Modifying an Introduction to Criminal Justice Course to Be Writing-Intensive

Abstract

Undergraduate students often struggle to produce clear and concise written assignments. Faculty in criminal justice often struggle with how to help them. The current study describes how a fully online introduction to criminal justice course was modified to be writing intensive. Students completed five writing assignments related to course content along with workbook exercises focused on grammar and syntax, formal writing, APA formatting and citations, and plagiarism. The first and final writing assignments included the same topic choices, but the final paper requirements included additional references and content. Students were encouraged to incorporate the feedback from the first assignment into the final paper. We examined whether students improved their written communication from the first writing assignment to the last. Our findings suggest that incorporating instruction on writing in an introduction to criminal justice course can produce positive outcomes for students, both lower-level and higher-level students.

Keywords:

• Criminal justice education
• online learning
• writing-intensive

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Because the university switched online learning platforms for the 2018-2019 academic year, data from the pilot project were lost and could not be recovered. Therefore, student scores from the 2017-2018 academic year are not included in the present study.

2 All of the faculty members who planned this writing-intensive course have received professional development to create and teach in an interactive, high quality online learning environment. Both faculty members who taught the course have been teaching online courses for several years.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natalie Goulette

Natalie Goulette, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of West Florida. Her research interests include extra-legal disparities in case processing, collateral consequences of criminal convictions, high-impact practices, and custodial grandparents. Her most recent publications can be found in Criminal Justice Review, Women & Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Studies, and Corrections: Policy, Practice, & Research.

Andrew S. Denney

Andrew S. Denney, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Justice at Loyola University New Orleans. His research interests focus on institutional corrections, community corrections, faith-based programming, and sex offending. His most recent publications can be found in Criminal Justice Review, Policing: An International Journal, and Criminal Justice Policy Review.

Kathrine Johnson

Kathrine Johnson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of West Florida. She has almost 30 years of higher education teaching experience with a research agenda that includes pedagogical techniques, high-impact practices, and capstone implementation and assessment.

Matthew S. Crow

Matthew S. Crow, Ph.D., is Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of West Florida. He earned his doctorate in criminology from Florida State University. His primary research interests involve policing, sentencing, and offender reentry. His work on these topics is published in journals such as Criminal Justice & Behavior, Journal of Criminal Justice, Deviant Behavior, and American Journal of Criminal Justice, and he is co-editor of the book Offender Reentry: Rethinking Criminology and Criminal Justice.