Understanding College-Bound Students' Perceived Preparedness and Expectations for College-Level Writing

Abstract

In current conversations about student preparedness for college, the common argument in public and academic discourse is that students are not prepared. My dissertation attempts to further these conversations by integrating scholarship from writing studies, English Education, and self-efficacy and social cognitive theories in order to examine students’ perceptions of their preparedness and expectations for college-level writing. Through a series of two qualitative interviews of a group of fifteen Advanced Placement (AP) senior students that I conducted during the Fall 2016 semester at Great Lakes High School (GLHS), my dissertation study examines potential connections between participants’ writing self-efficacy and perceived preparedness to write at the college level, based on how college-level writing has been previously represented to them. Interviews prompted students to reflect on their expectations for college-level writing and who and what have influenced their expectations and perceived preparedness for college-level writing. My study found that many participants believed that taking AP Language and Composition during their junior year better prepared them for college-level writing than students who did not take the course. Consequently, these participants expressed more confidence and certainty about their success with college-level writing. Differently, other participants demonstrated self-positioning in a novice way that acknowledged their uncertainty about college-level writing and an openness to learn from possible failure. Paradoxically, what looks like a lack of mastery, I argue, potentially situates students to be successful writers at the college level. Additionally, many participants used common language, e.g., “How many pages does it have to be?” when speaking about college-level assignments to begin far more complex conversations involving ideas about writing such as audience, genre and context. By listening to students talk about their writing experiences, my study challenges K-12 and college instructors to consider the nuanced and complex knowledge with which students walk into our classrooms—knowledge that we might not see if we only look at their test scores. This dissertation offers important implications for how educators and educational institutions represent college-level writing to students and the ways in which those representations influence students’ perceived preparedness and expectations for college-level writing. Even though participants acknowledge uncertainty about what to expect about college-level writing, findings revealed important implications for how college-level writing and preparedness can be represented to them through peer comparison, teacher talk, curriculum, and assessment.