 "Photo: Monica Agatstein")
This summer, UCF will introduce a new curriculum in freshman English composition classes that reduces class size in an effort to improve students’ writing skills.
“We are doing a longitudinal study to see what the impacts of smaller classes on writing instruction are,” Elizabeth Wardle, director of writing programs, said. “We predict that smaller class size will enable teachers to spend more one-on-one time with students as they’re learning to write and to provide better feedback.”
English Composition I, or ENC 1101, will be the first class to take part in the new curriculum. The previous enrollment cap of 27 has now been lowered to 25 and also offers two 19-student sections.
In the fall there will be eight sections offered with the 19-student enrollment cap.
According to research conducted by Wardle, studies from research journals and reports show that writing classes with smaller capacities displayed an improvement in students’ retention of information, improved quality and amount of professor feedback.
It also shows improvements in students’ attitudes toward writing classes, the college experience in general and higher scores on writing-related tests.
UCF hired four new professors to pilot the study, and two of those professors are starting in summer B to teach the experimental 19-seat classes.
These professors will be committed to the new curriculum and help to iron out the kinks as well as train other faculty in the spring, Wardle said. The university also plans on hiring two more professors for the fall 2010 semester.
The composition classes and the University Writing Center will be receiving $721,000 annually to help fund this new curriculum, according to UCF News & Information.
A pilot program for first-year college algebra classes that began in fall 2008 will also be receiving a portion of this investment.
As part of the new curriculum, students in the smaller composition classes will have a requirement to work with the UWC.
The extent of this requirement will be at the discretion of the professor, Wardle said. Professors and the UWC will give feedback throughout the semester based on this requirement.
“If we are able to bring students into the writing center early in the writing process as well as their college career in general, it’s only going to benefit them,” Rusty Carpenter, coordinator of the University Writing Center, said.
As a “tangible result of the increased budget for the writing center,” the UWC will be offering many new incentives for students, Carpenter said.
Staff size will increase from 25 to about 40 in the fall, and hours of operation for the UWC have been increased from 90 to 252 hours in the summer and 270 to 350 hours in the fall. Evening hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., as well as Sunday hours, will also be offered this summer.
A new satellite location can be found in the UCF Main Library. The main UWC office is located in a trailer near the Communications building.
Software and equipment upgrades will also take place at the UWC. With newer technology, the staff will be better equipped to assist students during online consultations. Phone consultations are available as well.
“We hope the writing center will have a more significant presence on campus through workshops, face-to-face contact hours and brown bag sessions,” Carpenter said. “We haven’t been able to do these things in the past because of lack of funding.”
The new improvements will result in decreases in wait time at the UWC.
Previously, students would wait from anywhere between two to five hours for a walk-in appointment, Carpenter said. Scheduled appointments would be backed up for weeks so students would have to settle with walk-ins.
An increase in appointment flexibility will be seen due to extended hours and wait times will hopefully be down to about 10 minutes, Carpenter said.
A more prominent and permanent location would also help further the effectiveness of the UWC, and speculation of this happening is in the works with the college’s dean, Wardle said.
Recent UCF graduate and current UWC consultant Thomas Gillan said he believes the UWC’s involvement in this new curriculum will have a positive effect on students’ writing skills.
“The writing center is definitely a great resource,” Gillan said. “Even as a writing consultant I’ve used the writing center often throughout the different stages of my thesis writing process.”
Gillan was a history major and also used the writing center before he became a consultant. He has worked at the UWC for two years.
“We’re not necessarily concerned with what’s on the piece of paper, per se,” Gillan said. “We’re more concerned with helping students develop as writers.”
Only time will tell if this pilot program is successful.
“This is something for UCF to be really proud of since there are major budget cuts right now,” Wardle said. “For the administration to say what they’re really committed to is helping first-year students succeed, is a pretty exciting thing for them to put their funding toward.”
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