Papers by Tanya Rodrigue
WAC Clearinghouse, 2016
Although TAs have played an important role in WAC, published accounts have almost exclusively foc... more Although TAs have played an important role in WAC, published accounts have almost exclusively focused on the involvement and impact of faculty and undergraduate student writers. Much scholarship has been devoted to TAs housed in English departments, composition programs, or writing programs who primarily teach general education composition courses (Dobrin, 2005; Roen, Goggin, Clary-Lemon, 2008; Bishop, 1990). Yet there is minimal scholarship on TAs who work with student writers in other disciplines, whether in writing-intensive or linked courses, and in different capacities such as graders, autonomous instructors or writing fellows who support faculty or other TAs. The scholarship that does exist primarily focuses on the nature of and need for TA professional development in WAC programs (Strenski, 1988, 1992, 2001; Hedengren, 2004; Rodrigue, 2012, 2013). While publications about composition TAs are valuable in helping us think about TAs in WAC, TAs' work with student writers in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM fields needs to be explored. Such explorations will enable WAC scholars and administrators to learn more about how TAs in the disciplines work with student writers as well as how they contribute or could contribute to achieving WAC goals. This knowledge can help us determine how to best include TAs in WAC initiatives as writing fellows, writing ambassadors, and writing tutors. With the increasing number of TAs in higher education and growing number of WAC programs, such inclusion is important for building, revising, and sustaining WAC programs. This special issue is dedicated to expanding discussions about TAs in WAC with qualitative research. On the most basic level, we aim to bring visibility to the important work that TAs across the disciplines do in teaching writing in higher education in order to (1) legitimize them as teachers and as teachers of writing in their own right; (2) call attention to the need for TAs to be supported both pedagogically and financially in WAC and other professional development programs; (3) recognize the valuable work they do with student writers and faculty engaged in WAC pedagogy; and (4) examine the roles they can and do play in helping to achieve WAC goals.
Listening Across the Curriculum emerges at the intersection of multiple, intimately-connected con... more Listening Across the Curriculum emerges at the intersection of multiple, intimately-connected conversations about writing across the curriculum (WAC), TA pedagogical training in all-university, national, and composition programs, graduate education, disciplinary writing, and the teaching of disciplinary writing. In reviving a conversation that has been dormant for nearly ten years, this dissertation advocates for the training of disciplinary TAs in WAC programs within the context of these conversations. In addition to the rising number of WAC programs and TAs in higher education, many TAs', like WAC faculty participants, teach writing through their multiple interactions with student writers and student writing, and thus need training in how to effectively do so.
Writing & Pedagogy, Jan 1, 2010
Instead of focusing on students' citation of sources, educators should attend to the more fundame... more Instead of focusing on students' citation of sources, educators should attend to the more fundamental question of how well students understand their sources and whether they are able to write about them without appropriating language from the source. Of the 18 student research texts we studied, none included summary of a source, raising questions about the students' critical reading practices. Instead of summary, which is highly valued in academic writing and is promoted in composition textbooks, the students paraphrased, copied from, or patchwrote from individual sentences in their sources. Writing from individual sentences places writers in constant jeopardy of working too closely with the language of the source and thus inadvertently plagiarizing; and it also does not compel the writer to understand the source.
WAC scholars have demonstrated a strong commitment to faculty professional development in WAC pro... more WAC scholars have demonstrated a strong commitment to faculty professional development in WAC programs but have yet to engage in much conversation, at least in scholarly literature, about the training of TAs in the teaching of writing. The rising number of TAs in doctoral-granting institutions and WAC programs suggests their role in teaching undergraduates how to write effectively is becoming more important and more prevalent, and because these TAs, like WAC faculty, engage in multiple interactions with student writers, they should also be considered teachers of writing. This article explores the history of TAs in WAC programs and several reasons why TAs have been virtually ignored in WAC discussions, arguing that WAC scholars must now turn their attention to disciplinary TAs, engage in discussion about the role of TAs in the teaching of writing, and develop WAC TA professional development programs.
Publications by Tanya Rodrigue
Instead of focusing on students' citation of sources, educators should attend to the more fundame... more Instead of focusing on students' citation of sources, educators should attend to the more fundamental question of how well students understand their sources and whether they are able to write about them without appropriating language from the source. Of the 18 student research texts we studied, none included summary of a source, raising questions about the students' critical reading practices. Instead of summary, which is highly valued in academic writing and is promoted in composition textbooks, the students paraphrased, copied from, or patchwrote from individual sentences in their sources. Writing from individual sentences places writers in constant jeopardy of working too closely with the language of the source and thus inadvertently plagiarizing; and it also does not compel the writer to understand the source.
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Papers by Tanya Rodrigue
Publications by Tanya Rodrigue