Reflecting on Papers Past: What College Students' Recollections Tell Us About Their Growth as Writers

• In Event: 56.081 - Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: 56.081-2 - Critical Thinking, Writing, and Reading

Abstract

This study reports on college students’ rich descriptions of their experiences that contribute to their growth as academic writers based on their recollection of a specific argumentative college paper. We report on students’ responses to five open-ended questions that queried students’ personal writing experiences of that paper, including what was experienced as influential for subsequent college papers, what and how they viewed feedback, and how they characterized their overall college writing experience. Results highlight themes that suggest students 1) value the opportunity to practice in a variety of genres, 2) find feedback to be highly important, and 3) acknowledge that successful writing requires extended effort and well-informed instruction.

Authors

• Mary G. Zeleny, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Linlin Luo, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• LuAnn Larsen, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Molly Takagi, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Shiyuan Wang, Rowan University

• Katie Graham, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Nan Wang, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Moon Yue Q. Yu, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Roger H. Bruning, University of Nebraska - Lincoln