Dr. Michelle Lafrance, 2023-2024 SoTL Microgrant Awardee
Project incorporated crafting assignments in rhetoric and writing courses to explore how crafting affects students’ understanding of rhetoric. Students engaged in various crafting methods such as embroidery, sculpture, and collage.
Research Questions: How do understandings of rhetoric change when moving from textually-based work to crafting in writing & rhetoric courses?
Mixed Feedback:
- Some students felt unprepared for crafting techniques and questioned how it improved their writing.
- Others found crafting challenged their intellectual and personal perspectives, ultimately leading to realizations about rhetoric.
Conclusions
- Crafting took time and effort, requiring structured reflection on the process, as students were unfamiliar with these modes of learning.
- Many students struggled with discomfort when placed in unfamiliar crafting contexts.
- Crafting may lead to deeper, longer-term shifts in students’ understanding of rhetoric, which may not become apparent until after the course.