supporting scholarly exchange about communication across the curriculum
FAQs About the Exchange
The Research Exchange: Who, What, Where, When, and Why
Who is the Research Exchange for? The Exchange invites researchers from all educational levels and all kinds of institutions to share research that shapes writing instruction, program administration, or faculty development. No study is too small to report, and studies that duplicate others are welcome, as are studies in progress and studies completed long ago.
What is the Research Exchange? The Research Exchange is a collaborative enterprise established to facilitate writing research across the writing studies community. Metaphorically, the Exchange is part parlor or watering hole, and it is part warehouse or repository. That is to say, the Exchange is meant to gather and share writing research in order to provide data, resources, examples, and ideas to members of our professional community.
The Research Exchange is also a form of alternative scholarship. That is to say, the Exchange combines the Wiki ethos with the sensibility of a peer-reviewed, scholarly space. Members of the Clearinghouse can share their work on research projects with other members of the Exchange, while the editors of the Exchange can moderate the materials that appear here. This experimental approach offers challenges and opportunities that we hope visitors to the Exchange will welcome.
What is the Research Exchange for? Use the Research Exchange to share a wide variety of materials related to writing studies: plans for studies; descriptions of current studies in progress; reports of previously completed studies; data of various kinds that others might use as part of a study (student writing, portfolios, etc.); and local or program specific materials that were produced for other purposes, such as assessment. What does the Exchange mean by "research"? As our list of research categories indicates, the Exchange defines research broadly to include everything from classroom inquiries to historical or archival projects to curriculum and program assessments to institutional and multi-site studies.
Committed equally to supporting diversity and rigor in knowledge-building activities, the Exchange also answers Rich Haswell's call for more RAD studies [RAD = replicable, aggregable, data-based] (Written Communication, 22.2 (2005): 198-223). As such, the Exchange encourages visitors and contributors alike to join in a field-wide examination how we define "assessment;" how we construct research questions; how we identify the best methods for answering them; and how we define and interpret supporting evidence. Where did the idea for the Exchange come from? The initial idea for the Exchange was formulated in response to a 2006 CCCC roundtable entitled, "Collaborating Across Institutions." Focused initially on the future of longitudinal research, the roundtable ultimately addressed broader issues of mutual interest to panelists and audience members alike.
The sense of imperative shared by Exchange co-founders and co-editors is also a reflection of teachers' and scholars' renewed engagement with writing research. As such, the Exchange registers the same sense of interest and importance evident elsewhere: in the successes of the UC Santa Barbara writing research conferences (2003, 2005, 2008), in the establishment of a CCCC research chair, in the projects supported annually by WPA research grants, and by new curricula and studies initiated each semester at colleges and universities across the country and beyond. When should I visit the Exchange? As the Exchange develops and grows, we hope that it will be of use to researchers at any stage of their research. That's to say, we hope you will find among our growing links and pages the kind of information that can help you with everything from project design to writing up your findings.
When should I contribute to the Exchange? You are invited to share your work—or work in progress or ideas for future work—at any time. Depending on the kind of information you'd like to circulate and the kind of response you'd like to receive, you can open a research report or you can join or initiate an ongoing conversation about research. Keep in mind, any report you open is yours to update, revise, or delete; you can join any discussion in progress if you visit ongoing "Research Exchange Discussion Forums"; and you can initiate a new topic of discussion by creating a new form or by starting a new research area page.
Why create a Research "Exchange"? Our ability to increase what is known about writing and to improve both writing instruction and writing practice depends on our ability to exchange information, ideas, questions, and concerns. The Research Exchange is a tool for facilitating that kind of sharing. It is also a space for celebrating researchers' efforts to pose new questions, test new methods, and prompt new conversations that extend beyond our discipline to include educators in other fields and members of any community concerned about writing, communication, and literacy.
The Exchange offers support to a diverse community of researchers who too often work in isolation from one another. This is true of teachers and scholars based in different academic departments and programs, and it is true of researchers who work primarily on local, site-specific projects without benefit of an immediate cohort of colleagues or co-researchers. To that end, the Exchange offers the following:
A place for researchers to find each other, to locate colleagues who are conducting similar projects or asking similar kinds of questions.
A place where researchers can ask questions about on-going or planned research projects and get both practical help and moral support.
A place for researchers to discuss their current projects—or other folks' projects—with others.
A place where researchers can locate many of the tools they need to conduct successful projects—release forms, sample grant proposals, etc.
A place for researchers to post their work-in-progress for informal peer response and/or to get answers to questions they have.
A place for the research community to study working papers that capture the current state of the art in comp. research.
