This text reports on an ethnographic study of journal-keeping in a university science class. The author spent a summer semester attending a general education class in geology as a participant observer, took extensive notes, interviewed class members and the professor, and analyzed journal entries and other documents related to the class. She provides an example of ethnographic methods to be of use to other composition researchers, especially in her careful attention to reflexivity, that is, the effect of the researcher and the research on data. The book provides a detailed exploration of journal keeping from the perspective of both the students and the professor, as well as case studies of how two students in particular used journal keeping. Journal entries are examined not simply as texts produced by individuals for a class assignment, but as the outcome of a socio-political process, including the goals of the general education curriculum, the goals of the geology course and its instructor, the students' personal and educational goals, the institutional constraints on the professor, the methods of the researchers, and the dynamics of classroom interaction.

Résumé
A study of journal-keeping in a university science class. The author attended the class as an observer, took notes, held interviews and analyzed the journal entries made by the students. She examines and considers their journal-keeping activity as the outcome of a socio-political process.

Contenu

Preface Acknowledgments JOURNAL WRITING AS A SOCIOPOLITICAL PROCESS Journal-Keeping The Social and Institutional Contexts of Writing The Uses of Writing Across the Curriculum PROCEDURES: REFLEXIVITY IN CLASSROOM COMPOSITION Research Methodological Background: Reflexivity in Ethnography Finding a Topic Identifying Problems Finding a Setting Entering the Setting Collecting Data Inscribing Interpreting Journal-Keeping in "Spaceship Earth" JOURNAL KEEPING AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITY IN "SPACESHIP EARTH" The Journal Assignment: Responding the Weber's Expectations Classroom Functions of Journal-Keeping THE SOCIOPOLITICS OF JOURNAL KEEPING IN "SPACESHIP EARTH": TWO STUDENTS Beth: Goals for Journal-Keeping in "Spaceship Earth" Beth's History as a Student and Writer: Learning a Rhetoric of Role-Playing Beth's "Spaceship Earth" Journal: Negotiating Her Approach Tina's Goals for the Assignment Tina's History: Using Writing to Learn about Science Tina's "Spaceship Earth" Journal: Negotiating a Useful and "Suitable" Approach THE SOCIOPOLITICS OF JOURNAL KEEPING IN "SPACESHIP EARTH": THE PROFESSOR Assigning Writing in "Spaceship Earth" Carl's Expectations for the Journal: Making Connections Carl's History as a Writer and Teacher: Developing Expertise in Informing and Persuading His Audiences Putting Ideology into Practice Managing the Class Addressing Institutional Expectations An Effective Compromise? A POSTSCRIPT AND SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS Postscript Concluding Observations References Author Index Subject Index