Educational and feminist researchers as well as philosophers and psychologist claim that women are not receiving the same university education as men. Studies show that males receive more praise and more attention in the classroom through the university. As a result, female students feel alienated from much of their educational experiences. Likewise, minority students also report feeling estranged in the university claiming that their previous experiences are undervalued.Freshman composition classes are designed to acquaint in-coming students with the discourse needed in order to succeed in college. Likewise, the Basis Writing Courses at Ball State University are designed to help underprepared students gain confidence and practice in their writing abilities. Teachers' written comments upon essay drafts are a major means of communication between the students and professors.This study was designed to determine whether or not instructors teaching in the Ball State University Basic Writing courses in the Fall Semester of 1992 gave responses on essays which were significantly different relative to the students' gender and/or race. In other words, did male students receive different editing and revisional advice than did female or non-Caucasian students? Did male students receive more praise and encouragement than did female or non-Caucasian students? Is there unconscious gender or racial bias exhibited in the basic writing classrooms at Ball State University as evidenced by instructors' written comments?? Contrary to the multi-vocal chorus proclaiming existing bias, this study found such bias did not exist at the significant Alpha level of .05, yet trends towards such bias did emerge. White males were slightly favored both in the amount of praise and the amount of advice offered on essay drafts. The careful selection of the Basic Writing faculty may have contributed to the lack of bias found at a significant level. As a secondary issue, it was also found that instructors were unaware of the extent of their direct editing habits. This overediting may result from the portfolio nature of the course where outside readers are involved in course assessment / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176740 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Henriksen, Donna L. |
| Contributors | Weaver-Smith, Barbara |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iv, 109 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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