Beliefs About Writing Scale
What is it and how does it work?
The Beliefs About Writing Scale (BWS) is a 31-item self-report scale consisting of 4 subscales: Audience Orientation, Recursive Process, Transaction, and Transmission (Sanders-Reio et al., 2014). The BWS has been used with undergraduate student populations.
Surveys may be administered multiple times in a semester to collect longitudinal data. Instructors can configure the survey to release results to students for feedback purposes.
Which skill(s) are targeted?
The Beliefs About Writing Scale can be used to collect students' self-report ratings of of audience orientation and openness to recursion:
- Produce content that is credible and compelling to a target audience across multiple formats (oral, written, and visual).
- Prepare coherent and clearly organized oral, written, and visual products based on purpose, genre, context, and audience.
- Develop independent processes for setting communication goals, seeking and incorporating feedback, and revising to improve effectiveness.
Who has used it?
- Dietrich College General Education Program
- First-Year Writing Program
- Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholar Development (OURSD)
- 99-101: Core@CMU
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Educator time commitment
Approximately 15 minutes
Student time commitment
Approximately 5 minutes
Contact eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu for help with incorporating this resource.
Educator how-to steps
- Download and review the Beliefs about Writing Scale.
- Decide when students should complete the Beliefs about Writing Scale and then include this in the corresponding assignments/instructions to students.
- Set up the assignment in Canvas (or as you normally would). NOTE: We have a Canvas assignment shell with the Beliefs about Writing Scale that you can copy to your Canvas course. Contact eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu to ask for help with this.)
References
Sanders-Reio, J., Alexander, P. A., Reio Jr, T. G., & Newman, I. (2014). Do students' beliefs about writing relate to their writing self-efficacy, apprehension, and performance?. Learning and Instruction, 33, 1-11.