Students and Faculty Indivisible: Crafting a Higher Education Culture of Flourishing

This dissertation is comprised of three separate articles addressing related issues central to the culture and future of higher education. The questions that animate the investigations are: In what ways is writing self-efficacy forged in the learning relationships between student and instructor? In what ways, if any, do traditional assessment practices impact student development? In what ways, if any, does institutional culture shape faculty identity, and what is gained or lost in the process? These queries stem from concerns about possible disconnects between visions of higher education\u27s potential and actual practices in the classroom. The dissertation uses grounded theory to explore the deep nature of student learning needs as articulated by the students themselves, seeks alignment between pedagogical and assessment protocols that foster writing expertise, and uses social reproduction theory and intersectionality to reveal the foundations of faculty identity development that can work across student development needs. Specific recommendations for meaningful reform are identified with an eye on cultivating a culture of collegiality and mutual trust where learning relationships can flourish

Sociology Students as Storytellers: What Narrative Sociology and C. Wright Mills Can Teach Us about Writing in the Discipline

The Writing in the Disciplines approach encourages writing instruction in specific majors so that students learn the writing conventions of their discipline. As writing instructors, however, the role of the sociologist is problematic. Not only has standard sociological writing been jargon laden, it has privileged a clinical style of writing. Thus, we ask whether learning sociology also means learning how to write poorly or at least narrowly. Drawing from narrative sociology, we suggest that mainstream sociological writing should be viewed as a writing genre—one of many genres that students, and sociologists themselves, can choose from. Framing sociologists as both truth tellers and storytellers, we invite sociology instructors to consider at least three alternative genres for assignment in the classroom: life stories, fiction stories, and visual stories. Finally, we offer C. Wright Mills as a model for how to think like a sociologist while still writing well

Mediated-efficacy: Hope for “helpless” writers

Building on previous studies of college students\u27 writing self-efficacy beliefs, this article presents the empirical foundation for a reconceptualized understanding of this identity process. The study assessed 131 college freshmen enrolled in a developmental writing course who were evaluated holistically using grounded theory methodology. The study identified (a) major theoretical categories revealing the nature of students\u27 initial pessimism about themselves as writers and sense of learned helplessness and (b) a subsequent shift toward optimism and self-efficacy triggered by a particular learning relationship formed with their instructors, the core of the posited mediated-efficacy theory. Implications for college-level developmental writing pedagogy are explored

Student shaming and the need for academic empathy

This article is part of a series that questions and attempts to clarify the overall goal of public education. Responses to this call investigate how the nature and intentions of higher ed have changed over time. The discussion is ongoing — see all articles in this series or the original call for papers that prompted them and consider adding your voice to the conversation. See the original article online at the Hybrid Pedagogy website by following this link - Student Shaming and the Need for Academic Empath

Students and Faculty Indivisible: Crafting a Higher Education Culture of Flourishing

This dissertation is comprised of three separate articles addressing related issues central to the culture and future of higher education. The questions that animate the investigations are: In what ways is writing self-efficacy forged in the learning relationships between student and instructor? In what ways, if any, do traditional assessment practices impact student development? In what ways, if any, does institutional culture shape faculty identity, and what is gained or lost in the process? These queries stem from concerns about possible disconnects between visions of higher education\u27s potential and actual practices in the classroom. The dissertation uses grounded theory to explore the deep nature of student learning needs as articulated by the students themselves, seeks alignment between pedagogical and assessment protocols that foster writing expertise, and uses social reproduction theory and intersectionality to reveal the foundations of faculty identity development that can work across student development needs. Specific recommendations for meaningful reform are identified with an eye on cultivating a culture of collegiality and mutual trust where learning relationships can flourish

Retention and Student Success: Taking Action in Writing Programs and Classrooms

This panel examines narratives and counternarratives of retention and student success within writing programs and institutions