KIM ROBINSNOVEMBER 30, 2009

ETD 624

Guided Writing Activities forFirst-Year College

Business Writing Students

Good Writing Skills are Necessary in Business

“The need to write clearlyand quickly has never beenmore important than in today’shighly competitive, technology-driven global economy.” -Joseph M. Tucci

- President and CEO of EMC Corporation- Chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Education and the Workforce Task Force

Source: National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2009). Writing skills necessary for employment, says big business: Writing can be a ticket to professional jobs, says blue-ribbon group.

How Good Are Graduating College Students’ Writing Skills?

National Commission on Writing surveyed 64 human resource managers in 2004

“The skills of new college graduates are deplorable – across the board; spelling, grammar, sentence structure…. I can’t believe people come out of college now not knowing what a sentence is,” said one respondent.

Source: Quible, Z. K. (2006c). Impact of error labeling on error elimination in business writing. Business Communication Quarterly, 69(1), 8-24.

How Will Lack of Good Writing Skills Affect Employment Opportunities?

National Commission on Writing2004 report, “Writing: A Ticket toWork…Or a Ticket Out”

“People who cannot write andcommunicate clearly will not behired, and if already working,are unlikely to last long enoughto be considered for promotion.”

Source: National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. (2004). Writing: A ticket to work…or a ticket out: A survey of business leaders.

Example of Poor Writing Skills in Business

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:38 PM From: "Jane Smyth" smythj@acmepaper.com To: "Kim Robins" karobins@yahoo.com Subject: Sales Contest, Acme Paper Company    Hi Ms. Robins,   My name’s Jane Smyth. I is your new sales rep at Acme Paper Company and John is the

other rep and we sells paper and supplies in your area.   Many uv the reps is in a sales contest. We lerned about new suplies & deals 4u.   John and I is going to be in your area soon. We wanna see u, if u are there.There are

many questions we wants to discuss with u. John don’t know for sure, but he thinks hes got some good savings for u.

  Sees u soon!   Jane

How Do We Ensure First-Year College Business Writing Students Improve Their

Writing Skills?

Determine the effects of guided writing activities on student achievement and motivation on first-year college business writing students

Top Literature Reviews

Sentence-length varietySentence-level deficienciesPeer reviewSelf-regulated and instructor feedback

Writing across the curriculum

Sentence-Length Variety

Study of 31 students in first-year college writing classes

Apply the “18 ± 4” rule to revising paragraphs- No sentence contains more than 18 words- Each sentence is four word shorter or longer than

the previous sentenceAmie said: “I never realized how many extra

words I throw into my sentences that could be left out normally. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.”Source: Hunley, T. C. (2003). Almost a game: Enabling restrictions in sentence variety exercises. College Teaching, 51(1), 9-12.

Sentence-level Deficiencies

Use a tracking system for students’revisions- Error code list

- Record sheet for grading efficiency

Edit own work or 100-wordparagraphs with errors

- Small groups

- Editing buddies

Grammar and punctuation improve-ments were statistically significant

Source: Quible, Z. K. (2006b). Five strategies for remediating sentence-level writing deficiencies. Business Communication Quarterly, 69(3), 293-304.

ERROR CODE LIST Punctuation ErrorsA01. Comma splice.A02. Essential expression; comma not needed.A03. Incorrect capitalization (or lack thereof). Grammar ErrorsB01. Spelling error.B02. Subject-verb disagreement.B03. Sentence fragment. Writing-Style ErrorsC01. Lacks you-attitude.C02. Has negative tone.C03. Lacks clarity.

Peer Review

Learn from the instructor and peersCome from different backgrounds and experiencesTest effectiveness of writing on readersUse Protocol-Aided Audience Modeling – reader

speaks thoughts out loud while reading the document

Students became aware of ambiguous word choices, inappro-priate tone, and the effects their writing had on readers

Source: Holst-Larkin, J. (2008). Actively learning about readers: Audience modelling in business writing. Business Communication Quarterly,. 71(1), 75-80.

Student Author Wrote: “Reader” Responded:

Dear Sirs: I am a woman!

We are upgrading our system to make collection of fees more efficient and unproblematic.

Are you admitting to a problem? I’d better look into it more closely.

Self-regulated and Instructor Feedback

Use a feedback system so students can self-remediate their errors – students were asked to:- Critique their essays

- Identify their own strengths and areas for improvement- Hand this in with their essays

Use instructor feedback that fosters encouragement and critical reflection- Use positive words and phrases prior to criticism- Use words such as “maybe” and “perhaps”

Students felt they “were treated with respect, appreciated the teachers’ tact, and were motivated to improve”

Sources: Helmbrecht, B. (2007). Giving grades, taking tolls: Assessing the impact of evaluation on developing writers. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 34(3), 306-320; Treglia, M. (2008). Feedback on feedback: Exploring student responses to teachers’ written commentary. Journal of Basic Writing, 27(1), 105-137.

Writing Across the Curriculum

Movement in the mid-1970’s :- Teaching writing is necessary in all disciplines

- Helps students learn and retain the material

In a college psychology course, students wrote:- Case report - Report of an empirical study- Conference abstract - Literature review

Progress format was used for the writing assignments- Each project was completed in stages- Plenty of feedback opportunities were available

Students’ grammar and APA writing style significantly improvedSource: Goddard, P. (2003). Implementing and evaluating a writing course for psychology majors. Teaching of Psychology. 30(1), 25-29.

KIM ROBINSAPRIL 5, 2010

ETD 625

Guided Writing Activities forFirst-Year College

Business Writing Students

Purpose of the Research

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of guided writing activities on student achievement and motivation of first-year college students

Methodology - Sample

Delta College – educate, inspire, challenge, support

Business Communications I – requiredFirst-year business writing studentsA 15-week, 3-credit, face-to-face night courseInstitutional Review Board – proposal,

approval

Methodology - Sample

Winter 2010 semester - 20 students enrolled, 15 remain

Gender Number Percent

Male 3 20.0%

Female 12 80.0%

Total 15 100.0%

Age Number Percent

Under 24 4 26.7%

24-33 2 13.3%

34-43 3 20.0%

44-53 5 26.7%

Over 53 0 0.0%

Subtotal 13 86.7%

Non-response 2 13.3%

Total 15 100.0%

Methodology - Procedures

Grammar, confusing words, and spelling words- Review, textbook assignments, and online exercises

Sentence and paragraph development- Analyze purpose and audience, organize thoughts, and write about one topic per paragraph

Writing assignments

Multi-Step Process

1. Review poorly written letter 5. Write on board

2. List weaknesses 6. Read out loud

3. Discuss in teams 7. Explain reasons

4. Collaborate on one best team revision

8. Point out strengths and areas to improve

Methodology – Data Collection

Observational journalInterview – associate professorInterviews – five studentsPhotographsStudent writing attitude surveysGrammar skills diagnostic assessmentsGrammar, confusing words, spelling words

quizzes

Results – Observations

Technology- Business expectations

Students- Little to no experience *Educator, Word, databases

- Some without software- Most have Internet access- Most have other obligations

Results - Observations

Read-Aloud Peer Review- Writer listens and records

- Readers read out loud and offer thoughts and suggestions

Student’s comments- “One of the main things that

has helped”- “Reading their pieces gave me different ideas about how to write”

Results - Observations

Following Directions- Instructions?- Listening skills?- Distractions?- Classroom management?

Simple Process- “Here is what I need you to do”- No one listens- “If anything else is on your desk, please put it away”- Some comply- “Just like you’re doing, thank you!”- “Thank you, I appreciate it.”- “Nice, nice job.”- Items are put away…everyone is paying attention

Doug Lemov- “Teach Like a Champion: The 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College” (April 2010)

Source: Green, E. (2010, March 2). Building a better teacher. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?pagewanted=all

.

Results – Analysis of Data

Attitude SurveyQuestion 1. How do

you feel when you have something you want to write about?

Results – Analysis of Data

Attitude SurveyQuestion 5. How do

you feel about writing assignments in school?

Results – Analysis of Data

Attitude SurveyQuestion 6. How do

you feel when the instructor asks you questions about what you write?

Results – Analysis of Data

Grammar Skills Diagnostic Assessment

Results – Analysis of Data

Grammar Skills Diagnostic Assessment

Results – Analysis of Data

Grammar Skills Diagnostic Assessment

Triangulation

Experiencing

Enquiring

Examining

Triangulation

Experiencing- Direct observation

- Notes- Looking for obstacles

Enquiring- One-on-one interviews- Online surveys: open- and closed-end questions

Examining- Daily journal- Classroom maps- Rubrics

Recommendations

Golden nuggets – determine key elements needed

Technology – continue to use it; new LMS in Fall ‘10

Grammar – focus on key elements first (run-ons, comma splices, subject/verb agreement); review often

Recommendations

Confusing and spelling words – ask students to focus on those that give them the most trouble

Online grammar assessment and exercises – continue requiring these; review textbook’s tools

Writing assignment – continue using the multi-step process

Q & A…Thank you!

Questions and answers

Thank you!