Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Research Archive: Short Courses vs. Long Courses in College Writing



Question: Which are more effective? Semester-long college courses or short courses?

Answer: “Reports the results of a series of long-range studies that demonstrate that participants in short courses improve their communication skills as much as students enrolled in semester-long college classes.” C David and D Stine. 1984. P. 186.

Comment: Depends on what you’re teaching. I have run out of time in semester courses when teaching writing—wasn’t able to teach the research paper. Might also depend on the responsiveness of the students. I suppose there is a lot of wasted time in teaching semester-length courses. Depends on what and how you’re teaching. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1985), pp. 183-204.

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