Remedial Writing Instruction in Four-Year Universities

In the age of e-mail, drive throughs, and portable phones, instant gratification has become a way of life. Do these shortcuts make things easier for us much of the time? Yes. Do they come without a cost? Absolutely not. Look at writing skills, for example. Almost twenty percent of students entering universities are in need of remedial instruction in writing (Baron, 2003, 1). Many professors feel that this percentage is too high. Why are so many students who are otherwise ready for college-level work falling short in the area of writing skills? Is there a disconnect between what is expected of high school students in their last year and what will be expected of them in their first year of college? This paper will discuss methods of data collection for a research project that could be undertaken to answer these important questions.

This research project would involve both high school and college level courses and would compare the amount and type of writing assigned to students as well as the amount and type of writing instruction received in classes. Amount of writing assigned would be defined as minimum acceptable word count on each assignment added together and would be divided over the number of weeks in the course. This would increase the validity of the study because college semesters and high school semesters may or may not be similar in length. Type of writing would be clearly defined and described to increase the reliability of the instrument and would include the following categories:

·Summary, research paper, or book report (Student is being asked mainly to regurgitate information learned or read.)
·Compare/contrast, analyze, or critique (Student is being asked both to restate information and to work with this information for another purpose.)
·Personal writing, open assignment, or journaling (Student is being asked mainly to write about him or herself, his or her personal experiences, or is given a choice to write about anything.)

Amount of writing instruction would be defined as the number of minutes spent in class attempting to teach any one of the types of writing instruction listed and type of writing instruction would be defined as follows:
·Grammar lesson
·In-class writing assignment
·Any lesson other than grammar (style, tone, diction, use of resources etc.)

The data will be collected from high school English teachers at the first-year through senior levels and from college instructors at the first-year level. Possible methods of data collection include face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, and mailed written surveys. For this study, the most appropriate method would be the written survey. A written survey would allow teachers to review information about the different classifications before responding as well as to have the information with them during class and throughout the semester. This would increase validity because it would measure what was actually taught instead of what was anticipated based on the syllabus or lesson plan. It would also increase the validity of the study by allowing the use of a more "widely dispersed sample," one of the benefits of a mail survey (Aron & Aron, 2003, p. 52).

References
Aron, A & Aron, E. N. (2003). Measurement Evaluation and Ethics in Research. Boston:
Pearson Custom Publishing.
Baron, D. (2003). Teaching grammar doesn't lead to better writing. The Chronicle:
49(36), B20. Retrieved January 29, 2006, from the ProQuest database.