New in Thomason Library
 
Carroll, Lee Ann.  Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univerity Press, 2002. 166 pp.
 
Rehearsing New Roles presents the results of a longitudinal study of twenty college students over four years that examined the role of faculty in supporting students' development as writers. Carroll says that first-year courses in writing only begin the growth in writing abilities. Students' writing skills gradually become more complex in response to more challenging assignments in various classes.  They actually "learn to write differently across the curriculum" (xiv).  

Carroll found that "every type of comment seems to work with at least some students" but "no one type works for every student."

One recommendation coming out of this study is to give a first draft only part of the points for a paper and reserve the rest of the points for a revised draft (112). In their study students said they liked and usually read teacher comments on their writing. Carroll found that "every type of comment seems to work with at least some students" (96), but "no one type works for every student" (99).