People

Since Fall 2010 Dr. Taylor has acted as Principal Investigator (along with Co-Investigator Kelly Allen) for a study exploring uses of digital technology in the writing classroom. All students in one section each of College Writing (ENG 125) and Academic Argumentation (ENG 225) bring or are equipped with laptop computers, during all class sessions and a number of field trips throughout the term. The students--connected in a closed network through CTools and other means--brainstorm, research, draft, and revise both essays and group-projects, working collaboratively as well as individually. The field trips serve as inspiration and information sources for many of these endeavors. The study is designed to help determine a "best-practices" approach to teaching writing using a combination of conventional and computer-centered methods. It provided the basis for Taylor and Allen's presentations at the 2011 Computers and Writing Conference, and the 2011 Michigan College English Association Conference.