Date: 06/10/2015

 

Technology Project Title: I’m First: A Deeper Look At First Generation College Students in the Composition Classroom

 

Project Focus: The project focus will be on first generation students in the composition classroom, though I imagine I will be looking primarily at research in education to see what I can learn and apply to the field of composition.

 

Learning Goals: I’d like to see what kind of research has been done on first generation students in the composition classroom. Ultimately, my larger goal is  I’d look at the notion of academic identity and how the writing center or first year comp can impact a first gen’s student perception of their own academic identity to see if that can help contribute to student success/retention among that student population. Researching this topic will aid my own teaching as the population of students that I work with are all first generation and multilingual.

 

Technology Project Type: In the tech project aspect of this research, I aim to create a website that provides information about first generation students and relate it to the composition classroom.

 

Technology Project Components: I plan to include the following sections on the web page: definition, timeline, national trends, regional trends, resources for working with first gen students, and (hopefully, if I can coordinate it with a few friends) some profiles of first gen students with pictures and a short biography  

 

Technology Project Background Information: In the background information section, I will discuss what it means to be a first generation student as it relates to attending college. This might include some of the same information as the website will include, but it will also likely include more information such as how first generation students fare in college and strategies that have been known to help increase retention along with making connections to the composition classroom or writing center.

 

Technology Project Timeline: I have been researching the background information for a few months now, but have not written anything up yet. Research: on-going. Website: Begin today.