EDUC 701

Theoretical Framework Outline Template

Research Question: Are Shawnee State college freshmen who are placed in a pre-freshman level English course more apt to succeed at freshman level English coursework upon passing that preparatory work?

  • This is an important question to study because students entering my freshman level composition courses are frequently unprepared for collegiate writing. Further, they have often had to take pre-freshman writing courses at the university to enter my course. I find this sad, and wonder if others are successful if they had to go through this pre-freshmen curriculum program.

Abstract and key words:

  • Abstract: Shawnee State, a small state University in Southern Ohio, is nestled in the foothill of Appalachia along the Ohio River. From this beautiful locale, it attracts students both locally and internationally. With an open enrollment policy, anyone may be accepted to the school. This does not mean those students are ready for college work. The University College program has been designed to engage incoming students to assure their preparedness and hence, their success. Still, many who have participated in the offered programs to bring skills to college level are discouraged, and without support from parents, teachers, and peers, will fail. This paper determines some of those reasons for successes and failures in an attempt to limit failures and enhance successes.
  • Key Words: remedial English, college preparation, freshman writing, Appalachian college, Appalachian students, placement testing, cognitive learning, transformation learning, constructivist learning

Theories:

  • Cognitive learning theory applies directly to this research. A wonderful definition of the cognitive learning theory is defined by Moghaddam & Araghi (2013) wherein they cite Williams and Burden:

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind, including psychology, education, and recently neuroscience. The adjective cognitive reach to the noun cognition and is the systematic term for the capacity of processing information, for knowing, or more precisely, the process of being aware, thinking, learning and judging. The term is extracted from the Latin root cognoscere, meaning to become aquatinted with, to know, to control, or to organize. In fact, cognitive psychology is interested in the way by which the human mind thinks and learns. With the advent of cognitive psychology, we have been witness of its considerable influence on language learning and teaching methodology. ‘In a cognitive approach, the learner is seen as an active participant in the learning process, using various mental strategies in order to sort out the system of the language to be learnt’ (Williams & Burden, 1997, p. 13) (p. 56).

Via this learning theory, the student will have a baseline knowledge of a subject will be validated and then built upon. This research relates to this theory in that students have a presumed base of knowledge upon entrance to college. However, that base knowledge may not have prepared them for ollege level academic work. Under the cognitive learning theory, students will be aided by instructors in these pre-freshmen level courses to bring their knowledge base to an equivalency expected at the University level. I would love to presume that students are prepared to enter college when they do so, but I have learned they are not – at least many of them are not. My research reflects that my experience at Shawnee State is unfortunately typical throughout the United States. I believe that the pre-freshman curriculum should be directed into college bound seniors during the last high school year. Alternatively, the pre-freshman program can be developed into a seminar-style workshop that will bring skills up to par without pigeon-holing students into assumptions of remediation.

  • Transformation theory also seems to apply to this situation. The theory allows adults to experience a shift in perspective that leads them to a better and broader or more open frame of reference. Within transformation theory, “teachers must be active facilitators in the learning process and assume responsibility for student growth through questioning the learner’s expectations and beliefs. Teachers and their students must be actively engaged in assignments that require them to explore and examine their own assumptions, values, beliefs, experiences, and worldviews (Harris, Lowrey-Moore, & Farrow, 2008, p. 321). Student access to University level education is a shift in worldview beyond the scope of prior experience for most. At Shawnee, a large percentage are first generation college students. Still, some have participated in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program, also known as Dual-Enrollment, that allowed taking college courses at state expense while in high school. Those select students are largely ready for the college level work as they have already achieved that level of academia. The public enrollment students are the hardest hit. There are many that were educated in the Public School system and eked through the Ohio Graduation Test to achieve their diplomas. Another sector are adult returning students who have been out of the classroom for many years and graduated before the testing was required, or even did not graduate. They enter the University with rusty writing skills, and need a bit of extra attention to learn the requirements of collegiate writing.
  • The Constructivist Theory could also apply to this research. Xuan & Perkins (2013) cite Bruner as they state the basis that:

Bruner’s (1960) constructivist theory, the curriculum has adirect impact on learning. Bruner postulated that as a curriculum develops, it “should revisit thebasic ideas repeatedly, building upon them until the student has grasped the full formal apparatusthat goes with them”

Students are taught the basics of grammar and composition from their earliest writing days, hopefully around the age of five to seven. Unfortunately, even those first graders are being taught colloquial language here in rural Southern Ohio. By the time they reach the collegiate level, they are ingrained with language that is inappropriate for academia. It has been taught to them and reinforced throughout their youth. Through the pre-freshman course curricula, one of the challenges is to spiral them beyond the skills they bring to the table and add academic skills to their knowledge base. In doing so, we build on the elements of academia that were painstakingly instilled in them to pass the Ohio Graduate Test and whatever placement test they took to get into Shawnee State. In every English class, it is necessary to remind students of the basic elements of composition including paragraph structure, sentence structure, word choice, etc.

Conclusion:

  • Through my research, I want to determine why students are placed in pre-freshman level English coursework, and how to aid them in succeeding in that level and beyond. If they are aware of the ability to test out of that level and demonstrate competence, they would move forward more quickly. With that fact, I want to determine students’ awareness of their options. Also, I want a factual quantitative determination of numbers of students who take pre-freshman English, must repeat pre-freshman English, move on to freshman English, and pass or fail at that level. It is my hope that this information will aid our University College inproviding insights to success for our student populous.

Questions /comments on your instructor:

References:

Harris, S., Lowery-Moore, H. & Farrow, V. (2008). Extending transfer of learning theory to transformative learning theory: A model for promoting teacher leadership. Theory Into Practice, 47(4), 318-326. Doi:10.1080/00405840802329318

Moghaddam, A., & Araghi, S. (2013). Brain-based aspects of cognitive learning approaches in second language learning. English Language Teaching, 6(5), 55-61. Doi: 10.5539/elt,v6n5p55

Xuan, J., & Perkins, K. (2013). A conceptual paper on the application of the picture word inductive model using Bruner’s constructivist view of learning and the cognitive load theory.Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(1), 8-17.