“Introduction to Critical Writing:

Dissertation Project

I am asking for your participation in a dissertation project about

“Introduction to Critical Writing.” As part of this research, I would like to
follow your writing progress while you are a student at TCU. I have secured
approval for this request and this research from TCU's IRB board as well as
the IRB board at the University of Texas, Arlington.

The purpose of the larger project is to gather data on the writing experiences
of first-year students in ENGL 10703 course (Introduction to Critical Writing).
ENGL 10703 has three primary goals: to give students extra time to succeed
at general writing, to give students a lot of opportunities to be successful in
ENGL 10803 (first-year composition) and to help students develop a writing
style that will see them through other academic courses. The findings of this
project should provide insight into how students and professors conceptualize
student writing, how the program and the institution support writing
instruction, and what the students want and need to support their writing.
We also want to know if the goals of the course are appropriate to the
students who enroll in the course.

Participation in this survey is voluntary; there is no penalty for choosing not

to participate. Your involvement in this project would include occasional
interviews with principal investigator (email or face-to-face), the sharing of
writing from writing intensive courses (one sample per semester). If you are
willing to participate further in this project or would like more information
regarding further participation in this project, please send an email to Billie
Hara at b.hara@tcu.edu.

If you have any questions about this research project or the results of this
survey, please contact any of the following people:

Thank you for participating in this project:

Billie Hara
Texas Christian University
Ph.D. Candidate in English

Billie Hara Carrie S. Leverenz, Daniel E. Williams

Principal Investigator Director of Composition Department Chair
TCU TCU TCU
TCU Box 297770 TCU Box 297270 TCU Box 297270
Fort Worth, TX 76129 Fort Worth, TX 76129 (817) 257-6250
(817) 257-6535 (817) 257-6242 d.e.williams@tcu.edu
b.hara@tcu.edu c.leverenz@tcu.edu
I agree to participate in Ms. Hara’s dissertation project (please initial
in the space provided):

__________ I agree to participate in this project, and I understand that my

participation is voluntary and that there are no rewards or
consequences for participation.

__________ I agree to supply Ms. Hara with copies of my writing on an as

needed basis (approximately once per semester) while I am a
student at TCU.

__________ I give consent to Ms. Hara to use my work in her dissertation

project.

__________ If Ms. Hara chooses to use my work in her dissertation project, I

can choose how she identifies me. Ms. Hara can use my given
name or a pseudonym. (circle one).

__________ I would prefer that Ms. Hara use this name to identify me:

__________________________________________________

Signed,

_________________________________________ _______________
NAME DATE

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ADDRESS

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ADDRESS

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Email Address