Literacy Autoethnography

Due 10/6

Autoethnography is part of this methodological trend that Denzin and Lincoln (1994) have identified as the fifth moment in the history of qualitative research, in which participatory research and experimental writing feature more strongly. The essential difference between ethnography and autoethnography is that in an autoethnography, the researcher is not trying to become an insider in the research setting. He or she, in fact, is the insider. The context is his or her own. Through autoethnography, those marginalized individuals who might typically have been the exotic subject of more traditional ethnographies have the chance to tell their own stories (Russel, 1998). Duncan (2004) Autoethnography: Critical appreciation of an emerging art

PURPOSE
In order to better understand your situatedness in the realm of digital literacies, you will produce a literacy autoethnography. Your autoethnography is your opportunity to systematically analyze your use of digital toolshow these tools manifest in your everyday life. Additionally, youll be asked to connect the data youve collected to your existing beliefs about digital literacy. Do your findings challenge, reinforce, or confound your assumptions?

ASSUMPTIONS For the first component of this project, you are asked to consider what your own digital literacy is: what influenced your beliefs about reading and writing in a digital environment? What tools have you used or rejected in your working and leisure life and why? Who and what affected these beliefs?

PRACTICES For the second component of this project, you are asked to collect data on your own writing practices and activities. You will spend a specific period of time collecting data about a specific writing practice (or set of practices) you have. Then, you will analyze the collected data, code it, and write a narrative with some conclusions based on what you find.

DATA COLLECTION
During the period of research, you will use three methods of data collection: 1. Keep an ethnographic journal, in which you will describe in detail, using thick description, your writing practices. In your journals, try to answer the following questions: What do I write? Why do I write? How do I write? What/why/how have I written today? Where do I write? (both physical spaces and digital environments, like Facebook)/today? What is the purpose of the different types of writing that I do?/have done today? What do I write about?/have written about today? Who do I write to/with? Who else is involved in my writing?/today? What tools do I use to write? How do I use them? How do these tools interact?/today? These questions are meant to get you thinking about your writing. Feel free to ask yourself any other writing-related questions and let your exploration go in natural directions. 2. Conduct reflective observations while you are engaging in writing practices and write analytic memos immediately afterwards, while it is all fresh in your memory. This is similar to the first method (so, try to answer the same types of questions, listed above), except it focuses on the specific process you just experienced. Analytic memos usually explore thoughts and feelings about the experience, using thick description as well. 3. Collect artifacts illustrating your writing practicesphotos of your writing spaces, screenshots, scans of notes, hyperlinks to websites, and so on. Write notes reflecting on these artifacts. You do not have to include anything in your data that you are not comfortable showing otherskeep in mind that you will be sharing your project with me and your classmates.

GENRE AND AUDIENCE

When you are done collecting and coding your data, you will write a narrative, or a story, based on those data and codes. In that narrative, you will share plenty of detail by using thick description. You will also draw some conclusions based on your data and codes to answer the main research question: What do your writing activities say about you? Your classmates and I will be your audiencetry to make it clear, honest, and engaging for us, your readers.

FORMAT
You will write your narrative in whichever word-processor you choose, but you will submit the final report as a PDF via Blackboard. Recommended length: 462: 2,000 words; 682: 3,000 words Sample outline: Introduction, Methods, Findings, Discussion, Conclusion. You do not have to follow this format and may come up with your own headings and subheadings. Name the PDF file according to the following naming convention: Lastname Auto.pdf

GRADING CRITERIA
I will evaluate your autoethnography through feedback based on how well you: apply methods analyze data discuss your findings and use thick description create an engaging narrative for your audience discuss your use of writing tools draw clear conclusions based on your findings situate your work among credible secondary research format the document properly and follow conventions/directions