Serendipitous research process

This article presents the results of an exploratory study asking faculty in the first-year writing program and instruction librarians about their research process focusing on results specifically related to serendipity. Steps to prepare for serendipity are highlighted as well as a model for incorporating serendipity into a first-year writing course

The Timing of the Research Question: First-Year Writing Faculty and Instruction Librarians‘ Differing Perspectives

Faculty and librarians agree on the qualities of a good research question. However, in an exploratory study, they differed on when students should develop their research question. While librarians stated that students should develop their question early, first-year writing faculty advocated for delaying the development of the research question. The timing of the research question is an important issue because it has implications for the structuring of research assignments and library instruction, as well as having an impact on the students who get differing messages

Teaching research rhetorically

At George Washington University, librarians and faculty have partnered to provide an effective introduction to information literacy to all freshmen. The structure of the new writing program promotes goals that are at the intersection of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and Association of College and Research Libraries. Furthermore, the structure maintains the collaboration and conversation among the two parties, promoting an on-going and evolving relationship

Serendipitous Research Process

This article presents the results of an exploratory study asking faculty in the first-year writing program and instruction librarians about their research process focusing on results specifically related to serendipity. Steps to prepare for serendipity are highlighted as well as a model for incorporating serendipity into a first-year writing course

The Timing of the Research Question: First-Year Writing Faculty and Instruction Librarians‘ Differing Perspectives

Faculty and librarians agree on the qualities of a good research question. However, in an exploratory study, they differed on when students should develop their research question. While librarians stated that students should develop their question early, first-year writing faculty advocated for delaying the development of the research question. The timing of the research question is an important issue because it has implications for the structuring of research assignments and library instruction, as well as having an impact on the students who get differing messages

Serendipitous research process

This article presents the results of an exploratory study asking faculty in the first-year writing program and instruction librarians about their research process focusing on results specifically related to serendipity. Steps to prepare for serendipity are highlighted as well as a model for incorporating serendipity into a first-year writing course.Keywords: chance, browsing, research process, first-year writing, faculty-librarian collaboration, serendipity, questions, information seekin

The Timing of the Research Question: First-Year Writing Faculty and Instruction Librarians‘ Differing Perspectives

Faculty and librarians agree on the qualities of a good research question. However, in an exploratory study, they differed on when students should develop their research question. While librarians stated that students should develop their question early, first-year writing faculty advocated for delaying the development of the research question. The timing of the research question is an important issue because it has implications for the structuring of research assignments and library instruction, as well as having an impact on the students who get differing messages.This is the author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the Johns Hopkins University Press and can be found at: http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/.Keywords: library instruction, college teachers, information behavior, research, academic librarians, research assignmentsKeywords: library instruction, college teachers, information behavior, research, academic librarians, research assignment

Strong rhetoric: Acting in the interplay of language, power, belief

The dissertation confronts these dual questions: What theory of rhetoric would serve a multicultural democracy? How might such a theory be taught in a first-year composition program? I argue that democratic negotiations are rhetorical, as groups vie to control definitions of themselves, each other, and the "proper" relationships among people, and that rhetoric shapes what people consider to be "knowledge" and "truth." Because hidden ideologies influence the rhetoric people find convincing, people need methods for reflecting critically on their own locations. I argue that one method of developing this reflection is to seek to understand the positions of oppressed peoples, as those positions may reveal assumptions embedded in dominant rhetorical patterns. I also argue that a rhetoric for democracy must be committed to action, not just self-reflection and analysis. I call my theory "strong rhetoric." In the remainder of the dissertation I consider how to apply strong rhetoric in pedagogical contexts, and I perform the kind of self-reflection that strong rhetoric demands by noting how my own contexts have influenced my theory. In chapter two I contemplate the role of a teacher in a democratic classroom and offer "liberation morality"--the critique of inequitable distributions of power--as a strategy to convince students of the value of strong rhetoric. In chapter three I critique four curricula designed to teach civic rhetoric, and I argue that teachers must present ideology as more than partisan politics, advocate action as the goal of rhetoric, discuss the limits of democracy defined as a public forum, and treat students as knowledge-makers and citizens. In chapter four, I discuss my involvement in the the University of Arizona's curriculum revision and make explicit that research and revision are integral to strong rhetoric. I also argue that a pedagogy for strong rhetoric must confront the tensions of establishing the classroom as "community." In chapter five I show how teaching assistants at the University of Arizona translated complex rhetorical concepts into essay assignments. Recognizing that teachers need to simplify strong rhetoric to present it in a one-semester course, I model the analysis teachers might use to determine which elements of strong rhetoric to teach

Teaching Serendipity

Faculty and librarians can collaborate to create academic learning environments where serendipity is more likely to happen and where students see possibilities in the chance encounters that they have. Teaching serendipity includes designing research courses that provide students with disciplinary frameworks through which to recognize, activate, and manage the layers of inquiry. A pedagogy that courts serendipity makes room for chance and shows students how to capitalize on the possibility of chaos. In addition, faculty and librarians are called on to talk about research as part of a larger conversation, and a recursive, process, rather than a step-wise march to completion. Teaching serendipity can be incorporated through multiple ways-of-doing within academic situations: those that call for empirical inquiry, problem-solving, and research from sources