This study employed a mixed-methods strategy to assess how narrative writing is perceived and utilized in first-year composition (FYC) courses at American 4-year institutions. The history of narrative writing instruction is reviewed in an examination of the literature of rhetoric and composition scholars, as well as those who study narrative theory. The survey tool was created for instructors and course/program designers to provide an overview of their FYC curricula, methodologies, and perceptions related to narrative writing. Findings indicate that FYC instructors and course designers perceive narrative writing as an introductory writing tool, much like the progymnasmata of antiquity, wherein narrative writing is used as scaffolding for more academic writing tasks. Though rarely assigned beyond the first project of the semester, when narrative is assigned, the learning objectives are difficult to meaningfully articulate beyond the general goals of the FYC course. The implications for future research are plentiful, as this study was necessarily limited in scope by its exploratory goals, so there are many opportunities to expand and build upon the work of this study.

This study examines how and if threshold concepts enable expansive learning and generalization. Expansive learning and generalization are part of the highly contested conceptions of transfer, and these specific conceptions offer a more complex conception of transfer that deals with knowledge transformation (Tuomi-Gr?hn and Engestr?m, Beach). One way that we can see expansive learning and generalization transform knowledge is through the teaching of threshold concepts. In the last decade, there has been a movement toward using threshold concepts in FYC*s that take up writing studies as their curricula (Wardle and Downs, Dew). Even though using threshold concepts seems to be one interesting way of specifically studying expansive learning and generalization, we have no studies examining whether or not teaching threshold concepts encourages expansive learning. The studies we do have do not seem to offer any methodologies that would enable us to study threshold concepts and generalization. Past methods, such as case studies, interviews, and surveys have included small sample sizes to collect their data from (Wardle, Dively and Nelms, Nowacek). A lot of the transfer data does not actually focus on the writing or the texts themselves or the reoccurring moves that students use in those texts. Linguistic discourse analysis offers a promising avenue for examining the generalization of threshold concepts. Using research methods like linguistic discourse analysis in marriage with the best qualitative methods of transfer, like case studies or interviews, could allow for a larger sample size of data collection and allows for us to see how students use these threshold concepts in their writing. Through linguistic discourse analysis and interviews, this study suggests that students* perceptions of writing change after being introduced to some threshold concepts from the Writing About Writing curriculum. The threshold concepts that students are presented to in the Writing About Writing curriculum at UCF tackles misconceptions and helps students change how they view writing. Once they can change this view, they are able to generalize the knowledge they have into their own writing. If students do not use the exact terminology from the curriculum, they are able to generalize those threshold concepts through using their own language or even through analogies.

在競爭激烈的壽險行銷通路中，壽險公司招募新進業務員需提供較高之教育訓練成本，以及擔負人員流動率高、績效表現差異很大的風險。為了因應此現象，許多保險公司皆有在人員招募時提供適性測驗，期望能作為篩選人才與未來培育方向之參考，降低培訓成本以及拓展未來業務發展機會。 本研究透過個案公司協助蒐集新進業務員之人口統計變數與適性測驗結果，並與其實際績效表現相互對照，進行各種統計分析，期望找出新進業務員未來績效表現之影響因素，讓保險公司在徵才時能依據不同的變數或指標，篩選出適合的對象，進而提升壽險業務從業人員之素質與績效，並降低業務人員流動率來提升保戶對公司的信任。經實證分析後結論如下： 一、人口統計變數：女性在前六個月的定著率顯著較高，月平均FYC量也較高；大學以上學歷之新進業務員，月平均FYC量較高，尤其是研究所的月平均FYC量更是遠高過其他組別，此外研究所也有較高機會成為月平均FYC優異的組別；有婚姻經驗者其月平均FYC較佳，且有較低的機會成為月平均FYC不佳的組別；直屬主管為襄理等級，其月平均FYC量較佳，且有較高機會成為月平均FYC優異的組別；年齡與工作經歷總和超過40的新進業務員，其定著率與月平均FYC量顯著較其他組別高；在七月和八月報聘進來的新進業務員，定著率與月平均FYC都較六月報聘進來的人高。 二、人格特質：社交潛能優異者，定著率較高，且月平均FYC量也較高；學習力愈高者，定著率也會較高。 本研究僅蒐集個案公司之資訊作為研究樣本，由於各壽險公司之企業文化、業務制度、教育訓練等客觀條件不同，故研究結果未必適用於其他壽險公司。

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on July 29, 2010). Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Stephen L. Fox, Susan C. Shepherd, Teresa Molinder Hogue. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-70).

With respect to matters of identities as a treacherous and sensitive subject in today’s college classroom, this project explores concepts like identity, otherness, resistance, otherization, writer’s identity, and identity negotiation; and interrogates how these concepts may affect learning and professional relationship among the class members in the First Year Composition Classroom. The crux of the argument in this research is that process and social construction collaborative pedagogies can be effective in negotiating the resistance and otherness manifesting from identity dichotomies in the First Year Composition classroom.

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Online education has received excessive attention in recent decades as its characteristics and potential have undergone intense debate and scrutiny. Similar debate and scrutiny surround the content of first-year composition (FYC) courses. As we continue to define what composition studies entails, we redefine what we study in FYC. Yet discussions of blended delivery mode---using both online and on-ground teaching methods---get lost amid these debates. This dissertation addresses the dearth of research on blended online writing instruction by asserting the essential nature of connections between the content and the delivery of FYC courses. Through case studies of two experienced instructors teaching FYC in a blended environment for the first time, this dissertation evaluates the composition--both as a noun and as a verb-of FYC courses in light of the technology involved. Through an analysis of interviews with instructors, students, and faculty involved with FYC, I highlight the points of contact--the interfaces-that themselves create the experience of a class. This analysis applies interface theory from rhetoric and composition to the pedagogical acts of teaching FYC and reveals how attention to classroom interfaces can benefit our pedagogy. This project also incorporates student performance data (in the form of portfolio evaluations), student perception data (in the form of surveys), and comparative institutional data (in the form of website analysis) to better understand the varied causes, effects, and implementations of blended learning. By looking outside the classroom environment, I show how schools influence the way blended courses are perceived by those who create them. The differences in student and instructor expectations for this kind of class emerged as particularly influential in determining how successful a blended course can be. The perspective taken by an instructor in terms of experience and expertise also emerged as a significant determinant of perceived success, particularly for instructors themselves. This dissertation reveals the delicate balance instructors must navigate between relying on expertise in the field and exploring the course delivery as a novice. This balance allows instructors to be responsive, flexible, and dynamic in their classes while also assisting students in their efforts to better understand FYC course content. Overall, this dissertation defines and advocates for a hybrid approach to FYC instruction as an essential evolution of our pedagogical praxis. Students lead increasingly hybrid lives and learn in increasingly hybrid ways. Instructors must adopt hybridity in their classes to accommodate not only students' changing learning styles but also the changing nature of composition as a field and writing as its subject matter. And finally, institutions must consistently define and implement principles of hybridity to help reduce confusion and frustration across the disciplines. Suggestions for educators and institutions alike are provided to help meet the needs of today's students.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / As an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to work in the University Writing Center (UWC) at IUPUI. This opportunity influenced my life in many ways, but none more important than my teaching. Looking back on my time in the UWC, I did not realize the connection between writing centers and composition classrooms. As a graduate student, I began to read literature that defined composition classrooms and writing centers as separate worlds. However, once I was an instructor, these two worlds were seamless weaving in and out of each other to the point that I couldn’t separate them. In fact, I didn’t understand how one could. I had read literature defining composition classrooms and writing centers as different worlds but was having experiences in the classroom that contradicted this perception, so I wanted to investigate how these experiences influenced my teaching. I sought out literature that explored the writing center-composition classroom connection to look at specific elements of my teaching and how they tied to UWC practices. This case study grew out of the initial challenges I faced as a new instructor, which led me on a journey to find my own approach to teaching composition. That journey resulted in the implementation of writing center best practices, that I learned as a tutor, into my teaching philosophy, and this background equipped me to approach writing instruction as a facilitator, guiding students to become better writers.This case study examines which writing center practices, gleaned from my experiences in the UWC at IUPUI, I’ve incorporated into my classroom, why I’ve chosen these practices, and what student feedback reveals about these practices.