Conceptions of reading and writing in a graduate degree program in Architecture: an approach from the perspective of Academic Literacy

Abstract

This article presents preliminary results of a study that seeks to contribute to the discussion on teaching and learning practices in graduate school, focusing specifically on reading and writing. For this purpose, a sociocultural approach which coincides with the Academic Literacies perspective has been assumed. As a general objective, this research paper aims to describe the reading and writing conceptions of teachers, students, and the curriculum of a graduate program in the discipline of Architecture. It is a qualitative, descriptive and transversal study, conducted in a public university in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, and is divided into two methodological stages. The first stage, in which a self-administered questionnaire with open-ended questions was applied, has been completed. The results presented here show that those who have transmissive conceptions understand that reading and writing are processes of encoding and decoding written messages that serve to obtain or transmit information. On the contrary, those who have more transactional conceptions conceive reading and writing as dialogic, creative and meaning-building processes that serve to reflect with others and transform their own thinking.

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