Presenters will share the methods and results of three alumni writing research projects and discuss the implications of the results for teaching writing across the curriculum.
“Learning from the Writing Lives of Alumni: Implications for Teaching”
Travis Maynard (Professional Writing & Rhetoric and English), Li Li (Professional Writing & Rhetoric and English), Julia Bleakney (WC Director), Heather Lindenman (First-year Writing and English), Paula Rosinski (WAU Director)
Tuesday 4/4, 4:30-5:30pm; coffee and snacks served, KLC 125 – Register
Presenters will share the methods and results of three alumni writing research projects and discuss the implications of the results for teaching writing across the curriculum. One study surveyed over 1,000 Elon alumni (who graduated between 2000-2018) as part of the Writing Excellence Initiative, giving us insights into the types of writing alumni most commonly produce in their professional lives, the ways that Elon helped prepare them to be effective writers after graduation, and how alumni think they could have been better prepared. A second 2019 study asked Elon students and alumni about the kinds of preparation they received in academia that helped them succeed as writers as they moved into their professional lives. The third study focused on alumni of an undergraduate major in writing and rhetoric at another university, seeking to understand if and how alumni apply their undergraduate writing education during and after college, and identifying the writing experiences that prepared them to apply that knowledge.
Participants will be invited to think about how they might revise their own writing instruction in light of the findings from these studies and/or brainstorm alumni research projects in their own offices, programs, and departments, thinking through questions and methods.