Research & Scholarship
Research Assistant for the Center for Community Literacy Research and Outreach Colorado State University, Spring 2004
- Roles: Researcher, reporting, making recommendations for future programs.
- Aim of Research: The aim of this research was to increase the ability of the university to interact with the surrounding community. The methods included conducting research on literacy outreach programs across the United States using databases and assessment of CSU participation in community events. The products of this research included conference presentations, presentations for the Northern Colorado Literacy Network, and a K-12 engagement project.
IRB Approved Research
“Improved Writing for Forestry and Natural Resources Courses,” Fall 2010, (Linda Bergman, PI)
- Roles: Collaborator in the design of methods, data collection, and data analysis.
- Aim of Research: This research was conducted in collaboration with an upper level seminar to measure student attitudes toward writing in the sciences. The course had a blend of undergraduate and graduate writers who were asked to engage in a number of writing tasks through the semester. Pre and post tests were gathered, and writing samples were collected with student permission.
“Emergent Writing Practices of Plant Biologists,” Fall 2009-Spring 2010 (Linda Bergman, PI)
- Roles: Designer, data collection, analysis and lead author on future publications.
- Aim of Research: This work explores the role that new media plays in academic communication within a discipline. Methods included interviews, textual analysis of published texts and visuals, and physical observations of the plant biology community. This study was designed to be replicated by other programs who are concerned collaboration with other disciplines and curricular design.
“New Media Practices of WAC Programs,” Purdue University, Fall 2007-Spring 2008 (Linda Bergmann, PI)
- Roles: Designer, data collection, analysis and lead author on 2009 publication.
- Aim of Research: This work aimed to understand shifts in excellent WAC programs between 1990 and 2008. Methods included interviews of members of the writing across the curriculum community. I compared recent interviews with chapters written by three programs and published in Programs That Work: Models and Methods for Writing Across the Curriculum (1990) to establish how changes in technology had effected the program.
“Students’ perceptions of the transfer of writing skill from first year composition to upper-division courses.” Purdue University, Fall 2007-Spring 2010 (Linda Bergmann, PI)
- Roles: Design, recruitment, organized participants, distributed compensation, recorded data and transcribed sessions, second author on future published work.
- Aim of Research: This research replicated earlier research on the ability of university students to transfer the skills they learn in English writing courses to the rest of their college writing experience. The method used for this research was the use of student focus groups. This research confirmed earlier research, concluding that students have difficulty seeing the connection between writing courses and the writing they do in their major, despite calling on the practices and language they learn in first year writing courses.
Publications
Reitmeyer, M.T., Sci, S. (upcoming). Cultivating the Digital Citizen through Eloquentia Perfecta. Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, 43.
Reitmeyer, M. T. (2009, January 19). Programs that work(ed): Revisiting the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, and George Mason University programs after 20 years. [Special issue on Writing Technologies and Writing Across the Curriculum] Across the Disciplines, 6. Stable URL: http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/technologies/reitmeyer.cfm
Gunn, J., Reitmeyer, M., Blakesley, D. Covino, W. A. (2009). Get Agrippa: A Comment on Chris Mile’s ‘Occult Retraction’. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 39(4), p. 380-387.
Bergmann, L., Cordaro, D., Elder, C. Reitmeyer, M. (2010). Instructor’s manual to accompany academic research and writing: Inquiry and argument in college. Boston: Pearson Longman.
Hannah, M., Saidy, C., Reitmeyer, M. Soderlund, L. Introduction to rhetoric podcast series. Purdue OWL Podcasts. Podcast retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/733/1/
Presentations
Conference Presentations
Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing Program Development:
“Eloquentia Perfecta: The Jesuit Argument for WAC” International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, Savannah, 2012
“From Glass Flowers to Computer Games: Examining the Persuasive Media Practices of Plant Biologists” Upcoming at Writing Research Across Borders II, Washington DC, 2011
“From Glass Flowers to Computer Games: Examining the Persuasive Media of Plant Biologists” Poster Session, American Society of Plant Biology Conference, Montreal, Canada, 2010
“Writing Centers as Bridges to Engagement: Strategies for Fostering College-Community Partnerships” Research Network Forum, San Francisco, 2009
New Media
“Second Life for Teachers and Writers” Full-day Workshop, Computers and Writing, West Lafayette, 2010
“Battle 2020: Riding the Wave of Emergent Technology” CCCC, San Francisco, 2009
“Building Fantastic Instillations, Exhibits, Posters and Showcases in Second Life” Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference, West Lafayette, 2009
“Teaching and Learning in Second Life” Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference, West Lafayette, 2008
“‘My Avatar Doesn’t Get Hungry’: Interrogating Virtual Worlds’ Interaction with Real Life Social Issues” and Chair of: Virtual Spaces, Places and People: Exploring Second Life and First-Year Composition,” CCCC, New Orleans, 2008
Popular Culture
“Living Graphic Novel” LitCon at ComicCon, Denver, 2012
“Living Graphic Novel—Extended Workshop” ComicCon, Denver, 2012
“Makes a Soul Strong: The Magical Rhetoric of Food from Alchemy to Mushrooms” Rhetoric Society of America, 2010