College students'' experiences with writing- What do we know, and how are institutions applying local findings

College  Students’   Experiences  With  Wri3ng:   What  Do  We  Know,  and     How  Are  Ins3tu3ons  Applying  Local  Findings?   AAC&U,  January  2016,  Washington  DC     Jillian  Kinzie,  Bob  Gonyea,  and  Alex  McCormick  –  Indiana  University  Bloomington   Chuck  Paine  –  University  of  New  Mexico   Laura  Palucki  Blake  –  Harvey  Mudd  College   Agenda   1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  Jillian       Bob   Chuck     Laura     Alex      Introducing  NSSE  and  the  Writing  Modules    Contributions  of  Writing  to  Learning  and  Development    Three  Case  Studies    Using  NSSE  &  FSSE  to  Challenge  Assumptions  about  Writing    Summing  it  Up/Discussion   NSSE  and  College   Student  Writing   Jillian  Kinzie  –  Indiana  University  Bloomington   Interest  in  College  Student  Writing   •  Degree  Qualifications  Profile  (DQP)  frames  desired   proficiencies  for  communicative  fluency  and  writing  and   commends  efforts  to  improve  “the  experiences  and   practices  that  move  students  toward  those  outcomes”     •  AAC&U  VALUE  Rubric  on   Written  Communication   Employers  &  Students  Perception  of  Preparedness:   Written  Communication  Outcome   Hart  &  Associates,  2015,   Falling  Short?  College   Learning  and  Career   Success     Assertions:  Writing  &  Student  Learning   • Written  communication  =  essential  learning   outcome   • Student  writing  positively  impacts  student  learning   &  development     • Writing  is  integral  to  learning  from  1st  semester   through  senior  year  and  beyond   • Writing  is  a  mode  of  learning  -­‐-­‐  a  key  competency  to   be  addressed  and  practiced  recurrently  and  at   successively  more  challenging  levels   Measuring  Student  Engagement   National  Survey  of  Student  Engagement  (NSSE)     • Launched  in  2000   • 1,600  institutions   • To  help  institutions   diagnose  and  take  action   on  dimensions  of   educational  quality   NSSE  –  Core  Survey  Writing  Items   •  During  the  current  school  year,  to  what  extent  have  you…Prepared    or  more  drafts  of  a  paper  or  assignment  before  turning  it  in   •  During  the  current  school  year,  about  how  many  papers,  reports,   or  other  writing  tasks  of  the  following  lengths  have  you  been   assigned  (include  those  not  yet  completed)    [none,    1-­‐2,  3-­‐5,  6-­‐10,   11-­‐15,  16-­‐20,  More  than  20]   •  Up  to  5  pages   •  Between  6  and  10  pages   •  11  pages  or  more   •  How  much  has  your  experience  at  this  institution  contributed  to   your  knowledge,  skills,  and  personal  development  in…  Writing   clearly  and  effectively   Launched  in  2013:  NSSE  Topical  Modules   • NSSE  participating  institutions  may   append  up  to  2  Topical  Modules  -­‐  short   sets  of  questions  on  topics  such  as   academic  advising,  civic  engagement,   experiences  with  diversity,  technology,   and  writing     • Modules  allow  for  deeper  exploration  of   important  areas  based  on  campus  needs   NSSE  Modules  2014-­‐2016  number  and   percentage  institutions  selecting   Module                  2016              2015          2014   Academic  Advising       189      34%   193    33%   250      35%   Civic  Engagement     Development  of  Transferable  Skills     49            9%   48            9%    57      10%   53      9%      55        8%      88      12%   Experiences  with  Diverse  PerspecKves     38            7%   44      8%      66        9%   Experiences  with  InformaKon  Literacy     60        11%    62      11%      83      12%    54      10%      67    12%    65      9%   Experiences  with  WriKng     First-­‐Year  Experiences  &  SR  TransiKons     150      27%   Global  Learning     Learning  with  Technology     70        13%   41            7%   134    23%   -­‐-­‐-­‐      59    10%              -­‐-­‐-­‐              -­‐-­‐-­‐        67    9%   “How  will  your   students  respond  to   these  thirteen   questions  after   taking  your  modified   course?”   Motivating  and  Informing   Development  of  WAC/WID   Auburn  University   Margaret  Marshall,  Professor  of  English   and  Director  of  University  Writing   2010:  NSSE  Data  Got  the  Ball  Rolling   •  Ten  years  of  NSSE  results   •  Students  were  writing  less  than  students  at  comparison   schools     •  The  QEP’s  “simple  solution”   •  “Improve  students’  writing  with  initiative  to  create  writing-­‐ intensive  courses  (WICs)  Hire  a  WAC  director.”   •  The  problem  with  that  solution   •  What  kind  of  WICs?     •  It  was  driven  by  Board  of  Directors,  not  faculty,  and  by  lore,   not  research   2011:  NSSE-­‐CWPA  Questions  Got  the   Ball  Rolling  in  the  Right  Direction   •  Auburn  administered  27  experimental  questions   and  the  aligned  FSSE  questions  to  gain  insight   into  issues  at  Auburn     •  NSSE-­‐FSSE  comparisons  showed  marked   disagreement  about  “clear  writing   instructions”—a  place  to  start   •  With  actionable  data,  her  WAC/WID  program   argued  successfully  for  resources     2016:  Results   •  Faculty  on  board:  faculty-­‐driven  response  and  buy-­‐in   •  Alignment  across  curriculum:  writing  outcomes  addressed   in  first-­‐year  writing  and  all  WI  courses   •  Critical  Thinking  through  Reflection,  Effective  Communication,  Visual   Literacy,  Technical  Competence   •  40  programs  use  e-­‐portfolios  coupled  with  enhanced   capstone  and  signature  work   •  Five-­‐year  longitudinal  study  underway  using  NSSE-­‐CWPA   writing  questions   Reinvigorating  a  WAC  Program  and   Faculty  Engagement  with  Assessment   University  of     Wisconsin-­‐La  Crosse   Patrick  Barlow,  University   Assessment  Coordinator   Darci    Thoune,  First  Year  Writing  Program  Coordinator   Bryan  Kopp,  University  Writing  Programs  Coordinator   (WAC/WID)     Engaging  Faculty  in  Assessment  via   CLASSE  Survey  Making   •  Home-­‐grown,  very  local  survey  making     •  Faculty  in  each  department  are  developing   their  own  CLASSE  surveys  about  writing  so   their  questions  reflect  what  they  teach  and   what  they  value   The  Results:  Faculty  are…   •  invested  in  WAC/WID  and  assessment       •  gaining  insights  into  their  own  discipline-­‐ specific  genres,     •  engaged  with  entire  assessment  process,   •  conversing  across  departments  and   aligning  their  programs   Using  NSSE  &  FSSE  to   Challenge  Assumptions   about  Writing   Laura  Palucki  Blake,  Harvey  Mudd  College   Using  NSSE/FSSE  to  Challenge   Assumptions  about  Writing   •  Some  Background   •  About  HMC   •  About  our  Writing  Requirement     •  Assumptions  about  Writing     •  Higher  Ed  and  STEM   •  Faculty-­‐held  beliefs   •  Student’s  predispositions  towards  writing   Peer  Review  of  WriKng  Assignments   First  Years   Seniors       4.5   4.5       3.5       3.7   3.2   3.5   3.2         2.5   2.5       1.5   1.5     Talked  with  a  classmate,   Received  feedback  from  a   Gave  feedback  to  a   friend  to  develop  your   classmate,  friend  about  a   classmate  about  a  draft  or   ideas  before  starting  your   draft  before  turning  it  in   outline     assignment   HMC     PeerGrp   2.9   2.8   2.8   2.8   2.5   2.6     Talked  with  a  classmate,   Received  feedback  from  a   Gave  feedback  to  a   friend  to  develop  your   classmate,  friend  about  a   classmate  about  a  draft  or   ideas  before  starting  your   draft  before  turning  it  in   outline     assignment   HMC     PeerGrp    =  no  writing  assignments;  2  =  few  writing  assignments;  3  =  some  writing  assignments;  4  =  most  writing  assignments;  5  =  all  writing  assignments   ConvenKons  of  Academic  WriKng   First  Years   Seniors     4.5     4.3   4.5   3.9     3.5   3.4     3.6   3.5   3.3       2.9   2.5   2.5   3.8   3.8   3.3     3.4   3.1   3.5   2.9   2.7   2.5       1.5   1.5       Argued  a  position   using  evidence   and  reasoning     Explained  in   Wrote  in  the  style   Addressed  a  real   writing  the   and  format  of  a   or  imagined   meaning  of   specific  field   audience   numerical  or   statistical  data   HMC     PeerGrp   Argued  a  position   using  evidence   and  reasoning     Explained  in   Wrote  in  the  style   Addressed  a  real   writing  the   and  format  of  a   or  imagined   meaning  of   specific  field   audience   numerical  or   statistical  data   HMC     PeerGrp    =  no  writing  assignments;  2  =  few  writing  assignments;  3  =  some  writing  assignments;  4  =  most  writing  assignments;  5  =  all  writing  assignments   Findings  from  FSSE/NSSE   •  70%  of  students  reported  instructor  explained  assignments  and   provided  clear  instructions,  whereas  90%  of  faculty  indicated  they   did  so   •  Difference  slightly  more  exaggerated  for  Seniors  as  compared  to  First  Years   •  Conclusion:     •  Students  might  not  be  aware  of  assumptions  that  are  not  explicitly  stated   •  Implications  for  increasingly  diverse  student  body   •  Discussion:     •  How  can  we  “make  the  invisible  more  visible”  to  students?   •  How  to  better  help  students  use  the  analytical  skills  taught  in  Writ  1  as  they   approach  writing  assignments  in  specific  disciplines   Summing  it  up/ Discussion   Alex  McCormick,  Indiana  University  Bloomington   College  Students’   Experiences  With  Wri3ng:   What  Do  We  Know,  and     How  Are  Ins3tu3ons  Applying  Local  Findings?   AAC&U,  January  2016,  Washington  DC     Jillian  Kinzie,  Bob  Gonyea,  and  Alex  McCormick  –  Indiana  University  Bloomington   Chuck  Paine  –  University  of  New  Mexico   Laura  Palucki  Blake  –  Harvey  Mudd  College   ...  Indiana  University  Bloomington   College  Students’   Experiences ? ?With  Wri3ng:   What ? ?Do ? ?We ? ?Know, ? ?and     How ? ?Are  Ins3tu3ons ? ?Applying ? ?Local ? ?Findings?   AAC&U,  January  2016,  Washington... Perennial  misunderstanding  about ? ?what   writing  does ? ?and ? ?how  it  does  it   All  Faculty ? ?Are  Responsible  for   Improving  Writing   Four  Common ? ?and  Troublesome  Faculty   Assumptions   A. ...  very ? ?local  survey  making     •  Faculty  in  each  department ? ?are  developing   their  own  CLASSE  surveys  about  writing  so   their  questions  reflect ? ?what  they  teach ? ?and   what  they