Thank you for your interest in our research.

In the Richard Wright Center for Writing, Rhetoric, and Research, we also conduct research into issues related to student writing. Our staff and tutors, undergraduate and graduate, participate in professional conversations in the field of Rhetoric and Composition and Writing Center Studies, presenting at State, Regional, and International conferences and writing for publication.

Two major projects we are currently working on:

Study of Student Rhetorical Awareness, 2014-ongoing

A longitudinal study of how students communicate their rhetorical awareness when they fill out a reflection form after a conversation with a tutor in the writing center.

In this project, we asked

• Do students indicate their rhetorical awareness, and if so, how?
• What role do conversations in the writing center play in developing student rhetorical awareness?
• What might the data suggest about the effectiveness of writing centers in developing student rhetorical awareness and about the teaching of writing on a particular campus?

You may find out more about the project, its methodology, and the results of a pilot study in the article “Rhetorical Awareness of Student Writers at an HBCU: A Study of Reflective Responses in the Writing Center” published in 2019 in Praxis 16(2).

Student-Led Study of the Writing Center Perception at an HBCU

To complicate recent research on who uses and does not use the writing center (Salem, 2016; Giaimo, 2017), we set out to replicate Genie Giaimo’s 2017 study of student perceptions of the writing center conducted at a community college, a study that has also served as an example of engaging tutors in writing center research.

This study is in its planning stage. We are now revising Giaimo’s survey to fit our context, learning about replicating vs. reproducing a study, and taking a CITI course for responsible research conduct. Data collection will begin in February 2020. Check back for more information in May 2020.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us: kathi.r.griffin@jsums.edu or tatiana.glushko@jsums.edu