The Efficacy of Varying Small Group Workshops in the Composition Classroom

Abstract

This I.R.B. approved study takes a look at the efficacy of small group workshops in the composition classroom and whether it is more beneficial for a student to remain in the same small groups between drafts, or whether it is better to change small groups and get a new set of eyes on a new draft. In my first-year English Composition course, ENG 103: Writing About Writing, I take a look at two different assignments, the Personal Narrative and the Research Paper, and how they changed over three drafts. Altering the group workshops for the first and second drafts, I administered surveys to scale how helpful the workshops were. To verify the results, I chose four different sets of essays to look at as case studies and break down how the drafts changed depending on the workshops. In the end, this study attempts to show how altering how small group workshops are run can be beneficial for the writer.