College Writing Research Articles

A Study of the Effectiveness of Student Perception-Based AI Feedback in College Writing Classes

This study examined the educational effectiveness of AI-based automated evaluation feedback tools in college writing courses. Amid active discussions on the use of AI in liberal arts education, the study applied AI automated evaluation tools to actual writing classes and analyzed the results. The findings show that AI feedback positively influenced students' motivation for writing and achieved a high level of satisfaction in areas such as spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and expression correction accuracy. AI automated evaluation feedback helps reduce the feedback burden on instructors and assists them in providing meaningful feedback to students. It is expected that AI-based automated writing feedback tools will contribute to fostering AI literacy. This case study is significant in that it offers insights for effectively incorporating AI automated evaluation feedback into college writing courses.

A Study on a College Writing Course Model Utilizing Public Service Advertisements

This study proposes a column-writing course model that utilizes public service advertisements (PSAs) and aims to elucidate the educational effectiveness and significance of the course through a survey conducted among learners. The study participants consisted of 99 learners enrolled in the course “Media Society and Critical Writing,” which is part of the mandatory liberal arts curriculum, <Critical Thinking and Expression>, at Soongsil University. The course model is designed with the goal of analyzing various social issues presented in PSAs, collaboratively exploring solutions with peers, and ultimately completing a column. The design reflects Bransford et al. (1998) “IDEAL Problem Solving” method, the Engaged Learning<sup>+</sup> approach implemented at Soongsil University, and the core competencies outlined by the World Economic Forum (2023). This paper aims to enhance learners' creative and analytical thinking, facilitate the establishment of social and self-awareness among students through their communication with others, and assist in articulating these insights in a column format. Additionally, a key design goal of this course model is to enable learners to concretely articulate the process of understanding and empathizing with the difficulties of others, which they may not have personally experienced, through the analysis of PSAs. The survey conducted among the learners revealed that this course model significantly contributed to improving their abilities in media text analysis, communication, and writing.

“It can be a very equalizing way to grade”: Contract grading and multilingual writers

In response to Crusan’s focus paper on the history, nuances, and implications of alternative assessment for second language writing and writers, I present an overview of multilingual student perceptions of contract grading across a University Writing Program. Both affordances and potential challenges with this method of assessment are discussed.

Understanding the Transfer of Writing Skills through the Writing Center: An Autoethnographic Account

This paper explores the role of the writing center in facilitating writing in interdisciplinary contexts and the transfer of writing skills across academic disciplines. Drawing on my autoethnographic account of a university writing center consultant (writing tutor) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the psychological theories of learning transfer, I examine how the writing center functions as an academic space of a “contact zone” where writing skills are negotiated and transferred. A central question I address in this paper is: How does the writing center contribute to transferring writing skills across disciplines? This question revolves around the nature of interaction between consultants and student writers at the center involving the navigation through differences in disciplinary writing conventions, language, cultural backgrounds, academic mentoring, personal reading and writing experiences, and varying levels of exposure to academic writing practices. These encounters can result in transformative learning experiences for both tutors and student writers. I argue that the interdisciplinary nature of writing center consultations fosters the transfer of writing skills by creating opportunities for dialogue and negotiation between the consultants and the students of diverse disciplinary communities. Keywords: University Writing Center, writing conventions, contact zone, transfer of writing skills

Community College Writing Center Visitation and Outcomes: A RAD Approach to Assessing Writing Center Use and Student Success

Community College Writing Center Visitation and Outcomes: A RAD Approach to Assessing Writing Center Use and Student Success

Academic Genre Instruction and Its Influence on University Writing Proficiency

The ongoing debate in language education revolves around the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches in teaching writing skills, particularly the merits of Genre-Based Pedagogy versus Isolated Skill-Focused Conventional Methods, which focus on practicing individual writing skills separately. This study investigated the impact of Genre-Based Pedagogy on 16 purposively selected fourth-semester students from the English Education Department at Harapan Bangsa University. Using an experimental design, participants were divided into experimental (8 students from class A) and control (8 students from class B) groups, with pre-test and post-test assessments over eight weeks. Results showed a significant improvement in the experimental group's writing skills, with a mean post-test score of 78.75 compared to 62.25 in the control group (t = 8.12). These findings suggest that Genre-Based Pedagogy, emphasizing contextualized learning and immersion in diverse text genres, significantly enhances writing proficiency compared to conventional methods, enabling students to effectively integrate grammar, vocabulary, content development, and organizational skills tailored to specific genres.

Exploring Alternative Writing Styles: A Journey into Free-Writing and Bilingualism

This digital media composition explores two alternative writing styles: free-writing, a term coined by Peter Elbow, and translanguaging, the practice in which writers incorporate different languages into their writing. This project’s significance lies in helping college writers become more comfortable with the writing process and expressing their ideas more clearly. Doing so will promote inclusivity in bilingual education by creating an environment where students don’t have to limit which language they use for their writing. Traditional writing practices emphasize writing in a structured and formal manner, often discouraging individuals from exploring their thoughts and ideas freely. Additionally, bilingual education often prioritizes one language over the other, neglecting the benefits of incorporating multiple languages into writing. There is a lack of research exploring alternative writing styles, such as free-writing and translanguaging, as well as their potential benefits for college writers; while some research exists, there is a need to explore these topics further and to promote the benefits of incorporating alternative writing styles in education and daily life. This project aims to fill the gap by providing firsthand experiences with free-writing in both creative and academic contexts and exploring the potential benefits of incorporating different languages into writing. Through personal reflections, examples of free-writing in Spanish, and scholarly articles, this project aims to encourage writers to try new writing techniques, promote inclusivity in bilingual education, and bring awareness to the many unique ways of engaging with translanguaging in the classroom.

After Implementation: Assessing Student Self-Placement in College Writing Programs

While a growingbody of research provides instruction on how to implement studentself-placement (SSP) for college writing courses, there is a gap in theliterature about how to evaluate SSP after implementation. This article offersstrategies and recommendations for assessing SSP processes, based on theauthors’ experiences of developing a new SSP mechanism and evaluating itseffectiveness over several years. This article presents statistical data fromour analysis of our institution’s SSP, which informs a heuristic set ofquestions that others can use to evaluate the effectiveness of their own SSPafter implementation. This analysis demonstrates the value of evaluating SSPprocesses for writing programs, as well as outlining issues that may emerge andshould be considered when analyzing SSP.

Reviews: Desegregation State: College Writing Programs after the Civil Rights Movement

Reviews: Desegregation State: College Writing Programs after the Civil Rights Movement

Social Positioning and Learning Opportunities in One Student’s Textual Transition to College Writing

Developing academic writers must continually position themselves discursively as they negotiate institutional, programmatic, and disciplinary contexts. The inextricable relationship of writing and identities raises questions of access to social identities in schools, a particularly salient issue when considering the complexities and challenges of the high school to college transition for students from historically marginalized groups. This study focuses on Jain, a first-generation Latino college student, as he positions himself as a writer over 18 months in response to a range of school-based writing tasks. My analysis finds that Jain’s identity negotiations are influenced by a history of social positioning in schools, as his stance-making patterns and sense of self as a writer reflect resources and opportunities he encounters. This study adds to research demonstrating the role teachers and institutions can play in (in)validating certain aspects of students’ identities and influencing belonging in school spaces, indicating a need for educators and researchers across K-12 and college contexts to continue to challenge the standardization of school writing and the prevalence of assessments that limit curricula and constrain identities.

Establishing a University Writing Center: A Lesson Learned from Universities Outside Nepal

The goal of this article is to characterize the university writing center as a crucial institutional resource for the support of student writers and to advocate for its establishment at Tribhuvan University (TU). To achieve this, it explores the factors that prompted its origin and development in the universities of the United States of America. It also unpacks the underlying philosophy of the center by elucidating its pedagogical approaches, current practices, and administrative mechanisms. Building upon the historical contexts of writing centers, it proposes the establishment of a similar center at TU as a means to address the everyday concerns, needs, support, and assistance of the community of student writers within the university domain. Furthermore, it investigates the types and ways of potential academic opportunities that a writing center can provide to enhance effective writing skills and publishing practices in the university. Through a review of the historical as well as pedagogical practices of writing centers in the United States, the article establishes its argument that introducing a writing center at TU can contribute to various forms of support, such as source identification, audience awareness, review and feedback, documentation, etc., catering to writers of all levels, from novices to experienced, in developing their writing skills, habits, and practices. Additionally, the proposed writing center at TU is positioned not only as a productive student support system for a resourceful learning environment but also as a space offering on-campus employment opportunities for students, ultimately fostering a stronger connection between academia and the job market.

Research on Multimodal Teaching Model of English Writing in Colleges and Universities Based on Knowledge Mapping

Abstract This study investigates the effectiveness of multimodal teaching methods in college English writing courses, contrasting these innovative approaches with traditional teaching methods. By integrating multimodal knowledge mapping into an English teaching platform, we aimed to enrich students’ learning experiences and enhance their writing skills. A comparative analysis involving two classes—one employing the traditional teaching method and the other utilizing the multimodal approach—revealed significant improvements in the multimodal group. Students in the experimental class demonstrated heightened interest, improved attitudes and cognition towards English writing, and their average writing scores increased by 2.68 points, from 12.66 to 15.34. In contrast, the control group showed no significant score changes. Our findings underscore the multimodal teaching method’s capacity to effectively elevate students’ English writing abilities, marking a successful adaptation to modern educational demands.

A Case Study of Utilizing ChatGPT as an Assistant Writing Partner in a PBL College Writing Course

Objectives This study presents a case study of utilizing ChatGPT in a project-based writing course, and explores its applicability and effectiveness. Through the course, an examination was conducted on the roles, strengths, and weaknesses of ChatGPT as a writing assistant tool by investigating students’ vivid responses, evaluations, and their perception of the effectiveness and satisfaction with the use of ChatGPT in the course.
 Methods To achieve this, a project-based writing course model utilizing ChatGPT was designed and implemented for 227 students enrolled in a “Basic College Writing” course at a four-year university, quantitative and qualitative data were collected through online surveys, weekly reflective journals uploaded by students to the LMS, course evaluations, and descriptive responses. A mixed-methods research approach was employed to analyze the data, allowing for an examination of the effectiveness and benefits and limitations of utilizing ChatGPT as an assistant writing partner.
 Results The findings revealed that students perceived knowledge utilization as the most effective aspect in the project-based writing course using ChatGPT, followed by communication and social skills, self-directed learning abilities, writing self-efficacy and problem-solving skills. While students recognized ChatGPT as a useful tool for idea generation and improving writing depth, they encountered difficulties in verifying its information, highlighting the need for fact-checking and responsible use. Additionally, the instant feedback feature of ChatGPT was highly valued for creating a psychologically safe writing environment.
 Conclusions This study exhibited that the project-based writing course utilizing ChatGPT has a positive impact on students’ overall writing learning experience. It was found to be effective in providing personalized support, timely feedback, and access to wide range of knowledge, thereby fostering creative and critical thinking in a college writing course, However, both instructors and students should remain attentive to the limitations of ChatGPT and ensure its ethical and responsible use through ongoing vigilance.

Research on Improvement of Better-than-Average Bias of Learners for Enhancing University Writing Education Methodologies

Research on Improvement of Better-than-Average Bias of Learners for Enhancing University Writing Education Methodologies

Psychosocial Predictors in College Writing

The prevalence of writing anxiety among college students has been a pervasive concern across various academic disciplines, extending beyond Basic English courses. This study delved into the psychosocial factors contributing to writing-related challenges among students at the University of Cebu Main Campus during the 2016-2017 academic year. The data from 567 randomly selected college students enrolled in Writing in the Discipline classes were collected by implementing a descriptive-correlational research design and utilizing adapted and modified questionnaires. The research findings not only shed light on the relationship between students' profiles and their experiences of writing anxiety and motivation but also unveiled significant gender-based variations in the process and evaluation subscales of writing-related issues. Ultimately, this study underscored the substantial link between the students' chosen programs and the predictors of their writing challenges. Based on these insights, it is recommended to implement a strategic intervention program to alleviate writing anxiety and enhance motivation among college students, fostering improved writing outcomes across disciplines.

Tutor Perceptions of a University Writing Centre’s Program of Skills Development for Supporting Multilingual Students using English as an Additional Language

With growing numbers of multilingual students who have first or primary languages other than English seeking the services of Canadian university writing centres where English is the language of instruction, providing these students with supportive and effective teaching and learning experiences is an important part of their post-secondary education. However, little research has been carried out to examine the impact of writing centre tutor skill development programs to foster meaningful teaching and learning experiences for multilingual students. This qualitative study employed focus group research methods to gather the writing centre tutors’ shared perceptions of their skill development opportunities for working with multilingual students. Data were coded and analyzed using a thematic approach. Findings point to multilingual student expectations, tutoring challenges, program effectiveness, and program applicability as elements that impact the tutors’ overall impressions of the skill development opportunities they encountered. While there were still areas for improvement, implementing a program of skill development for working with multilingual students in a writing centre was generally beneficial for the tutors in this study.

Pedagogic Exploration Into Adapting Automated Writing Evaluation and Peer Review Integrated Feedback Into Large-Sized University Writing Classes

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) software has been viewed as a promising tool for assisting writing. This study integrated AWE and its combination with peer review discussion into writing practice in a large college writing class in the Asian context. Adopting a mixed-method approach, this study employed a quantitative questionnaire to investigate how students perceived the integration at different writing stages and a qualitative interview to examine what prompted their quantitative decisions. The results show that the integration of AWE and peer review feedback significantly reinforced the perceived usefulness of AWE at the revision stage, and students with different proficiency levels had notably different attitudes toward AWE. Their writing anxieties intensified as they became increasingly aware of their own weaknesses during the writing process. Therefore, student writing challenges involve not only language proficiency and writing skills but also psychological variables.

The Teaching Reform of “College Writing” Aiming at Cultivating Ability

College Writing is an important professional basic course of Chinese subject, aiming at cultivating students' writing ability. It has always undertaken more expectations on the cultivation of writing ability. Based on the current reform of China's higher education, this paper makes a preliminary exploration of the teaching reform of this course from the aspects of teaching concept, teaching content, teaching method and teaching evaluation, with the aim of improving students' writing ability in the teaching process.

Instructional Note: The Get and Give of Topic Choice in the College Writing Classroom

Students entering first-year composition often discover self-inquiry for the first time, enabling them to examine their identities when opportunities are created to do so. The experiences of two traditional first-year college students are examined to better understand the power that writing instructors and writing courses hold.

Aspects of Questioning ChatGPT in the Writing Process of College Student Writers : Focusing on Comparison between Writers Groups by Writing Level

The purpose of this study is to reveal the characteristics of how college student writers use ChatGPT in the writing process by analyzing the ‘question’ aspect of the writer group according to the writing level. To this end, 331 questions appearing in the <Log using ChatGPT> written by 60 students were analyzed according to the criteria of three question types, as well as the frequency and continuity of questions for each writing process.As a result, ⑴ college writers showed a bias in their question patterns concerning the process of ‘creating content’, asking ‘one-time questions’ rather than ‘continuous questions’, ‘dependent questions’ rather than ‘initiative questions’, and ‘general questions’ rather than ‘specific questions’. In terms of functions required of ChatGPT, many questions arose in the order of ‘information (presentation)’, ‘evaluation’, ‘creation’, ‘application’, and ‘analysis’. ⑵ The question patterns of the upper and lower groups according to the writing level contrasted greatly. The upper group used ‘continuous’, ‘initiative’, and ‘specific’ questions relatively more, and showed a tendency to ask various questions in terms of request functions for ChatGPT. On the other hand, in the subgroup, attention was paid to the problem of the unethical use of ChatGPT due to the ‘invention’ question along with the contrasting aspect.Based on the above data, this studey indicated four areas that future ‘Question Education’ should take into consideration. First, in the field of writing education, the direction of ‘question education’ should be set under the goal of ‘priority improvement of learners' writing ability’. Second, prior to education on question methods, various types of questions should be taught. Third, useful question types and question sequence strategies for each writing process should be developed in connection with existing writing education contents. Finally, an agreement between the teacher and the learners concerning the use of ‘invention’ questions must be drawn up in a very specific manner.