supporting scholarly exchange about communication across the curriculum
Content Area:
Communication Across the Curriculum
Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Writing to Learn vs. Writing in the Disciplines
Discipline:
Welcome to the WAC Clearinghouse Theses and Dissertations Page. The theses are displayed below. If you'd like us to add a new thesis or dissertation to our list, please contact Kevin Eric De Pew.
Technology in various forms has slowly changed university writing centers; resources such as e-mail tutoring have enabled students to gain extended access to writing center services. At Truman State University, The Writing Center felt that technology could be used to provide greater student access while integrating smoothy with the students' writing processes. Two groups of Truman students were given technology surveys to determine their attitudes toward computers in writing conferences. The majority of Truman students indicated they use a computer in their writing. They were most favorable toward word processing facilities at the Center where they could work with tutors directly on a computer during the revision process. The students were also favorable toward an online writing lab where they could access writing resources and engage in e-mail tutoring with writing consultants.
The purpose of this study was to find out whether writing skills were a handicap to job success for former basic writers who had graduated from college. A population of 197 former basic writers (FBW's) and 68 former strong writers (FSW's, used as a comparison) were surveyed and interviewed. Research questions included (1) What types of jobs do FBW's have, compared to FSW's, and how much do their feelings about writing affect their choices of major or job? (2) How much and how often do FBW's write at work compared to FSW's? (3) What forms of writing do FBW's do most frequently compared to FSW's? (4) How do FBW's feel about the writing they do for their jobs, compared to FSW's? (5) How satisfied are FBW's with their writing ability at work, compared to FSW's? (6) How nervous are FBW's about writing at work, compared to FSW's? (7) If FBW's are writing adequately enough to keep their jobs, how are they able to do this? According to the data from the survey, which yielded a response rate of 68%, FBW's did about the same amount and types of writing as the FSW's, they reported feeling almost as positive about and satisfied with their writing as FSW's, experienced almost as much enjoyment and were not paralyzed with anxiety. Follow-up interviews indicated that FBW's were writing adequately at work and feeling more positive about writing than they had in college because writing requirements were usually short and routine, they had sufficient time to write, they had knowledge of the subject matter, which was focused and predictable, they were familiar with the audiences or their audience needs, sense of purpose was stronger, and the rewards and consequences of writing were more obvious. In addition, FBW's were more mature than in college and had better attitudes and higher motivation. Finally, through work, FBW's had become members of select social and discourse communities. Implications for the teaching profession include writing Across the curriculum, composition courses in the senior year, real life writing assignments, and sequenced writing in class and on final examinations.
The assumption that writing improvement can be more successfully realized through a pedagogical Approach of integrating all communicative skills was comparatively evaluated. The focus of this study was to identify any significant difference between achievement of students in a remedial writing class, receiving instruction through the use of Integrated Skills Reinforcement (ISR) strategies, and a group taught by conventional teaching methods. Previous research had not demonstrated that such a factor had been isolated. Proponents of ISR methods and of 'writing Across the curriculum' addressed the need to foster writing as an ongoing activity in all disciplines. This study postulated that because underprepared college students are usually deficient in all communicative skills, writing ability should be enhanced if the skills of speech, listening, reading and reasoning are taught simultaneously. The study was conducted with two second level remedial writing classes. Students in these classes were assigned on the basis of minimum requirement scores received when they took the City University (CUNY) placement test in writing. Historical data gathered from the academic files of these students revealed that they all shared a common environmental experience: being from inner-city deprived neighborhoods. While students of the experimental class received instruction through the use of ISR strategies, the comparison class received traditional instruction in writing. Based on the CUNY grading scale, students registered in both classes received a score of 3 on their placement test. The average score for both classes was, therefore, 3. After one semester of instruction, the average score for the experimental class, taught by ISR strategies, moved to 4.02. The traditionally taught class showed an average of 3.45. Although students of the experimental class were highly motivated and made enormous efforts to surmount their writing deficiencies, the improvement realized was not as great as one would hope for. Personal interviews with students and their responses to a questionnaire at the end of the semester revealed that students welcomed the integrated strategies used during the course. However, they admitted that progress was constantly in conflict with colloquial language patterns. With such limitations, possible modification of the study was proposed.
Theses and dissertation abstracts and citation information are provided courtesy of UMI Company, except as noted in abstracts. Copyright © for UMI materials 1998-2009 UMI Company, A Bell & Howell Company. All rights reserved. To order a dissertation or thesis, visit http://wwwlib.umi.com/dxweb/gateway.
Copyright © 1997-2009 Colorado State University and/or this site's authors, developers, and contributors. Some material displayed on this site is used with permission.