After having met with Dr. Claire H. Major Monday, 9 June 2014 first for AHE 591: Online Learning in Higher Education with few other classmates before discussing what I need to focus on for my dissertation research, I remembered her recommendations that I consider Pragmatism, Pragmatic Qualitative Research as my interpretive framework, research approach rather than Grounded Theory.
I am glad that I had worked on the original outline for her to look over before our initial meeting. She had great insight about what I was trying to pinpoint with words. In her feedback (she posted her comments directly on my Dissertation Proposal Outline and emailed it back before that Monday), she liked and thought would be a great topic what I had typed in the original outline, near to the end: "Determining how functional the pedagogical methods of writing are in helping first year students to become better college writers."
At her question "What do you want to know?", I shared how I wanted to see how my own students in Orientation 101 perceive the writing as beneficial, to help them prepare better for subsequent college courses, to get over their apprehensions about writing, to get their feet wet getting comfortable with the simple exercise of writing out whatever's on their minds in response to the prompts I display on the PowerPoint.
She nodded before asking me more questions, to help me see how to use a different research approach other than Grounded Theory, When she brought up Pragmatism, I froze. I was not sure if I wanted to be connected with the word, pragmatism. Still, looking at her face, I considered her knowledge and research experience; I continued answering her questions designed to make me think what is it I really want to know.
I said I want the students to see the benefit of writing, and she suggested that I find a theory about student engagement. That I need to define what student engagement is. Latching on her recommendations, I felt enthusiasm building as I agreed that I would look into student engagement. She did a student engagement chapter for a new book not yet printed, and she would email it to me to help me get started.
Upon end of our meeting (she had to meet with another student), she suggested that I make the topic something similar to "first year students' perceptions on writing pedagogy as a student engagement tool."