Characteristics that describe composition studies at its best (interdisciplinarity, collaborative, dialogic, radically democratic, maintaining a dynamic tension between "praxis" and "theoria") do not reflect a view of writing which is widely shared either by academics in fields other than composition or by those engaged in…

The necessity for maintaining and extending the public space within which argumentation may appear, whether or not represented in the classroom, stems largely from pressures which have increasingly restricted that space. To function as public spaces, classrooms must enable students as citizens to confer in an unrestricted fashion about matters of…

The United States Institute of Peace held a two day workshop titled "Teaching about the Religious Other" on March 3-4, 2005. The sixteen workshop participants were professors experienced in teaching those of one Abrahamic faith about another Abrahamic faith either in U.S. classrooms or abroad. The purpose of the workshop was to enable these…

The learning goals that inform service learning as a whole can contribute to the computers and writing field significantly. This paper demonstrates how two lines of inquiry can be furthered, community-based writing and computers and writing, through new data and critical reflection on learning goals and communication tools. The paper presents a…

Suggests that incorporating popular culture into freshman composition classes can help students understand and engage in course content and can increase interest and motivation. Discusses the idea of discourse communities, or spaces in which meaning is negotiated. Reviews strategies for making students aware of different discourse communities when…

Argues for the importance of distinct discourse communities, and the importance of a theory and pedagogy that recognizes common practices, common goals, and common values among discourse communities. Analyzes professional samples of scholarship and sample student papers. Suggests that the transaction between writer and reader lies at the heart of…

Discusses some conditions for understanding teaching as an act of responsibility towards others, rather than as an instrumental act identified through epistemology. Argues that in order to make teaching an ethical relationship between individuals, teachers must give up their position on the safe side of knowledge and participate in the risk…

Explores the history of what is now called Writing across the Curriculum (WAC), using the analogy of the university as discourse community to place the WAC movement in historical perspective and to begin to assess its significance for advanced literacy. (MG)

Describes how two researchers developed a dialogic collaborative research agenda that has proven to be beneficial and stimulating for both participants. Advocates collaborative research as a means of productive intellectual activity. (HB)

Outlines some of the issues and problems inherent in the group dynamics in the English classroom. Considers how English teachers are part of the group in a classroom and, therefore, are subject to the same predictable anxieties and are reliant on similar coping behaviors. (HB)

Suggests that it is appropriate to view the community college as a discourse community in its own right, and as a part of the larger discourse community of higher education. Argues that this shift in judgment might increase perceptions of community college competence, thus moving them into positions of legitimate power. (Contains 14 references.)…

A future-search conference is a participatory planning and decision-making process in which a group of individuals with diverse perspectives come together; engage in a process of data collection, discussion, and learning; and decide on an appropriate course of action. The competencies, skills, and intellectual capital developed as part of this…

E-learning is becoming a major component in academia today. Therefore, the success of e-learning online communities is crucial in order to ensure their permanency and effectiveness. There is a need for formalized guidelines in e-learning that instruct the designer (course instructor) on how to design, maintain, and manage a course. Some research…

A school, like a nation, is a complex system existing in discursive rather than physical geographical space (other than as a set of buildings). The meaning of "school" is therefore dependent on actors' perceptions, and these are dependent on factors apparently beyond the school. Research evidence relating to such perceptions comes not as data or…

This article focuses on supervising professors' and master's degree students' understanding and experiences of supervision practices in a Norwegian university, with focus on differences in text cultures and text norms between and within three academic disciplines. The interview study shows that each discipline is a heterogeneous discourse…