Dissertation
DEVELOPING AN ECONOMIC VOCABULARY IN COMPOSITION STUDIES THROUGH FOUR KEY TERMS: LABOR, COST, WRITING CONSTRUCT, AND EFFICIENCY
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/111920
Abstract
This dissertation research argues that Composition Studies needs to incorporate more concepts of economic theory, specifically concrete and applicable notions of labor, cost, and efficiency, into the way that initial placement assessments are discussed within higher education institutions. Composition Studies needs to articulate the effectiveness of initial placement assessments using the aforementioned economic terms in order to effectively counter-argue with proponents of automated essay scoring, who frequently use economics-based justifications to undermine the importance of assessing writing in a manner appropriate and specific to pedagogical standards. When AES proponents effectively argue that AES is a panacea for the primary issues in higher education - time, budget, and labor constraints, Composition Studies struggles to justify its expertise in the realm of initial placement assessment. Specifically, Composition Studies struggles to justify expertise because the discipline clings to definitions of writing constructs, rather than connecting theoretical constructs to initial placement assessment strategies. And yet, much research in Composition Studies demonstrates an awareness of the economic constraints within humanities departments, and expresses a desire to change budget outcomes.
The goal of the research, both the literature review and the data analysis, is to prove that when Composition Studies discusses initial placement assessment in terms of economic viability, theoretical underpinnings, and pedagogical intentions, they can successfully debunk the reductive arguments of AES proponents. In order to prove this assertion, the research collects survey data from three writing program administrators and collects website advertisement samples from three primary AES companies, with the intention of comparing their use of the aforementioned terminology.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- DEVELOPING AN ECONOMIC VOCABULARY IN COMPOSITION STUDIES THROUGH FOUR KEY TERMS: LABOR, COST, WRITING CONSTRUCT, AND EFFICIENCY
- Creators
- Elizabeth Edwards
- Contributors
- Patricia Ericsson (Advisor)Michael Edwards (Committee Member)William Condon (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- English, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 144
- Identifiers
- 99900581439901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation