An Exploratory Study of Incorporating Blogfolios Into a College Writing Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Jerry Chih-Yuan Sun ◽  
Geoffrey Middlebrook ◽  
Otto Khera ◽  
Ho-Yuan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Community Identity ◽  
College Writing ◽  
Digital Portfolios ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Professional Disciplines ◽  
Large Research

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness of the customized blog and eportfolio (“blogfolio”) platform, a hybrid tool for teaching advanced undergraduate writing courses at a large research universities in the southwestern U.S. By combining a blogfolio platform and academic writing, this article promotes the development of students' academic community identity and generates a better sense of identity and commitment among them towards their future career in their professional disciplines. The authors reviewed and synthesized articles and theories relevant to educational blogging and digital portfolios. In addition, the authors examined the impacts of the blogfolio on student learning and professional development based on data collected from surveys, blog entries, and server activity logs.

scholarly journals “Beautifying the Beast”: Customising Online Instruction in a Writing Course for Jamaican Tertiary-level Students

2013 ◽  
pp. 157-174
Author(s):  
Michelle Stewart-McKoy
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Design Based Research ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Directed Learning

This paper describes an on-going project which uses a design-based research approach in the design and development of customised online instruction for Jamaican tertiary-level students pursuing academic writing courses. The customisation of the academic writing content for online consumption is meant to spark student interest, prolong their online engagement and facilitate self-directed learning. This manuscript provides an overview of the four phases and describes in detail the processes and procedures involved in the completion of phases one and two of the research and the plans for implementation and evaluation of phases three and four.

scholarly journals Using Simulations in Teaching Research Academic Writing Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Ye. V. Luganskaya
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Teaching Research ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Positive Learning Environment ◽  
Dual Degree

The article focuses on teaching research academic writing to undergraduates taking a Russian-American dual-degree program offered by Baikal International Business School and its partner University of Maryland Global Campus. As the American program is online, writing courses are mandatory. Being the final course in the writing module, research academic writing is challenging not only for students but also for the instructor. This makes the teacher look for new ways to improve the quality of teaching and to motivate undergraduates. The paper describes action research aiming at introducing simulation games in research academic writing course to engage students in classroom activities, vary practical assignments, and make classes more interactive. Using observation, student questionnaires and interviews, the author compares her class atmosphere and student involvement before and after the intervention. As a result of her research, the author comes to the conclusion that simulation activities, besides other advantages, can be successfully used for teaching academic writing since they increase motivation and student engagement creating a positive learning environment. Moreover, pair or group work can minimize difficulties, which helps to better understand the material. Furthermore, simulation activities have a practical value enabling students to develop skills and competences vital for future managers. Also the paper offers simulation activities developed for the course which are given in the appendices

scholarly journals Saudi Arabia EFL university students’ voice on challenges and solution in learning academic writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abdullah Alharbi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Improvement ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Before And After

The present study aims to investigate the difficulties faced by 74 English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students in developing a well-written paragraph in academic writing by designing a writing course based on the students’ voices. The self-report survey (5-point Likert scale) was used as the pre- and post-questionnaire, and pre- and the post-tests task was used to track students’ writing improvement before and after taking a writing course. Pre-questionnaire and pre-tests showed that participants had difficulties in using the mechanics of writing (punctuation, spelling, grammar, topic sentences, and supporting sentences). The majority of the students’ responses in the post-survey shows that they believed their writing improved and encountered fewer difficulties in writing as compared to their views in the pre-questionnaire. The result of the post-tests indicates improvements in students’ writing samples. The study concludes that EFL writing courses should be designed on the basis of challenges faced by the students in order to get the best outcome from the course.

Meeting the Writing Needs of Business and Industry

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-232
Author(s):  
F. W. Fleischhauer
Keyword(s):  
College Writing ◽  
Proper Selection ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Practical Guidance ◽  
Industry Needs

College writing courses offer more practical guidance than ever, but they still fall short of business-and-industry needs. Missing in the main are writing mechanics tailored for communicating the who, whats, and whys involved in running an organization. A writing course aimed at reducing, if not closing, that gap has been in existance for some time now. Dealing with writing to prescribe, persuade or report, it is structured around the proper selection and arrangement of both what must be stated and the words with which to state it, and then stating it with reader ease. This article details the components within that structure.

scholarly journals Exploring Academic Writing Needs of Indonesian EFL Undergraduate Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratnawati ◽  
Didih Faridah ◽  
Syafiul Anam ◽  
Pratiwi Retnaningdyah
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Private University ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Need Analysis ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
General Skills ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
The University

Academic writing is noteworthy competence to be accomplished for English as a foreign language (EFL) students to fulfill their academic needs at the university. To do so, Indonesian tertiary universities accommodate and foster this competence using academic writing course. The study, therefore, sought to look into: 1. what undergraduate EFL students’ perceptions of the importance of academic writing to their current study and future career, 2. what the students’ perceptions of the difficulties of academic writing, 3. what the students’ attitudes towards their previous and future academic writing courses. The present study investigates students’ needs emerging in academic writing during classroom practices to gain insightful and profound perspectives for forthcoming needs of the course. Data were collected through a five scaled questionnaire of need analysis distributed to thirty-four EFL students from a private university, and a focus group interview involving nine participants. Results indicate 61% (Mdifficulties=3.05) of students faced difficulties in both general skills and language problems of academic writing and a new course was expected to provide moves/steps for writing the sections in a research article. The present study then suggests that e-database resources are needed for academic papers models and references hence its efficiency and flexibility in prospective academic writing.

scholarly journals UNIVERSITY STUDENTS� NEEDS OF WRITING COURSE MATERIALS: A CASE OF INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Ilham Ilham ◽  
Bachrudin Musthafa ◽  
Fazri Nur Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Private University ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
English Department ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Grammar Knowledge

The aim of this study is to explore the target needs (i.e. necessities, lacks and wants) of the students to inform academic writing courses materials. A case study design was employed as this design to provide in-depth data information. To collect the data, questionnaire and interviews were used. Twenty-three undergraduate students of English department at a private university in Mataram West Nusa Tenggara who take academic writing course in the 2019-2020 academic year participated in the study. The result of the study showed that the students need to learn the types of writing texts, vocabulary and construct sentences into paragraph, have good skills in writing different genres since they are lack of grammar knowledge and vocabularies, and improvement on the aspect of teaching writing. This finding may promise implications for updating the current curriculum and materials as practiced for tertiary level English department students in an attempt to keep up with the latest changes in the methodologies of English language teaching. This study recommends that lecturers and universities should conduct a need analysis regularly and updated the curriculum with such insightful needs.

scholarly journals Managing Co-Authorship as a Competence of Academic Writing: Organizational and Legal Points

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
M. A. Safonova ◽  
A. A. Safonov
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Broad Area ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Collaborative Groups ◽  
Attractive Option ◽  
Creative Contribution ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Russian Federation

Working on projects in co-authorship rather than individually is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many members of the Russian academic community. The reasons lie in the fact that collaboration allows reducing administrative, financial, and temporal expenses. For instance, the recent events concerning the coronavirus require prompt and effective methods of exchanging data to publish works on medicine and microbiology, without arousing any disputes of an organizational or legal kind. Embracing a broad area of linguistic and cultural knowledge, academic writing can also intend to develop people’s awareness of such problems as models of co-authorship, horizontal and vertical types of academic co-operation, functions assigned to members of collaborative groups at different stages of writing and publishing a text, whole ownership and that of individual contributions. The ambiguous interpretation of the concept ‘creative contribution’ provided by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation often impedes cooperation among co-authors, which demonstrates the need to consider legal and organizational points concerning co-publications in academic writing courses, the goal being to prevent future co-authors from potential conflicts and assisting them in managing their work efficiently.

Completing College Writing Assignments on Mobile Phones: Comparing Students’ Attitudes and Engagement Across Disciplines and Age

2020 ◽  
pp. 107769582094242
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Yaros ◽  
John Misak
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Time Span ◽  
College Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Composition Course ◽  
Students Attitudes

Large variations in mobile users, mobile devices, and course content make generalizations about mobile learning difficult. Prior to the international pandemic that forced more virtual and mobile instruction, this exploratory study measured how students in one journalism and one English composition course at two universities responded to completing writing assignments using only their phones. Although pre and post differences in student attitudes and engagement between the writing courses were insignificant, further analyses of age differences (freshman vs seniors) revealed significant variance. These results suggest only a 3-year time span could determine how much students embrace mobile assignments.

scholarly journals Practical Aspects of Academic Literacy Development in Higher Education Institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 117-127
Author(s):  
N. V. Ageenko ◽  
S. G. Menshenina ◽  
V. V. Dobrova ◽  
P. G. Labzina
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Academic Reading

Global tendencies in all scientific spheres require developed academic literacy of the researcher for effective international communication. Foreign language communication in a professional academic environment implies proficiency in the language of academic discourse. For academic discourse, as a component of academic literacy, development of academic writing skills is crucial. Higher educational institutions realize the necessity to design academic writing courses, and determine their place in the curriculum. Following the challenges of the time and academic community demands, SSTU English Language instructors designed an academic writing course to increase the methodological and academic literacy of students and young researchers. We believe that the development of the key educational and communicative foreign language competencies for academic and professional interaction can contribute to successful integration into the international scientific environment. Course design considered foreign experience, methods and curricula in the field of academic writing and academic reading.

scholarly journals Process genre approach to L2 academic writing: An intervention study

XLinguae ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 30-51
Author(s):  
Svetlana Hanusova ◽  
Olga Dontcheva-Navratilova ◽  
Marie Lahodova Valisova ◽  
Marketa Matulova
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Writing Course

The paper presents the research study of academic writing of Czech university students in an English Language Teacher Education study program. The authors apply an interdisciplinary approach integrating the perspectives of linguistics and language pedagogy in the evaluation of the design of the Academic Writing course and its impact on the development of students’ academic writing skills. Adopting a process genre approach (Badger, White, 2000) to writing instruction as a key design principle, our study combines the genre analysis framework (Swales, 1990) and the intercultural rhetoric perspective (Connor, 2004) to design an innovated academic writing course for graduate students focusing on developing critical thinking skills and context-aware writing. The course, informed by an analysis of the academic writing needs of the students, aimed at familiarizing them with the rhetorical structure of academic texts with a focus on the genre of the Master’s thesis and at introducing them to the academic writing conventions in the area of soft sciences. Piloted in 2019, the course was implemented as a blended course, where the contact sessions were complemented by online support in VLE Moodle. Apart from analyses of written texts, classroom writing, and homework tasks, it also included discourse editing tasks and peerreviewing with peer-reviewer feedback and teacher feedback. We believe that our research findings will shed light on the potential of academic writing courses based on the process-genre approach to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of English academic texts by non-native academic writers, and specifically Czech graduate students.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document