DE Oracle @ UMUC

An Online Writing Coach Program for Graduate Students

Alexis Hill White

Director, Academic Administration

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: May-June 2010

Category: » University-showcase » Classes-programs

In spring 2009, to provide structured and individualized writing assistance to students early in their programs, the Management, Accounting, and Finance (MAF) department in UMUC's Graduate School of Management and Technology introduced writing coaches into the foundation courses of the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program, the department's largest degree program. The writing coach program focuses on MGMT 610, an organizational theory course, and MGMT 630, a 6-credit course that combines organizational theory, organizational communication, and leadership.

Students enrolled in online, face-to-face, and hybrid sections of MGMT 610 and MGMT 630 have access to the writing assistance offered through this program. Students are not required to use coaching services but are strongly encouraged to do so since this service is offered only in the first courses for the MSM.

The mission of the writing coach program is to provide students with strong fundamentals in effective academic writing practices. Through quality coaching support, the program's primary goal is to improve students' academic performance in general and writing skills specifically.

The objectives of the writing coach program are to:

• Provide assistance for students requiring writing help.
• Establish writing standards and expectations that students can carry into subsequent graduate program courses and professional experiences.
• Through highly detailed feedback, assist students in thinking critically about their writing and its appropriateness for a given audience (e.g. an academic essay vs. a personal e-mail to a friend).
• Provide a strong foundation in good writing skills.
• Refer students to appropriate resources so that they have toolboxes from which to draw for writing in future assignments and courses.
• Work toward improving academic performance of all class members and MSM students.

The Writing Coaches

All writing coaches have at least a bachelor's degree and are skilled editors, English teachers, professional writers, and tutors who bring to this endeavor years of experience in teaching and editing written English. They coach for UMUC because they believe in the institution's mission and enjoy helping students become better writers.

Training for new coaches includes a requirement to complete Enhanced WebTycho training, being rostered into a WebTycho community of practice (MGMT 999T), and being provided an extensive manual with expectations for their work in the classrooms. Requiring the coaches to complete the Enhanced WebTycho training ensures that they receive an introduction to working with the system as well as certification that they can perform some basic functions in WebTycho. Since the faculty Teaching with WebTycho training is not appropriate preparation for the work that the coaches do, the department is working with Richard Schumaker, Manager of Worldwide Training in the Center for Teaching and Learning, to develop a coach-specific WebTycho training that will be more comprehensive than the Enhanced WebTycho training.

The Coaching Process

All of the coaching takes place virtually and asynchronously within the WebTycho classroom, though some coaches offer supplemental help via the chat feature or by phone. Writing coaches are embedded in the classroom so that faculty can be privy to the coaching/editing that the students receive. The writing coach's role in the classroom is that of peer-facilitator and is student-focused, with a primary responsibility being the review of student assignment drafts.  

The writing coach's role is different than that of a traditional editor in that coaches will not simply "fix" what is wrong with an assignment and return an edited version to the student. Rather, in their writing reviews, coaches provide specific feedback and advice on how to better organize thoughts or fix sentence structure, refer students to appropriate resources, and provide students with fundamental rules that they can transfer to other writing experiences. To encourage student submissions, provide help to all students in the class (both those who submit drafts and those who do not), and facilitate the review process, coaches follow these best practices:

• Create and maintain a writing coach conference in which they note due dates for draft submissions.
• Offer assistance and engage students by posting both general writing tips and pointers and/or tips related to specific assignments.
• Respond promptly to questions.
• Provide resources for improving writing skills and the use of APA format.

Coaches also create specially labeled Gradebook folders to which students submit drafts for review. The course professor encourages use of the section's writing coach by posting announcements and reminding students that the service is available.

Program Assessment

In summer 2009, in one section of MGMT 630, the MAF department piloted a Zoomerang survey to elicit student feedback about the coaching experience. About a third of the students responded, and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Beginning in fall 2009, each coach-staffed section of MGMT 610 and MGMT 630 included the Zoomerang coach feedback survey as part of the final wrap-up conference. The response rate for all sections was between .4 and 59%, with some sections having 0 responses and some having up to 13. The feedback was overwhelmingly supportive of the writing coach service, with 89% of students in one section agreeing with the statement that the service should be available in all graduate courses. For this same section, 83% of students agreed with this statement: Overall, I believe having the coaches in the class greatly enhanced my experience in the course.

Since spring 2009, the program has expanded from being offered only in online sections to being offered in all sections, regardless of format. The major strength of this program is that students receive individual attention early in their graduate careers, a time when they need a great deal of support. In addition, the basic configuration of this process can be applied to other courses. Based on the success of the MSM foundation course writing coach program, a similar initiative is being piloted this semester in HCAD 600, a foundation course for the MAF department's program in health care administration.

Note: This article is based on the author's presentation at the Maryland Distance Learning Association's conference on March 4, 2010.