First-year writing classes are often composed of students from various ethnic, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds. In the end, these experiences lead each student to develop different levels of proficency in his or her various literacies. However, in today's visually based, new media revolution, visual literacy has exhibited the ability to transcend other more traditional forms of communication (i.e. written language). I feel that it would be an interesting inquiry to explore how visual rhetoric/visual literacy has been integrated into the IUP culture of first-year composition.
Potential research questions include:
- In what ways has the visual been integrated into College Writing and Basic Writing courses at IUP to bridge the literacy gaps between students of diverse cultural backgrounds?
- Has the visual caused the first-year writing culture at IUP to evolve in some way? If so, how is it different?
- What is the current consensus among compositonists at IUP regarding the role of visual literacy? Does this mark a shift in pedagogical ideology and methodology, or are the instructors largely able to use the visual in the context of their existing pedagogies?
- Does a recognition of visual rhetoric / visual literacy mark another subculture in the larger culture of first-year writing?
I am open to any suggestions on other potential research questions and on any insight that you might offer in regards to this topic.
Dan, I think it's wonderful that you have your research questions thought-out in such detail! Mine are only fuzzy now, and I'm going to begin soon!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any suggestions for you yet, as my types of questions are more like, "What are the parents' attitudes toward learning Seneca" but not in any specific manner.
Of course, you know this, but your specificity may need to be cahnges over time, but you won't realize how until you're involved in it...that recursive thingey...