At the high school level, teachers are tasked with a twofold agenda: they must prepare their students for college level and other post-secondary writing, and they must also make sure they perform well on the standardized writing tests that are required by the state. The stakes in standardized testing continue to rise, especially in Florida. Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 (NCLB) and the implementation of the Race to the Top Assessment Program (RTTT) in 2009, teachers across the nation have experienced intense pressures related to standardized testing. Many schools' efforts to conform to testing requirements have had the unintended consequence of narrowing their focus to the content of the test. As teachers and administrators experience the pressure to meet the requirements, it has become impossible to implement any pedagogy without test results in mind. The challenge facing high school writing teachers is formidable: how can they best choose their new approach to pedagogy, given the pressures of standardized testing, the new curriculum requirements, and the need to ensure that they equip students with the skills they will need to write in college? This thesis explores the question by analyzing the key factors that impact writing instruction in Florida high school classrooms: testing requirements, curriculum requirements, and the content of writing textbooks being used. Do these factors encourage teachers to follow the best practices in writing instruction recommended by field-based research? What knowledge can we gain from comparing these factors, which may be helpful to today's writing instructors in light of the challenges they face? Through this research and analysis, I hope to provide insight that can inform high school writing teachers on the heart of the issue: is it possible for best practices in writing instruction and standardized testing to coexist in their classrooms?

Research in socio-historical studies of literacy have focused on the social and historical aspects of literacy. While these prior studies have illuminated how we think about the social and historical context surrounding literacy, we have not studied women's literacies in relation to the economy as much. In response, this study focuses particularly on women's literacies during a specific time period, that of the 1960s to the 1990s, which ushered in second wave feminism's fight for equality in the workplace and the change from traditional capitalism to "fast" or "new" capitalism. To develop this inquiry, and find out about women's literacies during this historic intersection, I drew from Brandt and Berteaux's life history interview method paired with Charmaz's grounded theory to conduct literacy history interviews with seven women of varying occupations. All the participants started their working lives between 1960 and 1966 and continued to work at least through the 1990s. Findings show that women used their literacies to document in our society, which demanded increasing documentation, in order to get and keep positions of authority. Some women used a keen sense of audience awareness and ethos to gain the authority to write their own work beyond documentation. These women are the boundary breakers who succeeded in occupations previously dominated by men. The participants' literacies are complicated, however, and it was interesting to find that their education levels did not always match their economic levels. Two of the participants achieved upper echelon positions and earned more than most of the others despite not having degrees. Graff's, "The Literacy Myth", helps explain this paradox, but my research adds an additional contour to his theory by looking at how women used literacies gathered from various sources to gain authority in a documentary workplace. While researchers like Brandt and Graff have done global literacy studies, this study hones in on the complications and particularities of women's literacies during the convergence of two socio-historic trends, feminism and fast capitalism. This study highlights how women used their literacies in a documentary society to gain authority in the workplace. This research also sheds light on the part literacy played in women's ability to succeed in professions previously dominated by men. Understanding the results of this study could help us better understand the paradoxes of women's literacies and work as well as how women have managed these paradoxes when possible. Most importantly, this research sheds light on literacies in our fast capitalist, documentary society, which is a defining feature of our contemporary moment.

Research in writing studies has focused on multilingual writers and the rhetorical affinity they gain from shuttling between multiple languages (Lorimer Leonard, 2014; Guerra, 2004) Writing center studies have focused on multilingual writing tutors and have argued the need to use more tutors who are literate in more than one language because they possess skills that can be useful in writing centers (Lape, 2013; Thonus, 2014). However, not much research has been conducted to better understand what literacy practices these multilingual writing tutors develop that make them better equipped in writing center tutoring sessions. This thesis focuses on a case study of a multilingual writing tutor and traces her literacy practices through the collection of a literacy history interview, three video-recordings of tutoring sessions, and a stimulated recall interview in which segments from the sessions are the focus of the interview. The thesis employs New Literacy Studies (Barton and Hamilton, 1998; Heath, 2001) and Canagarajah's (2013) translingualism as a lens to identify literacy practices that stem from a multilingual upbringing and the ways they manifest in tutoring sessions. The findings of this study reveal two main literacy practices that are prevalent in the tutor's tutoring strategies, empathy and rhetorical attunement. More importantly, the study reveals the complexities of tracing literacy practices across time. Through data analysis, I claim that the participant's rhetorical attunement may have derived from her multilingual upbringing as many researchers suggest (Lorimer Leonard, 2014; Guerra, 2004). Ultimately, my research also argues that these practices were amplified by other factors in her life that helped foster her rhetorical learning and led to a metacognitive practice. I assert that through her exposure to rhetorical education in the tutor training course, the Writing and Rhetoric major, and the continual training and practice of tutoring, her rhetorical affinity is developed into a metacognitive practice in which she thinks critically about the moves she is making in her tutoring session, rather than simply reacting to changes in the session; she thinks of the various effects her decisions may have on the learning occurring in the session. The results of this study demonstrate the complexities of tracing literacy practices over time and argue for a less linear approach to tracing literacy practices. By understanding the ways informal and formal education affect the development of those practices, we can better trace those practices from its origin through its progression in order to understand how those practices are enhanced through various domains. Although this study begins to address the literacy practices that are distinct to multilingual writing tutors, it is limited due to the number of participants that took part in this study. More research needs to be conducted to study the literacy practices of multilingual writing tutors.

Research in online writing instruction often focuses on student perceptions of learning and best practices of online pedagogy (Boyd, 2008; Dziuban, Moska, Kramer, & Thompson, 2013; Hewett & Warnock, 2015; Pigg & Morrison, 2016; Roby, Ashe, Singh, & Clark, 2013; Warnock, 2009). At the University of Central Florida, online learning research is especially important due to the increasing volume of both online and hybrid courses across the university (which is itself in response to increasing numbers of students enrolling but limited classroom space with which to teach). The current push from many university administrators for increased enrollment in online classes focuses on access and convenience; however, there is not as much of a conversation asking if the learning in the class is affected by the online course, or the different avenues for learning that these courses present. In this study, I noted that while scholarship discussed students', teachers', and institutions' roles in online courses, there was a lack of alignment in those areas. To investigate this lack of alignment, I interviewed four students enrolled in online courses and three instructors currently teaching online courses through the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Central Florida. Through a grounded theory analysis (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1998), I identified areas of agreement and dissonance in both the creation of and implementation of online courses. Overall, students and instructors seemed to focus both their positive and negative perceptions and expectations around discussions as sites of learning, expectations of time/effort, feedback, and classroom community. These are common sites of benefits and disadvantages of online writing courses, which make this investigation important to the continuing conversation of how we better align our perceptions and expectations to improve student learning in online writing courses. The conclusions from this study address the importance and difficulty of transparency in online courses and the need for consistency across the institution, the instructors, and the students. This research provides suggestions for implementing the findings of this research at the classroom and department levels.

This research seeks to understand how activists are encouraging audiences to identify with their work in digital spaces through a case study of Beyonce Knowles-Carter's activism. The current scholarship surrounding digital activism is extensive and has offered a detailed look at individual tools used in activist movements, but there is a lack of research that recognizes the complex network of tools that are often used by an activist or activist group. To address this gap in the research, this thesis offers an analysis of three specific activist tools used by Beyonce to encourage her fans and other audiences to identify with and participate in her activism. This study investigates the methods Beyonce employs to get her multiple audiences informed and engaged through an analysis of her activist blog, the "Formation" music video, and her live performance during the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to assess, from a rhetorical standpoint, how Beyonce is inviting her audiences to respond and become engaged. The analysis of these three activist tools utilizes qualitative data analysis, focusing on Burke's (1969) concept of rhetorical identification to understand how her activist messages are presented across mediums. To expand on the findings of this analysis, a reception study on Beyonce's "Formation" music video and 2016 Super Bowl performance was conducted to gauge the success of her rhetorical methods. The findings of this study recognize the need to continue looking at the multiple tools used by activists to understand the complexity of their rhetorical work online. This study also provides methods for analyzing the intertextual nature of digital activism so that further research can be done. While this study begins to address the gap in the current scholarship, more research needs to be done to study the current rhetorical practices of digital activists.

This study analyzed the scholarly discussions surrounding the topic of animal testing for vaccine potency and safety in humans. The primary stakeholders in this discussion are the scientists, medical professionals, and researchers who are involved in animal models and alternative testing methods, specifically related to vaccine development. The debate among these professionals regarding alternative methods, which encompasses any testing approach that does not involve animals, has been analyzed. This project looks at the argument from a historical perspective, which provides background context for the current debate and an understanding of how the current arguments originated. The changing mindset over time of using animals has been explored, as well as conversations and arguments about alternative methods. Research questions and prior questions consider the conversation's historical influences on this present day debate and are answered in this analysis. Persuasive language has been looked at, with a consideration of how it is used both within and outside the research community, as well as the influences the various stakeholders have on one another. The burgeoning field of the rhetoric of health and medicine provides a forum and a community of scholars for a rhetorical analysis such as this one to be discussed and the findings considered for other rhetorical studies. This research design project provides a comprehensive rhetorical analysis that uses the topoi theory and a textual-intertextual analysis as a framework, along with detailed coding of the texts. This project shows the advantages of a combined rhetorical approach that leads to understanding a debate through identifying multiple layers of argument. The findings and its implications for those within rhetoric, the scholarly community, as well as the scientific field are discussed in the final chapter.

Research in writing studies has focused on what happens as students, and often their teachers, talk about student writing. This line of inquiry has identified several strategies for productive peer interactions, including spontaneous talk (Danis; Dipardo and Freedman; Johnson, The New Frontier; Bruffee; Lam), a flexible environment (Dipardo & Freedman; Johnson, "Friendly Persuasion"), positive rapport (Rish; Thompson; Wolfe), feedback and support (Barron; Covill; Flynn; Grimm; Lam; Yucel, Bird, Young, and Blanksby; Zhu), and reflection (Yucel, Bird, Young, and Blanksby). However, research invested in understanding the extent to which such interactions result in better revisions or make students better writers has been slower to emerge. To address this gap in the existing scholarship, this thesis involved case studies of two first-year undergraduates as they navigated multiple peer review interactions throughout one semester of ENC 1101. Data collection for this inquiry included observations of three peer review sessions, retrospective interviews with each participant, and participants' end of semester e-portfolios. Using conversation analysis as a lens (Black; Ford and Thompson; Kerschbaum), this project explores the extent to which peer interactions inform students' revision of their writing. The analysis of the data suggests that the amount of interruptions and control during peer interactions influences the amount of comments a student takes up in the revision process. The results of conversation analysis identify a power structure within peer interactions that are developed and constantly changing. Those power structures also show the relationship between social interaction and revision. Teachers can use this study to motivate students to use the comments given during peer review toward revising their papers. Also, with the development of more diverse case studies, researchers would be able to identify if these phenomena show up more consistently.

Media is a constant feature in our modern lives, transforming and influencing society and culture. This study examined how increased participation in digital media has changed the nature of religious representation, culture, and practice. Data was collected from both secular websites and religious media spaces where people post information about religion. This discussion is a necessary step in determining how media has not only become embedded in religious culture but has influenced the transformation of American religious culture. The first part of this analysis concentrated on uncovering rhetorical strategies in religious digital spaces. I assumed that organizational identification would be a common approach used on the Mormon.org member profiles. The data collected verified this assumption. The second part of this analysis compared collaboratively produced articles in wiki-spaces that described Roman Catholicism and Mormonism. The goal of this part of the analysis was to determine how faith organizations are represented in digital spaces that are situated outside church authority.

Research in medical education includes a number of studies that describe the complexities (Tierney et al., 2013; Gagon et al., 2009; Pippitt, Stevenson, & Samuelson, 2013), benefits (Milano et al., 2014; Hammoud et al., 2012; Silverman et al., 2014), and limitations (Peled, Sagher, Morrow, & Dobbie, 2009; Wald, George, Reis, & Taylor, 2014; Pelletier, 2016) of helping medical students understand and achieve fluency with electronic medical records (EMRs). In addition, studies in the rhetoric of health and medicine (RHM) have been calling to attention the effectiveness of rhetorical studies within medical contexts (Scott, Segal, & Keranen, 2013; Segal, 2005; Rausch, 2016; Fountain, 2014; Melocon and Frost, 2015; Graham and Herndl, 2014). However, there is not a unified idea of the best way to teach EMR fluency, nor is there any research that studies and analyzes the perceptions of students in their undergraduate medical education, including their pre-clerkship years. This thesis investigates students' perceptions of their medical education at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine (UCF COM), specifically how 76 students who participated in surveys and focus group interviews perceive and engage with their education and ideas of EMR application and fluency. It also compares their perceptions with the goals of the module directors who designed the curriculum. In its analysis, this thesis employs classical and contemporary scholarship about stasis theory (Crowley and Hawhee, 2012; Fahnestock and Secor, 1988) to identify points of congruence and dissonance between students and module directors, as well as across cohorts of students in their first, second, and third years. Through data analysis, I found key points of congruence and dissonance between the perceptions and experiences of students and goals of module directors. I also identified key factors affecting both groups, such as the time constraints of the curriculum and the fact that hospitals use different EMR systems. The results of this study demonstrate the complexities of medical education and EMR education for both students and module directors. By understanding how rhetoric can be more beneficial to other fields, such as medical education, this study can help those creating curricula better reach outcomes that both students and licensing boards will appreciate. That said, more research needs to be conducted to understand how regulated medical education creates these points of contention between future physician curriculum designers.

This thesis describes and analyzes the how and why behind first-year college composition (FYC) instructors' practices for choosing and using examples for teaching writing at UCF. In educational research, developments related to cognitive load theory, analogical transfer, and worked examples reject discovery learning pedagogy, instead advocating for providing examples to aid in problem-solving. Scholars in ill-structured disciplines have studied the use of worked examples (Kyun et al.; Ondrusek et al; Rourke and Sweller), paving the way for fields such as composition studies to apply this concept in new contexts. Although composition scholarship recommends the use of models or sample texts in the practices of imitation, modeling, and genre-based pedagogies (D'Angelo; Pemberton; Dean; Dethier; Derewianka), examples have yet to be either the focus of research in the field or connected to research on learning by example or worked examples. Grounding composition instructors' current practices for using examples in theories of learning and writing instruction, my research theorizes UCF FYC instructors' purposes and practices for choosing and using examples, begins characterizing and defining worked examples in composition classrooms, and considers how they work for solving the ill-structured problem of writing. To examine these instructors' purposes and practices, I collected data through a survey, classroom observations, interviews, and course documents. When choosing and using examples, instructors' practices of providing multiple examples, noting specific elements of these examples, and revisiting and comparing examples, directly connected to their most common purposes of demonstrating assignment expectations, illustrating a genre or writing process in action, presenting possibilities of what students can do, and practicing reader response. Ultimately, I argue that, rather than simply providing students with worked examples, FYC instructors engage students in the process of "working" examples for these purposes, as their practices guide students' learning to problem-solve for upcoming assignments and future writing tasks.