self assessment

Writer’s Self-Assessment:
Checklist of Common Writing-Related Issues

For this week, you will reflect on your writing experiences and use this reflection for both the Discussion and Assignment 2. Your Writer’s Self-Assessment serves three purposes:

It will help you begin working on your critical thinking and writing, two skills you will study and practice in this course.
It will provide your Instructor with an opportunity to get a sense of you as a writer. Then, your Instructor can focus comments and instruction in ways to help you strengthen your critical thinking and writing skills.
It will allow you to share your experiences with your colleagues and support each other in strengthening your scholarly writing.

To help you start thinking about your needs, you might want consider these common writing-related issues:

Grammar mistakes
Misuse of punctuation
Confusing or overly wordy writing
Unclear or underdeveloped paragraphs
Lack of a scholarly voice
Insufficient supporting evidence
Incorrect use of APA
Writer’s block

Do any of these resonate with you? Have you received feedback from your Instructors or from other sources on these issues? Perhaps you have other concerns. That’s fine! The list above is merely a starting point for your reflection.

A helpful hint: Try to be as specific as possible in your Self-Assessment. For instance, identify which grammar issues are cropping up in your work (e.g., run-on sentences, verb tenses).

Refer to the Discussion and Application 2 in Week 1 of your online course for full details of the requirements for your Self-Assessment.