The role of academic background and the writing centre on students’ academic achievement in a writing-intensive criminological theory course

ABSTRACT

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to assess how the incorporation of an embedded writing centre tutor in the experimental class affects student achievement in comparison with the control class which had limited involvement with The Writing Centre. Data were collected from 43 students enrolled in two classes who completed a total of 158 papers in a writing-intensive criminological theory course. Using ordinary least squares regression, we find that paper grades and final grades in the course were affected by student GPA while enrolment in the experimental class did not affect grades. In addition, students’ perceptions of their writing ability improved from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester in the experimental class. These findings indicate that while grades may not improve in one semester due to working with tutors, perceptions of writing ability did improve which will likely impact achievement in future courses.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing-intensive course
• writing centres
• academic achievement
• writing assistance
• tutor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

Shelley Keith

Shelley Keith is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Memphis. Her research centers on the social psychological causes of crime with an emphasis on the role of identity and emotions. Dr. Keith’s recent work has appeared in Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, American Journal of Criminal Justice, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Kristen L. Stives

Kristen L. Stives is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Auburn University at Montgomery. Her research focuses on the challenges of prison life, sex offenders, and predictors of delinquency.  Her recent work has appeared in Youth & Society and Criminal Justice Policy Review.

Laura Jean Kerr

Laura Jean Kerr is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University and a graduate student fellow with the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Myrlie-Evers Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities.  Her dissertation examines the frequency and duration of food insecurity among community college students. Prior to enrolling in the doctoral program, she earned a Bachelor’s from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master’s from Mississippi State University.  Her research interests are social inequality, education, health, occupations, policy, and rural communities.

Stacy Kastner

Stacy Kastner is the Associate Director of the Writing Center and Writing Support Programs in the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from St. Bonaventure University and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Writing from Bowling Green State University. Her research focuses on student-centered, research-responsive, and cross-disciplinary writing pedagogy; institutional techno-ecologies that support the ongoing professional development of educators teaching digital composing; and the autobiographical dimensions of writer identity, particularly the personal and political textures of literacy acquisition.