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STATEMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP
“Human relationships always help us to carry on because they always presuppose further developments, a future --and also because we live as if our only task was precisely to have relationships
with other people.” Albert Camus
As a scholar at Western Washington University (WWU), I have published papers and presented my findings in three areas of research: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Critical/Cultural Studies, and Organizational Communication. My research emphasizes relationship development across these diverse areas within the field of Communication. Communication is an interdisciplinary field and my department at WWU supports work presented and published in interdisciplinary forums. As the Department Evaluation states, “the Department of Communication values and encourages its faculty to pursue diverse programs of scholarship.”[1] In my career at WWU, I have delivered 26 refereed conference presentations at the national, regional, and local level--18 of those presentations were delivered while employed at WWU. These conferences emphasized Communication, Service-Learning, disAbility, and Cultural Studies. I have presented at the National Communication Association, the largest association in the United States that focuses on Communication. I received five research grants, and five travel grants—eight were awarded by WWU. My work has been published in recognized journals on a variety of topics including, teaching and learning, relationships development, diverse cultures. Thus far, I have published three articles in refereed journals and one non-refereed resource.
All three of my research areas are important because they help to build a framework of the relational and cultural experiences of people from different social contexts who represent unique standpoints. I believe that human interaction is the essence of how we exist and move through our day-to-day life, hence relationships are something to understand and value. As a scholar at WWU, I have been devoted to investigating student-learning experiences; the development of interpersonal relationships in the classroom, the local community and workplace; and the socialization experiences of college students from diverse cultures (i.e. students with disAbilities and students of African-American descent).
In the following sections, I provide an overview of my research focus, its connections to the field of Communication, my personal commitment and growth as a scholar, and evidence of my major and minor programs of scholarship. In my narrative, I will share my passion and dedication to each area of study as they continue to influence my life as a scholar. First, I will discuss Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), second, Organizational Communication, and third, Critical/cultural studies.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
My primary area of research is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). SoTL scholars are interested in how to teach communication. Communication is the bridge between teaching and learning. With the changing landscape of how students learn today and the increase in cultural diversity, the work of SoTL continues to evolve and gain attention in our field. The National Communication Association (NCA) has dedicated a significant focus to the study and discourse of SoTL. SoTL investigates how to strengthen curriculum design and pedagogy. It also questions how teaching fosters student learning and collaborative relationships. Hence, understanding the relationship between professor teaching and student learning may facilitate effective student-professor relationships. Research questions under study come directly from classroom experiences of both students and professors. The classroom becomes the laboratory whereby the researcher studies student learning outcomes and professor teaching methods/practices. SoTL prompts educators to investigate their pedagogy by encouraging self-reflection and attentiveness to critical feedback from students, peers, and other observers (i.e. administrators and colleagues).
I have always been fascinated with discovering innovative ways to capture university students’ attention through different teaching methods. Thus, research in SoTL came naturally to me. I study how to create supportive classrooms that are inclusive of diverse learning styles. I research how relationships between students, professors, and Center for Service-Learning staff members are developed and maintained.
SoTL researchers examine problems that arise from practice, thus they study the issue using the most appropriate methodology. Although quantitative methods have been used in SoTL studies, qualitative methods such as focus groups, interviews, case studies, action research, participatory research, and face-to-face interviews are commonly practiced. Hutchings & Shulman argued that SoTL is practiced when scholars share their results with others and become informed by integrating knowledge from other researchers.[2] To publish and present this type of research permits me to improve my teaching practices by being reflective of feedback received by students and colleagues. Given that SoTL is highly recognized at the national level, the Department of Communication supports faculty who study SoTL as a primary or secondary area of scholarship.[3] My research in SoTL emphasizes three sub-areas: Student-professor relationships, teaching and learning of students with disAbilities, and service-learning as pedagogy.[4]
Student-Professor Relationship
I am interested in the relationship that develops between students and professors in and out of the classroom. One of my most notable papers was recently accepted by a refereed journal, Academic Exchange Quarterly (AEQ). It received the Editor’s Choice Award for the quality and content of our article. This paper was co-authored with Dr. Anna Eblen, chair of the Department of Communication who is very well versed in relationship development; and two previous Communication undergraduate students, Brian Launius and Hayley Peterson. WWU values student engagement in “collaborative scholarship”;[5] and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) “supports undergraduate research activities” with faculty.”[6] This paper went through a double-blind peer review. Of all the articles in this edition, our article was one of three selected to have the full text available online. The manuscript acceptance rate for this issue was 29%. The AEQ is devoted to effective teaching and learning. This journal called for articles that focused specifically on collaborative efforts in education (e.g. student-professor, colleague co-authors). Our paper, “Building Community Through Co-authorship” focused on relationship outcomes of college teachers and undergraduate students who successfully co-authored projects. Given the increase in scholarly collaboration among faculty and students today, we decided to investigate this issue. We conducted face-to-face interviews and focus groups to address the research questions. The results indicate that collaborative co-authorship is important for professional development, relational and personal growth of both teachers and students.
With the introduction of technology, the learning styles of students have changed. Teaching practices that worked five years ago are not as effective today. The group of students that have influenced the change in our classrooms today are known as generation Y. Last fall (2009) I presented on a panel title Then & Now: Shifts in Generational Stereotypes and Pedagogical Strategies at the National Communication Association for the SoTL division. Due to the highly competitive submission for SoTL last year, our panel was one of eight panels selected out of the total 19 panels (42% selected). My paper, “Generation Y and the Future of Teaching & Learning: Developing an Inclusive Communication Classroom Climate” focused on generation Y as a culture and the need to integrate the learning needs into the curriculum. It is important for us to learn how to communicate with this diverse culture and create inclusive pedagogy. I will continue to investigate the literature on this topic.
Given the rich data collected from the previous co-authorship study (discussed above), a second paper was developed and presented at WWU’s Festival of Scholarship, Celebrating Collaborative Inquiry conference. The conference theme was to display collaborative work among students, professors, and colleagues. The paper title is “Making it Through: From Start to Finish…Faculty and Student Co-Authorship Process.” I focused on the communication process of how co-authorship between professors and students are developed. This study was supported by a fellowship from WWU’s Writing Instruction Support program. Given that the data has already been analyzed, the manuscript will be submitted to Communication Education journal this fall 2010.
Service-Learning as Pedagogy
I study the integration of service-learning (SL) into the Communication curriculum. I focus on the teaching and learning outcomes for students, faculty, Center of Service-Learning staff, and the community. When I first came to WWU in 2000, I was introduced to service-learning and trained how to implement it into my course as by Dr. Anna Eblen and the Center for Service-Learning (CSL) past director, Lisa Moulds. SL is a pedagogy that permits students to connect in-class theory and apply it to an organized community service project. It is a form of experiential learning whereby students are immediately involved in teaching and learning. The SL process provides the opportunity for all involved to develop a reciprocal partnership. As a scholar who is well versed in SL, I have written a non-refereed resource, used results from my research to train a WWU faculty cohort and community partners, presented at a conference, and I am currently finalizing a manuscript.
My SL course content for three classes was published in a non-refereed resource titled, Planting the Seeds for Community-Campus Service-Learning Partnerships by the Center for Service-Learning. This was a resource for both the local community and faculty. I co-authored a conference panel presentation with four students from my Small Group Processes course and community a partner. The panel titled, “Weathering the Storm: Student Motivational Leadership in Completing a Self-Directed 10 week Communication Service-Learning Project” was presented at the Continuums of Service conference.
I am currently in the final stages of preparing a manuscript to submit to the Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning. It is the top SL journal in the field. The title of the article is, “A Reciprocal Collaborative Partnership Model: Embracing the Voices of Service-Learning Student-Leaders to Enhance Learning in Higher Education.” The study examined the outcome of integrating service-learning student leaders as partners in a Communication practicum course. Service-learning student leaders (SLSL), faculty, and Center for Service-Learning (CSL) staff were interviewed. The findings indicate that both faculty and CSL staff were able to develop a sound SL curriculum due to integrating the voices of SLSLs. From the practicum experience, the SLSLs gained professional and leadership skills, self-confidence, mentoring capabilities, etc. As an outcome of this study, my conference gift session has been accepted for presentation at the 2010 National Communication Association discussion circle titled, “Service-Learning Discussion Circles: Building Bridges with Our Students in the Community.” The title of my presentation is “Integrating Service-Learning Student-Leaders into the Communication Classroom.”
I feel committed to continue my research in SL because I am supported at all levels. First, my department supports instruction and study of SL[7]; second, the CHSS promotes “experiential activities such as service-learning”;[8] WWU includes community service as one of the main values;[9] and finally the National Communication Association is the catalyst for studying SL.
Teaching and Learning of Students with disAbilities
My interest in researching the scholarship of teaching and learning began while teaching at Western. I noticed an increasing number of students with Learning disAbilities (LD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) (i.e. also described as attention related disAbilities) entering university classrooms. According to research, this population would continue to increase due to the mandated disAbility support services on college campuses for students. Although students had prescribed accommodations, they were unclear about what teaching methods and learning styles would help them achieve academically. I found myself lost because few people were able to inform me of how to develop instructional communication methods for this growing population of students. Knowing that our department practices [10] “teaching communication that nurtures inclusive civil discourse,” my goal was to put forth every effort to have a classroom inclusive of diverse learners. I worked closely with the disAbility Resources for Students (DRS) on campus to learn about different ways to better accommodate students with disAbilities. Thanks to my graduate studies background in disAbility studies, I was familiar with the disAbility culture but not the teaching and learning aspect. The students also educated me on what they thought worked for them. To assist my students further, I decided to return to my doctoral work in 2004 to concentrate my Ph.D. to studying how to accommodate university students with LD and/or ADD/ADHD in the classroom. Due to data collected at two institutions, I have been able to inform disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholars at the local, regional, and national levels (e.g. see vita for complete listing of papers) about the learning experiences of students with disAbilities.
My earlier studies concentrated in the area of teaching through accommodation and learning experiences of students with LD and/or ADD/ADHD (i.e. attention related disAbilities). The studies were mainly based on qualitative research methods and one pilot survey. I used face-to-face interviews, case study method, non-participant observation, and focus groups to collect my data. My refereed conference paper title “Teacher-Student Perspective: Various Non-Traditional Teaching Pedagogies that Help Students with Learning disAbilities Acquire Course Content In the University Classroom” explored the following research questions, what are the perceptions of university students with learning disAbilities and/or attention related disAbilities regarding effective instructional practices that contribute to learning? The results indicated that these students learned best when professors used a combination of teaching practices such as technology, class discussions, audio and visual demonstrations, group work, repetition, and service-learning. Professor communication style such as nonverbal communication, effective public speaking, and interpersonal communication skills played a significant role in student learning. This paper was presented at the National Communication Association with an undergraduate student co-author who shared her personal experience as a student with a learning disAbility.
My study, “Perceptions of College Students with Learning Differences: Instructional Practices and Climate” examined the perceptions of university students with learning disabilities and/or attention related disAbilities regarding effective classroom climate that contribute to learning. Some of the findings state that a coaching atmosphere, a safe environment for making mistakes, peer relationships, and student-professor relationships were some of the attributes for an effective classroom climate. As a coping strategy, students also managed their own disAbility to help them learn. My work also extends to interdisciplinary audiences. This refereed paper was presented at The Council for Exceptional Children, the largest international association for professionals interested in advocating for students with disAbilities. From this longitudinal, two-part study the data on instructional practices and accommodations will be reviewed.