Survey of incoming students aiming to learn about pre-college writing experience

Researchers in the Introductory Composition at Purdue program are kicking off a study about the writing experience of incoming Purdue students. The study aims to uncover the kinds of writing that students completed in high school before entering the University.

The study, "Assessing Pre-University Writing Experience in New Entering Students," is designed to gather baseline data on students' writing experience, so that researchers and instructors have a better understanding of the diverse types of composition experiences that Purdue students have and have not encountered. Studies increasingly demonstrate that strong written communication skills are highly valued by employers, so it is important to discover what kinds of skills students already have when entering the University, and which need further development.

"As high school educators use digital media and turn to nonfiction texts more often, we need to understand more about students' preparation," says Bradley Dilger, ICaP director. "A survey of Purdue students will give us the best data."

As a leader in writing studies research, Introductory Composition at Purdue is continually working to improve its approaches to teaching writing. The study is aimed at Purdue students, but it could potentially provide insight into student writing practices that would affect how writing is taught on a larger scale.

The study, which will run for three years, will administer online surveys each fall from 2017 to 2020. New students at Purdue will receive an emailed link to the survey at the beginning of the fall semester. Participants can enter to win one of 10 $25 gift cards.

The survey is at http://icap.rhetorike.org.

For more information, contact the investigators: Bradley Dilger, dilger@purdue.edu, 765-494-7370; Alisha Karabinus, akarabin@purdue.edu; Lee Hibbard, lhibbard@purdue.edu; and Trinity Overmyer, tcovermy@purdue.edu.