TDNet Discover

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine the differentiated instructional strategies used by co-requisite developmental writing instructors and to investigate the role of a structured Community of Practice in supporting collaborative instructor learning at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in Amarillo, Texas. For the utility of this study, the Community of Practice was generally defined as a structured, collaborative professional learning arrangement in which co-requisite writing instructors engaged in sustained inquiry, shared reflection, and the collective development of differentiated instructional strategies responsive to the diverse academic preparation levels of their students. The theory guiding this study is Lave and Wenger's Communities of Practice framework as it provided a social learning lens through which the collaborative professional development of co-requisite writing instructors was examined, understood, and transformed. This qualitative action research study was guided by two research questions: what differentiated instructional strategies co-requisite developmental writing instructors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution perceives as most effective for addressing the diverse academic preparation levels of their students, and in what ways participation in a structured Community of Practice supports those instructors in developing and refining such strategies. The study was conducted at a two-year Hispanic-Serving Institution operating on an eight-week accelerated academic calendar during the Spring 2 term. Ten English instructors currently assigned to co-requisite developmental writing sections participated in the study. Data were collected through three sources: semi-structured individual interviews conducted prior to the Community of Practice sessions, direct observation of three structured weekly Community of Practice sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes each, and analysis of instructional artifacts and collaborative documents produced by participants across the three-week study period. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis procedures for interview and observational data and content 3 analysis for document data, with all three sources triangulated to produce a coherent and trustworthy set of findings that illuminated both the instructional strategies instructors found most responsive to student variability and the ways in which structured collaborative inquiry deepened and expanded their professional practice.