Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2008 Jun 1

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Texas Christian University, 2007. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed May. 15, 2007). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

While much has been written about the efficacy of academic support programs for increasing the retention rates of university students deemed academically underprepared, few studies examine how students engage the support classroom with an emphasis on expressions of literacy. This qualitative study responds to recent calls in student development literature for more studies into particular practices of university support programs. Focused on an exemplar support program at a larger, public university in the American Midwest, the study gathered perspectives about the support of academically underprepared students, teasing out the differences in administrators', instructors', and students' voices. Insights from the perspectives revealed that explicit metaphors of support in the programmatic discourse emphasized a skills model for academic development and a utopian model of student safe houses. In the classroom, however, five focal students suggested that literacy learning was far more complex. In particular, students' data revealed the generative potential of sociocultural literacy theory for conceptualizing praxis in an academic support program. Examining how five focal students responded to the complex programmatic perspectives of support showed that student engagement was far more intricate than strong retention rates. First, a close analysis of five focal students revealed that learning academic discourses was more than appropriation of skills; it was ways of discerning which practices to use for different communities and learning to signal one's role in these communities. Second, students revealed that student community in the support program was a borderland of difference rather than a safe house. Finally, students illustrated that opportunities for creative improvisation in literacy performances was integral to student engagement. The findings have insights for how to conceptualize pedagogy in support programs related to emergent sociocultural theories of Third Space. Specifically, imagining the support classroom as borderland play suggests that the how of student engagement was often how the five focal students proactively co-constructed the learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 11, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Janice Neuleib (chair), Julia Visor, Jerry Weber, Heather Graves. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-176) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2005. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 179 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Faculty of Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / The impact of globalisation on the workplace demands that individuals must be prepared to respond to rapid technological and knowledge changes. While the courses offered by the various Universities of Technology take into account the role of the workplace, very little research exists on the impact of career-focussed programmes and how these meet or do not meet workplace requirements. This thesis discusses a research project conducted with Office Management and Technology students and compares the writing practices of higher education with those of related workplaces. The research problem that is investigated is this thesis is how students transfer knowledge, skills and attitudes learned in higher education to workplaces. In order to address this problem, the research was guided by the questions: 1) what are the business writing practices of 1st and 2nd year Communication students? 2) What are the business writing practices of office managers? 3) What are the ‘gaps’ in the business writing practices between higher education Office Management and Technology programmes and related workplaces? and 4) How can these gaps be addressed to ensure the adequate preparation of Office Management and Technology students for the workplaces of the future? This comparative study used both quantitative and qualitative methods and collected and produced documentary data, questionnaires, observations and interviews at both higher education and workplace sites. The findings show patterns of alignment and non-alignment across the writing practices of higher education and workplaces. Recommendations are made about the alignment of writing practices, for the mutual benefit of students and workplaces. The contribution of this research comprises a theoretical contribution to communication knowledge as well as a number of practical contributions to improve the way in which business writing is taught. A theoretical framework for the analysis and comparison of higher education and workplace communication data has been developed and a comparative study has shown the differences between higher education and workplace communication. Higher education and workplaces are different and their communication practices need to embody these significant differences. This study has shown where there can be constructive alignment between higher education and workplace communication practices to the benefit of both student learning and workplaces. The implementation of the recommendations should result in Office Management and Technology students being better prepared to face the demands and challenges of the different and complex world of the workplace into which they will enter on completion of their studies.

Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / This study evaluated the application of the ‘process approach’ to writing in secondary schools in Limpopo Province; The initial plan was to involve two rural and two urban schools. However, the urban schools did not cooperate as initially promised when preparations were made. It is for this reason that the sample was made up of two rural and two peri-urban schools. The study investigated English writing as a basic language skill that second language learners needed to acquire, in a process writing context. Related literature was reviewed to develop knowledge in the area of writing as a process. An exploratory research design was employed and a qualitative approach was followed to mainly collect in-depth data in a Grade 12 English language classroom. The Grade 12 learners and their teachers were interviewed and observed in their writing classrooms. The process that learners followed when engaged in writing an assigned essay was scrutinized in line with what is required by Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in order to confirm the teachers’ responses and the observations made during writing lessons. Thematic analysis was used for the data emanating from interview responses, an observation checklist and the learners’ essay marking rubric. The study revealed that the method of teaching writing and the learners’ writings resembled the process approach. This implies that teachers and learners implement process writing even though the teachers do so to a varying degree due to overcrowded classrooms and a lack of resources experienced more in rural schools than in the peri-urban ones

This pilot study investigated the efficacy of a supplemental Active Learning intervention that was administered with grammar workbook software in remedial-level composition classrooms at Seminole State College. The study analyzed student response data in a pre-test and post-test instrument in four classrooms; two followed standard methods while two incorporated the additional experimental intervention. The groups are identified in this study as either “Standard” or “Experimental,” according to the method administered in the classroom. The intervention was designed based on five grammar topic areas which correspond with content assessed in the pre-test and post-test. The Active Learning method required students to prepare a short, guided presentation on selected grammar topics. Findings showed that there was no significant change in improvement between the pre-test and post-test among the Standard or the Experimental groups, due in part to a relatively small sample size. A positive change approaching significant level occurred in the Experimental group in topic areas related to critical thinking. No significant or near-significant change was observed in the topic areas related to memorization in either group. Recommendations were made for further sampling, modification, and future applications of the intervention used in the study and for continued testing of grammar software used for instruction in Developmental Writing classes at Seminole State College.

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