Shaping the Professional Writing Skills of Graduate Students

  • All students need to recognize the different forms of plagiarism.
  • Many ESL students struggle with paraphrasing because of their limited English proficiency.
    • Many ESL students enter graduate programs with writing problems, but numerous native speakers of English also show significant problems with professional writing.
  • We need more resources in CEHS to support graduate students
    • Writing intensive courses in graduate programs.
    • Research focused courses that shape professional writing.
  • Writing intensive courses in graduate programs
  • Requirements for entering graduate programs may not adequately discriminate between strong writers and poor writers. Should requirements for entering graduate programs prevent poor writers from being admitted?
  • To some extent, an important task of graduate programs is fostering students’ writing skills.
  • Incoming graduate students are entering programs unprepared to engage in professional writing.
  • How do we develop and support students writing skills?
  • Should departments develop writing support groups?
  • Students expected to have critical friends review their first drafts.
  • Should departments provide a technical writing course and/or a proposal writing course?
  • Some students’ skill deficits in writing more appropriately reflect cultural differences regarding their previous training in writing. However, it is the college’s goal to train students to be able to publish in U.S. journals.
  • Should departments develop quantitative standards for graduate students such as presentations in national conferences or publications in journals?