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UWW Graduate Writing ProjectFinal Report
Overview of Graduate Writing Project
The primary purposes of this project were to identify faculty‘s primary concerns with graduate student writing, to gain a better sense of the ways in which graduate students’ professional communication skills are currently developed in our programs, and to share recommendations for improvement of graduate student writing.Faculty representing five UWW graduate programs (i.e., Communication, Counselor Education, Management, Marketing, and School Psychology) discussed their own observations of graduate student writing, interviewed faculty teaching core courses within their programs, andexamined graduate course syllabi and assignments. This report summarizes information regarding the majorconcerns faculty haveabout students’ writing skills and program goals for student writing. Recommendations to support the development of graduate student writing skills are described.
Program Expectations for Writing
Consistent with the School of Graduate Studies Learning Outcomes, the development of professional, discipline-specific writing skills is the expected outcome for graduate students within the four graduate programs examined. This expectation is articulated in course syllabi and evidenced in writing assignments that are directly related to the goal of developing competent professionals within a given program.
Major Concerns with Graduate Student Writing
Two areas of relative weakness in students’ writing were identified:
- Problems with coherence and organization
- Use of evidence and documentation
Additional concerns varied to some extent by program and included the need for improvement in students’ writing conciseness, their use of feedback and evidence of using feedback, and their motivation to address concerns communicated by instructors.
Recommendations for Improving Student Writing
Use of Common Guidelines for Student Writing
The expectation that graduate students will develop professional, discipline-specific writing skills needs to be consistently articulated in course syllabi and evidenced in writing assignments that are directly related to the goal of developing competent professionals within a given program.The existing UWW Writing Matters Rubric provides means of assessing the two main areasthis study identified as major concerns with graduate student writing:
- Problems with coherence and organization
- Use of evidence and documentation
The development and use of a UWW Graduate Studies Professional Writing Matters Rubric could help communicate clear and consistent writing expectations for graduate students and highlight distinctions between graduate and undergraduate writing expectations at UWW.
Use of Scaffolding in the Development of Students’ Writing
Scaffoldingrefers to the process of helping students move toward greater understanding and skill development through the use of a variety of instructional techniques that require progressively greater independence.The use of scaffolding of writing skillsvaries within individual courses and is more common in some programs than in others. In addition, scaffolding is more apparent in “core” courses within programs (e.g., research methods) than in other courses. Scaffolding is easier to achieve in programs that use a cohort model and that have a defined sequence of required courses. One common method of scaffolding within courses is requiring shorter assignments that build up to a larger finished written project.Capstone experiences, as required by the graduate school, assume that students will demonstrate the professional independence they have achieved in their programs of study. However, programs vary in the degree to which their capstone experience requires the demonstration of acquired writing skills. Programs may find it helpful to explicitly articulate the progression of writing development within their curricula.
Assessment of Program Writing Goals
Course-level analysis (i.e., grades) is the most common method used to assess students’ achievement of program writing goals in the five programs examined in this study. However, assessment of the extent to which expectations for professional writing are being met can extend beyond individual courses with a program. For example, the Counselor Education program performs a review of progress after students have completed 12 credits. The Communication program assesses students’ writing skills through the use of a pass/fail capstone project evaluated by a three-member capstone committee. The School Psychology program utilizes a comprehensive review process, which includes the submission of a portfolio of written materials at the end of students’ first year of study and students are required to successfully pass this review in order to continue in the program. Programs should articulate their processes for assessing the extent to which students are meeting the School of Graduate Studies’ expectations for professional writing.
Implementation of Strategies to Improve Student Writing
There is a clear need to distinguish two groups of “weak writers” among graduate students. One group includes students who are relatively weak writers, but strong thinkers, whereas a second group includes students who have difficulties both with writing and thinking (“poor organizers of their thinking”). The first group generally includes international students who need ESL support and the second group includes many students from underrepresented American ethnic minority groups who often have weaker educational experiences.One strategy would be to assess graduate student applicants’ writing prior to admission to a particular program as part of the graduate school application process. This assessment could be used in several different ways according to the goals of individual programs. Programs could choose to adopt a minimum writing score for admission to certain programs. Or, programs could choose to use students’ writing scores to identify students in need of additional writing support. The assessment of applicants’ writing raises the question of what to do with identified weak writers. Programs don’t necessarily want to remove applicants with relatively weaker writing skills from the applicant pool based only on their writing because many of these students have compelling qualities that otherwise make them potentially strong graduate students. Programs could choose to requirea writing sample on the day applicants interview for the program. At this point, applicants would already be admitted to the graduate school. The writing sample could be used either to identify potential students with weak writing skills or as part of the program admissions process.
Referrals to the UWW Writing Lab are frequently given to students struggling with their writing. Increasing the number of faculty referring students and having criteria for when referrals are appropriate would be helpful.
An amelioration process needs to be developed for graduate students identified as needing writing support. Such a process may require identified students to take a 1-credit writing skills enhancement course during students’ first semester or complete aseries of writing assessment and tutorial modules, perhaps designed by the library. Students should not have to pay for these additional requirements. In addition, extra requirements need to be fully integrated with students’ programmatic writing assignments in such a way that the writing “support” does not become an additional burden on students’ time and energy.
Possible Structural Supports for Students
- Dedicated Writing Center that is available to graduate students with personnel who are aware of specific needs of graduate students in specific programs
- Increased access to tutors for online students, including teleconferencing, instant messaging, skype, Go to Meeting, etc.
- Method for communicating results of needs assessment to students and a mechanism for insuring that identified students complete required writing tutorials or course. For example, the Registrar’s Office could place a Milestone Passed indicator on students’ transcripts that could be the pre-requisite for enrolling ina specific course or before 2nd year or within 90 days of acceptance to graduate school
- Section of library resources related to graduate level and professional writing that would be easily available.For example, our library could “package” for graduate students a number of relevant tutorials that are already offered. Students identified through a needs assessment would be required to show evidence that they had completed the tutorials early in their graduate careers
Possible Structural Supports for Faculty
- Opportunities for interested graduate faculty to discuss graduate writing
- Professional development opportunities for interested faculty to learn more about teaching writing and using the UWW Writing Rubric at the graduate level
- Professional development opportunities for interested faculty to attend professional workshops and conferences relevant to writing in their discipline
- Efficient method of receiving instruction on how to use writing-related software such as Turn-It-In