Research Networks for Graduate Students

Reference

Eyman, D., Sheffield, S., & DeVoss, D. N. (2009). Developing Sustainable Research Networks in Graduate Education. Computers and Composition, 26(1), 49-57. doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2008.11.001

Topic

The authors provide a framework for establishing a research network by studying the Rhet.net research network at Michigan State University.

Research Question

The research question was stated as a thesis: “As we see them, research networks tap into the affordances of both networks (in the material and systemic senses) and communities of practice, but in order to be open to emergent possibilities and also sustainable over time, the community of researchers connected through a commitment to advancement of field-specific practices must acknowledge and explicitly construct itself as situated within an ecology of disciplinary, institutional, and social networks” (51).

Methodology

The author’s study Michigan State University Rhet.net research network which manifested from a 2004 course called “Digital Rhetoric.” The author’s look at the history of the network and analyze the stages of the its evolution to provide a working framework for the development of other research networks.

Results

The authors identify a “three-fold framework” for developing a research network

(following is quoted directly from the text):

1. Building a community of practice

2. Engaging critically

3. Applying skills in practical ways (54-55)

Authors’ Interpretation of Results

The authors see research networks as breaking from the model of individualistic work to collaborative work, moving towards “student-centered and critical pedagogies” (56). Furthermore, framing courses as “small-scale research networks” helps move research beyond coursework and creates a community of researchers (56).

Suggested Further Research

Eyman et. al. suggests that “the framework…can serve a springboard for thinking through curricular changes that may help to bring graduate education in rhetoric and composition into a productive dialogue with the collaborative activities that mark the professional work of the field” (56).

Critique

The authors do a fine job in breaking down a successful model and suggesting a framework for other departments to create a research network that will engage its students. However, the run through of the case study was brief and its methodology for developing its framework was unclear.