What's New? Reaching Working Adults with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Instruction, A Best Practices Report

In July 2001 the Center for Impact Research (CIR) completed a needs assessment, Barriers to English Language Learners in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, which detailed the needs of immigrant working adults for English instruction and determined the barriers they faced in learning English. CIR's 2001 report documented the fact that many of these employed immigrants take advantage of overtime, hold down two jobs, and are often subject to changing or rotating work schedules that make attendance at regularly scheduled classes difficult. Evening English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes that occur twice a week lasting between one-and-a-half to three hours also present difficulties, because they interfere with parenting and family duties; fatigue of the attendees after a long day's work also makes learning problematic. Some Friday evening and Saturday morning classes are available, but seldom are there any classes on Sundays. ESOL providers report that they are unable to schedule weekend classes because of the lack of trained and qualified teachers who are willing to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteer tutors could assist ESOL learners, but they too are reluctant to make commitments for weekend hours. The metropolitan Chicago ESOL system faces an additional problem in that it cannot meet the needs of those immigrants who are interested in, and able to attend ESOL classes. CIR's analysis of demographic data finds an estimated total population of potential English Language Learners 18 years of age or older in the Chicago metropolitan area in 2000 at 277,700. According to the Illinois Community College Board, in Fiscal Year 2001 68,815 adults in the Chicago metropolitan area received some ESOL instruction through programs funded by the Board, meaning that only about one-quarter of the need was able to be met. Sixty-two percent of these learners were in beginning ESOL classes. Many area ESOL providers report long waiting lists for ESOL classes, and some say they are implementing lotteries for classroom places. How then, can ESOL learning be reorganized to enable adult learners who are employed to upgrade their English language skills? Can ESOL services be offered along a continuum, with systems providing various services, geared to immigrants with differing levels of commitment to learning English, as well as changing or rotating schedules and time limitations? How can effective learning opportunities be offered in the home, at the workplace, and in accessible community locations, such as shopping centers and churches

Potential Hazards of Cellular Phone Radiation: Responses to Fear and Uncertainty

In recent years, the public has become concerned that the electromagnetic radio-frequency radiation (“RF radiationâ€) emitted by cellular telephones may pose serious health risks, including the risk of cancer. There are over 110 million cell phone users in the United States and many of them may not know that cell phones actually send electromagnetic waves into the user’s brain. Depending on how close the cell phone antenna is to one’s head, as much as sixty percent of the microwave radiation from the phone is absorbed by, and actually penetrates the head, possibly reaching as far as an inch-and-a-half into the brain. The problem is that it is still unknown whether or not this RF radiation from cellular phones actually causes any sort of damage to the user. This paper will explore many aspects of the issue of cellular phone radiation. The first section of the paper will explain what RF radiation is and provide an overview of the various scientific studies which have examined the effects of RF radiation on health. The second section of the paper will discuss and critique the regulatory responses by the FDA and the FCC in the midst of this scientific uncertainty. The third section of the paper will provide an overview of the judicial treatment of cell phone radiation issues by exploring some of the recent case law in this area. Finally, the last section of the paper will provide policy recommendations for how the FDA and FCC should be responding to this potential health crisis

Developing Support for Stalled Dissertators

Graduate students writing dissertations often confront academic or personal issues that may cause them to lose momentum and stop progress on their dissertations. This workshop helped attendees to consider reasons why graduate students writing dissertations become stalled, to conceptualize what a program designed specifically to help stalled dissertators might look like, and to experience the process of creating methods and resources for such a program. Materials include hands-on activities and handouts that can be used to walk through the process of developing a writing support program for dissertators

Students’ Perceptions of Written Instructor Feedback on Student Writing

Poster presentation given at the Department of Writing Studies' 2018 Spring Research Showcase.Research Question. How do students perceive instructor feedback on their writing when different feedback approaches are presented? Literature Review. Previous literature on instructor feedback on student writing suggested that instructors take the view of a reader as a way to offer student writers encouragement and criticisms while prompting a sense of audience awareness in student writers (Elbow, 1973; Brannon & Knoblauch, 1982; Shaughnessy, 1977). Shaughnessy, Olson (1999), Hesse (1993), and Elbow (1986) also recommended using feedback as an opportunity to facilitate a dialogue between instructors and students. Kent (1989) and Dobrin (1999) argued that feedback introduces student writers to new discourse communities and their underlying beliefs and that it is important of instructors to be conscientious of this fact. Previous research of student perceptions of instructor feedback on their writing has indicated that students prefer feedback that is specific and elaborate (Straub, 2000) and that focuses on their writing more so than their ideas (Lynch & Klemans, 1978). Whether students value feedback on grammar is debated in the literature (Lynch & Klemans, 1978; Shaughnessy, 1977). In this study, I have attempted to follow in Nordlof ’s (2014) footsteps and move away from the reductionist facilitative-directive spectrum in which offering more explicit feedback is seen as sacrificing student agency. Instead, I analyze the results of this study through a scaffolding paradigm, using degrees of directness to categorize feedback

Students’ Perceptions of Written Instructor Feedback on Student Writing

Research Question. How do students perceive instructor feedback on their writing when different feedback approaches are presented? Literature Review. Previous literature on instructor feedback on student writing suggested that instructors take the view of a reader as a way to offer student writers encouragement and criticisms while prompting a sense of audience awareness in student writers (Elbow, 1973; Brannon & Knoblauch, 1982; Shaughnessy, 1977). Shaughnessy, Olson (1999), Hesse (1993), and Elbow (1986) also recommended using feedback as an opportunity to facilitate a dialogue between instructors and students. Kent (1989) and Dobrin (1999) argued that feedback introduces student writers to new discourse communities and their underlying beliefs and that it is important of instructors to be conscientious of this fact. Previous research of student perceptions of instructor feedback on their writing has indicated that students prefer feedback that is specific and elaborate (Straub, 2000) and that focuses on their writing more so than their ideas (Lynch & Klemans, 1978). Whether students value feedback on grammar is debated in the literature (Lynch & Klemans, 1978; Shaughnessy, 1977). In this study, I have attempted to follow in Nordlof ’s (2014) footsteps and move away from the reductionist facilitative-directive spectrum in which offering more explicit feedback is seen as sacrificing student agency. Instead, I analyze the results of this study through a scaffolding paradigm, using degrees of directness to categorize feedback

2008 Patent Law Decisions of the Federal Court A Review of Recent Decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Area Summaries

The United States Supreme Court took a slight breather from patent-law issues in 2008. After issuing three patent-law decisions in 2007 (including KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc.), the Court issued just one patent-law decision in 2008—Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. Despite the Supreme Court’s slower pace, however, the Court’s influence loomed large in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2008. In a number of cases, the Federal Circuit continued to work through the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent precedents, most notably KSR and the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. The Federal Circuit’s continued efforts to apply these cases in different technological and competitive settings may be setting the stage for further elaboration from the Supreme Court on the standard for obviousness and the availability of injunctive relief in patent infringement cases. The Federal Circuit also, in two en banc decisions, preemptively reevaluated some of its own precedents, considering how they measured up against older (but still binding) Supreme Court case law. In In re Bilski, the Federal Circuit considered its 35 U.S.C. § 101 patentable-subject-matter jurisprudence against previous Supreme Court decisions such as Diamond v. Diehr and Gottschalk v. Benson. And in Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., the Federal Circuit went back even further in the annals of Supreme Court jurisprudence and revised its own design patent case law in light of the Supreme Court’s 1871 decision in Gorham Co. v. White

“Was it useful? Like, really?”: Client and Consultant Perceptions of Post-Session Satisfaction Surveys

Client satisfaction surveys have long been a cornerstone of writing center assessment, but to date, research on satisfaction surveys has largely focused on analyzing client responses from the survey and their administrative uses. Research rarely investigates why clients provide the responses they do and how consultants process these responses. This study, therefore, involved conducting separate client and consultant focus groups to learn about each population’s interactions with one writing center’s optional post-session satisfaction survey and the survey results. The findings revealed that while client participants used the survey to communicate high levels of satisfaction, client participants also thought about the survey in multifaceted ways that took into account complex factors, such as their relationship with the writing center and care for consultants’ feelings. The study also showed that consultant participants valued positive feedback from clients but that consultants found their survey responses to have limited utility for professional growth and that they craved more specific and constructive feedback. This article offers considerations for how writing center professionals can better communicate the purpose of surveys to both clients and consultants, and it proposes additional forms of assessment that could allow consultants and administrators to hear the nuanced feedback clients can offer

2008 Patent Law Decisions of the Federal Court A Review of Recent Decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Area Summaries

The United States Supreme Court took a slight breather from patent-law issues in 2008. After issuing three patent-law decisions in 2007 (including KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc.), the Court issued just one patent-law decision in 2008—Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. Despite the Supreme Court’s slower pace, however, the Court’s influence loomed large in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2008. In a number of cases, the Federal Circuit continued to work through the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent precedents, most notably KSR and the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. The Federal Circuit’s continued efforts to apply these cases in different technological and competitive settings may be setting the stage for further elaboration from the Supreme Court on the standard for obviousness and the availability of injunctive relief in patent infringement cases. The Federal Circuit also, in two en banc decisions, preemptively reevaluated some of its own precedents, considering how they measured up against older (but still binding) Supreme Court case law. In In re Bilski, the Federal Circuit considered its 35 U.S.C. § 101 patentable-subject-matter jurisprudence against previous Supreme Court decisions such as Diamond v. Diehr and Gottschalk v. Benson. And in Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., the Federal Circuit went back even further in the annals of Supreme Court jurisprudence and revised its own design patent case law in light of the Supreme Court’s 1871 decision in Gorham Co. v. White