Using Writing Portfolio to Enhance Graduate Students' Writing Skills and Professional Development

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Academic, Professional, and Scholarly Development in Graduate Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover the effects of differentiated feedback on graduate students’ writing skills and professional development through the students’ writing portfolios. A total of thirty participants (sixteen female and fourteen male) from a class of graduate students studying transportation policy were recruited for this study. A mixed method was used to provide a better understanding of students’ improvement on academic writing and their perceptions about the use of a writing portfolio to enhance their academic writing. The results showed that students reacted more positively to the writing portfolio, to individualized learning contents and reading contents, as well as to communication with their teacher. After using the writing portfolio, an academic writing growth was also detected.

Authors

• Chia-Yuan Yu, University of Central Florida

• Jui-Teng Li, Appalachian State University