introduction

The call for papers for this release of The Writing Instructor asked teachers, scholars, and students working in middle and secondary education to explore theories and methods of teaching media literacy and popular culture to adolescents. The essays, editorials, hypertexts, and on-line conversations we have included address issues of current interest and debate in the field of media literacy education, particularly in connection to composition studies and writing pedagogy. So what is media literacy?

I am pleased to introduce this 30th anniversary issue of The Writing Instructor, for which I’ve had the privilege to serve as Editor. As one of the Founding Editors of the journal, I value the role the journal played in my own development as a teacher and scholar of rhetoric and composition, and it’s been an honor to work again with these authors who contributed to the first five years of the journal’s publication.

I am pleased to announce the debut issue of the Science and Writing area of The Writing Instructor. In this issue are five excellent essays that will, I think, help advance the ever-expanding rhetoric of science field. Some clarifications may be necessary, however, to demonstrate how this area, “Science and Writing,” is actually conceived as a sub-category of study relevant to writing instructors.

The impetus for this special issue came from multiple avenues over the past several years as we have journeyed professionally and concurrently as students of multimodal composition; authors of multimodal scholarship; faculty members implementing multimodal projects into our courses; and mentors guiding colleagues, adjunct faculty, and high school dual enrollment instructors in their own construction and production of multimodal assignments.

Introduction

Recently, there has been increased interest in the teaching and mentoring of new composition teachers who will work both at the secondary and university levels, as evidenced by recent publications including Thompson’s Teaching Writing in High School and College: Conversations and Collaborations (NCTE, 2002) and Tremmel and Broz’s Teaching Writing Teachers of High School English and First-Year Composition (Boynton/Cook, 2002).

Economic collapse. Layoffs. New networking technologies. Changing work processes. Emerging workplaces. Professional Writing faces numerous challenges as the twenty-first century unfolds, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the pedagogy it practices in evolving universities. With budget cuts, reduced faculty lines, new student populations, and a greater pressure on producing competent students equipped with practical knowledge, the university as an institution is being forced to transform itself and account for new social, cultural, and economic forces.