supporting scholarly exchange about communication across the curriculum
Content Area:
Communication Across the Curriculum
Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Writing to Learn vs. Writing in the Disciplines
Discipline:
Welcome to the WAC Clearinghouse Theses and Dissertations Page. The theses are displayed below. If you'd like us to add a new thesis or dissertation to our list, please contact Kevin Eric De Pew.
The central purpose of this study was to describe the teaching of writing to adult learners in the General Educational Development (GED) program. The second purpose was to assess the attitudes of both teachers and students about writing, and to describe student progress in writing literacy over time. Participant observation was utilized to collect protocols, and three instruments were distributed to all participants in the study. These instruments included a survey questionnaire, an entry-level diagnostic writing sample and a final writing sample. Numerous formal and informal interviews were conducted with teachers and students to provide clarity, and background information for this multi-dimensional, triangulated qualitative study. The study was conducted at the Lincoln Adult Education Center in Santa Rosa, California. The Lincoln Center was chosen because it was typical of adult education programs. The 49 adults enrolled in the GED program for 1991-1992 were the focus of the study. This included 41 American-born students and 8 International students. The total number of students observed fluctuated over time, due to a high student drop out rate. However, it is estimated that over 100 students participated in this study. The writing curriculum analysis included workbook exercises, writing outlines, essay writing and GED writing practice tests. The writing curriculum was organized and directed by teachers in order to prepare students to take and pass the Writing Skills portion of the GED examination. There was little integration of writing Across the curriculum. It was concluded that: (a) students do attain a higher level of written literacy through their GED preparation for the Writing Skills examination; (b) there is little integration of subject matter in this preparation; (c) computers aid in fostering motivation and writing practice in this preparation; (d) students who have previously been taught to write for a specific purpose, enjoy writing more than students who have not been taught how to write; (e) students who previously have not had direct instruction in writing have a harder time in the preparation process; (f) teachers need to be trained to teach writing as an integrated process.
The data obtained from this investigation which focused on the writing produced in a non-traditional, undergraduate U.S. Labor History class indicate that most of the writing in this class centered on informational and mechanical uses of writing, i.e., copying from the blackboard and note-taking. Although the instructor recognized the value of writing within a course curriculum, reading assignments and studying for exams dominated homework exercises. The ethnographic paradigm, however, produced a much more comprehensive picture of the class which suggests that various activities including note-taking, reorganizing notes, reading related and assigned class materials, class discussion, listening to lectures and reading and writing on the job can positively influence the learning of course material and the form writing takes in a class. This method also allowed a clearer image of the non-traditional student population, i.e., blue collar workers, to emerge. First, as older working class students, life experience became the mediating channel between the course content and the development of writing skills. Second, each student was at a different level of development and experience in their academic career which had an effect upon the writing they produced, i.e., the more schooling an individual had, the more sophisticated a student he became. Third, those students who were involved in academic pursuits for the first time or after a long hiatus actively drew upon relevant past experiences in order to construct a viable model which was used to process new information. Thus, several students used their 'workaday' reading and writing activities as a structure for their own class writing. Finally, adult learners do not carve up their lives into separate spheres: A definite overlap exists between the domains of school, work and home. Sometimes success in writing is dependent upon the types of reading and writing students are exposed to at their places of employment; if the writing models presented to them at work were unsuitable templates for school work, students had difficulty with their class writing.
Theses and dissertation abstracts and citation information are provided courtesy of UMI Company, except as noted in abstracts. Copyright © for UMI materials 1998-2009 UMI Company, A Bell & Howell Company. All rights reserved. To order a dissertation or thesis, visit http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/gateway.
Copyright © 1997-2009 Colorado State University and/or this site's authors, developers, and contributors. Some material displayed on this site is used with permission.