Computers and Composition Jun 2025 Open Access

Investigating Method & Madness: The Composing Processes of 5th Grade Students

Brett Stamm University of Southern Mississippi

Abstract

• Composing process focus including screen recording and think aloud protocols. • 11 explicit composing process activities are defined and described. • Establishes explicit metalanguage for digital multimodal composing teaching & research. • Includes illustrations of complexity of multimodal composing. Daily writing practices occur in digital environments and are often multimodal. Studies have attempted to interpret composing processes in these environments through text-based lenses and findings have yet to explicitly or effectively define and illustrate the complexities. This case study explores processes and activities of 5th-grade students as they compose using digital tools, multimodal resources, and navigate the opportunities those tools and resources afford. Findings suggest 11 process activities; three unique to digital multimodal environments, and all having influences of the digital and multimodal environments in which composing takes place. Results 1) demonstrate the potential to develop a specific metalanguage for digital multimodal composing, 2) begin to inform a specific digital lens for interpreting composing in these 21 st century environments and 3) help practitioners design instruction that best support student composers in classroom contexts.

Journal
Computers and Composition
Published
2025-06-01
DOI
10.1016/j.compcom.2025.102936
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
teacher development qualitative research multimodality
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