Student Approaches to Academic Writing
Mike Peterson, Ph.D.
Utah Tech University
In 2016 and 2017, I surveyed 111 students enrolled in English 1010 (Intro to Writing) and English 2010 (Intermediate Writing). The survey was anonymous, taken outside of class, and not graded. I was expecting that between my 7 sections, with about 140 students total, that less than 50 would willingly take the survey, so I was pleased to see 111 responses.
I didn't administer the survey with any intent to analyze the data. I simply wanted to show the pie charts (that Google Forms automatically generates) to the class so they could see how they compare to their classmates. But when I looked at the results, an interesting and hopeful profile emerged of the average student writer.
I am fully aware that there are holes in my methodology. I know that I speak in generalities. I know there are always exceptions. But I think what you'll find is useful in understanding how students, in general, approach academic writing assignments.
If you are a college student and are interested in taking the survey, please do! I will continue updating this page with the new data:
How long do students wait to get started on a writing assignment?
I was pleasantly surprised to see that only 11% of students report that they wait until the night before to start a writing assignment. I would have assumed the majority of students wait until the last minute, especially since I like to show a funny video about procrastination, and many students admit they struggle with waiting until the last minute. Perhaps, though, the "last minute" means a few days and not just the night before. A staggering 30% get started right away, and 50% will wait until a few days before it's due to get started.
The takeaway:
Create some "process" assignments to help students get started before the final paper is due, such as informal proposals, outlines, source evaluations, annotated bibliographies, research notes, or rough drafts. These can be graded simply (complete/incomplete) to prevent creating more work for you.
If you are not going to break up the paper with process assignments, then don't delude yourself into thinking that just because you gave students 2 months to write their paper that they'll actually spend 2 months working on it.
How much writing do students do in one sitting?
The survey reveals that a third of our students are masochists. They prefer to write an entire paper in one sitting: hours and hours on end. Half of your students, though, take a more healthy approach and prefer to write for just 1 or 2 hours at a time. As the follow-up chart shows, of the 50% of students who wait until a few days before the paper is due to get started, 51% prefer to write 1 to 2 hours at a time.
The takeaway:
Students are generally productive in small spurts, and they know it. This is hopeful. Chances are, the students who think they prefer to write the paper in one sitting believe they have to wait for inspiration to hit and then they'll fall into some sort of fugue state and everything will find its way onto the paper. Yes, a lot of stuff will certainly fall onto the paper, but I would hardly call it inspired.
If time permits, giving students a few minutes here and there in class to work on their paper goes a long way.
How much free-writing do students actually do on their own?
This is one of those murky areas where my lack of methodological rigor is evident. I don't specify in the survey whether I mean voluntary or involuntary pre-writing. And I don't fully define pre-writing. 12% of students report they do no pre-writing. But if they were to read my chapter on pre-writing, they would know that even just thinking about their topic is a form of pre-writing.
I might be naive, but I choose to interpret these results to mean that students voluntarily engage in pre-writing on their own.
The takeaway:
Students appreciate pre-writing. If you create some pre-writing assignments, it will also help prevent students from waiting until a few days before the paper is due before getting started.
How often do students learn something unexpected from writing papers?
I put this question in as an homage to Bruce Ballenger, one of my writing instructors at Boise State University, who liked to approach writing as a mode of inquiry. I was pleased to see that 84% of students acknowledge that they often or very often learn something unexpected from writing papers.
The takeaway:
Most students see the value of writing papers. Even if they complain and don't put much effort into it, they acknowledge that they learn something from it. And learning something begrudgingly is better than learning nothing at all.
Create writing assignments that allow students to explore and learn new things. Sometimes, writing assignments are used to assess how much a student knows about a topic, which is fine, but sometimes they should just be a place for students to admit what they don't know and document their attempt to struggle with hard questions and unfamiliar topics.
Forcing students to create a topic sentence and a detailed outline too early in the process can stymie the inquiry process. Encourage students to create place-holder thesis statements and allow them to revise and change their mind as often as needed.
Having students write their thesis statements as driving questions can promote inquiry.
When do students tend to get stuck in the writing process?
No surprises here: the majority of students report that starting a paper is the hardest thing to do. And when it comes to starting the paper, the majority find writing the first paragraph to be the most difficult part. I think this comes from misunderstanding how the writing process works, that you write the first sentence, then the second, and so on until the paper is done. I'm willing to bet the number of interesting papers that have been written in this lock-step fashion is in the single digits. Nobody writes like that--or, at least, nobody, who knows what they're doing.
The takeaway:
Create process assignments, such as free-writing, outlines, summaries, or writing journals to get students writing. Having students write a summary of a source or a reaction to an article, for example, helps them generate material they can actually use in the paper.
Share your writing process with your students. Let them know that it's not only okay but strongly advised that they wait to write the opening paragraph until they have something resembling a draft.
Do students prefer to pick their own topics?
Even though 20% of students report that picking a topic is the most difficult part of starting their paper, 54% report that they still prefer to pick their own topic. 87% of students want some sort of flexibility, whether that means picking their topic with no guidelines, selecting their topics from a list, or just being told which topics to avoid.
The takeaway:
Let students pick their topics when possible.
Provide a list of sample topics to help students come up with a topic of their own.
If you want to assign topics, consider giving students a list to choose from.
What do students want writing instructors to notice in their papers?
I'm happy that three-quarters of students believe that professors would rather read an interesting-yet-sloppy paper over a boring-but-polished paper. I need to survey writing instructors to compare these numbers, but I'm definitely entrenched in the interesting-yet-sloppy camp.
The takeaway:
You are a writing instructor, not a copy-editor. It's okay to point out a few errors, but balance them with praise and constructive criticism of the bigger issues, such as their claims, ideas, analysis, and use of evidence.
If a paper has a lot of errors, it's okay to deduct 10-20% from their grade with a comment such as, "This is in need of more editing." No one is going to hunt you down and accuse you of not doing your job if you don't point out every error.
Encourage students to visit you during office hours if they want to know specifically what errors they have made.
If time allows, give students the opportunity to revise and resubmit their papers (I know this isn't always a possibility, especially at the end of the semester).
The 3-3 rule works well for most college papers: give 3 points of specific PRAISE and 3 points of specific CRITIQUE. Noting that the essay is in need of more editing could be 1 of your points of critique. Anything more than 3-3 can become overwhelming and won't lead to meaningful revision.
What complaints do students have about the way instructors grade their papers?
The first time I administered this survey, I left this question open-ended. The second time, I put the responses from the first round in so that students could select them or add new comments. The first 7 comments include the percentage of students who selected them. The last 4 comments are write-ins.
The takeaway:
Students want instructors to comment on their ideas, not just errors or mistakes.
Students want to know how their papers will be graded (this is where rubrics, assignment sheets, and learning outcomes come in handy).
I'm saddened to think that nearly 20% of students think instructors didn't take the time to even read their paper. Instructors should be reading every paper, and there should be no doubt in students' minds that they read them. If you don't want to read your students' papers, you're in the wrong profession!
How confident are college students when it comes to writing academic papers?
The following graph doesn't come from the survey, but from an ongoing pre-test and post-test that we administer to every student in English 1010 and 2010. One of the questions asks students how confident they feel about writing academic papers. The data shows that confidence levels rise drastically from the start of English 1010, where only 29% felt confident or very confident, to the end of English 2010, where 68% felt confident or very confident.
The takeaway:
Mission accomplished! Even though it isn't one of our stated learning outcomes, the hope is that students will leave English 1010 and 2010 feeling confident when it comes to writing academic papers.
Confidence is delicate, especially when it comes to writing. It is just as easy to build students up as it is to tear them down.
Don't critique students for having misplaced confidence. If they are confident and still write a horrible paper, use that as a starting point: "I like where you're going with this!" rather than, "This is unacceptable."
How will the average student approach a writing assignment?
Based on the results from this survey, it's safe to say that, on average, when given a writing assignment, your student...
Will wait until a few days before the due date to start on it
Will write for only 1 to 2 hours at a time
Will engage in pre-writing on their own, such as outlining and free-writing
Will prefer to pick their own topics even though they will struggle to do so
Will get hung up on writing that first paragraph
Will care more about expressing their ideas than writing error-free sentences
Will expect you to provide feedback on their ideas and not just point out errors and “mistakes”
Will learn something they didn’t expect from writing the paper
Will feel confident about writing the paper
What is the takeaway from all of this for writing instructors?
I have mentioned a few "takeaways" under each question, but here are, perhaps, the most important that emerge from the data:
Assigning something two months from now doesn’t mean students will spend two months working on it
If you want students to get started right away, give them some pre-writing assignments, such as an outline, a proposal, or an annotated bibliography
Let students pick their own topics, but provide some guidelines, such as topics to avoid or examples of good topics
When you grade the paper, focus more on the ideas and less on the mistakes (don’t be a a copy-editor)
Even when they gripe or do a poor job, students still learn new things from writing assignments
Writing confidence is delicate: it’s just as easy to build students up as it is to tear them down
*If you're interested in viewing the PowerPoint I shared at the 2018 CTL Conference on this topic, it is attached at the bottom of this page. I recommend you download it and view it in PowerPoint. The Google Slide view is atrocious and most of the information is missing.