Browsing by Subject "English language -- Rhetoric -- Study and teaching"
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Item An examination of the effects of using a word processing system on the quality of essays composed by low vision students(Texas Tech University, 1986-05) Mercer, Dixie FayeRecent technological advances have made microcomputers more accessible to visually handicapped individuals. A potentially important ramification of this accessibility is the capability of low vision school students to learn to utilize word processors/text editors in composition tasks. Empirical research into the impact of word processor/text editor use on the composition skills and habits of regular and special education students is limited. However, previous studies suggest that positive modifications in revision techniques, length of essay, and motivation of students to write occur as a result of word processor use. No research was identified as a part of this study which deals directly with the impact of word processor use by the visually handicapped. Four low vision public school students participated in this study. A single subject, multiple baseline approach was used in order to assess the impact of text editor use on the quality of composition by these low vlson subjects when compared to the quality of compositions produced by the same subjects using a typewriter. Specifically, three research questions were posited. 1) Do low vision subjects produce compositions of higher quality, when a text editor rather than a typewriter Is used as the composition device? Three variables were measured in connection with this question. Quality of subjects' essays were evaluated by holistic raters, and scores were compared. An index was computed which measured the spelling performance of each subject on each essay. Finally, the Test of Written Language (Hammill and Larsen, 1978) was administered to the subjects on a pre/posttest basis. 2) Do low vision subjects produce written materials faster (measured by the number of words typed per minute) when the text editor is used? Examination of this question included two variables. The subjects produced standard typing test scores, and a measure was taken of the number of words produced in total composition time. 3) Do low vision subjects produce longer essays (as measured by the total number of words written) when they use the text editor? Positive results were identified for each of the three research questions.Item Literacy, hypermedia, and the holocaust: reconfiguring rhetoric in hypermedia environments(Texas Tech University, 2000-05) Salvo, Michael JWriting teachers face the difficult task of teaching students to read and write in complex situations precisely when h seems these formal literate practices are becoming less valued m mass American culture. As written communication moves online, literacy is indeed changing. However, the ability to understand and manipulate complex texts becomes increasingly important for success in the emerging post-industrial economy. This dissertation, using the example of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Wexner Learning Center as a representative example, describes the changing nature of Literacy in the information age and offers classroom strategies to meet students' Literacy needs while offering an analysis of hypermedia Literacy. Accompanying the move from an industrial-based to an information-based economy is a shift from a paper-based to a digit-based culture. As more American households are connected to the Internet there is a shift not only m the speed of communication but also in the mode and media of communication. While some critics are predicting the demise of Literacy as we know h, electronic mail, hypertext and the World Wide Web are offering examples of different constructions of literacy. These new forms of writing are contexts for communication-new rhetorical situations. These new rhetorical situations require analysis so that Literacy workers (writing teachers, language scholars, as well as other intellectuals in the humanities) can address the Literacy needs of twenty-first century students. Literacy, technology, and the Holocaust come together in a technological system signaling a shift m how our culture stores and disseminates its stories and histories. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has constructed The Wexner Learning Center to house a database of Witness narratives. This hypermedia archive represents change in historical narrative and the way h is written, stored, and retrieved. Beyond the technical aspects of designing and implementing this system, the system itself signals a shift m the skills necessary to comprehend the historical stories being told. The images of witnesses retelling their experiences alter the cultural representation of the Holocaust. Utilizing high technology to convert filmed accounts of witnesses into computer-accessible files, the database of witness narratives is an example of a new means of sharing history that requires a sophisticated hyper-literate user. This dissertation investigates both the idea of an emerging high-technology hyper-rhetoric and the hyper-literacy necessary to read, write, and manipulate texts m the twenty-first century. Its theme should interest readers from a variety of humanistic and technical disciplines while contributing a new perspective on literacy in the digital age.Item The effects of peer evaluation and performance on writing anxiety and writing performance in college freshmen(Texas Tech University, 1981-05) Pfeifer, Jerilyn KNot available