What do students say about their writing after completing several writing-intensive courses?

An important study conducted by researchers at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa tells us that many students value writing just as much as their instructors hope that they do.

In the late 1990s, Thomas L. Hilgers and his research team sought to understand how students reflected on their writing experiences within their particular majors and disciplines. Upon completion of their required five-course writing-intensive sequence, not only are students at Hawai’i-Manoa aware that learning to write and communicate clearly is important, but also that they understand the conventions and standards of their particular fields and disciplines. Through a series of interviews with more than three dozen students enrolled in writing-intensive classes within their majors, students reported a substantial commitment to using their writing to facilitate increased confidence in their major course subjects. The researchers commented that “it was almost as if doing writing assignments in the major involved making an investment in who the student desired to become. Writing, in other words, seemed to be part of professional identity-building.”

Researchers were able to infer from students’ reports that, on their own, students were expected to discover new ways of tackling writing problems while engaging in rhetorical problem-solving strategies. Overall, students said that writing assignments enabled them to learn more—and thus feel more knowledgeable—about their major course content.

Hilgers and his research team point out that these findings significantly contrast with those of a 1995 study that reports on high school upper classmen nearing their graduation dates. In that study, students’ “sole rhetorical strategy was typically to ‘find out what the teacher wants and do that.’” While the Hussey study reported that high school seniors’ primary writing guide was the model five-paragraph theme, the students at Hawai’i-Manoa were instead “looking to, and accessing, multiple resources [for writing]. The very fact that they would consult more than one resource suggests that they were operating with rather sophisticated plans for accomplishing both their research and their writing assignments.”

The researchers argue that it is not just that students see writing as a tool for learning, but that it is often their primary source for learning to analyze, refine, organize, and comprehend what, how, and why they are learning the subject matter or content of the class.

It is also interesting to note that none of the students interviewed described writing as a linear process, one in which they “regurgitated facts or recorded thoughts on paper.” Students overwhelmingly viewed writing as much more than drafting and revising. “In solving problems and seeking goals,” writes Hilgers, “students backtracked, changed tactics, and engaged in multiple sources of information and advice.”

One history major confirms that assertion: “[Writing] helps you get a perspective on what you studied. When you read something—okay, you read it and you sort of understand it, but when you actually have to write about it and tell someone else, in writing, it forces your mind to think of it in a new way. When you have to try to convince someone in writing, it forces you to think a lot sharper…it forces you to be even more analytical.”

Reflecting on the writing process as a whole, a chemistry major says, “I think that the writing really puts the icing on the cake where I can really put into perspective what it is I’m supposed to be seeing, what’s actually going on, and being able to put that time into thinking about it.”

Though researchers gathered data from a relatively small sample set of students, their findings indicate that, as a whole, students writing intensively in their majors are “resourceful, involved, and often deliberate in their writing decisions.” The task of writing was viewed by students in the study as a problem-solving venture, one which enabled them to gain confidence over the content of their courses. As a result, students felt that writing-intensive courses in their majors were the most significant sources of learning at the university.

To read this study in its entirety, see Thomas L. Hilgers et al. (1999). “‘As you’re writing, you have these epiphanies’: What college students say about writing and learning in their majors.” Written Communication, 16.3. Available online at http://mwp01.mwp.hawaii.edu/epiphanies.htm.

For information on a Comm-B assessment study conducted by UW’s Verbal Assessment Committee in the spring of 1999, visit http://www.ls.wisc.edu/gened/facstaff/commbstudy.pdf.