Documenting Community Culture -- 24 January 2011 Journal

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24 January 2011

So, my concern is that I am unsure of what would be best as a project, or for my own purposes of developing my documenting skills/strategies as a professional researcher. I'm thinking that this semester project will not only be useful in developing my research and analysis strategies but also in preliminary data for a PhD project of some relevance (though that is cloudy as well). Possible projects include:
  1. Freshmen composition students; though I am not interested in their cognitive strategies in writing (like Emig), I am interested in the way that the R/C course influences their attitudes towards writing, researching, and learning in their university experience.
  2. Freshmen at large; I'm very interested in knowing how UH's freshmen ground themselves in the university experience and how their first semesters affect their purpose or sense of purpose. Ultimately, I could use this information as a launch to working with retention programs, since that is important to the UH and to my career goals.
  3. Current and past faculty at Lone Star College – North Harris, Department of English. This might be a PhD project as well – to track changes in programs and pedagogy over the nearly 40 years of the college's history.
Each of these projects would involve not only interviews, but in some type of surveys before or after interviews. Artifacts could be gathered in #1, and #3, though I'm not sure about #2.

Each of these potential populations is discussed with our question prompts.

#1 UH Freshmen Composition Students

A] What I am looking for/ expecting from this interview [The questions that I am seeking to address].
I'm interested in understanding what R/C students expect when they walk into the course (both 1303 and 1304) and how they feel their R/C course is serving them. Few of them are English majors, yet everyone is required to take the course (or place out of it) and writing seems to seem alien to most of these students. I'm also interested in knowing how the students see the efforts and choices of our TA corp – we tend to use white, middle-class texts and issues, yet our student body is more diverse than this. Do Hispanics, for example, react the same as white students to our text? How does the inclusion of (usually) WASP texts and issues make them feel about their first semesters in college?

B] The actual questions that I will ask and strategies I will follow to get at what I’m looking for.
  1. Describe your expectations for 1303/1304
  2. How does your experience in 1303/1304 differ from those expectations?
  3. [Without criticizing the faculty] Describe your instructor's presentation of the material to you – how is this similar to a) other instructional environments, b) previous high school classes? How does this presentation methodology meet your needs?
  4. Since these courses are taught by graduate students, what is the student's perception of TA vs FT faculty efficacy/grading
  5. How do you feel you may/not use these writing strategies in your college career?
  6. Describe your classroom experience. How interactive is your class? How do you interact with your classmates outside of your ENGL 1303/1304 class?
  7. Strategies include
    1. asking permission from the UH English Lower Division Committee to a) survey current and past students and b) interview some students
    2. asking colleagues in the TA corp to do the same
    3. asking freshmen R/C students for two 45-minute interviews with follow-up e-mail discussions

C] The problems I anticipate
The primary problem is that I'm an outsider – I'm an authority – and the students may see me as a representative of the Department establishment and fail to provide honest, personal responses. I'm also feeling this is more an educational research than a folkloric one. Some of these questions might be FERPA-restricted, so I would need a FERPA waiver.

D] How I plan to arrange things to minimize the problems and induce a natural context.
If I understand suggestions from first week of the course, I could train my own students to interview peers. Though there would be total disclosure, this may help the end-subject be more honest and revealing.

#2 UH Freshmen

A] What I am looking for/ expecting from this interview [The questions that I am seeking to address].
This is definitely an educational interest. I'm interested in the current student body at UH – commuter, urban, mixed ethnicities, mixed economic backgrounds. We have a large percentage of students withdrawing before graduating. Politics aside, I'm interested in understanding what makes students stay and what makes students stay. As part of this, I'm interested in what brings students to UH and how they feel about the university once they're here. Ideally, I would be interested in following a cohort of freshmen across 4-6 years and understanding their continued attitudes about their college program and experience. If members of that cohort group withdraw, would like to follow them in their lives for the same period.

B] The actual questions that I will ask and strategies I will follow to get at what I’m looking for.
  1. What brought you to UH? Why did you choose UH instead of community colleges or other 4-years?
  2. Describe your living arrangements (home, off-campus housing, on-campus housing)
  3. Describe your family's expectations of you and your education
  4. Explain your personal educational goals
  5. What do you expect to get from your degree?
  6. What time/financial constraints are you concerned about now? What financial planning had you made before coming to the UH? What financial aid are you receiving?
  7. What resources are you using at the UH to support your learning? How effective are these for you? Why are you not using these resources?
  8. Describe your interactions with your professors – in and outside the class
  9. Describe your interactions with your classmates – in class, out of class, and off-campus. How do you consider your friends on campus compared to your friends at home?
  10. When you thought of college a year ago, what did you think/expect/hear, and how does that compare to your experience now?
  11. Strategies
    1. Post an ad in the Cougar for volunteers or ask underclassmen I know already for referrals
    2. If a longitudinal study, would need to consider new CPHS protocols and explain to participants about commitment for multiple-year interviews.
C] The problems I anticipate
Some of the same problems as in #1, including the problem of appearing to be an authority figure. But here I'm actually looking to be an outsider, as I'm interested in a holistic experience, and not one so “personal” to the student as the R/C course. Still, some of these questions might relate to FERPA, again. I also would want to find an appropriate demographic sample. Or not. Perhaps I can just focus on Hispanics or African-Americans for this project, then branch out later.

D] How I plan to arrange things to minimize the problems and induce a natural context.
The idea of focusing on one minority group would address a sampling issue (there are more than one type of Hispanics, I know). I also would have to modify the CPHS forms to include FERPA waiver. As for natural context, I'm blind here – except for interviewing on campus, I'm not sure what other context needs to be included.

#3 LSC Faculty

A] What I am looking for/ expecting from this interview [The questions that I am seeking to address].
Here, for a semester-long project, I would be interested in interviewing the first generation faculty, who are still around and available. I would be interested in knowing their history and experiences of starting a new college in the 1970s, when they first met at Aldine (Nimitz?) high school and then when the first buildings were built. What did they think about their new venture and how did they bring themselves into the college?

B] The actual questions that I will ask and strategies I will follow to get at what I’m looking for.
  1. Historical
    1. Educational background coming to the position
    2. Courses taught
    3. Description of college/department during tenure
    4. Assessment of students
    5. Sample syllabi
  2. Pedagogical
    1. Personal teaching philosophy, and how that changed over time
    2. Theories of rhetoric/composition used
    3. Examples of writing assignments
    4. Student writing samples, if available (would need some release)
  3. Student perspectives
    1. Memories and experiences of ENGL 1301/1302
    2. Writing artifacts, if any
    3. Perceptions of faculty, program, other students
C] The problems I anticipate
  1. Finding members of these two cohorts; finding those willing to sit down and talk
  2. Release of student artifacts
D] How I plan to arrange things to minimize the problems and induce a natural context.
  1. The LSC – North Harris Archivist has college bulletins/catalogs for all years of the college's history (1973-present). These have names of faculty. Many would still (?) be alive. Finding them will still be an issue, but I can use networking starting with the current faculty. Finding students will be more difficult, but I may be able to approach the Research department to determine if they have any surveys of former students and see if I can access their contact data. I could also advertise in the local newspapers.
  2. Any release of student artifacts would need written permission from students, though I may be able to review FERPA to determine if anonymous work is permitted for academic review.

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