International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow 9-11 June 2015 Welcome

Mary Pryor and Alison Lumsden University of Aberdeen Academic Writing Matters Challenging times Background to the Academic Writing Courses From pilot to full roll-out: lessons learned

Academic Writing Matters: challenging times College of Arts & Social Sciences (CASS) Teaching & Learning Committee, We are concerned about the change in our students’ writing abilities:  Not as they used to be  Not as we would wish them to be  But it’s not my job to teach them to write!

Academic Writing Matters: the exemplars Higher English Papers : Summarise in 130 words Can students read and summarise a text? Can they do so with accurate use of grammar, spelling and punctuation?

Academic Writing Matters: challenging times CASS Teaching & Learning Committee, Should we try a diagnostic test and offer follow-up writing development?  When?  What do we want to know?  How?  Who will mark it?  Preferably, the test should be done online

What did we want to find out when students first arrive? Can they write fluently? Can they write grammatically? Can they use appropriate punctuation? Can they use appropriate spelling? Who might benefit from early writing development? How would we do this? Diagnostic online test – one for each School within the College Marked by academic staff Online results and feedback for the students Follow-up opportunities for student writing development Academic Writing Matters: transition into university

Academic Writing Matters: the task Summarise the content of the passage in NO MORE THAN 150 WORDS. Summaries that are longer than 150 words will lose marks. This exercise will be marked on: How accurately you summarise the text AND how accurate you are in your use of grammar, punctuation and spelling

CASS Academic Writing Course Plan Week 1 End Week 3 Results Week 4 Week 5 End Week 7 Results Weeks 8–10 Week 11 End of course Writing Test I Read text and summarise (150 words max.) ACHIEVED COURSE COMPLETED NOT ACHIEVED NOT PARTICIPATED Work through online Improving your Writing Read text and summarise (150 words max.) ACHIEVED COURSE COMPLETED Attend Writing Workshops with Student Learning Service Writing Test II NOT PARTICIPATED NOT ACHIEVED 1.Constructing & punctuating sentences 2.Spelling, paragraph structure, developing & supporting an argument 3.Writing a summary and paraphrasing ACHIEVED COURSE COMPLETED

Academic Writing Matters: from pilot to full roll-out of the course Pilot: ALL Level 1 entrants to the Schools of Education & Law registered for the course date: ALL Level 1 entrants with a degree intention wholly or partly in the College of Arts & Social Sciences (CASS) registered for the course  Single honours intention: take the test assigned by the appropriate School (one of six)  Joint honours intention: allocated to the test alphabetically from the first School (if both in CASS) OR from the appropriate CASS School

Will I be thrown out if I fail? Who cares? Is that all there is to it? That was fine! What does ‘summary’ & ‘summarise’ mean? Will anyone notice if I don’t bother to do it? I find this impossible to do! I think I need help! Help! The ‘technology’ didn’t work! Academic Writing Matters: the impact after the pilot, 2011

Academic Writing Matters: comments from workshop attendees, 2014 Having to do the test and then receive help seems unhelpful …the workshops… very beneficial and defiantly (sic) helped my essay and exams …what helped me most has been seeing that other people could make mistakes as well… I found the challenge of having to edit large pieces of text within a certain time limit useful whilst ensuring that it was grammatically correct All my troubles with academic writing are caused by a simple fact that I was writing…in a different language …I felt offended by the way the [online test] corrections were done: no human contact… I found the tests very challenging, which helped me to see the standard required The writing test most certainly helped me realising I needed to improve my academic writing skills More workshops on parts of the English language such as improving spelling or grammar would be useful