Writing Courses

Rodolfo Hernandez 1

What Is The Opinion Of Students On

Obligatory Writing Courses?

Writing Courses

Rodolfo Hernandez 2

Introduction
During the first two years of college students are required to fill in certain requisites (i.e.
take a certain classes and finish with a certain grade) in order to get advance to upper level
courses or to simply get their Associate in Arts degree. This set of requisites is commonly known
as the Gordon Rule amongst many upper level education institutes such as public community
college or university. Inside the Gordon Rule there is a writing component (a requisite) for
students to take two English courses which are categorized as College Writing classes. Since the
Gordon Rule is a requirement for all students to take, the college writing classes are often
regarded as obligatory writing courses. Florida International University (FIU) provides these two
classes as Writing and Rhetoric I (ENC 1101) and Writing and Rhetoric II (ENC 1102).
These classes are regarded as important because they serve as the base of some of the most
important aspects of College level writing. English professor at the University of Notre Dame,
John Duffy claims that [In] the first-year writing course [] students learn the basics of
argument, [] a necessary skill if students are to succeed in their college careers (para. 5). To
say that these classes alone improve greatly students writing abilities, and that they teach
students of skills needed to go through college is not absolutely correct. A study actually find that
these classes are not enough to get most students through college without extra practice (Kellog
pg. 4). Though the classes prove to be useful it is uncertain to what extent do most students
actually find useful the skills learned in these first year classes. As a college student this has risen
my attention to the question: what is the opinion of students on these obligatory writing courses?
My hypothesis is that even though these classes are indeed helpful in overall writing skills, they
are disliked by students.

Writing Courses

Rodolfo Hernandez 3

Method
I decided to convey a survey in order to test my hypothesis, and also in order to get an
answer to the research question I proposed. I decided to focus my survey on FIU students taking
either ENC 1101 or ENC 1102. I was able to complete survey thanks to the help of Professor
Ming Fang (my ENC 1102 professor) who lent me a hand in delivering the questionnaires to the
appropriate audience. I managed to get the opinions of 28 surveyed students (all of which were
taking ENC 1102); 20 thanks to the help of Professor Fang, and the rest were my classmates. The
survey consisted of a set of 10 questions regarding the classes ENC 1101 and ENC 1102. The
questions touched upon the relationship between class and students (students basic opinion on
the class), the usage of class content by the students (how much students applied from what
theyve learned), and the students perceived problems with the classes (major issues revolving
their experience with the class). The survey questions used were multiple choice, scale, and yes/
no questions.

Results

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Rodolfo Hernandez 4

Would you say these classes are important? Do you like taking these classes? Do you think these classes would be better if they were not mandatory?
18%
32%

21% Yes
No
68%

79%

82%
Yes No

Yes No

The results showed that 23 (82%) students thought that the classes were important, 19
(68%) students didnt like to take these classes, and 22 (79%) students thought that the classes
wouldnt be better if not mandatory. 5 (18%) students did not think that the classes were
important, 9 (32%) students liked the classes, and 6 (21%) students thought that the classes
would be better if not mandatory.
Students were also surveyed on their perception of the class difficulty. No student
strongly agreed on the statement that the writing classes were difficult. Only 2 out of the 28
students agreed that the class was difficult. 8 out of 28 students strongly disagreed on the
statement. Thus the remaining 18 students disagreed on the idea that the writing classes were
necessarily difficult. When participants were asked to choose if they had experienced any of the
difficulties shown in the answers, they answered as shown by this table:

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Have you had any of these difficulties with either of these classes?
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Frequency

Answers

Assignment and homework problems were the most frequent, being chosen by 10 participants
and 9 participants respectively. There was 7 people who claimed to have had no problem with the
class. 13 participants claim to have had 1 problem; 2 claimed to have had 2; and 4 claimed to
have had 3 of the problems shown.
8 out of 28 students claimed to use quite a lot of the writing skills learned in the writing
classes in other classes. 4 out 28 students claimed to not have used any of the writing skills
learned in classes other than the writing courses. This means that a majority 57% of the students
stood in middle ground. They claimed that they did use the knowledge acquired in the writing
courses, but they really didnt use it as often.
5 out 28 students strongly agree on the fact that the writing courses have helped them
improve their writing skills. 16 out 28 students agreed on that statement. 5 out 28 students
disagreed and the remaining 2 strongly disagreed. This meant that more people thought that the
class have helped them, and not the other way around.

Writing Courses

Rodolfo Hernandez 6

Discussion
The data that I acquired through the surveys helped me confirm my hypothesis: these
classes do help a majority of students in their writing skills, but they in general do not like the
classes. This could probably be because students believe the probable benefits of these writing
classes (such as better writing and experience for future writing) is really outweighed by the cost
of taking them (time, money, dedication, etc.). As shown in the data, amongst the surveyed
participants, most of them had difficulties with the assignments and homework. This would
suggest that most students dont necessarily consider either of these classes to be difficult, but
believe that the execution thereof is flawed. This could mean that if these classes were better
executed and if other classes adopted a lot of content taught in these classes, students would be
more satisfied with the cost of taking the classes. There is also the data that showed that most
students only use the material learnt a few times, and not constantly. Students may see this as
downside because they may feel like they are not fully getting a run for their money (for a lack
of a better term), therefore making them dislike taking the classes. The most important thing
taken from the research is that students may not necessarily like the classes, but they understand
the significance thereof. They apply their knowledge in other college level classes too, as they
also improve upon their writing skills.
Even though the research I conducted let to the answer of my question it could have been
executed better if I had conducted interviews aside from the surveys, for this would have given
me a more in-depth perception of students experience with the classes (if they do well or bad in
concern of grades) which could have given more accurate and less biased responses. Also
responses could vary as I used only students from the class with the same professor. Using

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Rodolfo Hernandez 7

students from different classes could show also if professors change the students opinion on the
class. Despite these few limitations, my researchs significance lies on the fact that the students
clearly see the importance of the obligatory writing courses despite their dislike thereof, because
they understand that as minimalistic as their usage of the content might be, the students still need
to use need to know and use some of it regardless.

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Rodolfo Hernandez 8

References
Kellogg, Ronald T., and Bascom A. Raulerson. "Improving the Writing Skills of College
Students." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14.2 (2007): 237-42. Web.
Duffy, John. "Essay on the Value of First-year Writing Courses | Inside Higher Ed." Essay on the
Value of First-year Writing Courses. 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.