What Graduating Senior Survey Tells Us about Students' Writing Experiences in the Major

by Sarah E. Baker, English, WAC Assistant

Each year, the Office of Institutional Assessment (OIA) surveys graduating seniors about their academic experiences at Mason. To learn more about students’ experiences with writing in their major, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) committee looked at the 2006 survey results for each major. We found the results interesting, encouraging, and sometimes worrisome when it came to students’ recollections and perceptions of their writing experiences. The survey includes three questions that ask about students’ opportunities for revision and feedback in 300-level courses and above (excluding English 302, the required advanced composition class) and the effect of receiving feedback in improving their writing, their confidence, and their understanding of their field.

Some Results

Because all students are required to take a writing-intensive course in their major, they should have at minimum one upper-level class that provides opportunities for revision and feedback. Yet, when asked how many courses allowed this opportunity, 11% of students overall answered that no course did. On another question, 19% of students overall reported that they rarely (12%) or did not (7%) have sufficient opportunity to revise after feedback. Majors for which this percentage is higher than average, which includes several across the colleges, are meriting a second look by the WAC Committee to figure out why students either are not being given this opportunity or are not aware of the writing-intensive requirements. Especially worrisome may be those majors in which writing plays a large role in all upper-level courses and yet students report only one or no class that enabled feedback and revision.

Three survey questions deal with whether students perceive that upper-level courses helped them improve their writing, their confidence, and their understanding of their field. The most interesting finding here is in the degree of agreement among students. For example, 85% of seniors overall agree that the writing assignments increased their understanding of their field, of which 43% strongly agree and 42% somewhat agree. However, in looking at the results for individual majors, even though overall agreement is comparable to the average, the WAC Committee noted the range of scores in the “strongly agree” category. In some majors, for example, only 32% strongly agree that writing helped them learn their field, while in other majors as high as 65% strongly agree. The WAC Committee will look closely at these kinds of fluctuations and will make recommendations to departments whose graduating seniors are giving low scores when asked about their writing experiences in the major.

To access senior survey results overall, by college, and by department, visit: http://www.assessment.gmu.edu/Results/GraduatingSenior/senior.html.