Re: WC Research

[00cljohanek@bsuvc.bsu.edu]

I agree with Jeanne's suggestion:  replication of research
in our field is something we seem to avoid (or find unnecessary?),
I'm not sure which.  Hayes and Young, in _Reading Empirical 
Research Studies: The Rhetoric of Research_ argue that we have
sooo few replications.  Replication is vital to the scientist
in the process of socially constructing knowledge (a notion
we favor, of course).  Are we the stepchild of literature? (Do
original work only--not something that's "already been done"?)

And, shucks, thanks to ALL for such great support and encouragement
on my upcoming defense.  Crazily, I'm also auditing a 4th
statistics course (see--this is the kind of stats freak I am!).
The Writing Center community has been a great "home" for me 
throughout my work.  Judy Kilborn can attest to the fact that
I've done most of my growing up in/because of writing centers (12
years now, Judy).

At this "end stage" of my student days, I shouldn't be the least
bit surprised to see such nurturing, caring comments from writing
center colleagues--some I've never even met!  :) 

THANKS A  MILLION!!! 

[Dr.] Cindy  ;)



You wrote:  
>
>Neal
>
>One of the patterns I see is that the research seems to be local--that is,
>it focuses on a single center.  So in answer to your question, what would
>I like to read, it would be some work on patterns among writing centers.  
>
>I'd like to know what elements are most common in writing center mission
>statements.  I'd like to know what the administrative structures are
>relative to kinds of institutions, such as research universities or
>community colleges.  
>
>While I am not sure that the scientific method is always directly
>applicable to what we do, one of its elements, duplication of results, we
>seem not to do enough.  If a piece of local research yields X result at
>one institution, it would be helpful to know if it yields the same or
>similar result at another institution.  We tend to generalize rather
>heavily from a insufficient base of evidence.  
>
>I would like to see some carefully structured research on the effects of
>writing centers on retention.  We are pretty sure the effect is positive,
>but hard data to support that belief is all too scarce.  Such a study,
>conducted over several institutions, would be the strongest possible
>argument for better funding and support for writing centers.
>
>
>Also, a common thread I see in discussion here is that we believe/wish we
>affect the pedagogy of our non-writing center colleagues.  Research to
>document that we do or do not have that effect would be helpful for our
>cause also.
>
>
>Jeanne Simpson
>csjhs@eiu.edu
>