Writing Research Sponored by CSTW

Between 2008 and 2010, the CSTW sponsored the "Research on Writing and Composition in 21st Century Contexts" initiative that awarded multiple $3,000 - $5,000 grants twice each year. As award recipients conclude their research work, they are asked to present on campus.

Michelle Kearns, Kiplinger Fellow and staff writer for The Buffalo News
Writing with Voice, Color, and Style: An Experiment

A teaching project experiment used as subjects Ghana reporters, a journalist, and a group of creative non-fiction students. In an attempt to teach writers to produce more engaging work, the subjects were taught the four points of narrative arc and were asked to read short newspaper feature stories conduct interviews, and write their own stories.

Beverly Moss, Department of English
African-American Women, Literacy and Community Service

To understand the complexities of the literacies that contemporary African American women use and how they use them, we must expand the spaces and sites in which we examine these practices. This research project turns our gaze to how at least one group of African American women use literacy in the extracurriculum (Gere), by focusing on how these women use literacy for civic engagement and action. Thus, this study presents an important gendered and racialized site and space from which to interrogate these literacy practices.

Cindy Selfe and Louie Ulman, Department of English
Lessons for the classroom: Learning from Personal Stories in the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives

As a self-archiving repository of personal literacy narratives, the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN) provides unique opportunities for faculty to improve their teaching by learning more about the literacy practices and values that students bring with them to classroom spaces. In this presentation, the founders of the DALN will sketch the history, design, and purpose of the DALN; note how it supports teaching and learning about literacy practices and values, as well as conducting research on literacy. We will demonstrate some methods and tools for studying the materials in the DALN and, if time permits, record attendees’ literacy narratives.

Julia Voss, Department of English
Public Libraries and the Digital Divide in 2008: A Case Study of Columbus, Ohio’s Northside Library Branch

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Northside Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) is an important computer access point for many patrons, placing them on the “have-not” side of the digital divide. This study aims to evaluate the role public libraries play in bridging the digital divide in 2008 and to find out from both library staff and patrons what service improvements would improve the library’s conditions of computer access.

Joel Bloch and Ivan Stefano, School of Teaching and Learning
Adverting Tea Parties: A Discussion about Understanding Student, Teacher, and Administrative Attitudes Toward Plagiarism and Intellectual Property

This presentation examines the link between intellectual property and plagiarism and discusses student, staff, and administrative attitudes toward both intellectual property and plagiarism. The data consists of a survey administrated to incoming international students, focus groups with staff and graduate teaching assistants, and an interview with the head of the Committee on Academic Misconduct. The findings show a variety of areas where students strongly disagree with each other and their teachers as well as where the teachers also disagree among themselves. We also discuss some of the issues that have been raised about the relationship between teaching composition and enforcing rules regarding plagiarism.

Jan Macian and Kathleen Houchens, Department of Spanish & Portuguese
Exploring the TLC in the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese: A Teaching and Learning Center for Students and Instructors

In a large articulated language program, the question is always how to meet the needs of the students and instructors who have different learning and teaching styles. The Teaching and Learning Centers (TLC) at The Ohio State University Department of Spanish and Portuguese integrate Tutoring, Conversation, Writing, and Mentoring Centers into one successful unit that services over 8,000 students and 90 instructors a year. For the students, the TLC supports and enriches the undergraduate classroom experience through free walk-in tutoring, instructor-guided conversation tables, and expert writing help. Here, students acquire skills and apply Spanish and Portuguese to situations that are useful in a classroom and for daily living, a job, or travel. For instructors, the Mentoring Center enriches the professional development of instructors who are committed helping their colleagues foster student learning. This session will present the different components of the TLC and provide “tips” for establishing each learning center on a shoestring budget.

Valerie Kinloch, School of Teaching and Learning
The Politics of Writing, Place, and Youth Digital Discourses

This participatory action research draws on data collected during a three-year timeframe in New York City’s Harlem. Working with seniors and recent high school graduates within the contexts of their school and local community, “The Politics of Writing, Place, and Youth Digital Discourses” examines relationships among place, writing practices, and social interactions in the lives of young people. It questions meanings of urbanity, schooling, and activism in relation to the ongoing gentrification of a historically African American community. Analysis of youth engagement in the community – videotaping, mapping, journaling, and interviewing residents/teachers/peers – can offer a literacy-based response to urban gentrification.

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