Understanding the writing habits of tomorrow’s students: Technology and college readiness (original) (raw)
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Innovative Higher Education, 2018
This case study offers a qualitative perspective on a relationship between institutional structures and student outcomes. The data describe the conditions in 10 English remediation classrooms at one urban community college district. The study uses new literacies as a theoretical framework with which to understand how these conditions supported classroom-level teaching and learning. Findings suggest that classroom conditions undermined new literacies' assumptions that college writing is a social practice. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for research to improve writing remediation policies.
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Educational Forum, 2014
Increasing postsecondary access depends in large part on enhancing underrepresented students’ writing ability, or college writing readiness. However, what exactly constitutes college-level writing is not clear-cut, complicating efforts to improve secondary preparation. This paper examines recent efforts to define postsecondary writing, suggesting that existing definitions and assessments overwhelmingly focus on cognitive skills. Drawing from sociocultural theory, the authors advocate for broadening conceptions of college-level writing to consider the role of social, cultural, and institutional contexts.
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Despite needing this critical skill for college and career readiness, American adolescents are struggling to develop effective writing. In today’s schools and workplaces, much of that writing uses digital tools. Integrating technology in secondary schools can help improve adolescent writing within initiatives focused on the pedagogy of writing. These initiatives would provide teachers with technical support so they may focus on instruction. Professional development would emphasize how to leverage digital tools to deliver evidence-based writing instruction. Students gain most when provided systematic, explicit instruction in scientifically based strategies for writing and the writing process, as well as how to make effective use of digital tools as part of the writing process.
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Most of the writing that children do in school today is driven by the demands of high stakes testing (Higgins, Miller, & Wegman, 2007). This type of writing carries the weight of institutional pressure and accountability (Campbell, 2002), but may limit students' progress by confining them to a restricted format and genre. Students, especially struggling ones, find themselves disinterested and lost with academic and formatted writing in school (Allington & Cunningham, 2002; Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006) because they have difficulty meeting the expectations of prompt driven essays. Despite their struggles with school-required writing, many students are found to be gifted learners in modern technology and highly fluent in the multiple literacies they use at home, such as video and computer games (Gee, 2007). Unfortunately, when students struggle and can not meet the demands of the curriculum, they run the risk of tuning out and distancing themselves from classroom learning. When children do not develop strong literacy skills, they are at increased risk for school failure (Zimmerman, Rodriguez, Rewey, & Heidemann, 2008). Allowing students to develop writing and literacy skills using a combination of print, visual, sound, and other digital technologies gives them the opportunity to make progress, find purpose in their writing, be fully engaged learners, and accomplish success in the school curriculum. Study This study, which focuses on two fourth grade students, is part of a larger study that contrasts the writing experiences and progress of fourth graders in two different writing situations: writing for test preparation and writing with personal choice for digital storytelling. Both students, Francis and Steven, live in a small city in Florida. They come from working-class backgrounds and were nine years old at the time of the research. Francis is Hispanic and speaks Spanish at home. Steven is Caucasian and lives with his mother and two younger siblings. This study focused on two boys from lowincome families because the research shows that boys tend to fare behind girls in their school writing (Fletcher, 2006; Newkirk, 2000) and the students from working class backgrounds encounter more challenges in their literacy learning (Hicks, 2002) than those from affluent family backgrounds. Research was conducted at a school affiliated with a state university. The school enrolls approximately 1,150 students in grades K-12. The population is 24% African-American, 51% Caucasian, 16% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 5% multi-racial, very much representative of the local demography. For four
The Teachers College Record, 2009
Background/Context: Twenty percent of first-year students in public 4-year institutions and 42% of first-year students in public 2-year institutions in the United States enroll in remedial courses. Yet despite widespread remediation across U.S. colleges and universities, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how remedial courses develop the academic skills and habits of mind required for students to succeed in college-level courses. Remediation at the college level is a widely debated practice, yet there is a dearth of research that assesses the efficacy of postsecondary remediation. In addition, there is evidence that student outcomes differ depending on whether students participated in remedial coursework at a community college or a 4-year institution. A theoretical analysis of first-year students' experiences of remediation in both contexts may help to reveal the institutional structures that act to maintain or reduce this disparity in outcomes. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Two questions guided this study: (1) How do first-year developmental writing courses at a research university and a community college compare? (2) How do differences in institutional provisions of course content, instruction, and tutoring resources to remedial students at a research university and a 1620 Teachers College Record community college impact students' self-reported experiences in the first year of college? To address these questions, we analyze the relationship between postsecondary institutional structures and the efficacy of remedial writing instruction for underprepared students by examining the experiences and outcomes of remedial writing students enrolled in two institutions, an urban community college and an urban research university. We apply Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice and consider remedial writing as a position in the field of higher education. Research Design: A qualitative comparative case study approach was used, including three primary methods of data collection: ethnographic observations of students and instructors during one semester of course meetings; taped interviews with instructors, students, and a college writing program director; and a compiled catalog of course documents including course syllabi, class notes, assignments, and samples of student writing provided by instructors. Both course instructors also provided data on student performance. Using Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software, we coded and categorized field notes and interview transcripts to facilitate the development of theoretical concepts. Conclusions/Recommendations: Although remedial writing can be viewed as a subordinate position in the overall field of higher education, our ethnographic study reveals that institutions further determine the advantage or disadvantage of remedial students by controlling their access to cultural capital and the supportive academic resources that are critical for navigating the field of higher education successfully. In addition, although all students in the two courses seemed to possess a college-going habitus, only students enrolled in the remedial writing program at the 4-year university acquired a habitus of what is required to be successful once enrolled. We believe that these findings may inform postsecondary remediation practices and add a new angle to the debate over whether remedial courses have a place at 4-year institutions. In particular, our findings suggest that it is not the type of institution but the confluence of curriculum, pedagogy, and level of resources afforded to students by the institution that influences students' experiences with remediation.
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2012
As two lecturers from quite different disciplines-Population Health and Musicology-we faced a common instructional challenge: how to improve the standard of student writing in our first-year courses for nonmajors, and thus to invite our students into the discourses of our disciplines. We collaborated in the design of a sequence of online writing assignments for our separate courses, which would address this question. We were inspired by the high-level digital literacy skills of our students, which we sought to use in similar ways to improve the students' other literacy skills, especially disciplinespecific writing skills. Drawing on educational design research methodology, we took into account our own experiences with e-learning in our previous courses and the latest literature on e-learning and literacy development. The outcomes of our research are guidelines for teachers of writing across undergraduate disciplines, and reflections on how best to mobilize students' digital literacy skills to educational ends.
Research in Learning Technology, 2021
The purpose of our correlational, quantitative study was to determine if time spent using digital media (i.e. text messaging and social media) influences students' media writing self-perceptions (MWSPs). We measured students' perceived writing ability using the MWSP scale and their time spent using digital media with the social networking time use scale (SONTUS). Correlations between students' MWSP scores and SONTUS scores were statistically insignificant, suggesting that time spent using digital media does not negatively influence their perceived writing abilities. However, results from further analyses indicated that as students' social media use increased, so did their ability to recognise the difference between writing for social media and writing for professional publications. We also found that the more students text the more they use social media and vice versa. We present directions for future research and practice.
Rethinking Postsecondary Remediation: Exploring an Experiential Learning Approach to College Writing
This article contributes to the national discourse on college readiness and postsecondary remediation reform. It discusses an experiential learning model of writing remediation as an alternative to traditional basic skills instruction. Such a model may be practical to support the degree completion rates of underprepared writers whose sociodemographic characteristics—including age, race, ethnicity, and income—suggest intersecting strands of linguistic disadvantage. The data describe the classroom implementation of an experiential model of writing remediation in the context of a summer bridge program for students who were traditional by the sole criterion of age, but nontraditional on the composite indicators of prior language exposure. Findings from this exploratory study suggest that the failures students experienced within the program provoked a variety of insights on college writing skills and academic behaviors. The article’s discussion focuses on implications in the context of developing remediation reforms that benefit students across multiple lines of difference.
The Role of Online Reading and Writing in the Literacy Practices of First-Year Writing Students
2015
Department Head English iv AKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a sincere thank you to the many people in my life who made this dissertation possible. First and foremost, I'd like to thank Erin, Will, Krista, and Rachel for sharing with me so much of your first year at college. All four of you are bright, creative, articulate individuals, and your information and insight taught me more than I could have ever expected. I genuinely appreciate your time, your openness, and your enthusiasm.
Skills, access, and 'basic writing': A community college case study from the United States
Studies in the Education of Adults
As policymakers in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, push for widening participation in higher education, the preparation of diverse students for the communicative demands of the academy becomes increasingly salient. As greater numbers of 'non-traditional' students, who may be unfamiliar with the conventions of academic communication, enter higher education, discussions about explicitly teaching academic literacy have increased. A 'skills' conception of learning concurrently dominates governmental and policy discourses. In response, this article argues against the use of the skills model in teaching academic writing by drawing on a case study of a 'basic' (pre-university level) writing course for English language learners (ELLs) at a U.S. community college. In particular, it examines the use of a version of the 'skills model' to teach writing to 'non-traditional' students. It concludes that in the context of this case study, in which students had varied backgrounds and educational goals, the skills model was insufficient for teaching writing and helping students gain access to the discourses of tertiary education. 1 Stereotypically, 'traditional' students are considered white, male, Christian, middle-class, and native-English speaking; whereas the 'non-traditional' category encompasses students of colour, more women, non-native speakers of English, handicapped students, students of various religious affiliations, and those in the first generation of their families to enter tertiary education.