Educators often observe differences in students' writing productivity, with some students stopping early while others continue to write for the given time. This study demonstrates how planning and goal setting are related to these written production patterns. A Growth Mixture Model identified three groups of writers: the "Early…

This case study explored the relationship between levels of content choice in three high school online English language arts courses and evidence of student motivation in student work and students' thoughts about motivation. These courses were designed around the main components of Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and…

This participatory action research (PAR) dissertation study investigates the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles by community college faculty in first-year writing courses to support students with learning disabilities at a New Jersey community college. Through a collaborative approach involving faculty as active…

Despite growing theoretical and empirical evidence that writing has the potential to be an effective tool for student learning in undergraduate mathematics, writing-to-learn integration in mathematics is rare. Major deterrents include perceived lack of alignment between writing and learning goals, deficit views of students' writing abilities, and…

The rationale behind the present study consisted of evidence reported to date for Galbraith et al.'s (1999, 2018, 2023) dual-process model of writing, suggesting that not only do writers engage in knowledge transformation, but in the development of new knowledge. An additional aspect of Galbraith et al.'s (2023) work is their proposal and…

This paper is a proposal, project, and dissertation for Kenneth Johnson, Doctor of Philosophy degree in Science Education, in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa. I propose analyzing the writing assignment in an undergraduate online physics course offered by a small midwestern community college (CC). The goal is to study how Writing to…

With the advent of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools, students have a new instrument that can create writing samples for them, making it easy to violate academic integrity. A constructivist grounded theory multiple-case study was conducted to address faculty perceptions of ChatGPT as a tool for learning and teaching instead of a…

Inspired by a recognition of high school students' frequent disengagement during reading and their lack of comfort and confidence with finding ways to engage with texts, the purpose of this research was to examine the impact of social-media formatted low-stakes writing tasks in the high school English classroom. Drawing from research on writing…

Research on disciplinary variation in graduate student writing (GSW) has typically focused on theses and dissertations. Less attention has been paid to coursework assignments (e.g., essays, recounts, exercises, etc.), which are the pre-cursors to final capstone projects. Coursework papers are prioritized by both students and professors because…

This dissertation explored how effectively first-year writing (FYW) evaluated and selected sources for their researched writing assignments. Though students were taught how to access sources from the library and offered sources on the course management system, most often they obtained sources via the open internet. As mis- and disinformation…

This study investigated how English language writers in a Chinese university were able to paraphrase following instruction with an online module. Participants were separated into two groups: Group A (Individuals) and Group B (Dyads). They were then trained and assessed in their ability to complete paraphrasing tasks with a pre and posttest.…

This dissertation contributes to the growing body of scholarship in rhetoric and composition responding to calls for explicitly anti-racist teaching and research practices. Titular examples of the field's widespread commitment to this work include official "Position Statements" by our flagship professional organizations, like the…

Written scientific argumentation is a common practice among scientists, yet it is relatively absent from science K-12 classrooms (Applebee & Langer, 2013). However, recent research shows that opportunities to engage in collaborative discourse and argumentation provide students enhanced conceptual understanding and reasoning. Since one of the…

Writing proficiency has become a common student learning outcome at all types of higher education institutions across the United States. However, despite the consistent popularity of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) over the last few decades, most two-year institutions still have no formalized WAC program or training, and programs that are…

I have always valued reflection highly -- as a means of developing as a writer and as a life practice -- but I have been disappointed by the lack of thought resembling reflection when asking students to write about their writing practices. This dissertation presents the results of a grounded theory study of student reflective assignments through a…