This dissertation examines the history, funding, structure, efficacy, and challenges of dual enrollment programs in English (and more specifically in First-Year Composition, FYC, courses) that provide access to higher education for high school students prior to graduation, as these programs have developed and currently operate in the United States. At the center of this qualitative study is a cross comparison case study designed to reveal the quality and nature of the academic discourse that characterizes two class sections of a first-year composition course in one northern, NJ community college campus as compared with two class sections of (ostensibly) the same course offered in one feeder high school in its dual enrollment program. This inquiry will draw on interviews, course artifacts, classroom discussions, and one essay assignment from each class along with research memos and fieldnotes for data to use in a discourse analysis informed by the practice and theory of Gee (2011) and Moffett (1968, 1982). Through such a discourse analysis, this study aims to reveal the extent to which these classes are conducted in ways that are consistent with the aims and cultural practices of first-year composition courses as they are defined by leading composition theorists, current research, and the policy and best-practice documents of the relevant professional organizations. This cross-comparison case study will also provide insight into how the quality and character of a DE Program in FYC may be linked to the quality and character of the administrative oversight of a college’s DE Programs. Beyond the close analysis of DE courses in FYC in one typical and representative community college this dissertation will also focus on the broader problem of developing, operating and evaluating DE programs in FYC in any college. The most widely respected dual enrollment programs in first-year writing have been guided in their development by their affiliation with various national professional organizations and research centers that have provided policies and standards that apply to DE programs in any field. What has been missing, however, is a set of practical guidelines and principles for practice designed specifically for DE Programs in First Year Composition, and informed by sound theory and current research in the teaching and learning of writing, while also drawing on the experience of exemplary DE Programs in FYI, and whatever wisdom is available from professional organizations and research centers. Many community colleges, where dual enrollment programs are most often located, do not have the resources to seek guidance from professional organizations or conduct their own research into best practices for each of the DE courses they might want to establish. A secondary aim of this dissertation, then, is to fill this gap for DE Programs in First Year Composition by providing a research based, theoretically sound, and practice-oriented set of guidelines and procedures for developing, operating, and assessing dual enrollment programs in First Year Composition for use most particularly in community colleges.

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Racial literacy is vital in a contemporary American society that professes meritocracy and post-racialism yet where racial tensions continue to give rise to fear, violence, and inequity. This is especially important in educational institutions, which have the potential to either inspire social progress or maintain inequitable hierarchies. This dissertation explores how college students talk about race in the composition classroom; how those language practices contribute to the practice of racial literacy; and how these racial literacy practices contribute to student engagement and achievement in academic writing. Through a qualitative two-year teacher research project, I explored two distinct curricula for racial literacy in the college First Year Composition (FYC) composition classroom. The first study, conducted at an urban, public two-year college, explored the use of what I have come to term Narrative Song Lyrics (NSL) texts to encourage race talk and student engagement in the classroom. The second study, conducted in an urban, private residential university, explored the potential of an explicit racial literacy curriculum to improve students’ critical writing skills. To highlight classroom culture, I drew upon the ethnographic and discourse analysis methods of data collection and analysis. In student writing, thematic categories were examined for their parallels with foundational rhetorical and writing skills, including authorial voice, audience awareness, language choice, and critical textual interpretation. The purpose of this research was to examine the ways in which racial literacy might transfer to academic writing and to more broadly consider what the racial literacy framework may offer scholars, researchers, instructors and students of First Year Composition. As there are no best practices yet associated with racial literacy development, the dual studies represented in this dissertation serve to illuminate the many possibilities for racial literacy curricula in the college classroom. While two distinct studies, each with their own lines of inquiry, were conducted, I synthesize the findings of these studies to identify the ways in which racial literacy might be practiced and embodied, as well as to proffer a vision of what racial literacy could mean for the college composition classroom.

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The major purposes of this study were (1) to construct a reliable and valid scale for measuring writing self-efficacy levels in adult basic education students, (2) to further test the scale's validity and reliability by administering it to a second selected group of adult basic education students, and (3) to demonstrate its utility by showing its use in correlational analyses. In the first of three phases, 156-item statements were initially developed. These statements were evaluated by a Delphi panel and reduced to a 77-item writing self-efficacy scale and administered to 490 adult basic education students from ten community colleges located in Oregon. A systematic procedure of statistical analyses was used that resulted in 25 item-statements meeting criteria for acceptance into the revised writing self-efficacy scale. The revised 25-item scale was administered to a second group of 239 ABE students from six other community colleges in Oregon. The same statistical procedures, as in phase one, resulted in a 25-item writing self-efficacy scale. Factor analyses resulting in a clustering of 21 out of 25 items on two factors argued for some evidence of unidimensionality, but further analyses were recommended. The scale's construct validity was demonstrated by showing a strong divergent correlation with the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Scale. Having established evidence of the scale's validity and reliability, the use of the writing self-efficacy scale in conducting correlational analyses was demonstrated. Nine variables were studied, with two variables showing strong relationships with writing self-efficacy, a negative one with writing apprehension and a positive one with writing improvement. It was concluded that the newly revised 25-item writing self-efficacy scale showed preliminary evidence of reliability and validity but it was recommended for further study with other selected groups of adult basic education students. The scale's unidimensionality was also suggested for further study, in order to analyze the underlying factors that make up the construct of writing self-efficacy in adult basic education students. Moreover, the development of this scale offered a first step in assessing the important construct of writing self-efficacy in adult basic education students and provided a useful tool in assessing such a construct. / Graduation date: 1995

This study focused on composition teachers in elementary and secondary schools who researched their own teaching practices. Specifically, it examined political implications of their work within the larger context of the education hierarchy. Central to this examination were teacher-researcher (t-r) perceptions of and interactions with other members of the education hierarchy (i.e. university researchers, other t-rs, and students). Evidence for this study was gleaned from journal articles, descriptive essays, and conference sessions in which composition studies t-rs and their consultants discussed their work. A rhetorical analysis of what t-rs have said and written, along with an examination of the politically charged origins of the t-r movement support the hypothesis of this study: t-rs research (at least in part) for political empowerment. In the process of researching, t-rs alter their traditionally defined relationships with university researchers, other t-rs, and students. Composition studies offers a natural setting (philosophically and practically) for the t-r movement. / Graduation date: 1993

This study's purpose was to provide data on major inhibitory factors experienced by a third of Oregon high school English teachers in areas of: attitudes, behaviors, and physical and emotional effects of theme assessment. Methods employed two analyses: (1) statistical testing of the independent variable of teaching experience (1 to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 10, and 11+ years) applied to twelve null hypotheses by the Chi-Square test for significance; and (2) descriptive analysis of frequencies. Hypotheses were stated to measure no significant differences between years of experience and twelve assumptions about: 1)number of themes assessed per month, 2)hours spent per month on theme assessment, 3)assessment turnaround time, 4)amount of commentary given, 5)perceptions that most students do not seem to apply assessment suggestions to subsequent themes, 6)fatigue affecting judgment in assessment, 7)perceptions that assessment may adversely affect eyesight, 8)feelings of despair over students making the same errors previously pointed out, 9)perceptions that burnout is related to assessment, 1O)perceptions that a journalism copy editing course would be unlikely to lessen assessment time, ll)the belief that composition should be taught as a separate course, 12)perceptions that a teachers' short course on assessment would have practical application to an increased theme load. Measured by Chi-Square, the first hypotheses was rejected; the other eleven were retained. Descriptive analyses supported null hypotheses results and yielded conclusions about: l)assessment loads and teachers behaviors, 2)in-service training and assistance, and 3)attitudes about a national standardized theme structure, theme writing per se, and work loads of other disciplines. Recommendations include smaller and fewer classes, a separate composition course, and further assessment training, Suggestions for further research include investigating the lack of militancy in high school English teachers, feasibility of shifting assessment training to Education Departments, applicability of copy editing training, studying teachers' physical and emotion-related ailments. / Graduation date: 1990

This study explored effectiveness of blog-based writing and compares it to traditional ‘paper and pen’ English narrative in a primary school classroom. A group of 30 primary five (P5) students were selected based on results of a pre-test, and randomly assigned into one of two groups: blog group and pen group. The students had six English composition lessons with focus on narrative writing. The students from both groups were in same class, and teaching was conducted by a single English teacher. Only difference between the two groups was that the blog group students composed their writing assignments with computers in the computer laboratory through the blog interface. The pen group worked in the classroom in traditional ‘paper and pen’ way. The post-test was conducted after six lessons, and questionnaires and evaluation forms were administered to provide data. In addition, data collection included artefacts produced by students. Collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data suggest that blogging can support writing in three areas. Firstly, blogging helps to increase the volume of writing produced by students. Secondly, blogging supports improvement in quality of narrative writing, more specifically in areas of Vocabulary, Language Use and Mechanics. Finally, blogging enhances students’ positive attitude towards writing. It Using Blogs to promote English narrative writing in Hong Kong Primary School ii is hoped that the results of the study will have encouraging effect on English teachers in a primary school classroom to apply blogging for purpose of improving students’ writing. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the implementation of criteria-referenced self-assessment in students’ learning in argumentative writing especially for students learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). Participants were 4 year-8 students in an international school in Hong Kong. Follow-up interview was also conducted to investigate students’ perspectives of self-assessment. Findings include the changes of students’ writing performance in argumentative essays based on the comparison of pre-test and post-test in the aspects of the 3 metafunctions of language: ideational, interpersonal and textual defined by M.A.K. Halliday. The result suggests that integrating criteria-referenced self-assessment in CSL writing classes can improve students’ writing performance and enhance their understanding of marking criteria for argumentative essay. 本文透過準實驗性研究的設計，以香港一所國際學校4位8年級學生為研究對象，了解透過量表自評在中文第二語言寫作教學中的實施，是否能夠提升學生在議論文寫作的表現。本文根據系統功能語言學對於語言元功能的分類，分析學生前後測寫作的表現。結果發現，經過一個月的量表自評實驗，學生的寫作表現在語言的概念功能、人際功能以及語篇功能三個方面均產生變化。此外，透過實驗後的跟進訪談發現，量表自評使得學生對於議論文寫作的評估標準有了更清楚的認識，同時也能夠將這樣的認識體現在對於議論文寫作的評斷當中。 / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Many studies have been conducted on the application of Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., wikis) in educational environments. These studies have dealt with topics such as exploring the potential of their use, what effect they might have on student learning, and how effectively they can be used with appropriate instructional practice. However, whether these findings conducted on the tertiary and high school levels are applicable to young learners of English as the second language (L2) in primary levels have yet to been examined. This study investigated how wiki’s key affordances might help in scaffolding students during collaborative writing projects among primary five and six students (n=119) in a Chinese primary school in Hong Kong, where English is taught as the L2. Three classes of students and their English subject teachers participated in a three-month English language writing programme using a wiki. Data was collected and analyzed from both non-wiki collaborative writing prior to a wiki intervention and the other from wiki supported collaborative writing after the intervention. Employing a mixed methods design, both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed from student and teacher interviews, student and teacher questionnaires, and from activities recorded in the wiki system, including posted edits and comments and students’ group writings. To understand human activity in a complex classroom environment, activity theory was used as an analytical lens to help examine and compare the learning processes and their outcomes in the two different collaborative writing environments. The study found that the use of a wiki in three upper primary classes was perceived positively, with the wiki's technology affordances matching positively with the required tasks of collaborative writing. The key affordances from wiki collaborative writing supported and enhanced the learning tasks required of the nonwiki collaborative writing. These affordances, available in wiki collaborative writing, also helped overcome some of the constraints and limitations observed in non-wiki collaborative writing and helped to enhance writing and social skills necessary for collaborative writing tasks. When some of the key affordances -- temporal and access control applications which provided an online platform for peer comments and history pages to track student’s editing processes -- were combined together, they can become a powerful tool for peer feedback and peer editing leading to meaningful revision processes. The tracking functionality of the wiki gave in-depth information about the types of edits the students were making, mainly content meaning versus surface level, and it may have helped improve student group writing. Examining the two collaborative writing environments within the framework of activity theory revealed the dynamic changes and development of the activity system through tension and contradiction among the components of the activity structure. The tension and contradiction among the tools, the community of learners and the objective of their tasks – tension and contradiction which was caused by the need to implement group writing within the given curriculum time -- seemed to have decreased after the introduction of the wiki technology. Findings may shed light on how wikis can help provide necessary support for students’ collaborative writing and how peer-feedback can influence this process. It may help provide practical recommendations for primary school English language teachers and help researchers and educators understand the potential that Web 2.0, specifically wikis, can bring to scaffold primary-school L2 writers in collaborative learning. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education