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Class Size and Conferencing-UCCSAt WPA 2006, Deb Dew reported on research in progress. Contact her for more information: ddew at UCCS dot EDU From the program for WPA 2006: “Tracking the Impact of Individualized Writing Instruction on Writing Performance and First-Year Retention” Debra Frank Dew, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs This paper presents data on the positive impact of writing conferences on writing performance and student retention at the UC Colorado Springs. From an email on WPA-L, July 2006: [I have] “a few ‘rising’ facts about the affective impact of lower caps and conferences on students’ FY(W) experience. I also have a bit of quantitative data, where students who enjoyed caps @ 16 with extra conferences outperformed peers, who were in two other contexts, caps of 19 with one conference and caps of 16 with one conference.” In brief, students with caps @ 16 and extra conferences scored higher across 9 primary trait competencies and their final essays ratings than did their peers at 16 and 19 without extra conferences. We found a few significant differences. The 16 with population outperformed the 19s on primary trait #1 (defining their writing task/problem and generating a context for their essays) and #8 (their meeting of documentation standards for their essays).
Qualitative data (students’ self-reported responses to their learning experiences) from our exit surveys for our 16 with population were higher (they reported MORE of . . . or a stronger positive response) in the following areas:
Our goal is to secure caps of 16 in exchange for more conferences (which many writing faculty already deliver).
This fall, I will run both assessments across the whole of our first course with a dozen sections each of 16 with, 16 without and 19 without additional conferences.
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