“DESIGNING” IN THE 21ST CENTURY ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOM: PROCESSES AND INFLUENCES IN CREATING MULTIMODAL VIDEO NARRATIVES A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University Graduate School of Education, Health and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jennifer A. Powers December 2007 © Copyright by Jennifer A. Powers 2007 All Rights Reserved ii Dissertation written by Jennifer A. Powers B.A., Kent State University, 1990 M.A.T., Kent State University, 2001 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2007 Approved by ___________________________________ Co-Director, Doctoral Dissertation Nancy Mellin McCracken Committee ___________________________________ Co-Director, Doctoral Dissertation David Bruce Committee ___________________________________ Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee William Kist ___________________________________ David Dalton Accepted by __________________________________, Interim Chairperson, Department of J. David Keller Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies __________________________________, Interim Dean, College and Graduate School Donald L. Bubenzer of Education, Health, and Human Services iii POWERS, JENNIFER A., Ph.D., December 2007 TEACHING, LEADERSHIP, AND CURICULUM STUDIES “DESIGNING” IN THE 21ST CENTURY ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOM: PROCESSES AND INFLUENCES IN CREATING MULTIMODAL VIDEO NARRATIVES (179 pp.) Co-Directors of Dissertation: Nancy McCracken, Ph.D. David Bruce, Ph.D. This grounded theory study, set in the context of two English Language Arts classrooms, sought to explore the processes and influences involved in the reading and writing (Designing) activities of two groups of students using video as the storytelling medium. The research questions guiding this study were: 1. What processes do students use to Design with video text? 2. What influences students’ decision-making while Designing video texts? These questions were developed to help explore implications of students reading and composing video in an English Language Arts classroom, and what bearing those implications may have on the future of the English Language Arts curriculum. Through several data sources, including concurrent think-aloud protocols, interviews, and the students’ video projects, this study demonstrated that the two case study groups were influenced heavily by their knowledge of genre and narrative structure in piecing together video narratives from pre-existing video footage. This study also demonstrated that the groups’ processes of Designing were different in many ways, but shared the characteristics of being iterative and demonstrating attention to creating clarity of meaning for the audience. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I began my journey to my Ph.D. back in 1998, when I made the decision to return to school to become a teacher. It has been a rewarding journey; working with students has proved to be my true vocation and joy. I have had the privilege to meet people who have inspired my journey along the way—not least, Dr. Nancy McCracken, who became my advisor and helped me to become the best teacher I could be, and Dr. David Bruce, with whom I could share a love of all things “techie” and from whom I learned valuable lessons about living and teaching in higher education. I would like to thank my committee members, David Dalton, Ph.D., and Bill Kist, Ph.D. David was an enormous influence in helping me plan a future “multimodal” version of this dissertation, for which I am extremely grateful. Bill’s insights into multiliteracies helped me frame this dissertation, and when I met Bill at a convention for NCTE back in 2005, he graciously agreed to help me through this process. His advice has been invaluable. I need to thank the other doctoral students who have joined me on this journey for their support and friendship along the way. I would especially like to thank my good friends David Loe and Sonya Wisdom. Little did we know, back when we met at our first doctoral level class in 2003, how important we would be to each other in this process. Their constant presence, literal and figurative, has sustained me through many difficult times. iv I would also like to thank my friends Mary Toepfer, Deb Debenedictus, and Judy Sewell for the generous gift of their time and insights on my work, which they helped make better. Finally, I need to acknowledge that I would never have been able to survive this process without my parents and my sister. Their patience during the last year has been incredible to experience, and their interest, support, and love have made the journey an easier one. v DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my students, past and present. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..............................................................................................iv DEDICATION...............................................................................................................vi CHAPTER I. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY AND OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM ..........1 Introduction .........................................................................................................1 Introduction to Study and Statement of the Problem.............................................3 Purpose of This Study and Research Questions ....................................................7 Definition of Term: Designing .............................................................................8 Position of the Researcher....................................................................................8 Assumptions ......................................................................................................10 Limitations ........................................................................................................10 Summary of Chapter 1.......................................................................................12 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..........................................................................13 Introduction .......................................................................................................13 Meaning-Making in Reading and Composition ..................................................14 Meaning-Making in Reading ....................................................................14 Meaning-Making in Composition .............................................................17 Common Ground: Genre and Narrative Structure .....................................23 Meaning-Making in Multiliteracies: Making Way for “The Redesigned” ...........26 vii Related Studies of Classroom Multiliteracies .....................................................36 Related Studies in Multimedia Composition.......................................................42 Cooperative Learning.........................................................................................50 Summary of Chapter 2.......................................................................................52 III. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................53 Introduction .......................................................................................................53 Participants and Setting......................................................................................53 Class Context One ....................................................................................54 Class Context Two....................................................................................55 Study Design .....................................................................................................56 Methodology......................................................................................................58 Data Collection.........................................................................................58 Assignment Activities........................................................................59 Assignment Directives.......................................................................60 Raw Footage......................................................................................61 Overview of Data...............................................................................62 Data Analysis...........................................................................................66 Summary of Chapter 3.......................................................................................70 IV. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................71 Introduction .......................................................................................................71 Case Study Group 1 ...........................................................................................71 Profiles of Group Members.......................................................................72 viii Alan...................................................................................................72 Sara ...................................................................................................73 Cliff...................................................................................................73 Emma................................................................................................74 Group 1’s Work........................................................................................74 Outline of Group 1’s Video: The Dream...................................................78