Computers and College Writing. Selected College Profiles. INSTITUTION City Univ
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 320 564 IR 014 480 AUTHOR Eisenberg, Nora, Ed. TITLE Computers and College Writing. Selected College Profiles. INSTITUTION City Univ. of New York, N.Y. SPONS AGENCY Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 89 NOTE 282p.; National Project on Computers and College Writing. PUB TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) -- Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC12 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *College Programs; Higher Education; *Instructional Effectiv-ness; *Microcomputers; Profiles; *Word Processing; *Writing Instruction; *Writing Laboratories ABSTRACT This report contains profiles of computer-based writing programs at 49 colleges which were originally submitted for empirical assessment by a 3-year project sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education and the City University of New York. The profiles, representing two-year and four-year, public and private, rural and urban, and small and large colleges, offer advice on topics such as: (1) setting up, expanding, or modifying writing programs with a computer component; (2) how much technical information to give novices in word processing and when to give it: (3) setting up laboratories, the arrangement offurniture, and the scheduling of courses; and (4) using the computer in the English class with a variety of target populations--basic writing students, learning disabled students, students in freshman compositionand literature classes, and upper-level students. The descriptionsare listed in alphabetical order by the name of the college. Each begins with a summary statement and provides the names and addresses of authors. (GL) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONALRESOURCECI INFORMATION CENTER IER in s document has beenreproducedas ecetved lion, the oetson or otganaltion Otitonolingif r Minor changes Noe been made to improve -reproduction quality Points of view or opornonb Staled in tnisdu ment do not necessanly represent enocvoi OERI position or policy Computers and College Writing Selected College Profiles "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS MATERIAL HAS BEENGRANTED BY Max Kirsch .C) TO THE EDUCATIONAL VO RESOURC7.S INFORMATION CENTER(ERIC)." A publication of the National Project 1%. on Computers and College Writing The Instructional ResourceCenter and the Office of AcademicComputing el" The City University of New York N.. CI BEST COPY yAlLABLE National Project on Computers and College Writing Prolect Staff Advisory Board Members Harvey Wiener. Project Director Dian* Balostri. Assistant Dean University Associate Dean for Office of the Dean of the College Academic Affairs, CUNY Princeton University Michael Ribaudo, Principal Investigator Douglas Doyle, Marketing Development University Dean for Academic Computing Specialist for Higher Education Marketing Max Kirsch. Managing Director Apple Computer. Inc. Director of Research and Planning. Ira Fuchs. Vice President Office of Academic Computing. CUNY Office of information Technologies Nora Eisenberg. Project Consultant Princeton University Department of English Brian Gallagher. Professor of English LaGuardia Community College. CUNY LaGuardia Community Coleco. CUNY Howard Everson. Project Constultant Christina Haas, Professor of English Office of Academic Computing. CUNY Carnegie Mellon University Karen Greenberg, Project Consultant Helen Schwartz. Professor of English Department of English Indiana Uinversity at Indanapolls Hunter College. CUNY Lynn Quitman Troyka. Senior Research Lk Taylor. Editorial Assistant Consultant for the Instructional Resource Office of Academic Computing. CUNY Center. CUNY Merlin Fahey. Project Administrator William Wrosch. Professor of Mathematics Office of Academic Computing. CUNY University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point A Project fo the Fund for the Impruvement of Post Secondary Education and the City University of New York 3 Computers and College Writing Selected College Profiles Nora Eisenberg, Editor A publication of the National Projecton Computers and College Writing The Instructional Resource Center and the Office of Academic Computing The City University of New York Table of Contents Page Introduction Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 1 Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee 6 Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina 13 Blue Mountain Community College,Pendleton, Oregon 19 Bowling Green State University, BowlingGreen, Ohio 25 Broome Community College, Binghamton,New York 30 University of California, Santa Barbara,California 35 Colorado State University, Fort Collins,Colorado 42 Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois 47 Dakota State College, Madison, SouthDakota 53 Eastern Connecticut State University,Willmante, Connecticut 58 Eastern Oregon State College, LaGrande, Oregon 62 Erie Community College North,Williamsville, New York 68 Farleigh Dickenson University,Madison, New Jersey 73 Glendale Community College, Glendale,Arizona 79 Greenfield Community College, Greenfield,Massachusetts 83 Jersey City State College, JerseyCity, New Jersey 87 University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 94 Kendall College, Evanston, Illinois 100 LaGuardia Community College, TheCity University of New York, New York, New York 104 Lasell College: A Two Year Collegefor Women, Newton, Massachusetts 110 Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge, Massachusetts 116 Mercer County Community College,Trenton,.New Jersey 124 Mercer University, Macon, Georgia 127 Methodist College, Fayetteville, NorthCarolina 132 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor,Ann Arbor, Michigan 141 Middlebury College, Middlebury.,Vermont 145 Mitchell College, New London,Connecticut 150 Monmouth College, West LongBeach, New Jersey 158 Nova College, Fort Lauderdale,Florida 164 Ocean County College, TomsRiver, New Jersey Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 169 Passaic County Community College, Paterson, New Jersey 182 Randolph-Macon Woman'sCollege, Lynchburg, Virginia Rio Hondo Community College, 185 Whittier, California 188 Skidmore College, SaratogaSprings, New York Slippery Rock University, 192 Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania 197 University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 204 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 209 State University College, Buffalo, New York 216 Tarrant County Junior College, Northeast Campus Hurst, Texas 221 Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 227 United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland 234 Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg,Virginia 238 George Corley Wallace State University College,Selma, Alabama 244 Wayn, State University, Detroit, Michigan 248 Weber State College, Ogden, Utah 254 Western New England College, Springfield,Massachusetts 260 University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 265 6 INTRODUCTION This monograph grows out of the NationalProject for Computers and College Writing. With the support of theFund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education, The City University ofNew York, in 1987 initiated the National Project in response toa growing sense among faculicy and administrators that computer technology offered dramaticnew means for the teaching of writing on college campuses. However, hamperingthis enthusiasm vas the growingconcern that the fate of computer technology wouldfollow that of other technologies such as television, movie projectors and cassette recorders.Because of a lack of systematic training, teachersnever adequately integrated these technologies into classroom methodology, and equipment,after a brief flash in the classroom, began to collect dust on storeroom shelves. Wesaw that very little practical material helped classroom teachers who wantedto transform computer hardware and software into instructional realities.Other than the technical manuals that accompany software packages, no guidance and specifically,no teacher-produced materials, enabled teachers to integrateprograms effectively into classroom use. The City University of New York'sOffice of Academic Computing and the Office of Academic Affairs' InstructionalResource Center approached FIPSE witha three- year project that proposed toassess empirically the outcomes of outstanding computer based writingprograms around the country. The Project proposed to analyze the differences in attitude andperformance between students exposed to computer based writing and comparablestudents engaged in traditional writing classes.The results of this assessment coulddemonstrate possible classroom computer uses for colleges and universities.We proposed selecting six project sites, with a national conference at the endof the third year. FIPSE agreed tosponsor the Project. A call for proposals went to institutionsof higher education around thenation in the fall of 1987, and theresponse far exceeded expectations.Of the more than eighty-five proposalsreceived, most qualified as outstandingprograms.Clearly, manycampuses had developed exceptional approaches tocomputer methodology. Because of fundinglimitations, the Project's staff and advisoryboard were forced to make difficult choices the list of interested from campuses. Fortunately, Apple Computer provided fundingto expand the site list from sixto fifteen. The sites represent the mainstreamof American higher education, fromprivate four-year institutions to two-year public community colleges. Although we could not invite allof the institutions who sent proposalsto become participants in the Project,we nonetheless wanted to make the descriptionsof these programs