Proactive Pedagogy Across the CJ Curriculum: Helping Students Develop Academic Writing Skills in 15 Minutes

• In Event: Pedagogy and Learner-Centered Teaching in Criminal Justice Education

Abstract

A necessary skill for both researchers and practitioners within the criminal justice system is the ability to communicate well in writing. Due to plagiarism increasing and current concern about college graduates lacking sufficient writing skills, some criminal justice programs have established semester-long writing courses within their curriculum. However, empirical literature reveals that a one-time intensive course is not as pedagogically sound as more frequent mini-formative assessment strategies that are designed within each CJ-required course. Instead of focusing explicitly on plagiarism prevention, the goal of ongoing mini-assessments is to give students the opportunity to develop their own original ‘voice’ and writing style because the latter takes students off the synonym-switching track and puts them on a track that has greater potential to reach academic writing excellence. Mini-formative assessments serve as proactive pedagogy and only require a 15-minute weekly commitment. This paper identifies the pedagogical platform which supports collaborative hands-on weekly worksheets and also provides samples of evidence-based assessments.

Author

• Sherri DioGuardi, University of Central Missouri