ERIC Number: EJ1116099
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct-4
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1554-8244
EISSN: N/A
Coming to Learn: From First-Year Composition to Writing in the Disciplines
Johnson, J. Paul; Krase, Ethan
Across the Disciplines, v9 n2 Oct 2012
The ability of college students to write clearly and competently, both in first-year composition (FYC) and beyond, is often questioned. This qualitative, longitudinal study examines the writing practices and abilities of twelve students, following their performance in their FYC courses to their later studies in Writing in the Disciplines (WID) courses ranging from liberal arts to education, nursing, and science. The primary data source was a series of extended interviews soliciting information about students' writing projects and processes in both FYC and their specific WID courses. To ground the discussion of writing ability in actual student work, portfolios of students' writing projects from three data points--the start of FYC, the end of FYC, and later WID courses--were compiled and reviewed. Some students struggled significantly with various aspects of writing tasks. Yet most students in this study "did" come to learn, as writers, in their progress from FYC to their later work in the disciplines. Indeed, with appropriate instruction, sufficient motivation, intentional curricular design, and recognized good practices for writing in the disciplines, these students could and did write at or near very high levels of accomplishment.
Descriptors: Longitudinal Studies, Writing (Composition), Writing Across the Curriculum, Interviews, Writing Processes, Writing Instruction, Portfolios (Background Materials), Mixed Methods Research, College Seniors, Intellectual Disciplines
WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Tel: 970-491-3132; Web site: http://wac.colostate.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A