Browsing by Author "Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair"

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An Analysis of the Problem of Writing Skill Transference and Its Implications for Professional Writing Instructors
(2007-07-20) Ingram, Laura Williams; Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair
In recent years, both businesses and students have reported a lack of student preparation for writing in the workplace. Many studies have been conducted to examine the transference of skills between settings. However, researchers have found that the differences between the academic and workplace environments complicate the issue of transfer for writers making the transition from college to career and for professional writing instructors hoping to the make the transition easier for their students. In order to better understand the differences in academic and workplace contexts, this thesis critically examines the research conducted in skill transfer over the past two decades. It explores topics like expertise, situated learning, and activity theory from the perspectives of both cognitive science and composition to provide a comprehensive view of the problem of writing skill transfer and thus present pedagogical strategies that might improve transfer of writing skills from college to the workplace. Instructional methods like cognitive apprenticeships that use scaffolding techniques to move students gradually from general writing knowledge to more context-specific writing knowledge may facilitate a smoother transition from academic writing to workplace writing, thereby minimizing the need for on-the-job training.
A Matter of Degrees: an Evaluation of Instructor Concept of Writing Effectiveness in an Adult Accelerated Degree Completion Program
(2003-01-24) Tillett, Tanya R; Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair; Ann M. Penrose, Committee Member; John Morillo, Committee Member
Most modern theories of responding to student writing typically advocate a meaning-centered, whole text holistic approach (as opposed to an analytic mode of response, which allows for the separate evaluation of different criteria). In a holistic assessment, certain criteria may be considered together on one descriptive scale, which renders a final assessment that allows for broader judgments on the quality of particular writing products. As a result, a holistic assessment is usually not quite as rigid as an analytic assessment. This study examined a non-traditional writing program that was highly traditional in its emphasis on stressing the rules of writing mechanics (an analytic method). It specifically focused on instructor familiarity with the program's required citation format. My research questions: how well would instructors score if given the task of finding deliberately inserted errors? What is instructor perception of format in writing evaluation? And, what, if any, influence does instructor training and experience have on the ability to apply citation format? In addition to being asked to detect 33 deliberately inserted errors in documentation format in a typical student paper, ten instructors at the program, an adult accelerated degree completion program, were also asked to complete a demographic survey. As predicted, except for two notable exceptions, average instructor scores were low (68%). In the follow-up survey, most indicated that they were satisfied with the program's required APA citation format, and finally, neither length of experience nor discipline-specific training proved to be significant factors in the average of the instructors' scores. As part of the project, the program's director and the two highest scorers (an English instructor and an accounting instructor) were interviewed to gain insight into how writing requirements fit into the program's overall curriculum. The director of the program felt that stressing the importance of documentation format helped provide the students in the program with a solid academic grounding. And, despite my intuitive notion that the English instructor would provide the most insightful views on how to promote better student writing, it was the accounting instructor who provided the most helpful feedback (which included a recommendation for the use of other documentation styles in the program). It is hoped that this study offers implications for more in-depth study of instructor response to actual student writing, and more study of other non-traditional writing programs.
Web logs in the Post-Secondary Writing Classroom: A Study of Purposes
(2005-04-28) Holmes, Ashley Joyce; Michael P. Carter, Committee Member; Ruie J. Pritchard, Committee Member; Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair
In the past few decades, education research has been thriving in the areas of computers and new technologies. Often, teachers turn to what is popular in the technological world for new ideas to use in their classrooms. One such technology that has become extremely popular in Web culture is Web logs, now most often referred to as 'weblogs,' or simply 'blogs.' The present work seeks to further research on weblogs in education by identifying the various ways in which current post-secondary writing course teachers are using them in their courses. This definitional study attempts to answer the question: for what educational, or non-educational, purposes are weblogs in post-secondary writing courses being used? The study looks at the way educators claim to be using weblogs in their courses based on how they explain their blog assignments to students (either on a course syllabus or course blog posting). Adding depth to the analysis, the study also explores survey responses from thirty-two college writing teachers across the country. The eleven main uses for weblogs in writing courses that this study identifies are as follows: 1) as a public space with a broad audience, 2) to post student work, 3) as a journal, 4) to reflect on course-related assignments, 5) for student discussion and interaction, 6) to explore and share ideas, as well as brainstorm, 7) to engage with and respond to assigned readings, 8) for collaborative projects, 9) to link to Web materials, 10) to ask and answer questions related to the course, and 11) to discuss topics not necessarily related to the course. After compiling data as to these current uses of weblogs in college writing courses, this researcher explores the implications of these uses, offering suggestions and drawing conclusions as to how the new technology of weblogs has impacted and will impact college level writing courses.
Wikis in the Teaching of Writing: Purposes for Implementation
(2008-05-30) Coley, Toby Franklin; Michael P. Carter, Committee Member; Susan Miller-Cochran, Committee Member; Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair
Throughout the documented history of the teaching of writing, educators have engaged in various methods through which to guide student learning in the textual medium. In recent years, the digital age has provided a plethora of educational opportunities from long-distance learning and virtual courses, to course management systems, blogs, and wikis. The wiki has emerged as a growing technology with the potential to transform the rhetoric of the writing classroom. The present project seeks to further the research available on wikis in the teaching of writing. This study is both definitional and explorational. The questions it seeks to address include: how are wikis being used in educator's classrooms; to what purposes are the wikis being used; in what ways are wikis being used? To answer some of these questions, various instructor survey responses were evaluated and incorporated into this thesis. The six main purposes for which wikis are being used in education that are identified in this study are 1) collaboration, 2) facilitation of work, 3) audience extension, 4) knowledge building/reflecting, 5) effective writing, and 6) multimodal literacy. After gathering data on the above purposes, this research discusses the results of the data and considers future research for integrating wiki technology into the teaching of writing.
Working Toward Nonviolence in Composition
(2004-12-01) Wagar, Scott Edward; Chris M. Anson, Committee Chair; Carolyn R. Miller, Committee Member; Thomas D. Lisk, Committee Member
This thesis suggests that composition studies is in need of further efforts to bring the concept and practice of nonviolence into the discipline's theoretical and pedagogical framework. I survey and synthesize existing literature on nonviolence in composition as well as related writing on spirituality in education, feminism, the environment, and moral education. The implications of critical pedagogy and social construction theory for the subject are also considered. Ultimately, I argue for the importance of an approach incorporating the personal and the spiritual on the part of both teachers and students. Such an approach retains a strong social perspective because it works toward an understanding that the self cannot be seen as separate from its others. Guided by these ideas, I present and discuss a proposal for a one-semester university-level composition course entitled 'Writing Nonviolence.' I conclude the thesis by briefly considering alternate pedagogical models and by calling for further exploration, testimony, and commitment by teachers and scholars of composition and rhetoric.