Assessment at the Writing Studio: Achieving Learning Objectives

Since its inception in 2000, the Writing Studio has assessed its work with student writers with a variety of tools. Daily assessment includes student writers’ setting the agenda for each conference at the beginning of the session and assessing achievement of those goals afterwards in student questionnaires and conference summaries to professors. Students who schedule E-Tutor appointments fill out a detailed submission form, which both serves as a self-assessment and directs tutors’ written comments on their work. Students also fill out a self-assessment before certain milestone appointments—the 5th, 15th, and 20th—and discuss these with their tutor. All three instruments play key roles in helping us rethink and improve our work as tutors.

We conducted a Fall 2003 survey that asked W20 students about their perceptions of the Writing Studio and made strategic planning decisions based on the results. We now emphasize that students do not need a complete draft to benefit from an appointment and that the Writing Studio is for all students, of all writing abilities, and not only for remedial assistance.

Determining if we are meeting our learning objectives is also an integral part of the new Undergraduate Writing Tutor program, which was the focus of a Spring 2006 survey. The Director of the Writing Studio co-authored “Can You Hear Us Now?,” an article based on a study in spring 2007 that shows the value of audio feedback as a revision strategy in the composition classroom and the Writing Studio.

Writing Studio usage has increased dramatically over the years, almost tripling from 1200 appointments in 2000-01 to 3300 in 2006-07, and the number of tutors has gone from an initial 16 to 29. Although we are pleased to reach larger numbers of students, we also encourage repeat visits by students, as we believe regular tutoring creates better writers. Indeed, one of the findings of the 2005 Writing 20 Assessment Project was that frequent visitors to the Writing Studio showed dramatic improvements in their writing for class. As a result, we encourage students to schedule appointments on a regular basis.

We plan in 2008 to target seniors who have been frequent users of the Writing Studio and assess to what extent their uses of the Writing Studio— through individual face-to-face and/or E-Tutor appointments, group workshops, writing groups, and web site resources—has helped them improve as writers during their four years at Duke. And, with the help of a new ESL Specialist, we also plan in Fall 2008 to survey the ESL undergraduate population in order to assess what level and types of additional support we can provide these students.