A 5-Year Evaluation of Faculty Use of Practical Within-Course Writing Development Strategies in a DNP Program

Abstract

Background Nursing students are underprepared for the rigors of graduate writing. The lack of sufficient writing opportunities and skill development in prelicensure nursing education creates barriers that threaten course and program progression. Approach This study used a prospective, repeated-measures design to evaluate 5 years of faculty-implemented writing development strategies in a DNP program. Outcomes Faculty adopted 12 strategies in 10 courses. The strategies addressed skill building in content, construction, format, plagiarism, and citation use. The most frequently used strategies were rubrics, plagiarism detection software, multistep assignments, and examples of well-written papers, all strategies that increased in use over the 5-year study. Conclusions Graduate faculty interact with students and assess writing development outcomes firsthand. Changes in faculty practices over time can indicate the strategies they consider most valuable for writing development.

Plagiarism Detection Software and Its Appropriate Use

“…Similar to publishers, many graduate and professional academic programs have implemented plagiarism detection software as a means to detect plagiarism in assignments that are turned in for a grade (Dahl, 2007; Marshall, Taylor, Hothersall, & Perez‐Martin, 2011; Marusic, Wager, Utrobicic, Rothstein, & Sambunjak, 2016; Walker, 2010); as a tool for teaching writing skills (Hampton, 2018); and as a method for providing formative feedback to students on writing assignments before the assignment is due (Whittle & Murdoch‐Eaton, 2008). Student perceptions of the use of plagiarism detection software to screen their writing are reported as being fairly positive (Dahl, 2007; Whittle & Murdoch‐Eaton, 2008), but teachers should be mindful to respect student privacy and should gain student approval if the software stores a copy of the student's work for future use (Brinkman, 2013).…”