and reading about writing. The other three strategies cluster around experientially scaffolding and reinforcing the notion that writing is a process, building habits that support this by structuring course assignments so that students must revise their writing during the semester, providing detailed and comprehensible feedback on drafts in a timely manner so that students can revise based on instructor feedback, and creating ongoing opportunities for peer feedback. Transparency. Students may have difficulty understanding writing expectations not only related to a specific course assignment, but also, more broadly, related to the program, the discipline and the university. Hedgcock (2008), reporting retrospectively about his writing development, asserted that students should not have to depend on figuring this out on their own as he did. At the course level, however, instructors may inadvertently assume that assignments are clear when expectations are more tacit than they realize. Because different courses may require different kinds of writing (e.g., literature reviews, integration of theory with experience, reflection), students may need help in understanding specific text demands. An important starting point in helping students become better writers is for instructors to be reflective and communicative about the aims, assumptions and goals of assignments, and insure that these are clear rather than simply taking for granted that they are (Blakeslee, 1997; Koncel & Carney, 1992). Because faculty often have tacit assumptions, knowledge, and expectations, students may not even know the right questions to ask in order to clarify assignments; therefore, it should be up to faculty to do this. Additionally, students need a clear statement of assessment criteria (e.g., by using an assessment rubric) (Lea & Street, 2006). In order to increase clarity, instructors may need to be more reflective about their own standards and expectations. In this way, they can share “insider knowledge” in a comprehensible way with students and help demystify what constitutes effective
Casanave, C. P., & Hubbard, P. (1992). The writing assignments and writing problems of doctoral students: Faculty perceptions, pedagogical issues, and needed research. English for Specific Purposes, 11(1), 33-49. doi:10.1016/0889-4906(92)90005-U Cotterall, S. (2011). Doctoral students writing: Where's the pedagogy? Teaching in Higher Education, 16(4), 413-425. doi:10.1080/13562517.2011.560381 Crossman, J. M. (. 1. )., & Kite, S. L. (. 2. ). (2012). Facilitating improved writing among students through directed peer review. Active Learning in Higher Education, 13(3), doi:10.1177/1469787412452980 Davies, W. M. (2008). 'Not quite right': Helping students to make better arguments. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(3), 327-340. doi:10.1080/13562510802045352 Delyser, D. (2003). Teaching graduate students to write: A seminar for thesis and dissertation writers. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 27(2), 169-181. doi:10.1080/03098260305676 Ferguson, P. (2011). Student perceptions of quality feedback in teacher education. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 36(1), 51-62. doi:10.1080/02602930903197883 Ferguson, T. (2009). The 'write' skills and more: A thesis writing group for doctoral students. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 285-297. doi:10.1080/03098260902734968
Wellington, J. (2010). More than a matter of cognition: An exploration of affective writing problems of post-graduate students and their possible solutions. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), 135-150. doi:10.1080/13562511003619961 Williams, J. (1990). Style: Toward clarity and grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Young, P. (2000). 'I might as well give up': Self-esteem and mature students' feelings about feedback on assignments. Journal of further & Higher Education, 24(3), 409. Resources Sample Writing Rubrics Recommendations for Integrating Writing Instruction with coursework Writing tips for students Example feedback template
Does not meet expectations - 1 Developing/Needs Improvement - 2 Good - 3 Outstanding - 4 Organization The writing is often unclear or unfocused. The organization is not obvious throughout and the reader has few or no guides through the document (i.e. by the use of appropriate headings, thesis statements, and transitions). The writing is only sometimes clear and focused. The organization is not always obvious throughout and the reader has few guides through the document (i.e. by the use of appropriate headings, thesis statements, and transitions). The writing is clear and focused. The organization is generally obvious throughout, and the reader is usually guided through the document (i.e. using appropriate headings, thesis statements, and transitions). The writing is clear and focused. The organization is obvious throughout, and the reader is skillfully guided through the document (i.e. using appropriate headings, thesis statements, and transitions). Argumentation and analysis Only some paragraphs are fully developed and coherently connected. The writer makes few clear, strong, and logical points supported with relevant details from the data or related research literature. Only some paragraphs are fully developed and coherently connected. The writer makes some clear, strong, and logical points supported with relevant details from the data or related research literature. Most paragraphs are fully developed and coherently connected. The writer usually makes clear, strong, and logical points supported with rich and relevant details from the data or related research literature. All sentences and paragraphs are fully developed and coherently connected. The writer makes clear, strong, and logical points supported with rich and relevant details from the data or related research literature. Technical correctness There are some major technical writing errors with regard to APA conventions, sentence structure, spelling or punctuation. There are some major or minor technical writing errors with regard to APA conventions, sentence structure, spelling or punctuation. There are few major or minor technical writing errors with regard to APA conventions, sentence structure, spelling or punctuation. There are almost no major or minor technical writing errors with regard to APA conventions, sentence structure, spelling or punctuation. Rutgers University Graduate School of Education EdD Writing Rubric Rutger
From Harris, M.J. (2006). Three steps to teaching abstract and critique writing. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 17(2), 136-146 Developing Graduate Student Writing A process for integrating writing instruction with coursework Alisa Belzer Rutgers University October 2013 1. Decide to consciously help students improve their writing in the context of your course. Make this agenda clear to your students, and let them know that this is a goal above and beyond their learning the course content. 2. In addition to your normal, weekly topical reading assignments, assign a short chapter from an instructional text on writing every other week or so. I recommend Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C. (2006). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. NY: Norton. OR Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G. and Williams, J. M. (2003). The craft of research. Chicago: Univeristy of Chicago Press. OR Johnson, A. P. (2003). A short guide to academic writing. New York: University Press of America. These all have short chapters and each tackle the challenges our student encounter in somewhat different ways. 3. Each week that you have assigned a writing oriented text, take 15 or 20 minutes of class time to look at an assigned topical text relevant to course content in terms of how the writing skill outlined in the assigned writing text is implemented. Have students point out specific examples. Point to other writing strategies the author employs that you think are particularly helpful in making a strong (or problematic) piece of academic writing. This might actually serve a double purpose of making writing strategies explicit through exemplars and be a lead in to discussion of the central arguments of the piece. In discussing how an argument is constructed it can, obviously, lead to a discussion of what the argument is and how it’s made. 4. Use a piece of student writing from a previous semester to have students critique elements of writing they have been reading about that are missing and that improving on would make for a better writing piece. Do this once or twice during the semester and emphasize skills you have covered. 5. Give at least two writing assignments (one early in the semester and one towards or at the end) that require students to employ the writing skills you have been teaching or ask students later in the semester to rewrite something produced earlier in the semester.