Rhetorical Situation

If nothing has changed from your proposal, you can cut and paste it from your proposal. However, it is normal for elements of the rhetorical situation to shift as you design and develop your project. Be sure to address all of the following elements (some are new/not in the proposal):

• purpose/aim: What does the author want the audience to do after reading/consuming the text? Don’t just give the verb of the action (ie. persuade, educate, call to action, entertain, inform, shock, etc.), instead, discuss the specific argument or type of entertainment or action to complete. Discuss at least three different specific elements within the project that support the purpose.
  • I want my audience to change the policy on the Degree Completion Plan for the 2^nd and 3^rd semester courses of English. Currently, these courses are taught in large-lecture format. One course consists of classes of 250 students who meet with one professor on Tuesdays but “break out” into classes of 25 students with another professor on Thursdays. The other course has one professor meeting with the same students multiple times during the week but the class has from 50 to 114 students and a “helper/grader” professor, often an adjunct.
  • Three elements within the project which support the purpose:
    • Students are not consistently engaged; they rely on a professor to entertain them (student interview)
    • Students and research rate collaboration as important, yet students are not able to collaborate or do group work in these larger classes (Google Data)
    • Demonstrate students who are not engaged (photo of student sleeping in class)
• audience (intended, secondary, & tertiary): Things you might discuss about the audience include: age, experiences/beliefs (especially in relation to the purpose and/or topic), gender, occupation, location, socio-economics, parents and peers, education, culture, etc. Be sure to discuss what are the expectations of the audience based on these details. Discuss at least three different specific elements within the project that support the audience.
  • My target audience will be the administrators of our school: the Dean of the College of General Studies, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, the Provost, and the President of the university.
  • This group consists of businessmen/women and academicians. One of their largest considerations is the financial impact, but retention is also very important. I’ll have to do a lot of number-crunching to speak their language.
  • In order to reach this target audience, I will have to use an “intermediary” audience of the students themselves. I will gather information from them through surveys, video interviews, grades, etc.
  • Another item which will gain the attention of my audience is a document which this group of people created called the “Strategic Plan.” By tapping into the goals of this document, I will be able to speak their language.
  • Accessibility: None of my audience members are hearing impaired, so I do not need to create a transcript of the video contents. By placing my video on YouTube, I ensure that the content will be accessible regardless what machine it is being broadcast from.
• subject/topic: What is the exact, focused, topic being conveyed and/or argument being made. Most of the time you will cover this while discussing the purpose/aim.
  • We want the administrators to endorse a return to the “small classroom” ideology for the English 102 and 200-level classes because it will build a sense of community in our students and encourage them to return the following semester. Such smaller settings also inhibit students from “falling through the cracks” and not getting the help/attention that they need in order to succeed.
• context/setting: Things going on in time and/or space that impact the production and/or consumption of the text. Discuss at least two different specific elements within the project that were impacted by the context.
  • After the chair and I decided on this topic and this technological approach, the Provost retired and the position has been filled, at least temporarily, by the Vice Provost. We need to have a conversation with the Dean of our college to see if she has any knowledge of where the interim Provost stands on this issue of smaller vs. larger class sizes. My impression is that the Academic Deans are mostly looking at the finances, so our goal will still be to locate and present information regarding student perception, demonstration of learning, reaching the “Strategic Plan” goals, and retention.
  • Because of space limitations this spring, one of our class hours for ENGL 102 (9 sections during the TR 9:15 hour) have been switched to stand-alone classes of 25 students in each. This shift has caught the eyes of the administrators, so we will need to regroup and reassess how we gather and present our argument. Instead of paying one professor 4 hours’ load and 9 professors 2 hours’ load (=22 hours) for this class hour, this change will require paying 9 professors 3 hours’ load (=27 hours). While the increase of five hours is not something that the administrators are happy about, we are hoping to use data and interviews from the spring semester to compare the students’ reaction and grades between the two class sizes to support our claims.

Design

Discuss what you learned, and applied, about design. For each design element (CRAP), describe where and how it is working in your project and how the element supports the project’s rhetorical situation.

• Contrast
  • I chose a calming but not sleepy background for my presentation so that my images would stand out, whether they were light or dark in color. I wanted to provide more contrast to my images like adding borders, but the program required an additional layer of imagery behind my photos which was eating my memory and bogging down the presentation. My final project definitely needs some help in this area to make the visuals more appealing to my audience.
• Repetition
  • Since my audience members are older than I am, I tried to consistently choose to have my images fade in and out. Not only is this option easier on the eyes, it also seems to flow better within Camtasia. I have noticed that as more transitions are added, the  response rate slows down within the program which results in jumpy transitions. The slow transitions are not as noticeable using the fade option.
• Alignment
  • My project will be submitted via YouTube, so I wanted to keep most of my images centered; videos are viewed on various-sized screens which could affect the visibility of items flush left or right. Using a centered alignment also subconsciously demonstrates balance, which is what I’m hoping to have my audience agree to.
• Proximity
  • Honestly, I believe I could have worked through both proximity and contrast a little more to make the project more effective. I’ll need to keep these two specific elements in mind as I work on our final draft in the spring. The fact that my screen never gets jumbled with lots of text and images does minimize the need for proximity, but it is still an element that I need to keep in mind, since I do not naturally view content with this element in mind.

Project

• What are you most proud of in the entire project? Why?
  • I am proud of myself for figuring out how to use the software and how to create something other than the basic PowerPoint presentations that our students are tired of seeing. I want to explore flipped classroom lessons in the spring and familiarity with this software gives me the tools I need to turn some of my lessons around.
• What do you wish you had time to further expand, include, or revise in the project?
  • I definitely need to rethink my research questions and how I gather my data. Currently I have no data regarding finances, yet that type of information will speak volumes to the audience I will be addressing. The chair and I also need to narrow our argument and identify our bullet point facts because we will not have much time to state our case; we need to be precise and compelling.
• When and where did you get stuck while working on the project? How did you overcome your problem?
  • I got stuck asking for information from Bio because I was not sure what specific information we needed. Now that we have a sampling of responses and we have identified some errors in our data gathering, we will be able to request more specific information from the Bio group which we can use to compare to the responses we are receiving from our students.

Theory (my favorite part!)

• Discuss how your process and/or product helped you to better understand at least three of the theoretical works read/discussed/shared in the class.
  • Delagrange’s claim “that the material world cannot be reduced to language, [and] that visual representations, including the visual components of words on a page or bars in a graph, contain meaning beyond mere text” (105) becomes more important in this context for trying to persuade administrators to think beyond implications of mere finances. Using the visual and audible responses of students themselves along with the aggregate data from their responses will make the information more personal and (hopefully) appeal to the emotions of the audience so that they will hear our entreaty.
  • Brooke’s discussion of perspective, specifically the conversation regarding looking at vs. looking through, is crucial to this project. In order to effectively reach my target audience, I must keep in mind the fact that I am “displaying three-dimensional objects and/or scenes on a two-dimensional space” (Brooke 120), so the information itself needs to be convincing; I cannot rely on emotional appeals of videos and interviews alone to sway my audience. I also must be sure that my “at” does not hinder the effectiveness of the “through” in conveying information. In presenting my information via this medium, I walk a thin line between novelty and confusion on the part of my audience; my goal is to positively grab their attention, not to negatively turn them away from the information.
  • Gane and Beer’s discussion of information and the questioning of its ability to be separated from the medium became clearer through this project. The inclusive term of informatics applies to my project because I am involving the medium as part of the message in trying to include various levels of meaning through the use of student interviews. In order to accurately convey my intended argument, I need to answer the questions that McLuhan asks like “how . . . do media shape the packaging, transmission and consumption of knowledge?” (46). My finished product must clearly convey the need for a return to the smaller classroom through logical, emotional, and ethical appeals. As Lyotard and McLuhan consider information, it is to be “consumed” (47-48), but I want more than that for my audience. I desire more of the “traditional forms of knowledge that demand human creativity and reflection” (48) because I want my audience to actively engage with my information and find a solution or agree to our proposed solution.
• Discuss at least three of the course outcomes you feel you worked towards with this assignment. Provide evidence of your learning by pointing to specific aspects of the project.
  • Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
    • I feel more proficient with specific tools like Google docs, WordPress blogs, and Camtasia
    • I was able to use Google Docs to create a survey, distribute it to students, and to record responses to use in my project
    • The Lynda tutorials were very helpful in explaining how to use WordPress. I have not yet played with the plug-ins but I’m sure that some of them will be helpful in organizing my notes as I compile information for the competency exams sometime in my future
    • While I have not used every feature that Camtasia offers, I have incorporated many of them into my presentations this semester. Such familiarity with the software not only saved me time when creating my final project, but it also gave me an understanding of the options before me as I looked at the best way to convey the information I wanted to impart.
  • Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
    • Dr. R had us practice this outcome by forcing us to create a blog regarding the resources we studied and to link to information from our peers. With that networking process in place physically as well as mentally, I was more easily able to access and use ideas from earlier in the semester. My software choice of Camtasia forces me to manage my library of video clips, audio clips, and images. I am able to separate the audio and video into individual pieces and put them back together in overlapping pieces to create a new and more effective presentation of information.
  • Analyzing and applying multimedia scholarship and theory
    • This project forced me to take the theory that we discussed earlier in the class and to put it into practice, especially in this reflection assignment. We often learn a principal and are able to use it without being able to put it into words; once we are forced to verbalize what is happening, we further our understanding of the processes that are occurring. For example, I have always considered myself to understand the concept of “information,” but I did not see its association with multimedia until I was forced to review the information I read earlier in the semester with my project in mind. Now that I have completed three steps (1. Reading about and discussing the theory, 2. Working with the concept in my projects, and 3. Explaining how the theory connects to the practical use of the concept), I have a more robust understanding of the idea and its complexity.

Learning

• What technologies did you use to complete this project?
  • Camtasia, Jing, Google Docs, Video recordings
• Why were they appropriate?
  • The Google Docs allow me to create question forms, gather data, and organize that data
  • The video recordings allow me to capture visual and audible representations of students and get responses directly from them
  • Jing and Camtasia allow me to record my screen and to manipulate visual and audible objects into a final presentation
• What processes did you take to learn the technology application/s?
  • The tutorials offered by TechSmith and associated blogs were very helpful for understanding Camtasia until I updated the software and things didn’t work the same. I wanted to be proficient with the software early in the semester, so I used it on two other presentations. I felt really comfortable with the software and its features because of those projects. I also learned about the limitations of the software and the importance of memory.
  • Jing and video recorders are very self-explanatory
  • I learned about Google Forms and the responses by simple trial and error and from hints that Dr. Rodrigo gave me. I know that I can continue to seek helpful ideas by doing simple “How to” searches.
• What did you learn?
  • Camtasia has amazing features that allow me to split the audio and the video, to cut out bloopers like “um,” and to move graphics across the screen. It has a “picture in picture” feature that allows me to play a video inside my own video, and it has a quizzing feature to check for understanding which is something I will use when creating videos for my classes, but it is not a feature that I will use for this particular project.
• What more you hope to learn in the future?
  • I will need to play with the new updates Camtasia released so that I can produce my powerfully moving video which sweeps the administrators off their feet.
  • The most important thing I hope to learn in the future is proper researching techniques. I look forward to taking a research methods class; to prepare for such a class, I need to audit a statistics class to make sure I understand the basics. After looking at the results of my survey, I realized that I had not accounted for many variables like the possibility that only motivated students would respond to my survey, but I was trying to capture information from struggling students.
  • I also have access to Qualtrics and I hope to be able to use it instead of Google Surveys whenever I begin my own dissertation. I have taken one introductory session in using the software, but I have not been able to create nor deploy a survey yet, so I have limited knowledge of its capabilities and quirks. If I can use Qualtrics as my survey tool for the updated project in the spring, I’ll have experience with the software which will help my research endeavors in the future.
• How/why might you use the technology application/s again?
  • I’m hoping to turn some of my classes this upcoming semester into “flipped classes” and using Camtasia will help immensely, especially because of its quizzing feature. The quizzes allow students to check for understanding before proceeding with the video; it also requires interaction.
  • I used the Google forms this fall to elicit feedback from our Grad Students concerning their upper-level class helpers; I was then able to use that information for filling out the student evaluations. A little bit of work on the front end saved me lots of time when the evaluations were due.
• What did you learn about yourself as a digital writer?
  • Since I enjoy learning new things as long as I can find a practical use for them, I need to play with technology more often. But I must not stop there; I need to take the extra step of making connections between theory and application to further enhance my own (as yet unspoken) theories.

 

Supplemental Materials

Sample sketch of video presentation for administrators: YouTube

• Keep in mind this is not a finished product; it lacks finesse, proper permissions, adequate research, and effective design elements. Perhaps I should not admit such flaws, but I do recognize them.

Google Student Questionnaire

Google Student Responses

Google Faculty Questionnaire

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