The Focus of Teacher and Student Concerns in Discipline-Specific Writing by University Students

Abstract

There has been considerable research into teacher feedback on student writing. Very little of this research has been done in those university classes focusing on the development of understanding of disciplinary content, especially in Australia. Furthermore, the relationship of feedback comments and assignment purposes has not been investigated for content classes. Nor is there much research on student understanding of the purposes of assignments and their expectations about the kinds of items that teachers will comment on. This study examines the interrelated aspects of the purposes of assignments, teacher feedback comments, and student perceptions and expectations. Data were collected in two university subjects. The findings show that in both subjects teachers and students broadly agreed on the purposes of the assignment. However, teacher feedback comments did not fully correspond to the purposes for the assignments, nor did feedback match students' expectations about the aspects of writing on which they predicted that their teachers might comment.