Post # 2 DISSERTATION

Ah, the dissertation. On day two of this program we were asked to talk about our dissertation interests. This sounds like a wonderful topic but it struck me as odd. Prior to my arrival at IUP I spoke with a number of qualified people (faculty and students) who told me that the coursework should be finished first and don't rush into dissertation planning. So I smelled a contradiction when Day 2 brought questions about the dissertation. Cart before the horse?

In spite of this stumbling block in my mind and my general reluctance to talk about the dissertation, when the word is mentioned, I see myself in a business suit, some years distant from now, talking about an aspect of the writing process, such as revision. Or breaking down the challenges of addressing both ESL and non-ESL issues in a first-year composition classroom. Or... my most recent idea of a study reviewing my home university's staff grading process for EN-101 midterm and final exams.

After reading for our research methods class, I find myself wanting to create a study complete with questionnaire, student and faculty participation, interviews, and heck, why not even throw a focus group in there? This is serious though as I find the practice of staff grading and the attempt to offer objectivity to students to be a fascinating concept and intrinsically problematic practice.

The most exciting aspect of taking on this last topic is the idea of conducting a study and analyzing results that would offer analysis, which could be applied to a real-life practice at Marymount. The jury will be out in regard to this dissertation topic but my mind is open.