Many of you have already seen this on WPA and TechRhet. I'm hoping to reach as many people as possible, so thanks for your patience!

Colleagues:

I am writing to thank those of you who participated in my Online Writing Instructors: Preparation, Development, and Support study and to encourage those of you who teach writing online but have not completed the anonymous thirteen-question survey to do so now. Your feedback is extremely important to me, so I have decided to extend the participation deadline to Wednesday, November 30th. The survey can be accessed online at

http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~lmcgrat2/OWIPDS/online_survey.html

If you do not teach online but know of others who do, then please send this information to them.

Thank you for participating!

Laura McGrath
lmcgrat2@kennesaw.edu
llmcgrath@gmail.com
http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~lmcgrat2

ONLINE WRITING INSTRUCTORS: PREPARATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND SUPPORT

You have been identified as someone who is presently teaching an online writing course or who taught an online writing course during the 2003-2004 or 2004-2005 academic years. Laura McGrath, an Assistant Professor of English at Kennesaw State University, seeks your anonymous participation in a study entitled Online Writing Instructors: Preparation, Development and Support.

The reason for the research is to determine how writing teachers make the move into the online classroom, what training and preparation they receive, how they meet the challenges of online writing instruction, and what resources and professional development opportunities are available to them. This research will give administrators and those in charge of training and support a clearer picture of instructor needs and concerns. It is hoped that the data collected will lead to new and improved approaches to preparing and supporting online writing teachers, which will benefit future instructors and their students.

If you agree to participate, then please go to

http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~lmcgrat2/OWIPDS/online_survey.html

by Wednesday, November 30, 2005, and respond to the anonymous, online questionnaire that should take no more than thirty minutes to complete. There are only thirteen questions, so it may take even less of your time. Candid and detailed responses are sincerely appreciated and will be most beneficial to the researcher and future online writing instructors.

Please do not hesitate to contact the researcher with questions or requests for additional information:

Dr. Laura McGrath
English Department
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road, #2701
Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591
lmcgrat2@kennesaw.edu
(770) 423-6876

The purpose of this research has been explained and my participation is entirely voluntary. I understand that the research entails no risks and that my responses are not being recorded in any individually identifiable form. By anonymously completing this survey, I am agreeing to participate in this research project.

A COPY OF THIS LETTER SHOULD BE RETAINED FOR YOUR RECORDS.
Research at Kennesaw State University that involves human participants is carried out under the oversight of an Institutional Review Board. Questions or problems regarding these activities should be addressed to Dr. Martha E. Myers, Chairperson of the Institutional Review Board, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, #1101, Kennesaw, GA 30144, (770)423-6378, mmyers@kennesaw.edu.

Updated July 24, 2004