Who Uses the Writing Center?
What the Numbers Say About Fall 07 Visitors to the Writing Center
Jake Qian ('08, Economics, Academic Support Center Data Analyst)
Class Year
- A little more than half of all visitors were first-year students
- 19% were seniors, 9% were juniors, and 20% were sophomores
- 45% were first-time users; 55% were repeat visitors
- Only 27 of the 109 seniors who visited the writing center fall term were first-time users
Projects That Writers Brought to the Center
- The majority of projects that first-year students, sophomores, and juniors brought were academic essays (92%, 90%, and 83%, respectively)
- 21% of seniors were working on applications, 23% were working on comps, and 47% were working on academic essays
The Concerns That Brought Students to the Writing Center
- The top three concerns for all class years: clarity, organization, and thesis development
- The #4 and #5 concern for all class years: integrating evidence and proofreading
- The lowest concerns for all class years: citations and brainstorming
Visitors' Writing Processes: When They Use the Center
- 46% of visitors brought a complete first draft; 27% brought a second draft; 29% brought a partial draft; and 8% didn't come with a draft because they wanted to brainstorm ideas
- Most visitors came to the center with projects that were due that day (22%) or the following day (37%)
- 18% of seniors visiting the center were working on drafts of projects due more than a week away, probably because of comps and applications.
The Classes for Which Visitors Are Writing
- English, History, Political Science, and Religion were the departments with the most visitors
- The classes sending the most visitors were CCST 100, Engl 100, Engl 109, Hist 110, and Hist 182