COMM 105-003
Assignment #1 – Reflection on Simkin et al.’s Study
For more than the past 30 years, study after study has indicated that graduating university students in America greatly lack the necessary writing skills to flourish in the workplace. In their 2012 paper “Student perceptions of their writing skills,” Simkin et al. outlined a variety of possible explanations for these troubling findings. They, however, chose to explore two of the many possible reasons for this rising writing problem: university students may be unaware of the importance of writing skills in the workplace or may possess the misconception that they are already good writers. Demographic information, survey questions about the importance of writing, personal evaluations of writing capabilities, and three writing assessments were used to investigate these hypotheses.
Study Implementation and Findings
A survey was completed by 140 students enrolled in business courses in a western university. The study revealed that 100% of the students thought that writing skills were “very important” or “somewhat important” for their future endeavours and 96% believed that their writing abilities would influence how others perceived them. This overwhelming evidence easily rejected the first hypothesis that students may be unaware of the importance of writing skills in the workplace, as all of the participants identified these competencies as relevant to the future.
Furthermore, it was found that 96% of the
In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.
Kevin Durant wins the most valuable player award in 2014. He gave one of the best speeches that talked about his teammates and his mom. Kevin Durant averaged twenty points and six rebounds a game. He can just about score from anywhere on the court and can shoot a three if he wanted to. That’s why he has four scoring titles and a rookie of the year award with the Supersonics. The Supersonics drafted him in the first round and the second pick. Kevin Durant made the all NBA first team five times in a row and NBA All-Stars five times in a row as well. He goes to a church before every game. Russell Westbrook has helped him achieve most of his awards and they may be known as the best two person team.
There are symbols everywhere. A flag is just a piece of fabric to some, but to others it symbolizes freedom and patriotism. Some books, such as the Lord of the Flies show a vast amount of examples of what symbols are. This story, the Lord of the Flies, has a lot of symbols, such as the glasses or the conch. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the conch shell symbolizes authority, which is derived from the structure and security within society.
In Dan Berrett’s article “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing”, published in the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 21, 2014, the author describes some issues regarding writing that first-year students face. Berrett claims that “the students’ notions about writing” do not meet their instructors’ expectations. I, as a freshman in university, agree with most of the author’s ideas. However, there are flaws in the article, which make it less convincing.
Society today places so much emphasis on attending a liberal arts college in order to get a degree and succeed in life. The only problem is that liberal arts colleges do not gurantee a job after graduation. Students are going into school expecting to graduate and be able to find a job, but then they find out it is not that easy. The value on liberal arts education is too high compared to the benefits. Results of interviews showed that after getting a job, the employee then had to learn on the job how to use the proper writing style required. Future research should look towards toning down the specialization of writing programs in higher education in order to cover a broader background and better prepare students.
Conformity due to social influence is portrayed in the movie. The mob mentality seen in the towns desire to assume the guilt of a black man based on no apparent evidence. In addition, the Scout and Jem were criticized in the school as well as in the town because their father is defending a black man. On the other hand, Atticus was also pressured by his own family member and other town folks to support the whites in the court
Employers and educators realize the importance of good writing skills but many business employees have writing deficiencies, costing American businesses billions of dollars every year. According to a study conducted by the National Commission on Writing (NCW) in 2004, American businesses may spend close to $3.1 billion yearly on the remediation of employees’ writing deficiencies. Consequently, employers are dissatisfied with employees writing skills and even more disappointed in the skills of new college graduates.
Nearly all careers require some form of writing. Since writing is used in all fields and jobs, it is a skill that students and workers should learn and become better at. College writing improves a students’ ability to express themselves on paper and as a result, improves their communication of their thoughts. Writing and good writing skills are necessary in almost every career field, regardless of how thorough it may be. In college, students are prepared to write in the style for their future rofessions.
High school students usually overestimate their college-readiness, particularly in terms of writing. An advisory committee of the National Writing Project
In today’s workforce, jobs are heavily based upon the skills that one has and how well one can perform them in their field of study. A major component skill that lacks in many young people today is writing. Writing plays is an important role in life, one needs it to communicate with other people. If young people are not taught this in their years of schooling and do not learn to master it, consequently they will come out on the bottom with poor writing skills. Which in
Life is a cycle of learning and the dissemination of what we’ve learned. In each day of our lives we learn something new to add to our list of skills and knowledge. When I first entered university, I thought the writing courses were useless and just a waste of time since we all can write. Later, however, I realized how those courses are beneficial in improving our critical thinking and communication skills not only the style of writing.
As a freshman at Linden High School, I have learned that writing provides students with the necessary communication and thinking skills necessary to succeed in school. Before I enrolled in ACL, I was a lazy writer who detested every aspect of writing. Now, I have learned to embrace writing challenges and learn from my mistakes. Writing persuasive and research papers proved to be difficult for me because it required organizational and research skills. As the year progressed, I began feeling more confident in my writing skills and looked forward to expressing my ideas on paper. As a writer, I have gained the knowledge and tools to grow as a student.
A learner’s ability to communicate effectively through writing to his/her target audiences is a major prerequisite for academic success. It is also a major pillar of success in one’s career across all areas of practice. Even though, writing clearly is critical to one’s academic and career success, I have not always loved writing. In fact, for a long time I despised writing. At one point, I had a feeling that my writings skills were bound to remain stagnated throughout my life. However, time has proven that I was wrong. My attitude and outlook towards virtually all genres of writing has changed positively. The various helpful methods I have been exposed to by my English teachers through different grades have helped me
Every day consists of writing, whether it is informal or formal. Writing comes in different forms including, emails, essays, text messages, and even note taking in class. I have gathered materials and assignments in my major to analyze what kind of writing is required and how it should be executed. What I discovered was surprising, but almost every piece of research revealed that writing is not incredibly important in my field of study.
Continuously a hot topic in higher education is the assurance of learning. Do the students who have graduated actually have the skill they were promised? The case study focused on business writing in an MBA program and presented a perspective, five steps for improvement for MBA students’ writing skills. Furthermore, the study provided examples used in the assessment process as well as data analysis used close the circle in the learning cycle. Consequently, the study finished with ideas for future improvement and lessons learned in the process.