MAKING BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW: TEACHING AND ASSESSING NEW LITERACY SKILLS AT A SMALL, PRIVATE HBCU By ROBIN LYNN EVANS Bachelor of Arts in English/Literature Wilberforce University Wilberforce, OH 1997 Master of Arts in English/Technical Writing Wright State University Dayton, OH 1999 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY July, 2012 MAKING BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW: TEACHING AND ASSESSING NEW LITERACY SKILLS AT A SMALL, PRIVATE HBCU Dissertation Approved: Dr. Ronald Brooks Dissertation Adviser Dr. An Cheng Dr. Rebecca Damron Dr. Lynna Ausburn Outside Committee Member Dr. Sheryl A. Tucker Dean of the Graduate College ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 Theme: Making Bricks Without Straw ............................................................................................ 9 Justification of the Topic................................................................................................................ 11 Context of Study: HBCUs and Wilberforce University ............................................................. 13 Project Description ......................................................................................................................... 15 Problem Statements ................................................................................................................... 17 Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 20 Limitations of the Research Design ............................................................................................... 21 Assumptions ................................................................................................................................... 22 II.LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 25 Literacy .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Modern Literacy/New Literacies ................................................................................................... 28 Teaching New Literacy Skills (NLS) ............................................................................................. 42 Assessing New Literacy Skills (NLS) ........................................................................................... 58 III. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................... 61 Participatory Action Research (PAR) ............................................................................................ 62 Design of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 67 Participant Selection ...................................................................................................................... 76 Student Participants ................................................................................................................... 76 Pre-instruction/First Two Weeks of Class (Survey 1) ............................................................... 77 Mid-term/Weeks 8-9 (Survey 2) ................................................................................................ 81 Post-instruction/Weeks 15-16 (Survey 3) .................................................................................. 83 Faculty Participants .................................................................................................................... 84 Data Collection .............................................................................................................................. 86 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 89 IV.FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................................... 90 Perspectives on Literacy ................................................................................................................ 93 Findings and Responses: Research Question Number 1 ................................................................ 94 Teaching New Literacy Skills .................................................................................................... 95 Assessing New Literacy Skills ................................................................................................. 113 Findings and Responses: Research Question Number 2 .............................................................. 115 Training and Professional Development .................................................................................. 116 iii Technology and Pedagogy ....................................................................................................... 119 Findings and Responses: Research Question Number 3 ............................................................. 129 Tools and Technologies ........................................................................................................... 129 Social Media Tools .................................................................................................................. 132 Learning Management Systems and Content Management Systems ...................................... 134 Collaboration Tools ................................................................................................................. 135 Media Production Tools ........................................................................................................... 139 Overall Analysis of Findings ....................................................................................................... 139 Suggestions for Future Research .................................................................................................. 141 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 143 Next Steps .................................................................................................................................... 144 Final Reflections .......................................................................................................................... 146 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 150 APPPENDICES ................................................................................................................................... 161 Appendix A: Oklahoma State University IRB Approval ............................................................. 161 Appendix B: Instructor Survey .................................................................................................... 164 Appendix C: Student Surveys ...................................................................................................... 167 Survey 1: Pre-instruction Survey ............................................................................................ 167 Survey 2: Midterm Survey ....................................................................................................... 168 Survey 3: Post-Instruction Survey ........................................................................................... 170 Appendix D: Course Proposal: Hybrid ENGL 111/Online ENGL 112 ....................................... 172 Proposed Course Syllabus: Hybrid ENGL 111 ........................................................................ 173 Proposed Course Syllabus: Online ENGL 112 ........................................................................ 184 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: Student's Writing Strategies .......................................................................................................... 77 Table 2: Student Submission Methods........................................................................................................ 79 Table 3: Student's Hours Online Per Week ................................................................................................. 80 Table 4: Student's Online Tasks .................................................................................................................. 80 Table 5: Students' Comparison of work with other classes ........................................................................ 83 Table 6: Instructors’ Description of the Institution ..................................................................................... 85 Table 7: Instructors’ Rating of their Internet Skills .................................................................................... 85 Table 8: Chickering and Gamson's "Seven Principles," Writing Instruction, Online Instruction ............... 92 Table 9: Students' Definition of Literacy .................................................................................................... 94 Table 10: Instructor Survey, Definition of Literacy.................................................................................... 94 Table