Composing on the Screen: How Multimodal Composition Can Enhance the Teaching of Writing

Savannah, Georgia; February 8, 2013; Room 210; 1:40-2:40 PM

Below is the 19-minute video I created as an overview of my mixed-method case study of how students viewed the challenges of both traditional and multimodal composition in first-year writing programs. I did this teacher research for my dissertation, which I successfully defended in August of 2012.

The video I produced has several purposes, the most obvious being that it is a representation of the work I did for my dissertation; however, the process of making the video and the video itself is much more.

The video is also a representation of the 21st century academic video essay, an example of moving scholarship from the printed page to the screen. This video represents what I ask my students to produce when I ask them to compose multimodal texts in the form of video documentary essays.

I used basic software and internet applications to create this video, and I experienced many of the same challenges and frustrations that my own students experience when they make their videos in my class.

I spent hours planning, collecting media, editing, and tweaking my video until it was just perfect, or as perfect as  I could make it within my own limits and expectations.

And, like my students, I felt excited about my video after its completion, was eager to share it with others, and felt that it adequately expressed my ideas and the range and scope of my topic.

Like my students, I feel my video brought my topic to life, helped me connect with a larger audience, and allowed me to develop my problem solving and technical skills.

The video explains the premise of my dissertation, captures the key findings in my research, illuminates the possibilities that digital video production offers first-year composition students, and provides a creative and entertaining twist to an otherwise antiquated and dull genre, the traditional print-based dissertation.

Here in this video, you can see my diss in a little less than 20 minutes. And if this gets your attention, you can download the entire 286 pages here: Composing on the Screen: Student Perceptions of Traditional & Multimodal Composition. 

• Enhanced sense of engagement with topics
• Self-confidence
• Self-expression
• Builds community
• Enhanced sense of audience & purpose
• Teaches rhetorical concepts that can be transferred to traditional essays