A Phenomenological Case Study of College English Students
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations Teaching & Learning Fall 2019 I Had to Do the Reading: A Phenomenological Case Study of College English Students Jennifer Eleanor Frank Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/teachinglearning_etds Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Frank, Jennifer E.. "I Had to Do the Reading: A Phenomenological Case Study of College English Students" (2019). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Teaching & Learning, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/6na1-8q73 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/teachinglearning_etds/59 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Teaching & Learning at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I HAD TO DO THE READING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL CASE STUDY OF COLLEGE ENGLISH STUDENTS by Jennifer Eleanor Frank B.A. May 2005, George Mason University M.S.Ed. August 2012, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY EDUCATION OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY November 2019 Approved by: Judith Dunkerly-Bean (Director) Helen Crompton (Member) Thomas W. Bean (Member) ABSTRACT Jennifer E. Frank Old Dominion University, 2019 Director: Dr. Judith Dunkerly-Bean The purposes of this qualitative phenomenological case study were to investigate multiple student experiences in a general elective introduction to literature course when music was added as an autonomously structured assignment. Music and song lyrics are no strangers to the classroom setting, but there is a gap in the literature examining the space where students can create meaningful links between music they enjoy and assigned course readings in college English. Informed by social constructivism and English studies theories this study was designed to investigate any impact that autonomously driven music-link assignments may have on students. The structured assignments were called music-link assignments. The music-link assignments were designed to encourage student criticality while interacting with an assigned reading and locating a link to a song of their choosing. Study documents included semi- structured and informal interviews, artifacts including music-link assignments that include an experiential portion for student reflection, and reflections taken in class during small group class discussions. Data and findings from this study indicated that many students cited positive affects in their experience, a greater feeling of agency in the class, and relatability to the assigned readings. Also, some students noted difficulty in completing the assignments. Overall, this study demonstrates the need for further research in combining facets of popular culture, such as music, in different content areas, and settings. iii Copyright, 2019, by Jennifer Eleanor Frank, All Rights Reserved. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my family, friends, and pets whose support made my success possible. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There have been steadfast supporters whose commitment to me completing this journey deserve more than a mention here; I will keep you in my positive thoughts and prayers forever. Thank you, Judith my proverbial lighthouse through the storms. Thank you, Tom for reminding me how much of my English studies shine through in my education work. To Helen, my methodologist, thank you for your patience as I whittled down the best methods. To my whole committee, I know wrangling a creative out of the box thinker into an in-box thinker in the creation of this dissertation was not easy; your tireless efforts are so appreciated. To my parents, thank you a thousand times. Your belief in me made this possible. To my sister and brother, thank you for your support and listening to me prattle on about topics you were not interested in. To Jen, I could not have done this without you. To Connor and Foos thank you for trying to keep me rational. And to Odin, Peyton, Enzo, Michael Santino, and Tom Hagen you saved my life more than once during this program; thank you from the bottom to the top of my soul. Thank you to my introduction to literature students who participated in this process. Lastly, Barbara Webb in the Education Curriculum & Instruction office, you saved me more times than I can count. You are such a blessing to everyone you work with and I am indebted to you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 ORIGIN OF STUDY ...........................................................................................................1 POSITIONALITY ...............................................................................................................3 PURPOSE OF STUDY........................................................................................................4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................................................4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................5 METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................................7 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY .............................................................................................8 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................10 II. LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................................12 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................12 LITERATURE CLASS NORMS ......................................................................................12 HISTORY OF ENGLISH STUDIES .................................................................................13 HISTORY OF LITERATURE STUDIES .........................................................................14 NEW CRITICISM .............................................................................................................15 MUSIC AS LITERATURE ...............................................................................................16 MUSIC AND POPULAR CULTURE IN EDUCATION RESEARCH ...........................18 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................28 III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………………………..29 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY .........................................................................29 ENGLISH THEORY .........................................................................................................34 LITERARY THEORY.......................................................................................................35 ENGLISH PEDAGOGY ....................................................................................................38 POP CULTURE PEDAGOGY ..........................................................................................46 HIP-HOP PEDAGOGY .....................................................................................................48 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................49 IV. METHODOLOGY………………………………...……………………………………….. 50 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...............................................................................................50 RATIONALE FOR METHODOLOGY ............................................................................50 PARTICIPANTS ...............................................................................................................51 RESEARCH SITE .............................................................................................................51 CURRICULUM .................................................................................................................52 vii Page ROLE OF RESEARCHER ................................................................................................52 DATA SOURCES .............................................................................................................53 SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNED READINGS.......................................................................55 DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................57 TRUSTWORTHINES .......................................................................................................57 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................58 V. FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................. 59 CODING THE DATA .......................................................................................................59