New Research Collaboration with University of Texas Austin Computer Writing and Research Lab
Even though classes at Stanford University don't begin for another month, the CCR team is always looking to the future. In addition to lining up CCR video-conference and blog connections for the 2009-2010 academic year, CCR has just launched a new research collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin.
This is thanks to Sean McCarthy, Assistant Instructor and Assistant Director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab within the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin. Sean attended our CCR panel at 4C’s in March on "Cross-cultural Perspectives on Technology-enabled Learning in the Global Writing Classroom." He then wrote to us interested in introducing CCR as a core project for one of his research groups at UT Austin this year. We were thrilled to meet Sean at 4C’s, and now, we are even more excited at the prospect of a year rich in research collaboration.
In our kick-off Marratech planning session yesterday, Sean introduced his colleagues and fellow assistant directors Molly Hardy and Justin Tremel, who sat in on the video-conference meeting.
Together, we discussed shared goals and made plans. This is an exciting opportunity to see how the CCR methodology can “transfer” to other universities and institutions. The whole point of our original WGLN grant-funded research was to develop a protocol and concrete practices that could be utilized by many in higher education. While we have enjoyed success in sharing the CCR knowledge and know-how with our active international partners, this is the first time that a peer institution in America seeks to study, learn, apply, and extend the research methodology, working practices, and knowledge developed by the CCR team in 4 years of research and sustained practice. At the same time, CCR will have a lot to learn from UT Austin as they have the technological resources and the researcher-teachers who can extend CCR methods to the next level, trying out new platforms for connectivity and investigating new research questions. Our ultimate goal will be a shared publication about this collaborative process, this cross-institutional shared research endeavor.
Tomorrow, Sean will pitch the CCR focus as one of the Core Research Projects to the graduate students and faculty – we are grateful for this endeavor, and we look forward to meeting his colleagues, working with them, learning from them and alongside them, this coming academic year!