This article offers a case study of using a flipped, synchronous virtual workshop to introduce first-year writing students to the "Scholarship as Conversation" frame of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Before the workshop, students completed an asynchronous Preventing Plagiarism Tutorial that introduced…

While Writing Studies scholars have embraced research on multilingualism, writing scholars have not developed program assessment methods that are informed by that scholarship. This profile describes a program assessment design that was informed by research on multilingualism, super-diversity, and consequential validity. This design included…

This dissertation examines the history, funding, structure, efficacy, and challenges of dual enrollment programs in English (and more specifically in First-Year Composition, FYC, courses) that provide access to higher education for high school students prior to graduation, as these programs have developed and currently operate in the United…

This profile describes a new WPA's choice to work incrementally to assess an inherited, fledgling First-Year Writing curriculum at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and change it over a three-year period with continual stakeholder involvement. The methods used for assessment were two rounds of instructor surveys and three rounds of direct…

Following Messick's definition of validity as a multi-faceted construct that includes contextual, substantive, structural, generalizable, external, and consequential dimensions, this study examined an established directed self-placement (DSP) system that had been functioning for ten years at a large university. The goal was to determine the extent…

Presents an Outcomes Statement that describes the common knowledge, skills, and attitudes sought by first-year composition programs in American postsecondary education. Determines if there was sufficient commonality among programs and courses for a common program to be defined. Attempts to articulate this program as a way of understanding what…

Examines two West Virginia writing centers and finds no significant difference in the writing quality growth of students taught by individualized instruction in writing centers and those taught by conventional classroom instruction. Finds that the writing center programs achieved the same gain at one-half the instructional cost. (RS)

Examines the theoretical and pragmatic objections to first-year composition courses raised by recent abolitionists who are composition insiders. Assesses four frequently proposed alternative models of first-year composition. Discusses evaluating these alternatives from the perspective of a writing program administrator's dual roles of curriculum…

A program evaluation was undertaken at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) to assess the broad, measurable effects of using computers to teach introductory college composition. Twenty-four classes were studied--twelve control classes and twelve experimental--with the experimental computer classes meeting in the lab for half of their…

Evaluates the freshman composition course for students with low standardized test scores at Eastern Illinois University. Finds that the course has been moderately successful in achieving its aim of giving underprepared students a chance of success in college. (SKC)

A study designed a model for evaluating college writing programs by means of an analysis of the most important component, students. The study was conducted at the University of South Carolina Coastal Carolina College and involved first-year students. Subjects, six students who scored one (on a scale from one to four) on the holistically scored…

Christopher Newport College, begun as a colony of the College of William and Mary, was born in the 1960s out of the fervor to open the doors of higher education to more people. It enrolls between 500-600 students in freshman writing courses each semester. Changes to the freshman composition program were undertaken, beginning in 1994, with a shift…

Assesses the broad, measurable effects of using computers to teach introductory college composition, collecting data from 24 classes. Finds that students using computers revise and improve their posttest essays at significantly better levels than students writing with pen and paper. (SR)

Proposes a model for writing program administrators to use to assess the effectiveness of composition programs. Argues the need to consider local conditions, evaluate the internal coherence of programs, and consider the external relevance of programs. Describes how using this model led the Writing Center at Northern Arizona University to make…

Every year approximately 1,300 first-year students at the Rochester Institute of Technology complete a 50-minute placement essay during summer and fall orientations. The essays are scored holistically, and the students are placed into one of three levels of an English composition course. At the end of the 10-week quarter of instruction, students…