City College of New York

Writing Fellows/WAC Program

An overview of student experiences

This overview looks across two sets of interview data with students in courses with a writing fellow (Two architecture courses [see report #1] and a media studies course [see report #2]). The interviews were based on the same set of questions but were semi-structured in form and took a conversational tone. Therefore, students did not all address the same questions or go into the same amount of detail. So while the information in this report can be useful in conjunction with survey data that provide larger samples to show the specific impacts writing fellows have on students' experiences, the analysis offered here is better used for professional development purposes. The data suggest that writing fellows make important contributions to the courses with which they're partnered. But we can also see where some things work better than others.

Architecture interviews: N=14 (9+5)
Media studies interviews: N=8
Total: N= 22

Assignments

• Students overwhelmingly believe they benefit from a series of assignments that become gradually more complex (what we often refer to as sequenced or scaffolded assignments).
• Students believe they get more out of assignments when they are well aligned with course content. That is, students want course content to inform assignment or for assignments to build on or apply what they are learning in class.
• The implications for these findings are that writing fellows will probably be most effective if they work with professors to develop a few or several assignments that grow directly out of course content and to ensure that assignments become increasingly complex. For example, students may begin with summarizing readings then move into more critical analysis, synthesis evaluation of sources, etc.

Guides and Supports

• All 22 students interviewed believed they benefited from at least some of the supports and written guidelines designed by writing fellows.
• Students particularly appreciated guidelines that de-mystified the writing process, or break down the steps of the writing process for them.
• Students also tended to believe they benefit from guides on MLA or APA formats and rubrics.
• An important theme that arose in students' statements was that guidelines become less helpful when they are too structured or too long. This indicates that writing fellows need to find a balance when designing written supports. Although there were not enough respondents to make definitive statements about how to design supports, two general rules can be deduced:

•  Guidelines should be kept to a length that students can quickly grasp the information. For example, a rubric should be no longer than one page.

•  When outlining the steps of an assignment, questions or instructions should be broad enough to allow for students to make choices, be creative, write at length, and think critically.

Feedback 

• All respondents who commented on receiving feedback believed that it was helpful; however, there was considerable variation as to what kind of feedback (and who gives it) is most helpful.
• All respondents agreed that feedback from professors is essential. But students generally complained about the kind of feedback they had received in these courses and in the past. Students generally want their professors to engage content from the beginning. They also appreciate feedback on organizing.
• While some students believed peer reviews were helpful, others did not. Because it is not clear what kinds of experiences interviewees had with peer review, it is difficult to ascertain why some felt they benefited from peer review and others did not. However, there was some indication that when students are prepared and the professor provides some structure for the peer review, the session will be experienced as more helpful.
• In one course (media studies), the feedback was provided as the professor read selected papers aloud and the whole class was asked to comment. Although only a few students commented on this activity, their responses suggest that this can be a positive and motivating experience. However, such an approach requires a relatively high level of comfort and trust between students and the professor, and so may not be suitable in all classes.
• These data provide a few insights in terms of how writing fellows make intervention:
• 1. Professors should probably be encouraged to provide a few different kinds of opportunities for feedback (peer review, small groups, whole class discussions, and written and verbal feedback in conference with the professor.)
• 2. Writing fellows can help professors ensure that peer review sessions will be beneficial to the maximum number of students by designing appropriate guidelines (the less experience students have the more structured the guideline will probably need to be), ensuring that all students are prepared to work in pair or small groups, and that students have the opportunity to work with others who will likely be able to engage their writing in a meaningful way.

  In-class activities 

• In a variety of ways, students expressed an interest in having interactive classes. Students mentioned benefiting from group projects and tasks, brainstorming activities, peer review, and being asked to read and write (individually) in class.
• Interview data suggested that stands want to DO in class. They want to be active learning, and they do not want to be lectured at all the time.

Past experiences with learning writing and the importance of writing in the disciplines 

•  There was no one type of course that appeared to be the favored model for students in terms of developing their writing skills. Of the small number of students who answered this particular question, one mentioned a philosophy course and another mentioned a world humanities course. About four students mentioned English courses, but they expressed mixed feelings about how these courses helped them.

•  It is telling, as well, that many students who were asked this question did not identify a previous course that they felt was particularly helpful.

•  Despite the small number of respondents, the students' answers do provide a few specific insights into what they find helpful: 1) students believe they benefit from courses that are demanding (require a lot of writing, several drafts, and substantial feedback between drafts). 2) Students benefit from courses where critical thinking, writing assignments, and content are well integrated (For example, the student who thought her philosophy class helped her writing claimed that having to think through (by writing about) philosophical arguments, compare them, and agree or disagree with them helped her develop her writing.)

•  All respondents appeared to have a clear understanding why writing was important in their chosen disciplines. The media studies students spoke explicitly about the various written products in their field (articles, PR statements, proposals, etc.) The architecture students were also able to identify several advantages of being an effective writer in the field of architecture.