Literacy Project
Weeks 12-15: Nov 7-Dec 7
Literacy Project
- Nov 7: Read and annotate “Introduction to Primary Research” in Perusall
- Nov 9: Proposal due: literacy project ideas
- Nov 14-16: Support for gathering data
- Fall break: Nov 21-25
- Nov 28: Bring data: How to work with/analyze your data
- Nov 30: Memo due: excerpts of your data and initial analysis
- Dec 5-7: Sharing our findings
various due dates; see below and calendar
Choose a group whose literacy practices you want to learn more about. The group can be a group that meets face-to-face or it can be an online group. Describe and analyze how reading and writing operates within the group. Use our readings and our discussions to guide your use of terms and concepts.
Begin by closely observing your group for at least a week. Take copious field notes. Do interviews (online or in person) if appropriate and record and/or transcribe them. You might also consider a survey or other form of data collection (see Sel Hartman’s example in Perusall for a great use of survey data). Read and reread your notes/data, noticing what seems most important or interesting. Focus in on making a claim about your group, a claim that might consider (but not be limited by) the following questions:
- What “work” does literacy do in the group?
- How is literacy learning sponsored?
- What genres are used? Why? To what extent is new media a component of the work?
- What does “literacy” in this group look like? What is its purpose?
- What is the role of literacy for newcomers? How does literacy facilitate or inhibit membership in the group? What role does literacy play in leadership? How does literacy support a structure of the group?
- To what degree is the group’s organization hierarchical or egalitarian (or in between)? How does literacy create, support, or maintain that organization?
Project Components:
- A short proposal about whose literacies/what literacies you imagine researching via link here (Nov 9)
- A memo that includes excerpts of your data and initial analysis (Nov 30). 1-2 pages.
- Brief overview of your project: a couple of sentences about what you’ve decided to analyze/research (since this may have changed for a few of you)
- What data did you collect for your literacy project (artifacts, screen shots, fieldnotes, interviews, surveys, etc)? Include an excerpt of your data in this memo.
- What have you learned so far from your analysis? Write 2-3 paragraphs with your initial insights. Pay particular attention to explaining what you learned from the excerpt you’ve included.
- What do you imagine creating as a way to share your findings? Talk about why you’re thinking about sharing your project in this way.
- A poster session/gallery walk at the end of the semester to share our findings (Dec 7)