Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative techniques to explore how instructors of English composition choose their teaching techniques. Participants in this study were nine English composition instructors from both a university and community college in the state of Oklahoma. Decision theory was used to analyze possible connections between internal and external factors related to the instructors' chosen teaching techniques. Analysis included the instructors as a group and a comparative analysis of the instructors from both research settings.

Findings and conclusion. Personal experiences related to academia were most influential to the instructors' chosen teaching techniques. These experiences included experiences as students and experiences as teachers. Some remembered experiences were more influential than others in the instructors' process of selecting a teaching technique. All of the instructors defined their chosen teaching techniques by how the techniques either benefit themselves and/or benefit their students. The instructors' influences on their chosen teaching techniques varied slightly, but not by type of institution. Bonded by the same discipline, the instructors appeared separated only by the institution themselves. While personal and professional experiences do influence how instructors choose their teaching techniques, no one experience or category of experiences is more important.