I. Methods
A. Design (approach) and Rationale
1. This study will use a phenomenological design.
2. As this study is to draw on “the common meaning for several individuals of their lived experience of” (Creswell, 2013, p. 76) assignment to remedial English, which is the basic tenet of of phenomenological study.
a. Data collection is largely anticipated to be surveys and interviews.
b. Data analysis will include statements and meaningful units of expression, to grasp the “what” and “how” of the experience.
c. The intent is to focus on the impact of the assignment to remedial English on the students – Do they quit? Do they try and fail? Do they try and succeed? Do they complete their program of study?
B. Site
1. University of the Foothills of Appalachia (UFA)
2. Small university in rural location in the foothills of Appalachia in southern Ohio
3. About 4,500 students attend UFA in any given year. This university provides a diversity of Certificate, Associate, Baccalaureate, and Masters programs. Open enrollment means the schooling is available to all who apply. Moderate tuition ($6000+/- for full time) and extensive financial aid encourage all members of the community to matriculate.
4. The school is a regional state university nestled in the foothills of Appalachia on the banks of the Ohio River. The campus itself is a jewel in an aging crown of industry. Once a thriving community at a junction of transportation and manufacturing, the historic 1937 flood falling in the footsteps of the depression drove this town into poverty. Now, pockets of beauty and calm are encircled by nests of drug activity. Construction of a highway bypass is in progress that will further isolate this community. The school and the hospitals are the largest employers in the area, but the people who call this place home work desparately to claim it from the druggies.
C. Participants
1. A minimum of four participants are needed for this study, a maximum of eight.
2. Students are approached based on when they were selected for remedial English in fall of 2008, and further selected based on alignment to the potential four outcomes of assignment to remedial English.
3. Participants are expected to be between 18 and 40 years at time of assignment to remedial English, males and females are both considered for this study, commuters and residential students are considered also.
D. Role of Researcher or Personal biography
1. Liberty Student
2. Adjunct Professor of English
3. A military retiree who moved to the area to attain a sustainable farming environment, regain my health, and homeschool my son, I found myself with free time when my son started college work at age thirteen and I had to wait for him to finish classes. Loitering on the campus, I became acquainted with the Director of Composition, who invited me to become and adjunct instructor of English composition. I did so. As I taught, I learned about, and was appalled by, the huge number of students who required remedial English before being eligible for freshman composition. A curriculum analysis done as part of my thesis for the Masters of Education program there led me to want to know more about how these students react to the assignment to remediation. The school’s transition to semesters in 2007 and revamp of all class curriculum gives a pertinent window of opportunity to study the consequence of assignment.
4. My heart for these students is engaged in this process. I truly believe that God has called me to this place at this time for this purpose. I bring a world-wide experience to students who have often never left their surrounding counties. If, in my service to my Lord and Savior, I can provide a Christian worldview in an increasingly secular society, I will share it whenever and wherever I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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