We draw on our experiences with mentoring two students to develop a framework for undergraduate research projects with Twitter data. Leveraging backward design principles, we share our learning objectives and rubric for summative assessments. To illustrate the value of Twitter as a data source, we detail methods for collecting and analyzing…

Over the past few decades, the number of people enrolled in doctoral study has increased dramatically across the world. In practical terms, this has meant that universities now receive increasingly diverse students with regard to ethnicity, age, language, culture, and background preparedness for higher degree study. Students can, and often do,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on pedagogical strategies which support the teaching of critical analysis of visual and multimodal texts in a tertiary-level course for Arts students. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes strategies which focus on developing students' abilities to express interpretive critique, as…

English writing is one of the four indispensable skills that English learners need to master, but unfortunately, many Chinese college students have much difficulty composing clear, concise and coherent essays although they have studied English for at least over six years. To address the problem, the researchers and teachers in China have tried…

This seminar took place on 19 April, 2013 at the Centre for Language and Communication, Faculty of Language and Education Studies, The Open University. The seminar was coordinated by Janet Maybin and Theresa Lillis and there were 28 participants, including four postgraduate students, from universities in Britain, Belgium and South Africa.

This paper represents part of the author's experience, received during the seminar named "Practical Hermeneutics," moderated from 2006 to 2010 terms at the Institute for Philosophical Research--Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The participants were from different field of knowledge and with different scientific status--from PhD students to…

The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways that cross-disciplinary (non-ESL) faculty can help developmental immigrant students succeed in undergraduate programs. We present five key issues that faculty should consider when teaching these students and when reading their writing. Finally, we offer experience-based, practical suggestions on how to…

This article explores disruption of habituated literacy practices through the creation of new possibilities in a digital space. Preservice English method teachers at a Melbourne university were invited to create a digital introduction and to reflect after the presentation on aspects of technology, representation and learning that were brought into…

The best practices presented in textbooks and professional publications provide separate guidelines for paper-based and electronic or "scannable" résumés. This article recommends changing these practices so that writers can prepare one résumé for both paper and electronic delivery. These recommendations focus on three areas. Résumés…

Do individuals know what words Shakespeare actually wrote? Exploring these issues can yield dramatic interest. With references to Shakespeare's Quartos and Folios, the author examines key textual issues and discrepancies in classroom studies of "Hamlet." (Contains 8 notes.)

This article concentrates on the dissertation or thesis as a form of argumentation common in postgraduate experience. The nature and history, as well as the social and political context of the dissertation/thesis are explored. Its basic structures are discussed; and three dissertations are examined to test the degree to which they embody…

This article follows the development of three literacy programs that were designed by researchers at Michigan State University to support struggling readers and writers. The literacy interventions focus on strategy instruction in both writing and reading, and they culminate in the development of an integrated reading-writing program to support the…

Critical thinking skills are crucial for both academic and everyday life. This paper presents the author's Text Analysis Matrix (TAM), a model for developing skills for the critical examination of texts. The TAM guidelines involve finding and clarifying the main claims of a text, discovering and assessing arguments, uncovering the implications for…

Textual analysis is an umbrella term used to introduce undergraduate students to a variety of methods for describing and interpreting messages contained in texts. A common goal of a number of textual analysis methods, including the analysis of qualitative interviews, social text analysis, discourse analysis, and conversation analysis, is to…

This article describes an autobiographical writing assignment completed by students and faculty that is shared in an off-site retreat. It highlights an approach to learning about human diversity that blends affective and behavioral approaches with more traditional cognitive methods. It supports the interrogation of student and instructor…