We learned in Part I of this blog how attempting to fix apparent lack of consistency in writing instruction and grading through rigid practices of standardization, actually had the opposite effect and seemed to increased perceptions of inconsistency. Standardization also caused students to disengage with writing and created inequitable circumstances for minority and other disadvantaged student populations. So how can we build flexibility into writing instructional practices and reduce perceptions of inconsistency? What does flexibility benefit?  Flexibility allows for adjustments in requi ..read more

Many many years ago when I was a new nursing instructor and I was getting assigned to the things that nursing instructors get assigned to do, I was, for a few years, plunked in the skills lab for our spring session course. We got the same instructions every orientation from the instructors assigned to organize the course. “Every person in this room, has to teach the skill in exactly the same way.”  And we’d all nod our heads and go off and teach it the way we knew how to do the skill. I guarantee we all THOUGHT we were teaching it the same way because, it’s a skill. It’s objective. There ..read more

It happened in one of my early student interviews. The student read the item on my developing questionnaire that asked them to self-assess their ability to adapt their writing to meet the needs of the assignment. The question was supposed to be getting at switching from genre to genre. If they were writing a reflection, did they sound reflective? If they wrote an academic assignment, did they get their point across in the form of an argument and address a specific question? But her response was, “I’m meeting the needs of the professor, not necessarily meeting the needs of the assignment.” And ..read more

Hello Twitter Followers and Blog Followers, I am seeking experts to help me review, revise and validate,  a newly developed writing self-efficacy instrument. My instrument takes a different approach to writing self-efficacy.  Current instruments tend to assess textual surface abilities and writing process abilities. I intent to also consider the role of discipline and writing context on writing self-efficacy. I am in the process of putting together the final members of a Delphi panel to assess the fit of 41 pre-developed items to the concept of writing self-efficacy and several theoretical s ..read more