Reading Matters: Three Studies of Situated Literacy and a Call for Reading across the Curriculum

Abstract

Reading is often thought of a decontextualized skill rather than as a complex practice that involves many different factors. In order to further understand how reading might be theorized as a situated practice and the role that a First-year Composition (FYC) course can play in helping college students develop an awareness of their reading practices, this dissertation explores reading in multiple contexts. First, by surveying and interviewing faculty and students in an Atmospheric Science course, an Anthropology course, and an Architecture course, I demonstrate how students do (and do not) develop a disciplinary identity through their reading practices. FYC courses are often thought of as spaces to prepare students for their future academic writing and reading, but reading is not a decontextualized skill. In Chapter 2, I studied students who completed a genre-based course in order to connect their genre awareness and their reading awareness. Chapter 3 follows one student as she builds on her genre awareness and reading awareness in her STEM Courses. As a whole, this dissertation adds to the growing literature on college students’ reading practices and demonstrates a need for faculty involvement at all levels in helping students develop disciplinary reading practices.