Dana S. Dunn & Randolph A. Smith
168
points of existing research, to describe the question being tested by their research
( highlighting the manipulation of independent variables and the measurement of a
dependent variable), to translate statistical findings into declarative statements, and to lead
readers through tabular or graphic data displays (see the top section of Table 14.2). All of
these tasks require student writers to convey the meaning of relatively complex informa-
tion (e.g., defining and operationalizing variables, relationships among variables, statistical
results) in the clearest, most concise manner possible. Learning to do so requires patience,
tenacity, (usually repeated) experiences, good models to work from, and mastery-oriented
feedback from an instructor. Until they gain sufficient research experience and acquire
feedback following trial and error, most students will not view conducting empirical
research and writing about it as complementary exercises. A variety of other writing activ-
ities—some of the basic tasks—pertaining to research methods and statistics courses can
be found in Schmidt and Dunn (2007).
Process Issues
As noted earlier, the writing process involves a certain degree of social intelligence on the
part of writers, namely, making themselves understood by and communicating with others
(see the middle section of Table 14.2). The expressive or exploratory writing (i.e., free
writing) movement in higher education has been helpful in this vein (e.g., Elbow &
Belanoff, 1989; see also LePore & Smyth, 2002). Students quickly produce writing, which
means they then have something to work with and to learn from (e.g., Dunn, 1994).
Learning to make such beginning efforts understandable to others involves increasingly
transactional writing; that is, learning to write for a particular audience. In practice, the
audience is an audience of one, a student’s instructor, but in theory, the audience is a pro-
fessional one, other students of psychology.
Critical thinking is also part of the drafting, revising, and refining side of writing. As a
paper is shaped through several iterations (i.e., free writing to rough draft to polished paper),
students should be learning to ask themselves questions that refine the text for readers—from
word choice to grammar and punctuation. Part of drafting and revising is learning to critique
one’s own writing, which promotes the beneficial critical thinking of ongoing self-assessment
(Have I satisfied the assignment’s requirements? Will others understand it?; Dunn, McEntarffer,
& Halonen, 2004). Self-regulation skills—learning to know when to keep revising, when to
seek feedback from others, or when to quit writing—are also important because they compel
student writers to reexamine and rethink what they have already produced (see the middle
section of Table 14.2). For instance, in a workshop-oriented classroom, students become used
to reading and commenting on one another’s work with regularity throughout the writing
process (e.g., Dunn, 1994, 2008; Elbow & Belanoff, 1989).
Outcomes
Ultimately, most students and many faculty view writing as being about outcomes,
essentially the papers produced after conducting, thinking about, or discussing research