Advisor Information
Maggie Christensen
Location
Room 231
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
1-3-2019 2:15 PM
End Date
1-3-2019 3:15 PM
Abstract
The aim of the first-year writing program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is to equip students with critical reading and writing tools and strategies to advance effective written communication well into their future. This study examines and measures attitudes of UNO composition instructors – who come from a variety of pedagogical and theoretical backgrounds – toward the efficacy of UNO’s self-published Composition I textbook, From the Heartland: Critical Reading and Writing at UNO. In many ways, From the Heartland embraces what Richard Fulkerson refers to as “a critical cultural pedagogy” which encourages students to consider personal identity, power, and privilege within society as they write. Findings of this study support the notion that this pedagogical approach is vital for students; what exists as rhetorical genre in the college writing classroom is soon transformed into the social currency of our cultural and political landscape. Through a mixed methods research design involving in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, this study offers findings to support the overall effectiveness of this type of pedagogy in the first-year writing classroom. Participants cite various advantages of adopting this textbook and pedagogical frame as it directly creates opportunities for students to practice civil discourse, cultivates classroom community, and activates critical thinking in both written discourse as well as situating student's voice in a global context. The researcher will share key findings from the study as it relates the broader conversations about first-year writing programmatic values and advocates for critical pedagogical spaces inside of the college writing classroom.
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Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Higher Education Commons, Rhetoric Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
Using From the Heartland in the First-Year Writing Classroom: Measuring Instructor Reception of the Customized Textbook
Room 231
The aim of the first-year writing program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is to equip students with critical reading and writing tools and strategies to advance effective written communication well into their future. This study examines and measures attitudes of UNO composition instructors – who come from a variety of pedagogical and theoretical backgrounds – toward the efficacy of UNO’s self-published Composition I textbook, From the Heartland: Critical Reading and Writing at UNO. In many ways, From the Heartland embraces what Richard Fulkerson refers to as “a critical cultural pedagogy” which encourages students to consider personal identity, power, and privilege within society as they write. Findings of this study support the notion that this pedagogical approach is vital for students; what exists as rhetorical genre in the college writing classroom is soon transformed into the social currency of our cultural and political landscape. Through a mixed methods research design involving in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, this study offers findings to support the overall effectiveness of this type of pedagogy in the first-year writing classroom. Participants cite various advantages of adopting this textbook and pedagogical frame as it directly creates opportunities for students to practice civil discourse, cultivates classroom community, and activates critical thinking in both written discourse as well as situating student's voice in a global context. The researcher will share key findings from the study as it relates the broader conversations about first-year writing programmatic values and advocates for critical pedagogical spaces inside of the college writing classroom.
Additional Information (Optional)
Note and Research Acknowledgements:
This research was completed by Sarah Ashley Cohen, a University of Nebraska at Omaha M.A. Graduate Student. Dr. Margarette (Maggie) Christensen, English Professor for the UNO English Department and Writing Program Administrator for the First-Year Writing Program, was the faculty advisor on this research project. This qualitative study took place from April 2018 to December 2018 and qualified for IRB Exemption (protocol # 253-18-EX).
This research was directly supported by the UNO Office of Graduate Research and Creative Activity (GRACA) through a 2018/2019 graduate student grant award.