Exploring First Year Students' Interest in Reading
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St. John's University St. John's Scholar Theses and Dissertations 2021 EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Adele J. Doyle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.stjohns.edu/theses_dissertations Part of the Higher Education Commons EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY to the faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SPECIALTIES of THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION at ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY New York by Adele J. Doyle Date Submitted: November 15, 2020 Date Approved: January 29, 2021 ______________________________ ____________________________ Adele J. Doyle Kristin Anderson © Copyright by Adele J. Doyle 2021 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT EXPLORING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Adele J. Doyle This study explores how the construct of interest may influence first-year community college students’ willingness to engage with academic text assignments. Research on interest theory as presented by Renninger (2009) suggests that students, even those with low self-efficacy or regulation, are more likely to make gains in engagement and/or academic progress, dependent upon how interested those students are in the texts assigned by their teacher. Students from two 2020 spring semester first-year composition courses at a Northeast metropolitan community college were provided with 6 potential academic reading assignments on diverse topics. Students were asked to select one assignment, read it, and report back on their interest level. Through surveys, discussion posts, and class discussions, the concept of student interest in these texts was examined. Using constant comparative coding as asserted by Glaser (1965) and facilitated by NVivo 12 Software, underlying factors related to student interest in academic text assignments were explored. Through participant perspective, twelve observable factors relevant to student interest in academic text assignments were identified, culminating in the articulation of a newly proposed workflow model on Student Interest to Read Academic Texts. This model contributes to the field a visual understanding of the impact of student interest in academic text assignments specific to a young urban adult population. As such, it serves as a valuable first step to consider innovation in educational instruction, to better harness student interest in academic texts for greater engagement and learning. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all who have made this educational journey and the completion of this dissertation possible, without whose unwavering support I could not have reached within to accomplish this goal. First and foremost, my tremendous gratitude toward and admiration for my mentor, Dr. Kristin Anderson; your invaluable insight, empathy, and support made this effort possible. Thank you for being always present in the moment, always positive, and for providing advice and the right amount of prodding that made all the difference. Thank you to the yin and yang of my dissertation committee, Dr. Lisa Bajor, a kindred qualitative spirit, and Dr. Olivia Stewart, who helped me embrace the devil in the details; thank you both for taking me beyond my comfort zone. Your voices will always be (positively) in my head. Thank you to Dr. Evan Ortlieb, for fostering an engaging PhD program in Literacy and community at St. John’s University, and for cultivating a faculty rich in knowledge and experience, and to my teachers, for sharing your invaluable knowledge and experience. This journey has been worth the productive struggle, and I am richer for that experience. To Dr. John Beach, posthumously, thank you for opening the door, as my first teacher at St. John’s, and for inviting me to walk through. I will always remember your humor and your encouragement. To my incredibly amazing colleagues in Cohort 2017. I could not have asked for a better or more supportive learning community. I have learned so much from you and am grateful for having your positive spirit, eye-opening experience, and good will these past three and a half years. ii To my students, thank you! You were the most amazing collaborators in this endeavor. You and all your peers who I have taught over the years have shown me, through your honesty, trust, and insight, that we as teachers have so much we can learn from our students. Finally, to the ones who are my reason for everything meaningful in my life - to my husband for inspiring me to take the first step even with the chaos of our lives, and to our children, Thomas, Will, James, and Angelina, my windows into the amazing lives of young people. It is because of you that I have reached this height. Remember! Life is an adventure! Be kind and enjoy the journey. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2 Significance of this Study ................................................................................................ 4 Research Purpose: Why Interest Matters ......................................................................... 5 Young Adult Identity Formation ..................................................................................... 7 Research Questions.......................................................................................................... 8 Definition of Key Terminology ....................................................................................... 9 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 11 Implications of this Research ........................................................................................ 12 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 15 The Problem .................................................................................................................. 15 Research on Young Adults ............................................................................................ 15 The Devaluation of Affective Traits in Reading Research ......................................... 16 Motivation to Read Research ........................................................................................ 18 Motivation, Engagement, or Interest: Blurred Lines ................................................. 21 The Value of Interest for Young Adults ........................................................................ 23 An Overview of Interest Theory ................................................................................. 24 Interest Studies ........................................................................................................... 29 Theoretical Background ................................................................................................ 32 Self-Determination Theory ............................................................................................ 33 The Value of Action Research ....................................................................................... 37 Ethical Dilemmas in Action Research ........................................................................ 37 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS .......................................................................... 40 Research Site ................................................................................................................. 41 Participant Pool.............................................................................................................. 42 iv Research Design ............................................................................................................ 42 Reducing Bias and Coercion ......................................................................................... 45 Data Collection Process ................................................................................................. 46 Data Collection Instruments ...................................................................................... 49 Data Instruments ............................................................................................................ 50 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 53 Final Analysis ................................................................................................................ 56 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ...............................................................................................