Engaging in a University Curriculum Involving Sustainability Themes
A Two-Year Case Study of a First-year Writing Course
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.34315Keywords:
FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION, WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, ASSESSMENT, ECOCOMPOSITION, ENVIRONMENTALLY THEMED COMPOSITION, PLACE-BASED COMPOSITION, SUSTAINABILITY, INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSEWORK, PROGRAM DESIGN, RETENTIONAbstract
Writing about environmental and sustainability issues has grown in popularity, especially in lower-division writing courses. Yet, for teachers and writing program administrators, what are the benefits and drawbacks in asking students to interact with place-based discourses? How does implementing an ecocomposition curriculum and sustainability topics in first-year composition affect students’ writing outcomes? This article discusses a two-year, case study at a comprehensive research university of an experimental course-design model involving 1,421 students and 63 teachers. Students engaged with the university’s sustainability theme in Composition I, as well as other courses. This article includes a description of Composition I’s framework and its assessment practices, and raters measure the writing outcomes for the class’s major essay, a literature review. Overall, teachers utilizing ecocomposition practices presented students with a cohesive, relevant curriculum and assisted them in developing and organizing the literature review; writing and thinking about diverse spaces related to their experiences, majors, and futures; and forging and documenting campus and local ties, including through community-based learning. The study’s results have implications for teaching ecocomposition and sustainability themes in first-year composition.
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http://links.jstor.org/ sici?sici=00100994%28198604%2948%3A4%3C364%3ATEOW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F.
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Gaard, G. (2001). Ecofeminism and ecocomposition: Pedagogies, perspectives, and intersections. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 163-178. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
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Heiman, J. (2014). Odd topics and open minds: Implementing critical thinking in interdisciplinary, thematic writing courses. Pedagogy, 14 (1), 107-135. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-2348929
Hothem, T. (2009). Suburban studies and college writing: Applying ecocomposition. Pedagogy, 9 (1), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-2008-016
House, V. (2016). Keeping writing weird: A call for eco-administration and engaged writing programs. Community Literacy Journal, 11 (1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1353/clj.2016.0014
Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2007). Composing nature. The Writing Instructor. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ824638.pdf.
Killingsworth, J. (2005). From Environmental Rhetoric to Ecocomposition and Ecopoetics: Finding a place for professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14 (4), 359-373. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427625tcq1404_1
Lindholdt, P. (2001). Restoring bioregions through applied composition. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 235-252. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Long, M. (2001). Education and environmental literacy: Reflections on teaching ecocomposition in Keene State College's environmental house. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and pedagogical approaches, 131-145. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Lotto, E. (2001). Written in its own season: Nature as ground in the postmodern world. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 253-264. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Maloney, W. (2003). Connecting the texts of their lives to academic literacy: Creating success for at-risk first-year college students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46 (8), 664-673. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40017171.
Marx, S. (2008). 'Think global, write local: Sustainability and English composition.' Paper presented at UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference, August 3. Cal. Poly. San Luis Obispo, CA. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/susconf/98.
McFarlane, D. and Ogazon, A. (2011). The challenges of sustainability education. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3 (3), 81-107.
McKnight, M. (2001). Reviewed work: Ecocomposition: Theoretical and pedagogical approaches by Christian R. Weisser and Sidney I. Dobrin. JAC, 21 (4), 927-933.
http://www.jaconlinejournal.com/archives/vol21.4/mcknight-ecocomposition.pdf.
Merriam, S. (1985). The case study in educational research: A review of selected literature. Journal of Educational Thought, 19 (3), 204-217. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23768608.
Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Merrill-Ingram, A. (2001). Service learning and ecocomposition: Developing sustainable practices through inter- and extradisciplinarity. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 209-233. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Moekle, K. (2010). Rhetoric, environmental pragmatism, and the ecology of writing. Transformations, 21 (1), 112-122. http://www.academia.edu/3651999/transFORMATIONS_The_Journal_of_Inclusive_Scholarship_and_Pedagogy_Issue_21.1_TEACHING_EARTH.
Monsma, B. (2001). Writing home: Composition, campus ecology, and webbed environments. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 281-290. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Nowacek, R. (2011). Agents of Integration: Understanding Transfer as a Rhetorical Act. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Orr, D. (1990). The liberal arts, the campus, and the biosphere. Harvard Educational Review, 60 (2), 205-216. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.60.2.41178578550r631u
Orr, D. (1991). What is education for? Six myths about the foundations of modern education and six new principles to replace them. The Learning Revolution, 52. http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/classes/EEOB590A/marshcourse/V.5/V.5a%20What%20Is%20Education%20For.htm.
Owens, D. (2001). Composition and Sustainability: Teaching for a Threatened Generation. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Rinto, E. and Cogbill-Seiders, E. (2015). Library instruction and themed composition courses: An investigation of factors that impact student learning. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41 (1), 14-20. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/lib_articles/475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.11.010
Ritter, N. (1999). Teaching Interdisciplinary Thematic Units in Language Arts. (Rep. No. 142). Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication.
Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based Education. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Press.
Sommers, N. and Saltz, L. (2004). The novice as expert: Writing the freshmen year. College Composition and Communication, 56 (1), 124-149. https://doi.org/10.2307/4140684
Sponeberg, A. (2012). Course theme and ideology in the freshman writing classroom. Pedagogy, 12 (3), 544-549. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-1625298
Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Szostak, R. (2003). 'Comprehensive' curricular reform: Providing students with a map of the scholarly enterprise. Journal of General Education, 52 (1), 27-49. https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.2003.0022
Sumner, D. (2001). Don't forget to argue: Problems, possibilities, and ecocomposition. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 265-280. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
[University name omitted]. (2014). Factbook: 2012-2013.
Tizon, C. (2016). Snapshot Report - Persistence and Retention. National Student Clearinghouse, https://nscresearchcenter.org/snapshotreport-persistenceretention22/.
Walker, P. (2010). (Un)earthing a vocabulary of values: A discourse analysis for ecocomposition. Composition Studies, 38 (1), 69-87. http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/ uc/journals/composition-studies/docs/backissues/38-1/38.1%20Walker.pdf.
Weisser, C. and Dobrin, S. (2001). Breaking new ground in ecocomposition: An introduction. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 1-10. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Yin, R. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Weed, A. (2003). Critical transcendence in composition and literature. Journal of General Education, 52 (1), 14-19.
Zerbe, M. (2007). Composition and the Rhetoric of Science: Engaging the Dominant Discourse. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Aitchison, D. (2015). Decline and renewal in the liberal arts as themes for first-year writing. Journal of General Education, 64 (3), 157-170. https://doi.org/10.5325/jgeneeduc.64.3.0157 https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.2015.0020
Alaimo, S. (2010). Sustainable this, sustainable that: New materialisms, post-humanism, and unknown futures. PMLA, 127 (3), 558-564. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2012.127.3.558
Berlin, J. (1996). Rhetorics, Poetics, and Cultures: Refiguring College English Studies. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Beaufort, A. (2012). College writing and beyond: Five years later. Composition Forum, 26. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ985817.pdf.
Bovill, C.; Bulley, C., and Morss, K. (2011). Engaging and empowering first-year students through curriculum design. Teaching in Higher Education, 16 (2), 197-209. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/43904/. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2010.515024
Brown, S. (1999). Composing the eco wars: Toward a literacy of resistance. JAC, 19 (2), 215-239. http://www.jaconlinejournal.com/archives/vol19.2/brown-composing.pdf.
Cooper, M. (1986). The ecology of writing. College English, 48, 364-375.
http://links.jstor.org/ sici?sici=00100994%28198604%2948%3A4%3C364%3ATEOW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F.
Corbo, A. (2010). 'Still deciding': Working with learning communities. Business Communication Quarterly, 73 (20), 191-196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569910367602
Cresswell, J. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Davis, R. (2013). A place for ecopedagogy in community literacy. Community Literacy Journal, 7 (2), 77-91. https://doi.org/10.1353/clj.2013.0001
Dewey, J. (1915). Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press.
Dobrin, S. and Weisser, C. (2002a). Breaking ground in ecocomposition: Exploring relationships between discourse and environment. College English, 64 (5), 566-589.
Dobrin, S. and Weisser, C. (2002b). Natural Discourse: Toward Ecocomposition. Albany, NY: SUNY P. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250754
Fitts, K. (2005). Ideology, life practices, and pop culture: So why is this called writing class? Journal of General Education, 54 (2), 90-105. https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.2005.0018
Friedman, S. (2013). This way for vampires: Teaching first-year composition in 'challenging times.' Teaching and Learning, 6 (1), 77-84.
Gaard, G. (2001). Ecofeminism and ecocomposition: Pedagogies, perspectives, and intersections. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 163-178. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Garrett, N., Bridgewater, M., and Feinstein, B. (2017). How student performance in first-year composition predicts retention and overall student success. In T. Ruecker (Ed.), Retention, Persistence, and Writing Programs, 93-113. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. https://doi.org/10.7330/9781607326021.c006
Gates, J. and Mirkin, C. (2012). Encouraging STEM students is in the national interest. Chronicle for Higher Education. http://www.chronicle.com/article/Encouraging-STEM-Students-Is/132425.
Goggin, P. and Waggoner, Z. (2005). Sustainable development: Thinking globally and acting locally in the writing classroom. Composition Studies, 33 (2), 45-67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43501623.
Graff, G. and Hoberek, A. (1999). Hiding It from the kids (with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel). College English 62 (2), 242-254. https://doi.org/10.2307/379020
Heiman, J. (2014). Odd topics and open minds: Implementing critical thinking in interdisciplinary, thematic writing courses. Pedagogy, 14 (1), 107-135. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-2348929
Hothem, T. (2009). Suburban studies and college writing: Applying ecocomposition. Pedagogy, 9 (1), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-2008-016
House, V. (2016). Keeping writing weird: A call for eco-administration and engaged writing programs. Community Literacy Journal, 11 (1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1353/clj.2016.0014
Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2007). Composing nature. The Writing Instructor. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ824638.pdf.
Killingsworth, J. (2005). From Environmental Rhetoric to Ecocomposition and Ecopoetics: Finding a place for professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14 (4), 359-373. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427625tcq1404_1
Lindholdt, P. (2001). Restoring bioregions through applied composition. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 235-252. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Long, M. (2001). Education and environmental literacy: Reflections on teaching ecocomposition in Keene State College's environmental house. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and pedagogical approaches, 131-145. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Lotto, E. (2001). Written in its own season: Nature as ground in the postmodern world. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 253-264. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Maloney, W. (2003). Connecting the texts of their lives to academic literacy: Creating success for at-risk first-year college students. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 46 (8), 664-673. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40017171.
Marx, S. (2008). 'Think global, write local: Sustainability and English composition.' Paper presented at UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference, August 3. Cal. Poly. San Luis Obispo, CA. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/susconf/98.
McFarlane, D. and Ogazon, A. (2011). The challenges of sustainability education. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3 (3), 81-107.
McKnight, M. (2001). Reviewed work: Ecocomposition: Theoretical and pedagogical approaches by Christian R. Weisser and Sidney I. Dobrin. JAC, 21 (4), 927-933.
http://www.jaconlinejournal.com/archives/vol21.4/mcknight-ecocomposition.pdf.
Merriam, S. (1985). The case study in educational research: A review of selected literature. Journal of Educational Thought, 19 (3), 204-217. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23768608.
Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Merrill-Ingram, A. (2001). Service learning and ecocomposition: Developing sustainable practices through inter- and extradisciplinarity. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 209-233. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Moekle, K. (2010). Rhetoric, environmental pragmatism, and the ecology of writing. Transformations, 21 (1), 112-122. http://www.academia.edu/3651999/transFORMATIONS_The_Journal_of_Inclusive_Scholarship_and_Pedagogy_Issue_21.1_TEACHING_EARTH.
Monsma, B. (2001). Writing home: Composition, campus ecology, and webbed environments. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 281-290. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Nowacek, R. (2011). Agents of Integration: Understanding Transfer as a Rhetorical Act. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Orr, D. (1990). The liberal arts, the campus, and the biosphere. Harvard Educational Review, 60 (2), 205-216. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.60.2.41178578550r631u
Orr, D. (1991). What is education for? Six myths about the foundations of modern education and six new principles to replace them. The Learning Revolution, 52. http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/classes/EEOB590A/marshcourse/V.5/V.5a%20What%20Is%20Education%20For.htm.
Owens, D. (2001). Composition and Sustainability: Teaching for a Threatened Generation. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Rinto, E. and Cogbill-Seiders, E. (2015). Library instruction and themed composition courses: An investigation of factors that impact student learning. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41 (1), 14-20. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/lib_articles/475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.11.010
Ritter, N. (1999). Teaching Interdisciplinary Thematic Units in Language Arts. (Rep. No. 142). Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication.
Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based Education. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Press.
Sommers, N. and Saltz, L. (2004). The novice as expert: Writing the freshmen year. College Composition and Communication, 56 (1), 124-149. https://doi.org/10.2307/4140684
Sponeberg, A. (2012). Course theme and ideology in the freshman writing classroom. Pedagogy, 12 (3), 544-549. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-1625298
Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Szostak, R. (2003). 'Comprehensive' curricular reform: Providing students with a map of the scholarly enterprise. Journal of General Education, 52 (1), 27-49. https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.2003.0022
Sumner, D. (2001). Don't forget to argue: Problems, possibilities, and ecocomposition. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 265-280. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
[University name omitted]. (2014). Factbook: 2012-2013.
Tizon, C. (2016). Snapshot Report - Persistence and Retention. National Student Clearinghouse, https://nscresearchcenter.org/snapshotreport-persistenceretention22/.
Walker, P. (2010). (Un)earthing a vocabulary of values: A discourse analysis for ecocomposition. Composition Studies, 38 (1), 69-87. http://www.uc.edu/content/dam/ uc/journals/composition-studies/docs/backissues/38-1/38.1%20Walker.pdf.
Weisser, C. and Dobrin, S. (2001). Breaking new ground in ecocomposition: An introduction. In C. Weisser and S. Dobrin (Eds), Ecocomposition: Theoretical and Pedagogical Approaches, 1-10. Albany, NY: SUNY P.
Yin, R. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Weed, A. (2003). Critical transcendence in composition and literature. Journal of General Education, 52 (1), 14-19.
Zerbe, M. (2007). Composition and the Rhetoric of Science: Engaging the Dominant Discourse. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Published
2019-11-27
Issue
Section
Research Matters
How to Cite
Hembrough, T. (2019). Engaging in a University Curriculum Involving Sustainability Themes: A Two-Year Case Study of a First-year Writing Course. Writing and Pedagogy, 11(2), 223-252. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.34315
