Presenters: University of Tennessee Bill Doyle Mary Jo Reiff

1. Researching FYC Programs: Investigating Student Readiness, Program Relevance, and Relationships between Writing Programs Presenters: University of Tennessee Bill Doyle Mary Jo Reiff Presenters: University of Washington Anis Bawarshi Sergio Casillas Rachel Goldberg Megan Kelly Angela Rounsaville

2. URL for UT/UW Prior Genre Study For a copy of today’s PowerPoint presentation, in addition to copies of survey questions, interview questions, and preliminary results, please visit: http://utuwpriorgenre.blogspot.com

3. Overall Research Questions • What genres (written, oral, digital) do students already know when they arrive in first-year composition courses? • How do students use their prior genre knowledge when writing new genres for first-year composition courses? • What factors contribute to how and why students transform prior genre knowledge into new genre knowledge? • To what extent does this prior knowledge help or hinder students’ ability to gain access to academic discourse?

4. Research Questions for Presentation • What genres do study students write most frequently? • What genres do students write most in different domains (school, work, other)? • What genres overlap domains the most?

5. Research Questions for Presentation • What kinds of writing do students most enjoy and why? • What kinds of writing do students least enjoy and why? • What do students consider their most successful writing and why? • What do student consider their least successful writing and why? • What prior writing experiences do students think will most help them succeed in FYC?

6. Data Model for Research on Genre Learning “Students have created or developed a ‘sense’ of new genres at levels below the conscious and are using shaping or creative powers that were neither verbal nor rational. The data on which such creative shaping operate include the following”: 1. Students’ past and current reading 2. Students’ own previous essays 3. Teachers’ assignments • Talk elicited about writing --Aviva Freedman, “Learning to Write Again: Discipline-Specific Writing at University.” Carleton Papers in Applied Language Studies 4 (1987): 95-116.

7. Research Methods • Survey of Composition I students re: past literacy experiences (reading, writing, digital literacy), both in school and out of school; • Discourse-based interviews asking student to reflect on how they called on previous discursive resources in order to write their first paper in FYC; • Collection and analysis of writing produced in FYC as well as syllabi and writing assignments.

8. Survey • Part I: Demographic Information (gender, race, class, major, educational background) • Part II: Access to Technology at Home and School • Part III: Identification of types of communication in school, outside of school, and on the job

9. Survey Part IV: Open-ended Questions • What is your favorite/least favorite kind of writing? Why? • What kinds of writing have you had the most success performing? • What do you consider your most/least successful piece of writing (in school or out) and why? • What do you do when you encounter new writing tasks? What resources, skills, or habits do you draw on? • What high school writing experiences (if any) do you think will help you most to succeed in your college writing course?

10. UT Student Sample • Surveys distributed to 10% of all English 101: Composition I courses (Fall 2006) or 15 randomly selected sections of 101 (N=345) • Number of students responding to the survey: 52 • Follow-up interviews with 9 students

11. Profile of UT Students Surveyed Gender Race Languages Spoken

12. Profile of UT Students Surveyed Economic Class

13. Profile of UT Students Surveyed Parent/Guardian Educational Background

14. Profile of UT Students Surveyed Type of School Attended Class Rank

15. Profile of UT Students Surveyed Majors: • Business (10) • Nursing (7) • Undecided (6) • Engineering (4) • Education (3) • Pharmacy (3) • Psychology (2) • Pre-Med (2) • Sciences (2) • Law, Advertising, Optometry, Economics, Theater, Interior Design, Sports Management, Exercise Science, Architecture, Music, Computer Science, Spanish, Anthropology (1)

16. UW Student Sample • Surveys distributed to all students enrolled in 33 sections English 131: Expository Writing (Fall 2006) (N=748) • Number of students responding to the survey: 64 • Follow-up interviews with 18 students

17. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Gender

18. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Race

19. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Languages Spoken Fluently

20. Profile of UW Students Surveyed First Language/Dialect

21. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Economic Class

22. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Parent/Guardian Educational Background

23. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Type of School Attended

24. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Class Rank

25. Profile of UW Students Surveyed Major

26. UT Survey: What genres do students write most frequently? Tie in ranking

27. UT Survey: What genres do students write most in school?

28. UT Survey: What genres do students write most out of school?

29. UT Survey: What genres do students write most on the job?

30. UT Survey: What genres overlap in these domains (in school, out of school, at work)? Genre List

31. UT Survey: What genres overlap in these domains (in school, out of school, at work)? Student Self-Report

32. Genres UW Students Write most Frequently

33. Genres UW Students Write most in School

34. Genres UW Students Write most at Work

35. Genres UW Students Write most in Other Domains

36. Genre Use Overlap: School and Work

37. Genre Use Overlap: School and Outside

38. Genre Use Overlap: Work and Outside

39. Genre Use Overlap: School, Work, and Outside

40. UT Survey: What is your favorite kind of writing? Why? CreativeWriting: 16 Total (8 no specified genre, 4 poetry, 2 short stories, 1 creative nonfiction, 1 fantasy) • Emotive/Expressive: “It's what you're feeling.” “I can express myself.” “It is about what I'm thinking and feeling.” “It allows me to set my own rules and express myself.” “I use it to express emotions, convey ideologies, and to reflect my growth.” “Because it allows me to express my feelings and thoughts and I can never be wrong about how I feel.” You can really write about something you’re passionate about.” “I love rhyming and expressing my feelings in ways that don’t always have to be perfect in grammar and composition.”  Other Reasons: “I can structure the paper how I want and infuse the information I deem worth writing about.”“No right or wrong way to do it. I like to come up with different ideas.”

41. UT Survey: What is your favorite kind of writing? Why? Personal Writing, Personal Essays, Personal Letter: 6 • “I can just write how I feel and analyze myself rather than analyzing something I haven't seen before.” Freewriting: 5 • “You can write whatever comes to mind.” Journaling: 5 • “There’s no particular form.” “It is just your opinions and thoughts.” “A way for me to express my emotions and what’s going on in my life daily.” Persuasive: 4 • “I have used it the most and feel most comfortable with it.” “It is what was most heavily taught to us in school.” Research: 4 • “It is what I have done the most of.” “I know all the information that has to go into the paper and I know it’s not the wrong answer.” “Enjoy the research and the preparation.”

42. UT Survey: What is your least favorite kind of writing? Why? Research Papers: 14 • “I have a hard time determining reliable sources.” “Don't enjoy having to hunt down sources and compile them, or twist them to fit an argument.” “All of the citations.” “Structured and tedious.” “Have to follow many guidelines.” “They are on the research of other people that we combine all together in one paper.” “Boring and require no imagination.” “Topic is something I generally don't care about.” “Difficult to write without sounding like a report.” Creative: 12 Total (Poetry 9, No Specified Genre 3) • “It is never interpreted how it is supposed to be interpreted.” “I think it is hard to understand.” “I just don’t get it.” “I suck at it.” “Does not come easily to me and I have to work at it.” “I find it difficult to write.”“Despise it.”

43. UT Survey: What is your least favorite kind of writing? Why? Analytical: 6 • “Poetry is already written words, and I just don't like having to analyze someone else's thoughts or feelings.” “Usually the topic we have to analyze I either don't know much about or care about.” “I do not always get the main point and therefore do badly.” “Structured.” “It's hard for me to dig really deep into the meaning of something.” “I have a hard time ‘analyzing’ someone else's work that is on paper when I can't talk to them in person.” Reports: 6 • “You usually have to interpret what someone else is trying to say when you don't even know them.” “It’s simply summarizing another's thoughts.” “They are often assigned on a topic, rather than on something students wants to learn about.” “All the guidelines involved and because of the lack of my own opinion.” “Following a set format, and that usually is boring.” “Not interested/forced to write on those topics.”

44. From UT Survey: What kinds of writing have you had the most success performing? Genres identified by form/mode:

45. From UT Survey: What kinds of writing have you had the most success performing? Genres identified primarily by rhetorical purpose or aim:

46. From UT Survey: What do you consider your most successful piece of writing (in school or out)? *45 respondents total (could be more than one response)

47. From UT Survey: What do you consider your most successful piece of writing (in school or out)? Why? • Interest in subject; self-investment/enjoyment: 14 “My first paper I turned in for my Freshman college comp. class. It was a rhetorical analysis of an artifact that was meaningful to us. I chose some thing I really loved and you could feel it in my writing.” • Time investment; work and effort put in: 11 “A big research paper for my sophomore English class because we worked on them for over a month. We had to turn in research cards, outlines, several rough drafts. This paper was probably the best I have written because I spent a lot more time on it than I have spent on any other paper.”

48. From UT Survey: What do you consider your most successful piece of writing (in school or out)? Why? • Rhetorical Effectiveness: 9 “My senior speech I wrote for graduation. I wrote my speech and tweaked it for months before my audition. When I heard that I got picked, I was really excited. Everyone has always told me that I am a good public speaker but I'd never really put any stock in it. When gave my speech it was received very well. Giving my speech was received really well and that experienced has changed my life.” • New information learned: 5 “My Senior Project research paper because it focused on my major in college and provided me with great new knowledge.”

49. From UT Survey: What do you consider your most successful piece of writing (in school or out)? Why? • Grade earned: 5 “My research paper senior year on the author of the Harry Potter series. I got one of the highest grades in the class on it.” • Knew expectations and met requirements: 3 “My most successful piece of writing was senior year of high school. This was a research paper. It was successful because I knew exactly what the teacher wanted and it was not opinionated or analyzed at all. I researched the topic in depth and wrote about the information I found.”

50. From UT Survey: What do you consider your least successful piece of writing? Why? *46 respondents (could be more than one response)