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A STUDY OF WRITING EXPERIENCES AS PERCEIVED BY THE FACULTY AND GRADUATING SENIORS IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN
Abstract
This study examined the writing experiences of college students as perceived by both the teaching faculty and the graduating seniors of a major college in a major university system. Descriptive data collection included two survey instruments administered to the two different populations. The data gathered were compiled in frequencies in order to describe the number and percentages of the total responses of each population for each section of the questionnaire. The data were recompiled for each population by academic groups: humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences in order to determine any differences among the groups on each section of the questionnaire. Significant differences were found on the variables prewriting, content in evaluation, discussing research techniques, and content as major problem in student writing. No significant differences were found among the student groups concerning any of the variables. However, a discriminant analysis of student questionnaire data determined eight variables in student writing experiences which predicted with a 90% hit rate a student's expression of competence in writing. Of the eight variables, two described experiences in English classes, while four pertained to experiences in other courses, with two of the variables applying to either categories of classes. Other findings revealed note-taking as the most frequently occurring kind of writing in and for a class. Of the three major stages of the writing process--prewriting, writing, and rewriting--the first stage was the only one reported occurring on occasion. Little, if any, writing occurred in classes; and not editing or rewriting was reported taking any class time. In most classes, writing was seen as an attachment to a class and usually as a means of evaluation, not as a tool for learning. The predictors of student competency, though, revealed the importance of writing as more than a measure of evaluation and as a mandatory occurrence in classes across the curriculum.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
CUTCLIFF, DEBORAH EVELYN, "A STUDY OF WRITING EXPERIENCES AS PERCEIVED BY THE FACULTY AND GRADUATING SENIORS IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8412300.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8412300