ADVERTISEMENT
- Rozovsky wins prestigious NSF Early Career Award
- UD students meet alumni, experience 'closing bell' at NYSE
- Newark Police seek assistance in identifying suspects in robbery
- Rivlin says bipartisan budget action, stronger budget rules key to reversing debt
- Stink bugs shouldn't pose problem until late summer
- Gao to honor Placido Domingo in Washington performance
- Adopt-A-Highway project keeps Lewes road clean
- WVUD's Radiothon fundraiser runs April 1-10
- W.D. Snodgrass Symposium to honor Pulitzer winner
- New guide helps cancer patients manage symptoms
- UD in the News, March 25, 2011
- For the Record, March 25, 2011
- Public opinion expert discusses world views of U.S. in Global Agenda series
- Congressional delegation, dean laud Center for Community Research and Service program
- Center for Political Communication sets symposium on politics, entertainment
- Students work to raise funds, awareness of domestic violence
- Equestrian team wins regional championship in Western riding
- Markell, Harker stress importance of agriculture to Delaware's economy
- Carol A. Ammon MBA Case Competition winners announced
- Prof presents blood-clotting studies at Gordon Research Conference
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, programs announced
- Stay connected with Sea Grant, CEOE e-newsletter
- A message to UD regarding the tragedy in Japan
- More News >>
- March 31-May 14: REP stages Neil Simon's 'The Good Doctor'
- April 2: Newark plans annual 'wine and dine'
- April 5: Expert perspective on U.S. health care
- April 5: Comedian Ace Guillen to visit Scrounge
- April 6, May 4: School of Nursing sponsors research lecture series
- April 6-May 4: Confucius Institute presents Chinese Film Series on Wednesdays
- April 6: IPCC's Pachauri to discuss sustainable development in DENIN Dialogue Series
- April 7: 'WVUDstock' radiothon concert announced
- April 8: English Language Institute presents 'Arts in Translation'
- April 9: Green and Healthy Living Expo planned at The Bob
- April 9: Center for Political Communication to host Onion editor
- April 10: Alumni Easter Egg-stravaganza planned
- April 11: CDS session to focus on visual assistive technologies
- April 12: T.J. Stiles to speak at UDLA annual dinner
- April 15, 16: Annual UD push lawnmower tune-up scheduled
- April 15, 16: Master Players series presents iMusic 4, China Magpie
- April 15, 16: Delaware Symphony, UD chorus to perform Mahler work
- April 18: Former NFL Coach Bill Cowher featured in UD Speaks
- April 21-24: Sesame Street Live brings Elmo and friends to The Bob
- April 30: Save the date for Ag Day 2011 at UD
- April 30: Symposium to consider 'Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface'
- April 30-May 1: Relay for Life set at Delaware Field House
- May 4: Delaware Membrane Protein Symposium announced
- May 5: Northwestern University's Leon Keer to deliver Kerr lecture
- May 7: Women's volleyball team to host second annual Spring Fling
- Through May 3: SPPA announces speakers for 10th annual lecture series
- Through May 4: Global Agenda sees U.S. through others' eyes; World Bank president to speak
- Through May 4: 'Research on Race, Ethnicity, Culture' topic of series
- Through May 9: Black American Studies announces lecture series
- Through May 11: 'Challenges in Jewish Culture' lecture series announced
- Through May 11: Area Studies research featured in speaker series
- Through June 5: 'Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera' on view in Old College Gallery
- Through July 15: 'Bodyscapes' on view at Mechanical Hall Gallery
- More What's Happening >>
- UD calendar >>
- Middle States evaluation team on campus April 5
- Phipps named HR Liaison of the Quarter
- Senior wins iPad for participating in assessment study
- April 19: Procurement Services schedules information sessions
- UD Bookstore announces spring break hours
- HealthyU Wellness Program encourages employees to 'Step into Spring'
- April 8-29: Faculty roundtable series considers student engagement
- GRE is changing; learn more at April 15 info session
- April 30: UD Evening with Blue Rocks set for employees
- Morris Library to be open 24/7 during final exams
- More Campus FYI >>
10:11 a.m., July 15, 2010----The National Center for Education Research, a center in the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, has awarded an $880,000 grant to Charles MacArthur, professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, to fund a three-year research project aimed at helping improve the writing skills of college students.
The goal of the project is to develop and evaluate a writing curriculum and instructional methods to aid students in community college developmental English composition courses.
"Every year, hundreds of thousands of students take a basic writing class when they enter community college. These are usually non-credit courses that students are required to take before they can proceed with their degree goals," said MacArthur. "There are well developed instructional approaches for these courses, but there's very little research on what approaches are effective in improving students' writing."
MacArthur is collaborating with Melissa Ianetta, associate professor of English and director of the UD Writing Center, and faculty at Delaware Technical and Community College for the research project.
"This grant gives us a new way to think about postsecondary writing instruction," said Ianetta. "It will help us generate data to better understand what we're doing right and how we can do it even better."
Approximately 45 percent of students who enter one of Delaware Tech's four campuses from high school enroll in basic writing classes.
Researchers will begin this fall with observing the basic writing classes at the Stanton campus. MacArthur says they'll work with Delaware Tech faculty to create a curriculum that will be introduced in the spring semester.
From there, researchers will observe and collect data in the classroom, collect writing samples, assess students, and continue to make adjustments to the curriculum.
The revised curriculum will be taught again in the fall during the second year, and new faculty will be brought in the following spring to teach it again. In the final year of the project, researchers will conduct a pilot study with the fully-developed curriculum.
MacArthur has worked with students with disabilities and other struggling writers from grades 3-12 his entire career. Five years ago, he says he became more interested in working with adult learners in basic education programs and became aware of the lack of research on instruction for struggling adult writers.
"We saw the need and decided we could apply what we knew from working with younger struggling writers to see how effective it could be with this population," said MacArthur.
Struggling writers, according to MacArthur, have difficulties at all different levels, everything from handwriting and spelling and grammar to generating ideas and getting them down on paper in a way that communicates effectively to an audience.
Instead of concentrating on grammar, writing instruction within this curriculum will emphasize composition, helping students learn how to generate ideas and organize them in a way that makes the actual writing process easier. Students will also learn self-regulation strategies like task analysis and goal setting.
MacArthur says he's looking forward to seeing how the students and instructors develop throughout this project. He says he hopes findings from this project will lead to additional research in the future.
"It's all about the students," said MacArthur. "What motivates me is the opportunity to help students to be successful. When the students learn something and feel like they are growing and their motivation develops, I think that's wonderful."
Article by Cassandra Kramer