English Ph.D. Dissertations

Title

General Studies Writing (GSW) Digital Communication at Bowling Green State University: To Web 2.0 or not to Web 2.0?

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

English/Rhetoric and Writing

First Advisor

Kris Blair (Committee Co-Chair)

Second Advisor

Lee Nickoson (Committee Co-Chair)

Third Advisor

Sue Carter Wood (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Ernesto Delgado (Other)

Abstract

First-year composition pedagogy and course communication (especially as implicitly endorsed by institutionally presented means) is often limiting in modes and modalities, which juxtaposes vibrant composing practices in the daily lives of students. Additionally, writing program requirements tend to value primarily alphabetic texts despite multimodal composing's empirically-supported benefits to students. Many in the General Studies Writing program at Bowling Green State University (a sequence of Academic Composition courses) are also enjoying the affordances of Web 2.0 (an umbrella term for digitally connected platforms including file sharing, video and audio conferencing/commenting, and social networking) while creating ePortfolios. My dissertation takes advantage of this rich learning opportunity given the field's call for published teacher research on digital pedagogy. Based in technofeminism, phenomenology, and grounded theory, this project reveals quantitative and qualitative data from digital surveys and interviews on the practices and preferences surrounding Web 2.0 in GSW. Voicing these likes is part of an ongoing thread on digital composition scholarship and teaching. This project provides examples, ideas, and activities showing how Web 2.0 can explicitly support GSW learning outcomes, university writing program goals, BGSU missions, state regulations such as the Ohio Transfer Module (OTM), and federal right to privacy.

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