Guest editors: Susan Thomas, University of Sydney, Karen Vered, Flinders University, and Stephen Johnson, Murdoch University
As a result of evolving pedagogical practice, employer feedback, and institutional reforms, student literacy for all students in Australasia (not just international students) is now a priority. The former deficit-remediation model has been superseded by a range of "whole of institution/program" and "curriculum-based" interdisciplinary approaches which support students’ literacy and communication development throughout their university years. Australian and New Zealand universities are shifting the way they conceive, articulate, and approach the development of student communication skills, reading, writing, and literacy within the disciplines and across the curriculum. With a greater focus on graduate outcomes, widening participation, and preparing students for rapid entry into the information economy, ever mindful of disciplinary distinctions and congruencies, universities are now reconsidering what literacy development means across the curriculum for graduate employability, global citizenship, and life-long learning. In a tertiary context with no strong traditions of First Year Writing, WAC, or Writing Centers, and where a Bachelor’s degree is a three-year course of study, these initiatives are developing under cultural circumstances that present distinct opportunities and constraints.
We seek papers from a range of perspectives and methodological approaches (e.g. research based, theoretical, historically informed, empirical, conceptual, comparative) addressing student development of literacy, communication, and writing across themes suggested below and their intersections:
• Whole of institution approaches (e.g., Writing Across the Curriculum)
• Program-level approaches (e.g., Writing in the Disciplines; profession-based accreditation)
• Curriculum-based approaches (e.g., embedded writing and communication development)
• Interdisciplinary approaches
• Collaborations across professional units
• Staff development initiatives
• Scalability & sustainability
• Literacy, Writing, & Professional Skills
• Professional standards and accreditation
• The role of writing centers and hubs
• Digital/Blended learning
• Academic honesty (e.g., assignments that encourage invention and discourage plagiarism)
• Higher Degree Research student needs and progress
• Institutional policy & practice
• The impact of recent legislative changes on writing and literacy in higher education
• Literacy "transfer" into and from higher education
• Literacy & employability
• Literacy & retention
• Assessment of Writing, Communication, and Literacy Programs
Deadline for Proposals: October 1, 2017
Notification of Acceptance: October 30, 2017
Manuscripts Due: January 15, 2018
Publication: Fall 2018
Proposal Format: Please submit a 500-word proposal explaining your topic, the research and theoretical base on which you will draw, and your plans for the structure of your article, following the general guidelines for submissions to Across the Disciplines. Send your proposal electronically (in MS Word format) to Margins to the Centre at MTC@flinders.edu.au and also to ATD editor Michael Pemberton at michaelp@georgiasouthern.edu. Please provide full contact information with your submission. .