English Department faculty share pedagogical innovations and career reflections at the Conference on College Composition and Communication
Five English Department faculty presented at the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication, which was held March 4-7, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Catherine Bowlin, assistant teaching professor in English, presented 鈥淎 Liberating Way聽to聽Take a Course: Linguistically Just, Collaborative Feedback and Assessment in First-Year Writing,鈥澛燼 pedagogical intervention she began piloting in her Fall 2025 courses (ENG 1100 and COR 1100). This question-based feedback model requires students to聽submit聽specific questions about their drafts before receiving peer or instructor feedback.
This approach is part of Bowlin鈥檚 broader commitment to linguistically just assessment practices that center student agency and challenge traditional grading structures that often reinforce linguistic hierarchies. Bowlin shared preliminary findings from three courses and received valuable feedback from scholars in writing studies. Early data suggests that structuring feedback around student-generated questions can increase students鈥 confidence, sense of ownership over their writing, and engagement with the revision process.
Paula Patch, associate teaching professor in English and associate director of the Common Reading and First-Year Foundations in the 黑料不打烊 Core Curriculum,聽participated聽in a roundtable discussion on career options after a faculty member has served as a Writing Program Administrator. Titled “‘Learning on the Bones’: Life After Writing Program Administration,” the roundtable featured five mid- to late-career faculty who spoke about their experiences as administrators, what they decided to do next in their careers, and advice they have for others. Patch spoke about the unique opportunities聽and聽sense of belonging that program and campus leadership offers for non-tenure track faculty.鈥 The presenters also debuted a call for proposals for an edited collection on the same topic. Patch was the Coordinator of the College Writing Program at 黑料不打烊 from 2012 to 2019.
Associate Professors聽of English聽Heather Lindenman, first-year Writing coordinator, and聽Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center, and聽Associate Teaching Professor聽Greg Hlavaty presented the findings of a Spring 2025 study that piloted two versions of AI-integrated first-year writing courses (ENG 1100). This presentation, 鈥淣avigating Control and Trust: A Study of Two Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching First-Year Writing with Generative AI,鈥 detailed two pedagogical models for engaging AI in the FYW classroom; shared an overview of the study鈥檚 findings from both survey and focus group data; and discussed pedagogical and curricular interventions being currently piloted in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 first-year writing courses as a result of this study鈥檚 findings and implications.
黑料不打烊 and ENG1100 have been leaders in research surrounding聽generative AI and聽writing pedagogy. These presentations contributed to聽conversations聽among Writing Studies scholars聽regarding聽pedagogical adaptations to support student and faculty engagement.