Kyle Whitaker '14 presents research at international conference

The Elon Honors Program graduate presented research at the Pekan International Education Confernce in Malyasia on the value students place on writing in the 21st century.

Kyle Whitaker at the 2015 Pekan International Education Conference
Honors Fellow Kyle Whitaker ’14 presented the findings of his Honors Thesis research in August at the Pekan International Education Conference in Pekan, Malaysia.

The conference was organized and hosted by the Pekan District Education Office and the International College of Automotive Malaysia and focused on themes of teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Kyle’s thesis, “The Academic and Self-Sponsored Writing Lives of High School Students: Implications for Writing Curricula and Pedagogy,” details the findings of a study he conducted with faculty mentor Paula Rosinski in 2013 to better understand today’s students and the ways in which they value writing.

He presented this work as part of a five-person panel to a room of nearly 200 Malaysian teachers from around the country, many of whom expressed great interest in his approach to writing pedagogy and the differing views of Western researchers on writing today.

Whitaker is currently in Malaysia on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, working with approximately 300 students to build their English language skills through innovative pedagogies. He said his work allows him to apply his Elon education and Honor research in practical and creative ways.