In Anderson et, al.’s article regarding High Impact Writing Assignments, the information from Boquet and Lerner’s article is more explicitly explained. Furthermore, the article provides meaningful research to support the rather bold claims made in Boquet and Lerner’s article. Perhaps most enlightening, was the specification that High Impact Practices are not exclusive to writing, but rather, writing can be treated as an HIP itself. Anderson even notes, “Encouraging or requiring students to respond in writing to well-designed prompts could strengthen the experience of reading the common book and engaging in the campus activities around it. Writing assignments allied with internships, study abroad, and other HIPs could be equally helpful.”. In light of this information, my previously formulated idea that HIP were used in order to make writing more accessible no longer remained true. Rather, Anderson’s background information about the inclusion of writing as an HIP itself, helped clarify the following ‘cost-benefit analysis’ (if you will) of writing as a learning tool. Perhaps most pertinent to me in my understanding/application of this information was Table 3, “Perceived Gains in Learning and Development Scales and Items”. Identifying which part of the table writing as an HIP falls into, will help me further my ultimate goal of formulating resources for students. After analyzing the table, I determined that the constructs I should target for my resources to fall into is ” Perceived Gains in Practical Competence”, and ” Perceived Gains in General Education”. Each of these are key parts of the writing process, and fundamental competencies to develop in order to engage comprehensively in the writing process. Another important aspect of the writing process is self-reflection, so I think the idea that each of the constructs are “perceived”, is integral to the development of my resources as well. Effective writing is determined on the basis of the combined perceptions of the instructor and the student, as well as the idea of the general public. Ensuring that my resources are formulated, first and foremost, on the basis of these perceptions will be imperative to their success.
