective writing revealed changes in self-awareness from Situational Self-Knowledge to Pattern Self-Knowledge (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985); (2) low-stakes writing provided evidence of students connecting personally to learning and then connecting learning to professional practice; and (3) low-stakes writing encouraged the instructor to make mid-course adjustments to his teaching methods. This study …

Liminal Practice In A Maturing Writing Department, Louise Wetherbee Phelps

English Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph]

In Spring 2011 I was awarded a Fulbright Specialist Grant to "consult, collaborate, and inform" on the future of the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg, located in the city of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications department (hereafter, RWC) was a pioneer in writing instruction in Canada, where it became the first unit to establish itself independently as a department with a full-‐time faculty committed to both teaching and scholarship in writing and rhetoric. It remains a rare phenomenon on the Canadian higher education scene, where studies …

Sharon M. Draper: Reaching Reluctant Readers, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Composing Identity In Online Instructional Contexts, Kevin Eric Depew

English Faculty Publications

As writing instruction moves from the defined spatial and temporal parameters of the traditional classroom to various degrees of online interaction—from explanatory e-mails to courseware mediated distance education—instructors have had to reconceptualize how they identify themselves to their student audience. While many instructors have tried to translate their face-to-face strategies to the digital medium with disparate degrees of success, others understand the different parameters digital media offer and see new opportunities for literally composing their instructional identity. This contribution will examine the strategies instructors have used to compose their identities with computer-mediated communications and propose suggestions for negotiating this process.

Angela Johnson: Award-Winning Novels And The Search For Self, Kaavonia M. Hinton-Johnson, Angela Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

It was over a decade ago when Rudine Sims Bishop (1992) prophetically dubbed Angela Johnson as possibly one of "the most prominent AfricanAmerican literary artists of the next generation" (616). At the time she had four picture books to her credit, but the following year she would publish her debut young adult novel, Toning the Sweep. From there, a number of other award-winners would follow and the total of young adult books would increase to eleven and counting. To date, Johnson has three Coretta Scott King Awards, a Michael L. Printz award, and the "Genius Grant" on her list of …

Language Use And The Oral Tradition In Aaya (African American Young Adult) Literature, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In elementary school my favorite teachers taught me that the language used in my home was incorrect, incoherent, and inappropriate. My second grade teacher Ms. Hull, a tall, thin, dark-skinned woman, stands out among the others. I can still see her hovering over us. “Was!” Ms. Hull shouted, “not wuz. Your tongue is lazy.” “You be what?” she’d ask in disgust with one hand on her hip. When this happened, I was sure to get yelled at and lectured. To avoid such humiliation, I quickly learned to, as we said in my neighborhood, “talk proper.” Shame nagged at …

Institutional Invention: (How) Is It Possible?, Louise Wetherbee Phelps

English Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In this chapter I want to explore several broad questions with respect to higher education: Is institutional invention possible? What are the conditions that enable it, and how can they be created and sustained? What are the obstacles to institutional invention? How can academic leadership foster institutional invention?