Administrators have been continually evaluating the success of the program using student feedback forms. These evaluations are paired with an advisory committee made up of 15 faculty members who look at writing samples produced from different classes.
"We're getting student opinions through surveys, so the students self report on what they think they're learning in the course ... Then we're also collecting papers from UW and WID courses," Beil said. "Depending upon the results, we tell instructors how to improve student learning."
Beil added that the many student self-reports show that students feel they are learning to think critically and write better. They also show that they rate their instructors very highly.
When the program began four years ago it was partially in response to a growing demand for skilled writers in today's society, Knight said.
"The need for strong writing skills is greater now than it has ever been," Knight said. "Even entry-level minimum wage positions require a degree of literacy that simply wasn't the case 10 years ago. We want to ensure that all GW graduates have the writing skills they need to succeed."
UW professor Emily Bliss said she thinks the program is having a positive impact on the University.
"(The program) is fabulous. It's really one of the very best writing programs in the country and I am often just blown away by the commitment and excitement of my colleagues," Bliss said. "I really whole-heartedly believe in it."
Although political science WID professor Chad Rector believes his department has done a good job integrating WIDs into its program, he thinks students need to be better prepared before they reach the WID stage.
"It would probably be a good idea for the CCAS to provide resources to departments in order to help them teach relevant writing skills to students early on in their careers," Rector wrote in an e-mail. "Ideally, we would be able to integrate WID-type programs into our introductory courses - that way students would develop writing skills appropriate to their major fields early enough to use them in upper-division classes."
Freshman Jonathan Miller said he hated the UW class he had during his first semester of college, but said the idea of the program is a good one.
"The assignments we got were punctuation and grammar things, but we live in a society where technology can do that for us," Miller said. "But I think the concept is great."
"We're getting student opinions through surveys, so the students self report on what they think they're learning in the course ... Then we're also collecting papers from UW and WID courses," Beil said. "Depending upon the results, we tell instructors how to improve student learning."
Beil added that the many student self-reports show that students feel they are learning to think critically and write better. They also show that they rate their instructors very highly.
When the program began four years ago it was partially in response to a growing demand for skilled writers in today's society, Knight said.
"The need for strong writing skills is greater now than it has ever been," Knight said. "Even entry-level minimum wage positions require a degree of literacy that simply wasn't the case 10 years ago. We want to ensure that all GW graduates have the writing skills they need to succeed."
UW professor Emily Bliss said she thinks the program is having a positive impact on the University.
"(The program) is fabulous. It's really one of the very best writing programs in the country and I am often just blown away by the commitment and excitement of my colleagues," Bliss said. "I really whole-heartedly believe in it."
Although political science WID professor Chad Rector believes his department has done a good job integrating WIDs into its program, he thinks students need to be better prepared before they reach the WID stage.
"It would probably be a good idea for the CCAS to provide resources to departments in order to help them teach relevant writing skills to students early on in their careers," Rector wrote in an e-mail. "Ideally, we would be able to integrate WID-type programs into our introductory courses - that way students would develop writing skills appropriate to their major fields early enough to use them in upper-division classes."
Freshman Jonathan Miller said he hated the UW class he had during his first semester of college, but said the idea of the program is a good one.
"The assignments we got were punctuation and grammar things, but we live in a society where technology can do that for us," Miller said. "But I think the concept is great."
