This study grew out of the realization that implicit literacy expectations between working class United Auto Workers (UAW) staff and professional class staff were complicating the filling out and filing of a position audit form. Professional class supervisors had designed the form as a measure of fairness, in that each UAW employee on campus was…

This dissertation reports my study of the institutionally situated challenges involved in designing and maintaining Rhetoric and Composition doctoral program websites via two primary research methods. First, I conduct content analyses of nine methodically selected doctoral program websites in order to develop a detailed set of site…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact text messages, social networks, Instant Messaging, email, and blogging had on rural middle school students' ability to decipher between formal and informal writing. Students completed self-evaluation logs, completed Formal and Informal Writing Assessments, and were scored on their use of…

Recent initiatives in the laboratory curriculum have encouraged an inquiry-based approach to learning and teaching in the laboratory. It has been argued that laboratory instruction should not just be hands-on, but it should portray the essence of inquiry through the process of experiential learning and reflective engagement in collaboration with…

This dissertation reports case studies from in-depth phenomenological interviewing of six individual female university students. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the influence that literature experiences have had on the identity formation of said participant informants through recursive analysis of their interviews, observing how…

This qualitative case study analyzed and categorized kindergarten teachers' learning processes and their instructional practices in writing through the process of peer coaching. At the study site, state and local standards require that teachers transform their current beliefs and practices in response to expectations for academic performance. Such…

This qualitative study aims at understanding how current student-teachers enrolled in MATESOL and its related fields programs are being prepared to teach college-level second language writing. Data collected for this study included course syllabi, member check questionnaires, Conference on College Composition and Communication's (CCCC) position…

A study was conducted to determine the extent to which high school and college/university Advanced Placement English Language and Composition readers value and implement the curricular requirements of Advanced Placement English Language and Composition. The participants were 158 readers of the 2010 Advanced Placement English Language and…

This study investigated the internal factor structure of the English language development Assessment (ELDA) using confirmatory factor analysis. ELDA is an English language proficiency test developed by a consortium of multiple states and is used to identify and reclassify English language learners in kindergarten to grade 12. Scores on item…

Teachers of standards based, College Prep English classes regularly face resistant and struggling readers who fail to engage, persevere, and comprehend curricular texts. As a result, these readers do not share in class discussions. Therefore, a class discourse was formulated upon Gee's (1996) Social Discourse theory and Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, and…

Adolescent writing proficiency is widely considered to be in a state of crisis nationally, and new instructional approaches are needed to raise writing proficiency among all adolescents, with special attention to those students who struggle most (Graham & Perin, 2007). The affordances of digital communication media, such as online discussion…

Young adolescents should be able to write organized multi-paragraph compositions that develop a central idea and unfold in logical and sequential order, unified through the use of transitional words and phrases. In other words, the compositions should not just consist of a string of related sentences, but represent a dynamic text that has…

Through a qualitative research design, this study explored how eight talented young creative writers related to their craft. The construct "relationship with writing" emerged as the study's overarching theme. This theme includes students' influences, goals, values, identity, and emotions as these relate to writing. The findings indicated that…

This dissertation explores the rhetoric of space as it relates to academic computer writing locations--specifically, computer labs, computer classrooms, and writing centers. Using observation, surveys, interviews, and textual analysis, the author discusses seven rhetorical principles of design for these spaces, including designing for specific…

Students' conceptualizations of academic writing are often based on their cultural and social expectations of what it means to be a student or an instructor in the academy. These expectations are as varied as any target population and continue to grow as multi-cultural heritages continue to expand. First-year student writers' performances are…