A composition scholar conducted a study of peer response groups in a freshmen composition course to determine what leads to conflict among students in these groups. In the course of her study, however, she found herself deeply perplexed by conflicting roles she had to play as a participant/observer. The ethnographer as a participant/observer is,…

Examines strategies that students use to signal comprehension problems in classrooms, specifically, requests for clarification. Finds strategies differ with regard to the type and amount of communicative effort required of participants. (MS)

One composition instructor's purpose is to address, or perhaps, re-dress, the balance of the relationship between teacher and student using a dialogic framework that provides for reciprocity. Her aim is to provoke, to seduce (persuade through passion), and to awaken their incipient sense of wonder at the world and the language that creates this…

A study verified and extended the utility of three topologies of embarrassment (types of embarrassment, face saving strategies, and goals of embarrassment) to the college classroom context. Subjects, 209 undergraduate students enrolled in 12 introductory, lower-division, interpersonal communication classes at a large western United States…

One writing instructor and her colleagues use the concept of teachers modeling responses for students as a cornerstone of the "mutually responsible" classroom. They spend a week preparing their classes to "do" peer response in much the same way that Mary K. Healy describes in her essay "Using Student Writing Response…

Discusses students' resistance to a cross-listed women's studies/composition course taught by an inexperienced teacher. Notes that most of the writing assignments became disconnected from the class itself and that teaching writing got lost in the emotional shuffle of the class. Suggests that student resistance should not stop writing teachers from…

Notes that while informed teachers of writing have moved toward more dialogic approaches, they still have colonial tendencies when responding to student writing. Suggests an activity that invites students to talk back to the teacher-reader as a means of helping them move more effectively toward revision. (PA)

Describes an experiment in pairing the novels "The Great Gatsby" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and "Jazz" (Toni Morrison) in a teacher preparation class. Relates that the students (all European American) initially resisted "Jazz" and accepted "Gatsby" as a timeless classic. Includes responses about another Toni…

Intellectuals lament the disappearance of community, a nostalgia for the small town that has supposedly given way to the anonymous crowds of the city. Likewise, scholars have talked about "discourse communities" in romantic terms, referring to a place where all share the same values. However, a more urban view of social life, in which…

A study of a junior-level grammar class for preservice teachers was conducted by an observer at Miami University of Ohio to determine the effectiveness of a Socratic teaching style that allowed the teacher to do most of the talking. Students in the class also participated in the observation; they were interviewed regularly by the graduate student.…

Discusses the results of interviews with five non-theater majors taking an elective course in child drama. Concludes that individuals with different backgrounds in creative drama can bring a diversity of opinions and knowledge to a college-level methods course. (MM)

A female African American educator with dreadlocks in a class of predominantly white college students begins each semester by warning students that the terms "black" and "white" will be used regularly. She also points out factors that might inhibit speaking in class, such as white students' fears that awkward phrasing of their…

Reports on two studies that examine effects of trait communication apprehension on students' production and perceptions of written feedback. Finds, in the first study, trait anxiety was related to negative external attributions; while the second study showed that anxiety was associated with more internal interpretations. (MS)

Reports on a study which inductively derived a typology of students' compliance-resistance strategies that are frequently used in the college classroom. Probes the impact of teacher immediacy and strategy type on student message generation, and whether likelihood of resistance was related to the number of messages generated. (MM)

A study examined the perceptions of appropriateness regarding four types of touch between college students and professors. Subjects included 382 students, 108 men and 202 women, enrolled in a basic speech communication course at a large midwestern university. Using video depictions, an analysis of variance was conducted exploring differences in…