Qualitative Research on What Leads to Success in Professional Writing

• Published in: International journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning Vol. 1; no. 2
• Main Authors: Walters, Margaret, Hunter, Susan, Giddens, Elizabeth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Teaching & Technology at Georgia Southern University 01.07.2007; Georgia Southern University
• Subjects: Advanced Students; Business Communication; Career Education; College Students; Discourse Communities; Focus Groups; Intellectual Disciplines; Literary Genres; Mastery Learning; Metacognition; Persistence; Prior Learning; Qualitative Research; Rhetoric; Student success in writing; Success; Success in professional writing; Technical Writing; Writing (Composition); Writing Achievement; Writing for Publication; Writing Processes
• ISSN: 1931-4744; 1931-4744
• DOI: 10.20429/ijsotl.2007.010216

This article examines the experiences of advanced students and of graduates in a nontraditional MA in professional writing program to discover how faculty may assure student success in professional writing occupations. The study investigates the knowledge domains and habits of mind that foster student success in writing. The research is the collaborative effort of three rhetoric and composition specialists. Their research discovered that successful writers (1) define success as gaining a response from readers; (2) master six knowledge domains--genre, writing process, rhetorical, subject matter, discourse community, and metacognitive knowledge; (3) put their knowledge into action through eight similar habits of mind--persevering, embracing learning, attempting challenges, responding positively to critique, engaging in collaboration, understanding how to write in complicated contexts, and engaging in metacognition; and (4) acquire these abilities from a range of personal, professional, and academic experiences.