Cultivating a growth mindset: A critical approach to teaching writing in the communication classroom

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Communication Teacher

DOI

10.1080/17404622.2024.2399161

Abstract

This semester-long original teaching activity is a scaffolded writing assignment with accompanying rubrics that utilize an adapted academic publishing model (i.e. accept, revise and resubmit with minor revisions, or revise and resubmit with major revisions) to facilitate a growth mindset. This revise-and-resubmit approach to teaching and assessing writing in the communication classroom provides students with continuous feedback and focuses on process, which normalizes imperfection and generates student confidence. This model mitigates imposter phenomenon and stereotype threat, which are issues that can lead to equity gaps in student learning and success. Courses: Graduate courses in communication studies that teach about writing for the discipline, literature reviews, research methods, theory, argumentation, or other aspects of communication inquiry. Objectives: Students will (1) create short- and long-form writing for the communication discipline; (2) develop writing by specifying content, strategizing organization, and editing for style conventions; and (3) model a growth mindset by taking risks with writing, learning from feedback, and utilizing challenges as opportunities to build new skills. Instructors will (1) create assignments that provide opportunities for regular feedback and serve as progress markers to help students improve writing incrementally and (2) demonstrate that learning is a process that comes with time and challenges.

Department

Communication Studies

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