recomposition

This project was funded by the College of St. Catherine's
Centers of Excellence

Abstract

Re/composition is a project that will reconsider and redress women's marginalization in today's technological world. St. Kate's students in the CSCI 106 and ENGL 200 courses will learn how to relate critically to technology and understand the conceptual underpinnings of the technical process rather than superficially how to use machines. In the spirit of true liberal arts education, we will bridge technology and the humanities in order to gain a more productive and useful view of the role of technology in their lives. This project will also offer an invaluable opportunity to interface with professional experts and advance scholarly methods in developing interdisciplinary curricula. Long term, we aim to create a methodology for integrating technology with the humanities without sacrificing the academic standard for a liberal arts education.

Researchers

Gabrielle Civil

Gabrielle Civil is currently an Assistant Professor of English. Dedicated to exploring student's relationship to their language, her role in this project was as writing consultant to Ms. Ng's computer class and as primary instructor in ENGL 200.

Yvonne Ng

Yvonne Ng is currently an Instructor for the Computer Science courses offered through CSC's Mathematical Sciences department. A long time advocate for making technology accessible, her role in this project was as a technical consultant to Dr. Civil's composition class and as primary instructor in CSCI 106.

Maria Marchand

Maria Marchand is a graduate student in the Masters of Elementary Education program, with a specialty in mathematics. With a background in interior, architectural and environmental design, her role was to observe and evaluate the collaborative methods success in enhancing women's education in the sciences. She was also a student in CSCI 106, experiencing the effects of the changes first hand.

Consultants

Betti Frick

Bette Frick is a teacher of technical and business writing at Twin Cities companies and organizations. With a Ph.D. in English, her role in this project was as a technical writing consultant to the professors, indicating primarily how technical writing compares to expository writing.

Judy Nollet

Judy Nollet is a freelance writer and consultant specializing in content for electronic media. With more than 20 years of experience writing and producing "non-print" materials, her role in this project was as a web writing consultant to the professors, primarily assisting the professors in understanding the industrial ramifications of this project. She also gave a 1-class presentation in both classes on how web writing fits into composition and society's relationship with technology.

Project Summary

This action research project was conducted as part of the Centers of Excellence: Center for Women, Science and Technology. The nature of action research is to improve teaching and learning in the classroom Teachers do this by examining and assessing their own methods and looking for more effective methods. The focus of this project was to assess if the conscious integration of technology and writing in the classroom have a noticeable effect on student's outcome. The computer science course, Introduction to Computers, implemented the application of technical knowledge through writing to help the understanding of the subject. The Composition course integrated technology as a theme to increase awareness and engagement of technology and its effects on the writing process. This action research resonates with trends across the country to integrate interdisciplinary study among faculty and within the classroom.

Findings

Comfort level with technology and writing:
In both the computer science and composition courses, most scores on the exit survey reflected an increased confidence level in writing skills. Statements related to writing included: I am a good writer, I write for fun, I use writing to help me understand things, I use writing to communicate, I use writing to express myself. In the computer science course, scores on the exit survey also showed an increase in comfort level with technology. In the composition course, they surveys reflected similar opinions both in the entrance and exit survey regarding technology. Statements related to technology included: I feel comfortable with technology, I use technology for fun, changes in technology don't bother me, I use technology successfully, I am technologically savvy.
Experience with technology and writing:
There were varying levels of experience using technology and writing for students entering both the computer science and composition courses. Almost everyone had used the World Wide Web prior to taking these courses, however, only a few students had created a web page. Following theses courses, almost all students felt more confident or much more confident creating and designing a web page.
Perceived links between technology and writing:
Students in the computer science course believed technology and writing were linked before and after taking the course. One student stated that the class showed how they are linked. A few composition students did not see the connection prior to and after completing the course or they just saw the communication aspect of the link between technology and writing.
Attitudes about men and women in technology and writing:
Most students in both computer science and composition strongly agreed that both men and women could be leaders and trendsetters in both writing and technology on the exit surveys, although almost all students agreed with this statement even prior to taking the courses. Many students could name writers prior to taking both composition and computer science; more students could name experts in technology after taking the courses.
Descriptives/free response:
Responses on entrance surveys were very "left-brain" and "right-brain" for descriptions of a technological expert and a writer. Most exit surveys had much more parallel responses across the two disciplines. Some terms that showed up more than once on both sides included: creative, intelligent, patient. The chart below lists responses on both the entrance and exit surveys

Technological Expert

Use technology as a tool
Innovation
Mathematical/Scientific
Problem-solving
Knowledgeable/Expert
Creative
Intelligent
Patient

Writer

Expressive
Feelings/Thoughts
Ideas
Communication
Innate
Creative
Intelligent
Patient

Gender research:
Research has shown that women value the relationship-building aspects of collaborative projects. Currently, women are not entering technological fields because of the image that they lack human interaction, teamwork, communication and variety. The reality of careers in technology is different from this impression.

Overall, the students in the computer science course seemed to see the link between technology in writing at the end of the course. The projects and reflections helped strengthen this connection. There was not as strong of an attitude shift in the composition course - the link between writing and the World Wide Web was apparent but students did not see the link between writing and technology as clearly.

Presentations

2001 Nov -- Gabrielle and Yvonne made a presentation to the Association of American Colleges and University's conference held in Baltimore, MD. The title was "Re/compositon: An Engineer and a Poet Working Together"
2002 May -- The results of this project were presented on campus as part of the Centers of Excellence grant that funded this project.
2002 May -- A presentation was also made to the Classrooms of the Future conference at the May 2002 session held at Hamline University.

Links

Projects: CSCI 106 Projects | ENGL 200W Projects
Documents:
Proposal to Centers of Excellence | Gabrielle's personal statement for proposal | Yvonne's personal statement for proposal | Centers of Excellence presentation slides | Classrooms of the Future presentation slides