Power and the Platform: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Rhetoric and Politics in Composition Massive Open Online Courses

In the changing landscape of complex networks for free, open education, MOOCs – or massive open online courses – have been touted by some scholars as a recent breakthrough that will transform pedagogical approaches in the future. As we celebrate this year the 20th anniversary of Cynthia and Richard Selfe’s landmark article, “The Politics of the Interface,” our attention should be directed to studying the maps of MOOC interfaces as educational, political, and ideological borderlands. By featuring the findings from a cyber-autoethnographic study that involves a critical-analytical examination on a myriad of composition MOOCs offered by Duke University, Ohio State University, and Georgia Institute of Technology, this thesis reveals current MOOC interfaces as a Western-centric, monocultural structures, and problematizes the kinds of borders established and maintained in MOOCs. By identifying the presence and effects of cultural and infrastructural dominance in MOOCs, this thesis examines ways in which students and teachers can establish new discursive domains within MOOC interfaces. Following a phenomenological methodology, which embodies self-consciousness as a central research experience, I reflect on my own attitudes and feelings about the process of observation and analysis to draw inferences of a writer-scholar’s engagement with MOOC interfaces. Instead of simply blindly rejecting or embracing MOOCs as the “next big thing” in education, I delve deeply into their interfaces to show how they conceal their power structure as a way to open up conversations about power and its exercise in computer interface design

Personality and Advertising Appeals: A New Look on the Utility of Need for Cognition

According to Chandy et al. (2001), more recent research suggests that both emotions and arguments can be effective, but their effectiveness varies by context. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any solid finding when the context of persuasion is dependent on personal variance. While there is a rich literature on how various executional cues of ads affect consumers’ responses at different levels of motivation and ability, rarely have these works examined the real-world, behavioral impact of ads (Chandy et al., 2001). Hence, this thesis attempted to bridge this gap. Specifically, drawing from the ELM and Need for Cognition (NFC) theories, this study investigated the relationships between consumer Need for Cognition and preferences for advertising appeals, and how such preferences affected their attitude and behavior toward a product, i.e. purchase intention. Analyzing and looking for statistical differences between subjects’ NFC level and self-reported preference on the given brands and their advertisements, inferences on statistical relationship between these variables were drawn. Based on the mentioned theoretical framework, it was postulated that: H1a) individuals with high NFC would have favorable attitudes toward an ad after exposure to an argument-based advertisement; H1b) individuals with low NFC would have favorable attitudes toward an ad after exposure to an emotion-based advertisement; H2a) individuals with high NFC would have greater purchase intention after exposure to an argument-based advertisement than individuals with low NFC; and H2b) individuals with low NFC would have greater purchase intention after exposure to an emotion-based advertisement than individuals with high NFC. Results showed no statistical correlation between individuals with high NFC and preference of argument-based advertisements; H1b was partially supported with a statistical correlation found between individuals with low NFC and preference of emotion-based advertisement. Findings showed there was no statistical correlation between individual’s NFC level and purchase intention

Multimodality, Makerspaces, and the Making of a Maker Pedagogy for Technical Communication and Rhetoric

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2019. Major: Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication. Advisor: Ann Duin. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 233 pages.This dissertation investigates how students create multimodal solutions to address complex problems via technology-enhanced maker practices informed by design thinking. It contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversations around multimodality and multimodal composition by understanding the new material affordances of rapid prototyping technology and dedicated spaces for collaborative invention, fondly known as makerspaces. By investigating how students compose and create multimodal artifacts through making and design thinking, this project identifies useful pedagogical intersections between the Maker Movement proper and technical and professional communication (TPC). To do so, I studied the use and operation of three academic makerspaces in the U.S. at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Minnesota. I then conducted a case study of a maker framework based on the findings from the makerspace ethnography. The deployment of the framework––tentatively known as maker pedagogy––occurred in a TPC course. Combining the results from my makerspace ethnography and the pedagogical case study, I discuss the implications of a maker pedagogy for TPC, including the cultivation of a maker mindset, disruption to conventional ideologies, and an exploration of the material dimension of writing. I also discuss ways in which making and design thinking can be assessed in the context of TPC pedagogy

Negotiating Networked Learning Relationships with Augmentation Technologies: Smart Education, Data Analytics, and Human-autonomy Teaming

The hosts of this round table discussion, members of the Building Digital Literacy (BDL) research cluster of the Digital Life Institute (www.digitallife.org), adopt a critical disposition (NLEC, 2021a, 2021b) toward emerging augmentation technologies that sit at the core of networked learning. Augmentation technologies, such as wearable devices that extend human senses, augment creative abilities, or overcome physical limitations (Pederson & Hill, 2021), represent the engine that drives the next generation of networked learning. As emerging augmentation technologies, use of data analytics, and “smart” technologies proliferate, we see the critical need for research, presentation, and discussion of the implications for networked learning. This round table invites conversation about the role of artificial intelligence, big data, and learning analytics in networked learning

Metaphors, mental models, and multiplicity: Understanding student perception of digital literacy

This study examines student perception of digital literacy from their engagement with the Fabric of Digital Life, a digital archive of emerging technologies. Through grounded theory analysis we identified the ways students make sense of an unfamiliar technology. Our results show students assign metaphors to understand a new digital platform, apply mental models transferred from previous conceptual domains onto new technologies, and express multiply-layered approaches that facilitated their digital literacy development––an indication for instructors to orient toward an expansive description of digital literacy that caters to student learning needs as well as their professional futures

Perioperative blood transfusion is associated with the postoperative systemic inflammatory response and poorer outcomes following surgery for colorectal cancer

Background: The present study investigated relationships between perioperative blood transfusion, postoperative systemic inflammatory response, and outcomes following surgery for colorectal cancer. Methods: Data were recorded for patients (n = 544) undergoing potentially curative, elective surgery for colorectal cancer at a single center between 2012 and 2017. Transfusion history was obtained retrospectively from electronic records. Associations between blood transfusion, postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, hemoglobin, complications, cancer-specific survival and overall survival (OS) were assessed using propensity score matching (n =116). Results: Of 544 patients, the majority were male (n =294, 54%), over 65 years of age (n =350, 64%), and with colonic (n =347, 64%) node-negative disease (n =353, 65%). Eighty-six patients (16%) required perioperative blood transfusion. In the unmatched cohort, blood transfusion was associated with higher median postoperative day (POD) 3 CRP {143 [interquartile range (IQR) 96–221 mg/L] vs. 120 (IQR 72–188 mg/L); p = 0.004}, lower median POD 3 albumin [24 (IQR 20–26 g/L) vs. 27 (IQR 24–30 g/L); p < 0.001], more postoperative complications [odds ratio (OR) 3.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.03–5.29] and poorer OS [hazard ratio (HR) 3.18, 95% CI 2.08–4.84]. In the propensity score matched cohort, blood transfusion was similarly associated with higher median POD 3 CRP [130 (IQR 93–196 mg/L) vs. 113 (IQR 66–173 mg/L); p = 0.046], lower median POD 3 albumin [24 (IQR 20–26 g/L) vs. 26 (IQR 24–30 g/L); p < 0.001], more postoperative complications (OR 2.91, 95% CI 1.36–6.20) and poorer OS (HR 2.38, 95% CI 0.99–5.73). Conclusions: Perioperative blood transfusion was associated with postoperative inflammation, complications, and poorer survival in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery, with and without propensity score techniques

Reductions in circulating levels of IL-16, IL-7 and VEGF-A in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Recently, differences in the levels of various chemokines and cytokines were reported in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) as compared with controls. Moreover, the analyte profile differed between chronic ME/CFS patients of long duration versus patients with disease of less than 3 years. In the current study, we measured the plasma levels of 34 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors in 100 chronic ME/CFS patients of long duration and in 79 gender and age-matched controls. We observed highly significant reductions in the concentration of circulating interleukin (IL)-16, IL-7, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) in ME/CFS patients. All three biomarkers were significantly correlated in a multivariate cluster analysis. In addition, we identified significant reductions in the concentrations of fractalkine (CX3CL1) and monokine-induced-by-IFN-γ (MIG; CXCL9) along with increases in the concentrations of eotaxin 2 (CCL24) in ME/CFS patients. Our data recapitulates previous data from another USA ME/CFS cohort in which circulating levels of IL-7 were reduced. Also, a reduced level of VEGF-A was reported previously in sera of patients with Gulf War Illness as well as in cerebral spinal fluid samples from a different cohort of USA ME/CFS patients. To our knowledge, we are the first to test for levels of IL-16 in ME/CFS patients. In combination with previous data, our work suggests that the clustered reduction of IL-7, IL-16 and VEGF-A may have physiological relevance to ME/CFS disease. This profile is ME/CFS-specific since measurement of the same analytes present in chronic infectious and autoimmune liver diseases, where persistent fatigue is also a major symptom, failed to demonstrate the same changes. Further studies of other ME/CFS and overlapping disease cohorts are warranted in future