Writing instruction in the journalism and mass communication classroom

Abstract

This multiple case study dissertation investigated undergraduate journalism and mass communication (JMC) writing instruction at two universities in a total of seven undergraduate JMC classrooms. The purpose was to investigate and document specific instructional strategies of university JMC writing instructors who teach introductory JMC writing and reporting courses. This study identified that study participants integrated both product-oriented and process-oriented instruction into their classrooms. However, the integration of process was not the same in terms of explicit process feedback and volume of process instruction across cases. All of the instructors in this study implicitly taught the newswriting process (Pitts, 1989). This study also presents a model of integrated product-process JMC instruction as a tool for research, instructor pedagogical growth, and a template for course designers. The focus of this scholarship and its findings were unique to JMC research.