Bain, garza helping graduate counseling students embrace academicWilliam Kritsonis
Both graduate students and faculty are continually faced with the challenge of academic writing. For a number of reasons, graduate counseling students are resistant to learning and applying APA 6th Edition guidelines to their academic writing. This article seeks to lay a foundational understanding of the importance of graduate academic writing and provide a review of a possible resource for professors to use to supplement the APA 6th edition publication manual.
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Editor-in-Chief (Since 1982) NATIONAL FORUM JOUNALS
Authors:
Scott Kuehn, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Andrew Lingwall, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
This study explored student self-perceptions of writing skills in mass communication programs at 13 public state universities in the Mid-Atlantic region. Responses to three open-ended questions revealed heavy student concern with their basic skills, a desire for extensive faculty contact and feedback, and for many respondents, an immaturity or naiveté regarding professional standards. This study addresses implications for faculty members who wish to better understand their students in order to devise more effective writing instruction.
English - Majored Juniors’ attitudes towards learning the academic writing co...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT : The study aims to investigate attitudes ofJuniors ofEnglish as a foreign language (EFL)
towards learning the academic writing course at TraVinh University (TVU) and to help these learners recognize
what benefits they have got and difficulties they have encountered during the course. The writer uses a
quantitative approach with aquestionnaire to collect data from80third-year English majors, whotook part in the
academic course at TVU. The findings indicate that all students have positive attitudes about this course and
concede the benefits of the academic writing course. One of the most crucial results from this study's data was
that academic writing skills were needed for students’ graduation thesis. Apart from that, the
studentsencountered challenges throughout the learning process. Particularly, due to the impact of their native
tongue on language learning, grammar is regarded as the most prominent difficulty. The study lastly suggests a
range of implications for students to enhance their academic writing skills.
KEYWORDS: academic writing, attitudes, difficulties, EFL Juniors
Bain, garza helping graduate counseling students embrace academicWilliam Kritsonis
Both graduate students and faculty are continually faced with the challenge of academic writing. For a number of reasons, graduate counseling students are resistant to learning and applying APA 6th Edition guidelines to their academic writing. This article seeks to lay a foundational understanding of the importance of graduate academic writing and provide a review of a possible resource for professors to use to supplement the APA 6th edition publication manual.
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Editor-in-Chief (Since 1982) NATIONAL FORUM JOUNALS
Authors:
Scott Kuehn, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Andrew Lingwall, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
This study explored student self-perceptions of writing skills in mass communication programs at 13 public state universities in the Mid-Atlantic region. Responses to three open-ended questions revealed heavy student concern with their basic skills, a desire for extensive faculty contact and feedback, and for many respondents, an immaturity or naiveté regarding professional standards. This study addresses implications for faculty members who wish to better understand their students in order to devise more effective writing instruction.
English - Majored Juniors’ attitudes towards learning the academic writing co...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT : The study aims to investigate attitudes ofJuniors ofEnglish as a foreign language (EFL)
towards learning the academic writing course at TraVinh University (TVU) and to help these learners recognize
what benefits they have got and difficulties they have encountered during the course. The writer uses a
quantitative approach with aquestionnaire to collect data from80third-year English majors, whotook part in the
academic course at TVU. The findings indicate that all students have positive attitudes about this course and
concede the benefits of the academic writing course. One of the most crucial results from this study's data was
that academic writing skills were needed for students’ graduation thesis. Apart from that, the
studentsencountered challenges throughout the learning process. Particularly, due to the impact of their native
tongue on language learning, grammar is regarded as the most prominent difficulty. The study lastly suggests a
range of implications for students to enhance their academic writing skills.
KEYWORDS: academic writing, attitudes, difficulties, EFL Juniors
Studies in Higher Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2000Teaching.docxflorriezhamphrey3065
Studies in Higher Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2000
Teaching Doctoral Students to
Become Scholarly Writers: the
importance of giving and receiving
critiques
ROSEMARY S. CAFFARELLA & BRUCE G. BARNETT
University of Northern Colorado, USA
ABSTRACT Data were gathered from 45 doctoral students through focus groups, observations, and
written and oral re¯ ections to ascertain their perceptions of a speci® c teaching process (the Scholarly
Writing Project), which was designed to assist these students in learning how to do academic writing.
It was found that preparing and receiving critiques from professors and peers was perceived to be the
most in¯ uential element in helping them to understand the process of scholarly writing and in
producing a better written product. More speci® cally, these students believed that two factors integral
to the critiquing process were responsible for building their con® dence as academic writers: personal-
ized face-to-face feedback; and the iterative or ongoing nature of the critiques they received. In
addition, these students emphasized that although the critiquing process was powerful and useful, it
was also highly emotional and at times frustrating. The ® ndings suggest that, in teaching scholarly
writing, instructors should be very clear about the purposes and bene® ts of a strong and sustained
critiquing process, and assist students in learning how to both receive and give useful feedback.
Introduction
University faculty often assume that their doctoral students begin graduate school as
pro® cient writers or that they will develop this skill during their program of studies. What is
shocking to faculty is that many graduate students not only do not write like scholars, but
they also may not think like scholars. This problem is particularly evident in professional
schools in which many doctoral students in the USA are full-time practitioners with very
demanding schedules and precious little time for research and writing. In general, many
faculty observe that teaching the scholarly writing process often comes in the form of t̀oo
little too late’ . In particular, some students may not be exposed to the scholarly writing
process until the dissertation, which may have signi® cant implications for the completion of
their doctoral program. Those of us who assist students in learning the scholarly writing
process ask ourselves the following question: `Is there a better way to teach novice scholars
what we know about the seemingly mysterious process of scholarly writing?’
The purpose of this article is to describe a research study conducted in order to obtain
doctoral students’ perceptions of a speci® c teaching process (the Scholarly Writing Project,
or SWP), which was intended to assist them to improve their scholarly writing skills. From
our perspective, scholarly writing was equated with academic writing, such as the production
of dissertations and journal publications. We were most interested to learn w.
The Effect of E-Journaling on Student EngagementQUESTJOURNAL
ABSTRACT: The writing to learn movement transformed writing pedagogy in the 1960‟s.Rejecting an emphasis on “disciplinary rigor, standard curricula, and standard „objective‟ evaluation,” (Russell, 1994, p. 11), Britton espoused language instruction that focused on exploratory forms of writing including journaling (Britton, 1975). While there is research on the impact of writing, few studies focus on journaling at the postsecondary level. Even fewer studies investigate journaling in freshman composition classes and virtually no studies focus on journaling in developmental composition classes specifically. This study addressed the potential outcomes of electronic journaling in developmental composition classes. The purpose of the qualitative study was to investigate how students in freshman developmental composition class use journal writing. Explored through the lens of the student-perspective, 17 students were invited to journal on Blackboard throughout the semester. One primary research question was posed: What kind of effect does electronic journaling (e-journaling) have on student engagement and self-perceived growth? This article focuses on the most distinct and clearly articulated theme which arose; the relationship between e-journaling and student engagement. Participants found e-journaling helped them become more informed, more enthusiastic, and less stressed. The majority of student-participants were satisfied with their self-perceived success as both writers and thinkers.
THE EFFECTS OF WRITING APPREHENSION AMONG JORDANIAN PHD STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVESYasser Al-Shboul
The purpose of this paper was to discover writing apprehension experiences of Jordanian PhD students at
Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach. The sampling of participant
was done through purposive sampling in order to select information rich cases. The sampling strategy was
homogeneous sampling to find the characteristics of the sub-group of the whole population. Data collection was
done through interviewing Jordanian PhD students. Twenty one students were interviewed to get their
perspectives on the writing apprehension phenomenon. The main objective was investigated: the effects of
writing apprehension. In terms of the effects of writing apprehension, three main themes were found such as
personal effect, social effect, and academic effect. The study concluded that writing apprehension is a prevalent
phenomenon among the participants. All the participants expressed experiencing writing apprehension ranging
from low, moderate or high level.
SOURCE-BASED NEWS WRITING AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: students' interest in writing must be increased, especially writing based on sources. Therefore,
this study would like to find students' perspectives and perceived challenges in writing based on sources. This
research was based on a case study. The research involved 68 students from one of the Universityy of PGRI
Semarang, and it analyzed 20 selected news writing papers written by students. The instruments for data
collection included questionnaire and observation. The results of this study found that 59% of students
perceived that writing news writing papers is very difficult. The students found it difficult to find suitable
sources for writing material and develop their ideas. They tended to use articles as the sources from the internet
whose originality is unclear. One reason this happens was because 80% of students did not know where to find
or get indexed journals to use as references for their writing. In addition, many students also preferred not to use
journals that were majorly English-based because of their limitation of English skills. The implication is that
students should be given further understanding of how to access journals and use reference sources in writing. It
is expected that every lecturer will give more source-based news writing assignments so that the ability of
students to write and develop ideas based on existing sources can be further improved.
KEYWORDS: source-based news writing, teaching writing, writing
Introduction
Summary of the article/Dissertation
Critical Review on the Research
Organization, arguments and evidences in each part:
Abstract and Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Results
and mechanics
Conclusion
evaluate existing methodological approaches
inconsistencies in results
Studies in Higher Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2000Teaching.docxflorriezhamphrey3065
Studies in Higher Education Volume 25, No. 1, 2000
Teaching Doctoral Students to
Become Scholarly Writers: the
importance of giving and receiving
critiques
ROSEMARY S. CAFFARELLA & BRUCE G. BARNETT
University of Northern Colorado, USA
ABSTRACT Data were gathered from 45 doctoral students through focus groups, observations, and
written and oral re¯ ections to ascertain their perceptions of a speci® c teaching process (the Scholarly
Writing Project), which was designed to assist these students in learning how to do academic writing.
It was found that preparing and receiving critiques from professors and peers was perceived to be the
most in¯ uential element in helping them to understand the process of scholarly writing and in
producing a better written product. More speci® cally, these students believed that two factors integral
to the critiquing process were responsible for building their con® dence as academic writers: personal-
ized face-to-face feedback; and the iterative or ongoing nature of the critiques they received. In
addition, these students emphasized that although the critiquing process was powerful and useful, it
was also highly emotional and at times frustrating. The ® ndings suggest that, in teaching scholarly
writing, instructors should be very clear about the purposes and bene® ts of a strong and sustained
critiquing process, and assist students in learning how to both receive and give useful feedback.
Introduction
University faculty often assume that their doctoral students begin graduate school as
pro® cient writers or that they will develop this skill during their program of studies. What is
shocking to faculty is that many graduate students not only do not write like scholars, but
they also may not think like scholars. This problem is particularly evident in professional
schools in which many doctoral students in the USA are full-time practitioners with very
demanding schedules and precious little time for research and writing. In general, many
faculty observe that teaching the scholarly writing process often comes in the form of t̀oo
little too late’ . In particular, some students may not be exposed to the scholarly writing
process until the dissertation, which may have signi® cant implications for the completion of
their doctoral program. Those of us who assist students in learning the scholarly writing
process ask ourselves the following question: `Is there a better way to teach novice scholars
what we know about the seemingly mysterious process of scholarly writing?’
The purpose of this article is to describe a research study conducted in order to obtain
doctoral students’ perceptions of a speci® c teaching process (the Scholarly Writing Project,
or SWP), which was intended to assist them to improve their scholarly writing skills. From
our perspective, scholarly writing was equated with academic writing, such as the production
of dissertations and journal publications. We were most interested to learn w.
The Effect of E-Journaling on Student EngagementQUESTJOURNAL
ABSTRACT: The writing to learn movement transformed writing pedagogy in the 1960‟s.Rejecting an emphasis on “disciplinary rigor, standard curricula, and standard „objective‟ evaluation,” (Russell, 1994, p. 11), Britton espoused language instruction that focused on exploratory forms of writing including journaling (Britton, 1975). While there is research on the impact of writing, few studies focus on journaling at the postsecondary level. Even fewer studies investigate journaling in freshman composition classes and virtually no studies focus on journaling in developmental composition classes specifically. This study addressed the potential outcomes of electronic journaling in developmental composition classes. The purpose of the qualitative study was to investigate how students in freshman developmental composition class use journal writing. Explored through the lens of the student-perspective, 17 students were invited to journal on Blackboard throughout the semester. One primary research question was posed: What kind of effect does electronic journaling (e-journaling) have on student engagement and self-perceived growth? This article focuses on the most distinct and clearly articulated theme which arose; the relationship between e-journaling and student engagement. Participants found e-journaling helped them become more informed, more enthusiastic, and less stressed. The majority of student-participants were satisfied with their self-perceived success as both writers and thinkers.
THE EFFECTS OF WRITING APPREHENSION AMONG JORDANIAN PHD STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVESYasser Al-Shboul
The purpose of this paper was to discover writing apprehension experiences of Jordanian PhD students at
Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach. The sampling of participant
was done through purposive sampling in order to select information rich cases. The sampling strategy was
homogeneous sampling to find the characteristics of the sub-group of the whole population. Data collection was
done through interviewing Jordanian PhD students. Twenty one students were interviewed to get their
perspectives on the writing apprehension phenomenon. The main objective was investigated: the effects of
writing apprehension. In terms of the effects of writing apprehension, three main themes were found such as
personal effect, social effect, and academic effect. The study concluded that writing apprehension is a prevalent
phenomenon among the participants. All the participants expressed experiencing writing apprehension ranging
from low, moderate or high level.
SOURCE-BASED NEWS WRITING AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE...AJHSSR Journal
ABSTRACT: students' interest in writing must be increased, especially writing based on sources. Therefore,
this study would like to find students' perspectives and perceived challenges in writing based on sources. This
research was based on a case study. The research involved 68 students from one of the Universityy of PGRI
Semarang, and it analyzed 20 selected news writing papers written by students. The instruments for data
collection included questionnaire and observation. The results of this study found that 59% of students
perceived that writing news writing papers is very difficult. The students found it difficult to find suitable
sources for writing material and develop their ideas. They tended to use articles as the sources from the internet
whose originality is unclear. One reason this happens was because 80% of students did not know where to find
or get indexed journals to use as references for their writing. In addition, many students also preferred not to use
journals that were majorly English-based because of their limitation of English skills. The implication is that
students should be given further understanding of how to access journals and use reference sources in writing. It
is expected that every lecturer will give more source-based news writing assignments so that the ability of
students to write and develop ideas based on existing sources can be further improved.
KEYWORDS: source-based news writing, teaching writing, writing
Introduction
Summary of the article/Dissertation
Critical Review on the Research
Organization, arguments and evidences in each part:
Abstract and Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Results
and mechanics
Conclusion
evaluate existing methodological approaches
inconsistencies in results
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Angst About Academic Writing Graduate Students At The Brink.pdf
1. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 67 The Clute Institute
Angst About Academic Writing:
Graduate Students At The Brink
Barbara Holmes, Winona State University, USA
Theresa Waterbury, Winona State University, USA
Eric Baltrinic, Winona State University, USA
Arielle Davis, Winona State University, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper offers some insights into the anxieties graduate students bring into the classroom about academic or
technical writing. In this qualitative study, a focus group of graduate students was utilized to describe the specific
negative feelings, attitudes and experiences held about writing. Findings suggest that students were able to identify
three main reasons or causes of writing anxiety: (1) lack of confidence in writing ability (2) lack of time to devote to
writing activities and (3) lack of skills in utilizing scholarly resources. Participants also suggest that colleges and
universities take more proactive steps in implementing strategies early in the matriculation process to support
graduate students in acquiring writing competency. This exploration suggests that there is still much to be learned
from graduate students about what colleges and universities can do to improve writing literacy, help graduate students
acquire writing self-efficacy and create a culture of writing expectations.
Keywords: Writing Anxiety; Graduate Student Writing; Writing Angst
cademic writing continues to generate anxiety among graduate students. There appears to be a real
fear of committing thoughts and ideas to writing in a scholarly environment. Merc (2016) concluded
that writing anxiety among graduate students is particularly prevalent in graduate courses that
specifically focus on research methods training, and the dissertation writing process. Sevidy-Benton and O’Kelly
(2015) further warned that “anxiety about the research required in a class may overshadow any benefits the students
may get from the content” (p. 47). Students admitted to graduate study are among the highest achieving students in
the academy, therefore, the acquisition of writing skills by this population of students remains a concern.
The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel (2016) explains that writing anxiety encompasses a wide range of worrisome and
apprehensive feelings about writing that causes students to have negative experiences with writing. Hjortsho (2001)
suggests that writing anxiety is situational and that students may enjoy writing in one setting and be petrified by
writing in higher stakes situations. Consequently, how we address writing anxiety may need to be grounded in the
context or situation surrounding the writing assignment. The University of Texas Writing Center (2016) further
identified several situations that can cause writing anxiety for students:
1. Adapting to a new style of writing, such as the first semester of a college writing course or a form of
writing the student is not used to (a research paper, a senior thesis, a dissertation, etc.)
2. Writing for a tough audience (i.e., a professor who’s been highly critical of previous work)
3. Thinking about criticism received on writing in the past (even if the person who has criticized is not the
audience for your paper)
4. Tight deadlines for the submission of the writing assignment
5. Not clearly and completely understanding the writing assignment
Additionally, Cone (2016) postulated that writing anxiety may result from a variety of social and academic factors.
Students worry about class grades, paper deadlines, fear of failure, life or social issues, a competitive nature or pressure
from significant others to be a high achiever. Researchers noted, that students may fear a professor who in their
judgment is intimidating or difficult to please. Understanding and being aware of these triggers may be helpful in
providing assistance to students who are struggling with negative feelings about writing.
A
2. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 68 The Clute Institute
In a seminal study on why graduate students exhibit poor writing (Bloom, 1982) concluded that graduate students are
plagued with the same problems of other anxious writers: lack of confidence, poor time management, chronic
procrastinators, dislike writing and suffer from fear of having the writing critiqued. This investigation situates the
inquiry in 2016 to explore the nature of graduate student writing anxiety in a research and scholarship class.
Holladay (1981) also researched attitudes toward writing, and concluded that teachers can help lessen writing anxiety
by using different teaching strategies. Holladay summarized the following characteristics of students with writing
anxiety:
1. They are frightened by a demand for writing competency
2. They fear evaluation of their writing because they think they will be rated negatively
3. They avoid writing whenever possible
4. When they are forced to write, they behave destructively
These behaviors usually result in a poorly developed writing product, which then reinforces the writing anxiety.
Onwuegbuzie (1998) conducted a study to determine the relationship between learning style and writing anxiety
among graduate students utilizing The Writing Apprehension Test and the Productivity Environmental Preference
Survey. From collected student responses, the researcher found that graduate students with the highest levels of writing
anxiety lacked self-motivation, preferred structure, were peer-oriented learners, were authority-oriented learners, and
did not like to undertake difficult tasks in the afternoon. Given that research methods classes tend to be highly
structured, high levels of anxiety continue to persist.
Perspectives of a Graduate Department Chair
From the department chair perspective, the problem of graduate student writing deficiencies is one of long standing
in the program of preparation. A graduate department chairperson, offered the following comments:
“Over the last seven years, I have witnessed the anxiety level of graduate students rise when they are required
to write academic papers. During this time, I have made observations based on student papers and
assignments, informal student interviews, and discussions with faculty. There are three themes I have
observed: lack of academic writing skills, lack of time to access writing resources, and self-consciousness.”
“We have two distinct populations of graduate students at our institution: working adults and traditional
students (students who enroll in the program directly after completing their undergraduate degree). Many of
the working adults have not written an academic paper in the last ten years. They are skilled at writing short
notes and personal letters, but are not familiar with academic writing. The traditional student population is
accustomed to multiple choice and short answer exams with a moderate focus on academic writing. Students,
therefore, lack the skills needed to clearly articulate their thoughts into words and many lack APA
knowledge.”
“Typically, graduate students are not on campus during the day. Our students balance work, school, and
family, so it is difficult for them to find the time needed to strengthen their writing skills. The campus has a
writing center, but graduate students find it challenging to attend during the open hours. Finally, students
seem to be self-conscious when we recommend they seek writing assistance. They are leaders in their
organizations and struggle with being vulnerable.”
This department continues to explore strategies for addressing writing anxiety at the graduate level and is considering
front loading academic writing standards in the initial classes students take upon entry into the program.
3. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 69 The Clute Institute
Perspectives of a Counselor Education Graduate Faculty Member
There is a general understanding among counselor educators that graduate students need academic writing skills to be
successful in their future jobs (Hill, 2004), particularly for those students who assume faculty roles requiring scholarly
productivity (Magnuson, Norem, & Haberstroh, 2001). Academic writing is a ubiquitous activity for graduate
students. Counselor education graduate students engage in academic writing as part of course assignments, the creation
of scholarly works, and as a means to learn about the writing and publication process.
Similar to students in other disciplines (Bloom, 1982; Onwuegbuzie, 1998), counselor education graduate students
experience challenges to academic writing. Academic writing can be stressful for students given the writing demands
in most graduate training programs. Some authors believe that graduate students’ writing challenges are due to
inadequate preparation in academic writing (Lambie, Sias, Davis, Lawson, & Akos, 2008), while others suggest there
is a lack of counselor education literature to help educators facilitate the development of students’ writing skills
(McDonald, 2011). Acknowledging the challenges academic writing poses to graduate students, a counselor educator
was asked to reflect on his experience mentoring graduate students in writing. He offered the following observations
and suggestions:
1. Students who believe they are good writers often produce examples of good writing, and the reverse is
also true. So, focusing individual attention on those less-efficacious writers can be helpful as well as
pairing better writers with struggling writers through peer-review activities in the classroom. Be sure to
model good writing, even during email exchanges.
2. Help students learn about writing by incorporating the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (2010) into your class discussions and required assignments. More
specifically, have students read and discuss sections of the manual such as chapter 3, which outlines tips
for writing clearly and concisely. It is surprising how many students do not own or read this manual,
opting for web resources instead.
3. Provide accurate written feedback to students about academic writing. Refer students to specific pages
in the APA publication manual and other resources containing examples. Students need to navigate the
resources and use the manual to help them solve writing problems, with faculty support. And most of
all, practice your writing. Ask yourself: Do my corrections and feedback provide clear and concise
feedback to the reader?
The development of students’ professional writing voice “takes practice” (McDonald, 2011, p. 124). To better assure
graduate students readiness for future job demands, educators need to focus on the development of classroom-level
resources and teaching tools to facilitate the development of academic writing skills.
METHOD
This study identified the perceptions of enrolled leadership education students with their academic writing angst. A
focus group methodology was used to gather qualitative data during the students’ first research class.
Participants
Thirteen graduate students participated in the focus group =ranging in age from 24 – 50 years. The study took place
at a mid-western university which has regional authority to offer graduate degrees. Demographic data included gender
and credit hours completed in the program. Fifty four percent of the respondents were male, 15% had completed
fewer than 12 hours and 50% completed 15 credits or more graduate credits.
PROCEDURES
The focus group began with the instructor encouraging graduate students to reflect on their own writing skills by
asking them to write for ten minutes at the beginning of a class on a topic. Topic areas for students’ reflective writing
were provided to students by the instructor. The following writing prompts were provided to encourage students to
get words on paper.
4. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 70 The Clute Institute
1. Transitioning into scholarship: Ten big ideas for graduate students
2. What graduate students need to be thought leaders in Education
3. Mastering the art of academic writing graduate student perspectives and transitions
4. Lewin’s theory of change and the graduate student experience
5. Traits graduate students need to persist to program completion
6. Angst about Academic Writing: Graduate Students at the Brink
Participants selected the writing prompts they were most comfortable with. This free writing exercise generated
multiple responses and students were able to express feelings about the writing process and their experiences as
graduate students. In this safe writing environment, students seem to enjoy putting their frustrations about writing on
paper. This procedure allowed full disclosure of each student’s responses and as the class progressed, students openly
discussed their writing anxiety with each other. After students had engaged in writing and open discussion for
approximately 15 minutes, a focus group session was convened to continue to explore students’ feelings about writing.
The focus group session was guided by the following research questions:
1. What are the specific anxieties that graduate students have about scholarly writing?
2. How do graduate students describe their fear of academic writing?
3. What recommendations do graduate students have for institutions to address graduate writing anxieties?
RESULTS
Focus group participants’ lack confidence in writing abilities surfaced repeatedly as a concern of students. One student
expressed doubt that good writing would ever occur. Another student responded, “Writing is like learning a foreign
language and I am not very good at it.” A member of the class served as recorder and captured the ideas expressed by
participants. The recorder projected responses on a screen for the entire class to visualize. Participants grouped similar
responses together and discussed similarities and differences. The discussion yielded four emergent themes:
Emergent Theme 1: Lack of confidence in scholarly writing ability
Despite many students having high academic grade point averages, students lacked confidence in their ability to
sufficiently decode a scholarly writing assignment and respond in an effective manner. This finding aligns with the
work of Holladay (1981) who reported that graduate students have high fear of receiving negative feedback on their
writing. The findings suggest graduate students fear different aspects of academic writing including lack of sufficient
time for writing, not achieving success, writing with clarity, not having appropriate sources, the task of gathering
relevant supporting data, sounding uninformed, and a lack of confidence about chosen topics.
Emergent Theme 2: Lack of time to dedicate to writing tasks
The study sample included experienced practitioners who were balancing multiple priorities in the workplace, home,
community, and church. Participants did not place high priority on academic writing and consequently time was not
allocated for the writing process. This finding reflects the work of Bloom (1982) who reasoned that anxious writers
tend to be chronic procrastinators with poor time management skills.
Emergent Theme 3: Lack of skills in identifying and utilizing scholarly resources
The graduate department chair postulated that time away from writing may explain why students have negative
attitudes toward writing. There is little familiarity with finding academic sources, accessing online databases, and
utilizing library resources which impedes the literature review process. Holladay (1981) explains that students lacking
writing competency hold on to negative experiences with writing at the undergraduate level.
Emergent Theme 4: Institutions share the responsibility for improving graduate student writing
Participants offered several suggestions for improving the graduate writing experience at the university. Graduate
students identified the following changes for institutions to consider:
5. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 71 The Clute Institute
1. Teach APA guidelines in initial graduate classes and hold students accountable for properly formatting
papers.
2. Provide graduate students with examples of good papers, properly formatted
3. Establish high expectations for scholarly writing at the beginning of graduate studies
4. Have writing resources readily available outside of the formal classroom
5. Require a writing orientation for graduate students upon entry into graduate study
6. Provide research tools for graduate students early in program studies.
7. Provide more one-on-one writing interaction with instructors focused on writing
8. Strengthen writing at the undergraduate level to prepare students for graduate level writing
9. Create student habits of writing to include finding and using sources, citations, and credible sources
and embed these activities in graduate coursework
10. Create and foster more peer review networks for writing for online and traditional students
DISCUSSION
Overall, the preliminary findings from the focus group provide support for the need to actively work to change
graduate students’ attitudes about writing (Bloom, 1982; Onwuegbuzie, 1998). More specifically, students’
perceptions, experiences, and attitudes toward writing can influence their feelings about the act of writing. Scholars
have pointed out the significance of the students’ point of view and students need to be empowered to express
perspectives held about writing while matriculating in the academy.
Students expressed that feeling unfamiliar with “the rules of the game” and what is expected of academic writers in a
university setting posed barriers to their writing. The development of a new program could enact a new role for writing,
from both faculty and staff perspectives. Hayes (1978) concluded that increasing the amount of writing does little
without attending to the writing process itself. The program would need to focus on writing structure and feedback,
from both instructor and peers. As Sperling and Freedman (2001) have shown, students that have received feedback
on drafts from their professors tend to misunderstand that feedback and feel obligated to revise their papers in ways
that do not always improve the paper.
Findings support the use of writing resources as a means to reduce anxiety and provide tools to students. For example,
Hjortshoj (2001) writes about his experiences working with university students experiencing writing block. The author
further explains the transitional nature of most writing blocks and the importance of finding support from others when
working on long projects. Hjortshoj’s (2001) book is a particularly excellent resource that captures the experiences of
students struggling with writing, which could, in turn, be used as a guide—grounded in shared experiences across
university settings-- for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.
IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
These preliminary findings suggest that graduate student anxiety about academic writing remains a current problem
in the academy. Graduate students suggest that writing instruction should begin earlier in the college experience along
with training in how to find and utilize academic resources. Efforts to improve graduate student writing may include
changes in instructional practices, instructor expectations, and frequent opportunities to produce scholarly writing.
Faculty supports provided to graduate students could improve students’ academic writing according to all participants
in this study (N = 13). The task of providing support for students’ academic writing becomes more manageable as
faculty members learn how to integrate high expectations for scholarly writing, writing instruction, writing self-
efficacy among students and writing feedback that encourages students to write more. Good teachers can influence
good writing. Future studies could investigate students’ perspectives on a wider scale using larger samples. In-depth
qualitative interviews could be used to build on information obtained in future focus groups.
6. Contemporary Issues in Education Research – Second Quarter 2018 Volume 11, Number 2
Copyright by author(s); CC-BY 72 The Clute Institute
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