I commented on Laurie’s case study. Since Laurie also used Foucault, it was really helpful to think about how we approached this theory differently, and at times seemed to reach different conclusions. Here is a link to my comment: http://lstankavich.blogspot.com/2016/02/894-case-study-1-foucault.html
For the theory application assessment, I chose to examine Alex’s case study, so I created an assessment rubric for Spinuzzi. Here is the empty rubric:
|
Theoretical Understanding |
|||
| Present | Partly Present | Not Present | |
| Discussion of Spinuzzi | |||
| Spinuzzi’s predecessors | |||
| Main premise(s) of theory | |||
| Avoiding Victimhood | |||
| Genre Ecologies | |||
| Macroscopic | |||
| Mesoscopic | |||
| Microscopic | |||
| Limitations of Spinuzzi’s theory | |||
| Relationship to other theories | |||
| Existing well-respected used of the theory | |||
|
OoS Application |
|||
| Contextualization & explanation of OoS | |||
| Theory attributes mapped to OoS attributes | |||
| Portions of theory used | |||
| Portions of theory discarded | |||
| Benefits of theory for analyzing Oos | |||
| Limitations of theory for analyzing OoS | |||
| New knowledge about OoS from theory | |||
And here is my completed rubric for Alex’s case study:
|
Theoretical Understanding |
|||
| Present | Partly Present | Not Present | |
| Discussion of Spinuzzi | Case study introduces theory & theorist and explains the framework he is working on | ||
| Spinuzzi’s predecessors | Case study does not examine the predecessors or the theoretical lineage of Spinuzzi’s theory | ||
| Main premise(s) of theory | |||
| Avoiding Victimhood | Case study offers a specific discussion of this aspect of the theory, noting that this aspect of the theory is tricky to reconcile with the adversarial nature of Blackboard towards users | ||
| Genre Ecologies | Case study touches on genre, but more of the focus was on the people and institutions using Blackboard as opposed to the genres they use | ||
| Macroscopic | The three levels of scope are not discussed individually; however the notion of three levels and the value and challenges a three level system presents is well established | ||
| Mesoscopic | |||
| Microscopic | |||
| Limitations of Spinuzzi’s theory | Case study articulates that Spinuzzi’s theory only works in networks where backchannel solutions are permissible and available | ||
| Relationship to other theories | Draws connections to Latour | ||
| Existing well-respected used of the theory | Includes previous research on students’ experiences within LMSs | ||
|
OoS Application |
|||
| Contextualization & explanation of OoS | Great discussion of Blackboard learn demonstrating issues of agency or lack of agency with this system | ||
| Theory attributes mapped to OoS attributes | Great discussion of how Spinuzzi’s purpose to avoid victim status for uses & 3 level system don’t easily map onto system | ||
| Portions of theory used | 3 levels of scope for analysis; issues of agency and victimhood | ||
| Portions of theory discarded | Case study was less interested in the specific genres within academic institutions using Blackboard | ||
| Benefits of theory for analyzing Oos | Use of theory further demonstrates the antagonistic nature of Blackboard | ||
| Limitations of theory for analyzing OoS | Case study notes that it would be next to impossible to use all three levels of scope for approaching OoS because “it functions as three different tools for three different groups” ; Blackboard does not offer users the power to subvert, so Spinuzzi’s methods aren’t as applicable to systems in which users have more control about what they do | ||
| New knowledge about OoS from theory | Case study highlights the strict hierarchical relationship of different users with Blackboard | ||
Alex’s use of Spinuzzi to approach Blackboard Learn demonstrated how assumptions within the theory can make less than helpful for approaching a specific use. Spinuzzi’s genre tracing assumes the ability of users to backchannel and create unofficial genres. In his case study though, Alex suggests that Blackboard is so structured and hierarchical, users don’t have these opportunities.
