Literature Review Topic Interests

I am considering one of three potential topics for the Literature Review assignment.

1. The first possible topic would be an update for the thesis I completed back in 2012, titled "A Geographic Analysis of Virtual Worlds: Place, Identity, and Society, Using Second Life as a Model." The interesting thing about potentially doing this topic would be revisiting the literature after a decade of technological advancements. What would really be interesting about it would be to use the updated research as the basis of a Doctoral dissertation...provided I could ever find a doctorate in Geography program that was local to wherever I am living. When I did the original thesis, there was very little in my field on the topic.

2. The second topic I am considering relates to developing a Credit for Prior Learning/Prior Learning Assessment Handbook specifically targeted to community colleges and universities. Conceptually, there is significant journal resources available to do a comprehensive literature review. Specifically, there is a difference between pedagogy and andragogy learning models and a need for modern post-secondary educational institutions to adequately assess non-traditional and experiential learning for motivated non-traditional students requiring new credentials needed for a career change. I have copious resources I could review.

3. The third topic I am considering for a literature review specifically targets how post-secondary academic advising strategies and methods fail to engage and retain students, contributing to a national average program completion of between 30%-45%. For institutions that have become more consumed with neoliberal economic theories of producing degree candidates skilled for high-growth, high-wage job opportunities, the existing advising methods and strategies routinely fail the target demographic of college-age students. As with the CPL/PLA Handbook idea, I have significant literature that could be reviewed.  

Comments

  1. JayLindsayENGL3450August 25, 2023 at 8:56 AM

    I am kind of leaning toward the first topic, simply because (at one time) I was an avid user of the Second Life platform. When the virtual world launched, it was entirely free-form; in other words, unlike something like World of Warcraft, the focus of the platform was to give an alternative way to live a life or express portions of one's selfhood that was unavailable in reality - literally leading a second life. Eleven years on, however, there have been huge shifts in the platform more toward a gaming mentality rather than an alternative existence in virtual space (people largely now use the platform for freeform roleplaying without specific missions or objectives). This somewhat reverted to the platform's original concept during COVID-19, however, with former users returning for the social, synchronous interaction in constructed environments.

    Interestingly enough, my thesis was (at the time) relatively unique in the field of Geography; there wasn't a lot of research done on it from that discipline's perspective, forcing me to delve deeply into other disciplines (particularly Sociology and Anthropology) for research. This was fine, since I am what is often categorized as a Human Geographer (I prefer to refer to myself as a Sociocultural Geographer). I received an award for the thesis at graduation, which was cool because all three of my thesis advisor were pretty skeptical of the topic when I proposed it but saw its value once they read it.

    The problem is that I'm not sure there is sufficient literature to merit the review unless I once again delved into Sociology and Anthropology (and possibly even law). I'm also not sure how applicable it would be for a potential MA in the Digital Rhetoric field.

    That leads me to think about doing the lit review as a hybrid of the CPL/PLA and Advising ideas. As a (former) college administrator working with Department of Labor funding and objectives, I am a HUGE advocate for revising the way college education is done - particularly since I am trying to work with UT to eliminate requirements for the English BA I'm pursuing due to my professional and non-traditional experience. I have close to 200 articles that are reasonably recent delving into the topics of advising, credit for prior learning, non-traditional students transitioning to new careers requiring reskilling, and the impact of Neoliberal economic theories on how universities and community colleges approach the needs of modern students.

    I would have to be careful doing such a topic, though. One of the biggest holdouts (and reasons why retention/completion rates are so low) across the country are English departments. If I presented it wrong, I could annoy the faculty in the very discipline in which I am trying to earn a degree...which, in turn, could complicate my efforts to get the CPL/PLA I am attempting to convince them to award. I'm already sitting in a couple classes this semester where I should have just been able to get credit.

    The irony is rich.

    However, it makes two critical points for people to consider with their research topic. First, and most importantly: who is the intended beneficiary of the research and the conclusions reached? Secondly, and also equally important: which stakeholders will be most annoyed by the research and conclusions, and how likely are those stakeholders to become gatekeepers?

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  2. florence08August 28, 2023 at 11:16 AM

    Hi Jay,

    I can't help but comment on the interesting topics you shared on your blog -- I also agree that your first topic choice has a lot of possible angles and openings for 3450's lit. review and research proposal assignments. Perhaps you may shift the method from "geographical analysis" to "rhetorical analysis" for a more PTW-oriented approach commensurate to our course in order to meet 3450's course learning outcomes. Let's talk more in class.

    I am also very happy to read about your interest in pursuing our MA program in Technical and Digital Rhetoric -- with your background, I think you'd be a good candidate.

    IMPORTANT: Kindly note that this SAME Research Methods class will be required in the TWDR under a different course number (6401) -- although there are a couple/minor differences involving the Professional ePortfolio requirement, the text and methods themselves are REPLICATED... Just an FYI as am not sure if this will affect your course trajectory on pursuing 3450 this semester (i.e., shift to another PTW undergrad course like 2100 or 3180, etc. instead).

    Dr. B

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