Undergraduate Writing Research Articles

University Lecturers' Perceptions of Gender and Undergraduate Writing

It has been argued that male and female undergraduates adopt different, gendered writing styles. This paper discusses findings from a project that examined this issue, and explores lecturers' perceptions of gender and undergraduate writing. It shows that, in the case of 'second-class' awarded essays, a majority of academics were unable to correctly identify the authors gender. Applying analysis of discourse to the explanations of academics concerning their attempts at gender identification, we found that narratives used by academics tended to support discourses of gender difference, particularly in terms of ability. These various narratives, and the resulting constructions of male and female students, are discussed. It is argued that the narratives position male and female students in stereotypical ways, with implications for their power positions. We conclude that while it is important that gendered trends around undergraduate writing are recognised and addressed, the stereotyping of students according to gender must be avoided.

An Analysis of Undergraduate Writing Styles in the Context of Gender and Achievement

Despite the increased use of blind-marking in undergraduate examinations, gendered patterns persist in the figures on achievement at undergraduate level in British universities. It has been suggested that in the humanities, such differences in achievement might be explained by differences in writing style according to gender. This article examines data drawn from an analysis of undergraduate students' writing in order to investigate the extent to which gender appears to impact upon their writing styles. It is argued that male and female students' academic writing styles shared more similarities than they did differences. There was no evidence to suggest that there was less use of tentative phrases in male writing, although there was some evidence to suggest that a bold style was adopted slightly more frequently by men. It is argued that the adoption of an academic style which overrides some traditionally gendered traits in writing may be particularly highly rewarded by examiners.

Designing and Reporting Experiments in Chemistry Classes Using Examples from Materials Science: Illustrations of the Process and Communication of Scientific Research

As part of an inorganic chemistry class, students proposed and conducted short, quantitative experiments based on engaging materials science topics such as NiTi memory metal, amorphous metal, ferrofluid, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer. After their experiments were completed, the students prepared a technical report in archival journal format and a short press release for nontechnical audiences. Drafts of these reports were critiqued by an undergraduate Writing Fellow and by a classmate. This exercise gave students an opportunity to develop and carry out a research project and communicate their results to technical and nontechnical audiences. The methodology described in the article could be adapted to a variety of chemistry courses as a means for promoting inquiry-based learning and communication skills.

Improving Undergraduate Writing

Sniping at the desire and ability of undergraduates is common sport at most institutions of higher learning. Get a few professors together, and the talk soon turns to the fluffy heads of our youthful charges. Often we try to outdo each other's dumb student stories. Perhaps less common are special efforts to make things better. It is, after all, easy to complain about the product the high schools send us, but far more difficult to improve it.This is particularly true of student writing ability. Grading papers and essay exams takes time which few of us have. Besides, it can be awfully depressing to confront the mangled sentences of all too many students. It's better, or at least more comforting, to pretend the problem isn't there. At large institutions with credible graduate programs, teaching assistants often allow professors to remain blissfully ignorant of bad undergraduate writing. At smaller, less prestigious schools, there is an analogous temptation to live and die by the multiple guess/short answer format. The students certainly won't complain, and colleagues and administrators are usually busy with problems of their own.

A Preference for Poetry: Oxford Undergraduate Writing of the Early 1950s

There is one question perennially and predictably asked of poets at poetry readings as if literary ancestry were an infallible, easy guide to the character of their work: 'Which other poets have influenced you?' It is almost always answered inaccurately. The poet so interrogated struggles to think of a mentor whose name will not seem shaming either because it is obvious or because it is unfashionable. Or he tries to deflect the

Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses

Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses

Research Paper Instruction in the Undergraduate Writing Program

In 1961 Ambrose Manning determined through a national survey that 83% of all colleges and universities were requiring a research paper in their freshman composition programs. In some respects Manning's survey was quite limited; it consisted of five questions addressing only freshman level, and only 171 of 250 schools queried returned questionnaires, three fifths of which had gone to Manning's own southeast area. Nevertheless results of survey probably justified conclusion that The research paper has more status presently than any other one thing in Freshman English program (The Present Status of Research Paper in Freshman English: A National Survey, College Composition and Communication, 12 [1961], 73). Although no inquiries on subject of even such limited scope as Manning's have been undertaken during intervening twenty years, atmosphere of 60s encouraged general impression that research paper instruction was on wane, an impression certainly conveyed in Veronica Willis' 1970 dissertation, An Investigation of Use of Documented Research Paper in College Courses (United States International University). Willis' survey, which was limited to a sampling of teachers in all subject areas, plus English department chairpersons, in thirty-five institutions of higher learning throughout state of California, concluded that although the majority of freshman composition courses still require student to write documented research papers ..., [there] is a . . . toward eliminating documented research paper from college freshman course (p. 68). This perception of a trend was apparently based on fact that 43% of 67% of California English departments offering research paper instruction allowed their teachers to decide individually whether such instruction would in fact be given. If Willis' review of literature

Research Paper Instruction in the Undergraduate Writing Program

Research Paper Instruction in the Undergraduate Writing Program