Relationship Between the Use of Online Courseware and Achievement in a Developmental Writing Course

A consistent challenge of implementing blended learning is the support that students should receive when using online courseware outside of class time. For blended learning to be successful in terms of student learning, the online courseware would need to be able to support the learning of students outside of class time. An interactive, digital courseware was used for a developmental writing course at California State University - Bakersfield. The main goal of this study was to gather evidence to determine if the use of this online courseware was associated with higher student achievement within a blended learning environment. After controlling for confounding factors, a multi-level regression was used to determine the contribution of courseware usage to student achievement, which was measured by a final writing exam. The number of writing topics completed by students in the courseware was found to be positively related to their exam scores. This provides preliminary evidence that the online courseware with certain interactive features can be supportive of learning outside of class.

Philosophical and epistemological foundations of a post-structural writing lesson

In the world of research or instruction, operating from different philosophical and epistemological traditions results in very different kinds of classrooms. I use a post-structural perspective to show how a teacher could conduct a college developmental writing lesson. Included is an overview of post-structural theory. I suggest one way to accommodate diversity in the classroom is by building both teachers’ and students’ awareness of epistemological positions, because some positions empower students more than others. Another reason for examining epistemologies is to cultivate awareness of the social, religious, political, and other assumptions or agendas with which we enter the classroom.