Marcia,
What a great post. Thank for the important citation. It is really so important. What surprised me was the date of the article. Are the skills any worse today than they were in 1977?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
There are some online classes that may require little writing, but many classes do anticipate that a student will be able to write effectively. I point out that college writing and business writing both focus on the idea of sharing information with others. Readers and listeners expect things that they need to read or listen to to make sense.
In a Literacy and Basic Writing class that I took last year, much material was focused on helping students to write effectively. Some of the first college-level open admission policies were put into place decades ago, and particularly since then, teachers have not been sure what levels of writing that they can anticipate from students. A pioneer in this area, Mina P. Shaughnessy, found that in most classes, she could anticipate a third of students prepared for college level writing, a third who had "survived" rather than "thrived" in previous education, but showed capability in basic writing skills. One third often seems quite lost overall (1977, p.3) and likely need to be urged to participate in any tutoring or academic coaching opportunities available.
Shaughnessy died rather young, but I still find her writing about writing to be inspirational. She seemed to be able to sense what a student was trying to say and then be able to help the student convincingly communicate that idea. Although there is a focus on citing recent sources, I have a few references, such as the Shaughnessy book that I have yet to see improved upon.
Shaughnessy, M.P.(1977). Errors & expectations. New York, NY: Oxford UP.
George,
What a great post. I find students become so mired in the details they don't know in a paper that they settle for a "c". It is so frustrating. I too think we can use humor and technology to help initiate good mechanics. Have you used GrammarGirl podcasts. They are good!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Johnnie,
What an interesting comment. I teach a writing course and I include talking about numbers. This is a very hard concept until I tell them to think of numbers as adjectives. That can change everything.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Monique,
Well . . . I do believe it can be course and program specific. I do require students to email me in a professional manner. Saying that, I have to provide examples of good communications and bad communications.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Fortunately, most schools front load courses in English that stress reading and, in particular, writing. Some, as does the one where I teach, have classes and labs in APA as well. I think that it gives a student confidence to be able to write well and that we all need to develop those skills by example and by complete feedback on paper that points to improving writing skills. Reading skills can be assessed by the students’ “handling†of the information that they get from sources and the critical thinking that is applied in a project. Again, we all need to give the student feedback in this regard. Unfortunately some of my feedback has been toward using the material of others rather than copying that material. This, too, points to the skills of students to read and then apply what they think about what they read. This has to be a joint effort by all instructors so that students can learn from their mistakes while understanding that mediocrity is not accepted. The way students write and the application of research is made public in forums such as the discussion board online, and it is a disservice to students not to help them form good academic habits.
On a side note, some of the texts that I have used in class and used in classes that I have taken are not conducive to students taking an interest in a subject. Many are tedious and very difficult to read and actually have improved my ability to scan to get through the material. I tell students to use texts as a reference and reach out via library searches that yield more interesting publications. My daughter has courses at a private university that use books across the years by authors that are either experts on a subject or open new doors to a subject. Granted, some may be provocative but that can be fun stuff to read and apply.
As a mathematics instructor, I believe a reading/writing skills test is very important to get an idea of where the student is relative to the basic language used in word problems. I have seen many students struggle with word problems due to a lack reading skills. Very seldom do I provide students feedback with regard to these type weaknesses. Rather, I refer them to learning labs or instructors who can offer sound advice on how to overcome these weaknesses. Even though I have observed common mistakes (or misunderstandings), I feel I could cause further confusion by offering advice on how to improve their skills.
