One issue that graduate faculty frequently see is a kind of disconnect between the questions students write for their research instruments and the primary research questions themselves. In other words, the questions don’t “get at” the information the student seeks. The result is that the data yielded by the instrument won’t answer the primary question(s). […]
graduate writing instruction
Tame the “Anxious Adding” that Leads to Unruly Sentences
Most of the time we think of sentence-level errors as a function of not knowing the rules of grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Certainly, this can be the case. But what if the way we construct sentences also reflects our cognitive make-up and affective states? I am curious about how our cognitive processes and even emotional […]
The Writing Instruction Paradox
Here is the problem in a nutshell. If we offer a writing class in the first term or two of graduate education, it is almost too early. Students may not yet have the need for the skills we offer (especially those related to research and thesis production). Likewise, they may not absorb, retain, or transfer […]