<p>The fundamental purpose of <i>Theoretical Communities of Praxis: The University Writing Center as Cultural Contact Zone</i> is to investigate the situatedness of Writing Center Studies, defining it as an autonomous (sub)discipline and interdisciplinary contact zone within the larger discipline of Rhetoric and Composition. In order to meet this objective, a &ldquo;Communities of Praxis&rdquo; methodological and theoretical framework, based on scholarship of Critical Discourse Analysis, ecocomposition, and Contextualist Research Paradigm, is applied in the analysis of a variety of WCS discourses. </p><p> In doing so, WCS is repositioned as a series of interrelated, triangulated contact zones that are based on collaborative interactions and illustrated through the development of heuristic maps that challenges the traditional discursive practices of local writing centers and the WCS (sub)discipline alike. By emphasizing a (sub)disciplinary identification based on embracing WCS&rsquo;s place as an interdisciplinary contact zone, this dissertation demonstrates ways for all stakeholders to employ a Communities of Praxis framework in order to more effectively and more equitably consider the theoretical places and physical spaces of Writing Center Studies. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Communication and Culture, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 14, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-09, Section: A, page: 3533. Adviser: Carolyn Calloway-Thomas.

<p>This qualitative, narratively orientated study explores the perceptions of undergraduate students? interpretations of their experiences as they voluntarily attempt to start and maintain writing center-facilitated writing groups. During the spring 2014 semester, undergraduate writing tutors at a small, private, women?s, liberal arts university attempted to start four writing groups through the institution?s writing center. Only two of the four proposed writing groups formed, and of those two, only one writing group maintained consistent membership and met regularly throughout the semester. Data for this study were collected from February 2014 to May 2014 and consists of 11 interviews, with four individuals, three of whom were the undergraduate writing tutors who founded the writing groups. Noting the impossibility of generalizing a small, contextualized study like this, the author suggests it may be useful to writing directors to consider writing groups as a viable writing center program for undergraduate students, particularly if viewed as a vehicle for tutor training and leadership development. Other issues for writing center directors, writing center administrators, and teachers of writing at the college level who are interested in how writing groups function to support writers are discussed as well. Moreover, this dissertation examines the author?s own experiences wrestling with a research study that became vastly different from what she intended because of participation constraints. The author?s attempts at self-reflexivity regarding her subjectivities, epistemological contradictions, and other issues raised by her interpretation of her research experience are included as data and discussed in the final chapter of this dissertation.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Instructional System Technology, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 1, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-10, Section: A, page: 3786. Adviser: Theodore W. Frick.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Communication and Culture, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-06, Section: A, page: 2200. Chair: Patricia Hayes Andrews. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Nov. 27, 2006)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Language Education, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb 4, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-04, Section: A, page: 1205. Adviser: Faridah Pawan.

<p> This dissertation presents the findings of an on-line survey completed by 222 FYC (First Year Composition) instructors at universities and community colleges across the United States along with supplemental information derived from multiple open-ended interviews with seven FYC instructors in Arizona. Both survey and interview questions were designed to accomplish three primary goals: to determine which conventions of academic English FYC instructors identify as most important; to understand the common problems encountered by instructors in teaching those conventions, and; to solicit instructors' perceptions about ways in which learning outcomes might be improved. </p><p> Results indicate general consensus among FYC instructors on which skills are both the most critical to academic English proficiency and the most difficult for their students to learn. At the same time, the survey and interview responses reflect widespread dissatisfaction with the ways in which academic English sequences are currently structured, apparently related to the instructors' common perception that the sequences are only "somewhat" successful in terms of preparing students for successful academic writing. Accordingly, the overwhelming majority of FYC instructors suggest changes for increasing the effectiveness of their programs; however, there is surprisingly little agreement among them on what those changes should be. </p><p> The concluding section of this study presents pragmatic suggestions &mdash; congruent with a number of the instructors' observations &mdash; for reconfiguring FYC sequences. Additionally, it is argued that, aside from the targeted skills addressed by the instructors, the survey and interview responses indicate that academic English has been implicitly invested with culture-specific values which should be made explicit in instruction and which, given the gatekeeping status of FYC courses, the increasing diversity of student populations and the growing divide between the academic and wider cultures, require critical examination.</p>

<p> Anecdotal evidence suggests interdisciplinary ideas receive significant, positive press. The prevailing commentary details the promises and theoretical benefits of interdisciplinarity, yet countervailing viewpoints are noticeably absent from the conversation in major media sources. Moreover, there is a lack of empirical data exploring the values associated with the term, interdisciplinary. The study examined what ideological assertions are supported through interdisciplinarity in undergraduate education discourse published in <i> The Chronicle of Higher Education </i> from 1993-2013. Employing a critical framing, the study utilized document analysis to examine ideological building blocks (i.e. values, assumptions, symbols, and ideographs) in 177 articles over a 20-year period. Exploring the evolution of interdisciplinarity in the discourse provided an opportunity to present a rich, contextualized meaning of an important higher education concept. The findings suggested a positive, solution-orientation are associated with the term, and offered evidence for an emergent micro-ideology in the higher education community.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of English, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 18, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4530. Advisers: W. Raymond Smith; Christine R. Farris.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4317. Adviser: Paul Prior. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-233) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.