Computers and Composition最新文献

This article first describes how our two writing programs responded to moving online during the pandemic. Then, we pull lessons from our experiences and interrogate them, pushing against what we learned and demonstrating how anti-racist pedagogy and course design is imperative to include in discussions of accessibility and inclusion. Finally, we develop a set of questions we can use to make anti-racist policies and pedagogies a key part of accessibility.

Using Douglas Hesse's (2002) work on political areas as a framework, this article analyzes the lessons learned about the nuances of shifting political junctures in writing program administration during the pandemic crisis, especially as the use of technology has altered pedagogical and political dynamics. Specifically, this article examines Hesse's (2002) four areas as the basis of introspection: the department, the institution, the profession, and the public; finally, this article concludes with digital suggestions on moving forward through this tumultuous time. Stories from technical writing and composition faculty are used as anecdotes for the lessons learned on perceptions of the additional stressors of writing administration politicking. Ultimately, the faculty stories that traversed the pandemic showed that we must take further advantage of online writing instruction (in all its various forms) and maintain the OWI Principles if we are to manage academic politicking at these various institutional levels.

Inspired by lessons hard won during a pandemic year spent simultaneously teaching university students online and parenting reluctant online learners at home, this article argues for a radical rethinking of course policies and practices that use normative interpretations and applications of time. Online composition pedagogy is built on paradoxical temporal models: the field's longstanding belief in process-oriented theories of writing demands a flexible, recursive understanding of time while the demonstrated benefits of online student engagement seem to require more rigidly temporal policies and methods, like regular, graded discussion boards. This article draws from Alison Kafer's concept of “crip time” and a year's worth of observation and practice to recommend that online teachers prioritize the narrative shape of their online classes. Such a reframing, I argue, may create not only more successful classes but more just and accessible ones.

At a time when many writing studies faculty are both rising to and collapsing under the challenges of teaching during a pandemic, this article argues that our field is at a decisive moment concerning accessibility. Using mixed-methods data from eight first-year composition courses, this research analyzes and articulates how some students discern the accessibility of instructional materials through the framework of Universal Design (UD). The visibility of such student perceptions must be increased and shared widely, as we seek to be more inclusive and reflective professionals. As we look to a future of post-pandemic tech-mediated teaching and learning, this article also demonstrates how one might replicate, refine, and apply similar study designs which can ultimately help us to be more attentive to inclusivity in the initial stage of course development and research.

This article explores applying User-Experience (UX) research and a software development approach called Continuous Delivery (CD) to the process of designing, developing, and maintaining online courses. We will illustrate how readers can use our PARS (personal, accessible, responsive, strategic) framework, UX best practices, and CD to create more accessible content for the users of their online courses.

This article examines the construct of student success that is forwarded by readiness assessments designed to evaluate students’ preparation for online learning. These readiness assessments emphasize factors such as time management, motivation, and access to and fluency with technology, suggesting to students that if they possess strengths in these areas, they will likely do well in a course. For students who struggle in OWCs–often disproportionately representing minoritized and historically disenfranchised populations in higher education–these readiness assessments fall short of providing the resources that students need to understand the cognitive demands of OWCs. I propose recasting student performance through a trauma-informed lens to focus attention on what students can learn in order to be successful in their online courses.