Transformation of a college writing program: Activity systems and emergence of knowledge.
Item
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Title
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Transformation of a college writing program: Activity systems and emergence of knowledge.
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Identifier
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AAI3103162
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identifier
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3103162
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Creator
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Rome, Michaela.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Katherine Nelson
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental | Education, Higher | Education, Curriculum and Instruction
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Abstract
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In this study, I use ethnographic methods and qualitative analyses to explore the complex nature of knowledge development in the context of a college Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program. This study took place over a two-year period at Central College, an open admissions college which has long struggled with issues surrounding the teaching and learning of writing. Participants in the WAC Program had conflicting conceptualizations of writing as well as the roles and identities of the various program participants (i.e., WAC administrators, discipline-specific faculty, and Writing Fellows as well as students).;As described in the current study, knowledge development is a complex process involving historical, institutional, as well as personal aspects (Scribner, 1985). Rather than conceptualizing knowledge as an individual possession, I conceptualize knowledge as distributed across participants as well as tools (spoken discourse as well as material artifacts) (e.g., Engestrom, 1995; Glick, 1995; Salomon, 1993). In addition, I argue that knowledge development is not a purely cognitive process but depends on relational aspects of interactions (i.e., participant positions and identities which are constructed both historically and institutionally as well as through moment-to-moment, lived interactions).;Interactions among participants occur within specific context and are defined by institutional, social, and activity constraints. However, these constraints are not static and immutable from context to context, nor are they fixed within a single context. Rather, these constraints (including participant positions and identities) are negotiated among participants through discourse and activity and are open to transformation. Thus, knowledge and practices (and therefore development) are not fixed. Rather, negotiations among participants in an activity system can lead to transformation in the knowledge and practices that are constructed and, ultimately, to innovations which can transform the overall activity system.;In this sense, knowledge is negotiated, distributed, and emergent and results from the lived interactions (activities and discourses) of participants which occur at the intersection of institutional and personal histories which are mutually transforming.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
