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Martin dissertation complete.pdf (1.49 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Facilitating Institutional Change Through Writing-Related Faculty Development

Martin, Caitlin A
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1290-7772
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1617961494207509

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, English.
In this project, I set out to understand the impact that writing-related faculty development programs can have on institutional cultures of writing, teaching, and learning. Scholarship in writing across the curriculum (WAC) has historically illustrated pedagogical and curricular changes that support student writers in higher education. Cultural change is necessary to do this work because institutional cultures are often influenced by persistent misconceptions of writing as a general, transferable skill that can be taught in one course and applied in another. In the 1960s and 1970s, the birth of WAC as both an institutional practice and as a disciplinary movement offered opportunities for individuals to share these ideas with higher education faculty from diverse fields. While many WAC leaders want to change institutional cultures of writing, little research illustrates how this transformation can occur or what role writing-related faculty development might play. Drawing on scholarship in writing studies, higher education change, and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), this dissertation begins to address this gap. I argue for using a local|disciplinary methodology to understand what writing-related faculty development programs do and what changes result as faculty adopt principles and conceptions from these programs. Through my multi-institutional study, I found that changing faculty conceptions of writing is a key goal of writing-related faculty development work, but this goal is not always made explicit in program practices. Research at three case institutions illustrates how institutional history and location can influence program goals, practices, and leadership. In Chapter 1, I overview the cultural-historical prevalence of misconceptions of writing. In Chapter 2, I outline the local|disciplinary methodology that informs this research. Chapter 3 provides results from a national study that illustrates writing-related faculty development programs aim to change faculty conceptions of writing. Chapter 4 introduces writing studies leaders at three case institutions who have developed programs to change conceptions of writing, teaching, and learning. In Chapter 5, I analyze the kinds of changes that result as faculty participate in these three programs. Ultimately, I argue that writing-related faculty development programs can lead to meaningful change for individual participants in their pedagogical practices, but that the programs themselves may need to be re-imagined if leaders want to enact change that influences broader institutional culture. Based on this research, I argue that writing-related faculty development leaders can re-imagine how they develop their programs if they want to work toward deep change.
Elizabeth Wardle (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Hutton (Committee Member)
Jason Palmeri (Committee Member)
Thomas Poetter (Committee Member)
John Tassoni (Committee Member)
207 p.
Composition
Writing across the curriculum; WAC; professional development; faculty development; academic development; institutional change; deep change; cultural-historical activity theory; institutional ethnography

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Martin, C. A. (2021). Facilitating Institutional Change Through Writing-Related Faculty Development [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1617961494207509

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Martin, Caitlin. Facilitating Institutional Change Through Writing-Related Faculty Development. 2021. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1617961494207509.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Martin, Caitlin. "Facilitating Institutional Change Through Writing-Related Faculty Development." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1617961494207509

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1617961494207509
289
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This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.