Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons^™

Four Lessons To Build Upon: A Study Of Postsecondary Composition Classroom Curriculum, Tucker D. Nielsen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Soft skills in technical professions may be valued by employers, but post-secondary students engage with a dichotomy arguing against the blend of soft and hard skills. This study utilized activities with LEGO® bricks to determine how plausible kinesthetic learning methods are within university composition classes. Four in-class activities based on the class’s four core assignments were spread across the Spring 2024 semester at Michigan Technological university. Through written reflections, lists, posters, and photos of students’ builds, students practiced and demonstrated engagement with identified composition and critical thinking skills.

Two criteria (Audience Expectations and Genre Expectations, were not demonstrated as clearly …

Critiquing Antipatterns In Novice Code, Leo C. Ureel Ii

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Students in introductory computer science courses, are learning to program. Indeed, most students perceive that learning to code is the central topic explored in the courses. Students spend an enormous amount of time struggling to learn the syntax and understand semantics of a particular language. Instructors spend a similar amount of time reading student code and explaining the meaning of the cryptic error messages displayed by compilers. Messages provided by compilers are intended to give feedback on the adherence of one’s code to the language specification and conventions. Unfortunately, these message are geared towards experts who have a clear understanding …

Invitational Rhetoric: An Engaged Pedagogy For Technical Communication, Linford Odartey Lamptey

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Many scholars have advocated a breakdown of teachers' authority while agitating for students’ voice and freedom in the classroom. They have proposed several theories to this effect. In this paper, I reflect on how principles of invitational rhetoric, engaged pedagogy and critical pedagogy operate in teaching a technical communicating class. It is to find out how these tend to support or otherwise students’ voices, engagement and agency. To reflect, I adopted and adapted the principles of invitational rhetoric, engaged, and critical pedagogy to topics in technical communication. My reflections reveal that the successful applications of theories cannot be guaranteed. We …

Articulating Digital Archival Practice Within Writing Program Administration: A Theoretical Framework, Amanda Girard

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Throughout Writing Program Administration scholarship there has been a clear call for archivization and archival work. This dissertation project takes an interdisciplinary approach to digital archival practices for Writing Program Administrators to consider and employ in their home institutions. While I recognize that WPAs are not typically identified as “archivists,” I situate the digital archive within the digital humanities as an interdisciplinary, collaborative project and offer suggestions that lead to recommendations for making an institutional archive. I review archival practice in order to justify the digital archive as an appropriate vehicle for WPAs’ work. Further, I argue that the digital …

On The Same Page: Theory, Practice & The Ela Common Core State Standards, Jessica Lauer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research sought to examine how writing was happening in high schools. States across the country, including Michigan, began implementing the Common Core State Standards in 2010. The standards place a heavy focus on informational texts particularly as a student reaches high school. The standards also suggest that writing should be a shared responsibility among teachers, acknowledging the importance of cross-disciplinary writing skills. Using a grounded theory approach to analyze the semi-structured interviews conducted with eight English teachers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this research revealed a disconnect between theory and practice when it comes to how educational standards …