Pros and Pitfalls of Assessing Writing

Pros and Pitfalls of Assessing Writing Kathryn Byrne Writing Center Director Associate Professor x3497

Writing originates and creates unique constructs that are graphically recorded (Emig 1977, 123). • Writing establishes explicit and systematic conceptual groupings through lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical devices (Emig, 1977,128). • Writing is one of JCCCs learning outcomes • Writing is the currency of all business and creative endeavors Why use writing?

Time • Agreement • Confusion • Possible Loss of Camaraderie Pitfalls

When our purpose in reading student text is to defend our position, “we do not apply any of our natural response to a text. Instead, we search for ways in which it does not measure up” (Maja Wilson 2006). Assessment (especially assessing writing) can put us at odds with our convictions about teaching and at odds with our fellows. Pitfalls

Assessment works best when we use it as a tool to help us find out how well students are doing—how much deeper into the assimilation process they have come this semester/year. For the Good

Opens our minds • Broadens our relationships • Keeps us on our toes • Next steps-- For the Good

ONE: Have a discussion with all or a majority about elements of student writing your department members value- • KISS • Expect heat • Expect time consumption • Negotiate to consensus For the Good

Two: Match Writing Values to Department Values • Ensures validity when course expectations meet criteria stated in syllabi and department outcomes • Ensures fairness. Assessments must be free of bias. For the Good

Three: Do Something with the Data • Analyze it • Numbers need interpretation • You will not know what you have until you start to group, regroup, write, the rewrite • Share with your peers • Numbers • Artifacts • Assumptions • Questions

Break up the monotony- • Embed kinds of writing assessments into your curricula • Discuss numbers (at what point does the research have statistical value?) • Visit Shari Barrett (a lot) For the good

Still worried that WRITING correctness should play a larger role in the assessment? • Have a list of contact names from English who would consult with your faculty (help) • Ask them to be a rater in your assessment • Ask them to give you a grammar/mechanics workshop so everyone is on the same page • Just ask them quick questions For the Good

“Writing should be understood as the critical link between doing and knowing in the disciplines” (Carter, Ferzli, Wiebe, 2007). “An assessment method must convince us that it reflects our values about teaching before it seduces us with its claim to save time” (Wilson 2006). Writing is the currency in all business and creative endeavors and should be at the heart of every discipline.

Maja Wilson. Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, 2006. Print. Michael Carter, Miriam Ferzli and Eric N. Wiebe. Writing to Learn by Learning to Write in the DisciplinesJournal of Business and Technical Communication 2007 21: 278 DOI: 10.1177/1050651907300466 References

Pros and Pitfalls of Assessing Writing