Runninghead:Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Influence of Student Recommendations on Visits to Xavier Writing Center

Matthew R. Keefer
Xavier University

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Student Recommendations On Xavier Writing Center Visits

University writing centers offer undergraduate students jobs and additional support that
cannot be found elsewhere for writing successful academic papers. However, few undergraduates
take advantage of this resource and many are unaware of the writing centers existence.
Recorded visits to the Xavier writing center are falling, despite recommendations from
professors teaching writing intensive courses. For funding of the writing center to be justified,
more students must become aware of its existence and take advantage of its resources. This study
will investigate if the person who recommends an undergraduate to the writing center has an
effect on that undergraduates likelihood of visiting the writing center. The results of this study
can be used to improve advertisement of the writing center to undergraduates in a way that will
more effectively encourage its use.
Low undergraduate involvement in university writing centers is not unique to Xavier.
Laclare (2013) found that of the 68 students who visited Sojo Universitys writing center during
his study, only 35% were undergraduates, while the remaining 65% consisted of graduate
students and faculty. Laclare (2013) attributes the low number of undergraduate visitors to a lack
of peer tutors at the university. The results of Laclares (2013) study seem to mirror the current
state of Xaviers writing center: the majority of the centers resources are utilized by graduate
students working in conjunction with faculty.
A study conducted by White (2010) examined the change in consumer feelings toward a
provider over time, by measuring college students feelings towards their university over the
course of nine weeks. While White (2010) intended to apply his findings to corporate marketing,
the results of his study are helpful in predicting undergraduate reactions to peer
recommendations to the writing center in this study. White (2010) used a questionnaire,

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

administered at the beginning and end of the nine weeks that consisted of nine possible
emotional states, on a seven-point Likert scale, to measure each students feelings towards their
university. White (2010) found that undergraduates were more likely to develop negative feelings
towards their university, as the term progressed. The results of Whites (2010) study support the
idea that undergraduates might be more likely to accept a recommendation to the writing center
from a fellow student, than a professor connected to the university.
A study conducted by Zhao (2011) also examined word-of-mouth based on the temporal
distance of carrying out a less-preferred recommendation and the relationship between the two
individuals. Zhao (2011) randomly assigned 159 university students to one of six conditions. All
subjects were asked to choose one of two software packages that would be used, in an imagined
situation, to create a photo album. In the condition most relevant to this study, Zhao (2011) asked
participants to choose the software package they would use, if they were required to create an
album within two days. These subjects had an extra line of text on the instructional sheet they
were given, which recommended the less complex software package. Zhao (2011) found that
recommendations from others close to the subject had a greater impact on decisions that would
be made in the near future. Zhaos (2011) study further supports the idea that a student is more
likely to visit the writing center, if recommended by another student, since such a visit would be
considered both a temporally close decision and, in most cases, a decision less desirable than not
visiting.
Xaviers writing center currently suffers from the same lack of undergraduate
participation that was found in the study by Laclare (2013). Contrary to the state of Sojos
writing center, at the time of Laclares (2013) study, Xaviers does not lack student tutors.
Therefore, it seems that Xaviers low number of undergraduate participants stems from a lack of

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

student interest or inadequate advertisement of the writing centers services. The latter
assumption appears the most probable, since Xaviers primary form of word-of-mouth
advertisement comes from university staff. As White (2010) suggests, students are more likely to
have negative feelings towards their university the longer the term progresses, thus
recommendations by professors at Xavier might be ineffective. Finally, the results of Zhaos
(2011) study suggest that word-of-mouth recommendations should be most effective if given for
a decision in the near future, by someone close to the receiver.
Based on the information above, I predict the following for this study: Undergraduates
recommended by a fellow student are more likely to visit the Xavier writing center, than
undergraduates recommended by a university professor.

Methods
Participants
Anestimated96freshmenundergraduatestudentsfromfoursectionsofEnglish
Composition101coursesatXavierUniversitywillbeselectedforthisstudy.Thesestudentswill
rangefrom18to20yearsoldandbeamixedgroupofgender,sex,andclassgrades.Gender,
ethnicity,andincomearenotvariablesthatarepredictedtoaffecttheresultsofthisstudy.
Participantswillbeassignedtooneoftwogroups:professorandstudent,dependingontheclass
sectiontheyarein.Participantsinsectionsoneandtwoofthecoursewillbeplacedinthe
professorgroupandthoseinsectionsthreeandfourinthestudentgroup.Thefourclasssections
canbepairedupdifferentlyifnecessary,toensurethatthenumberofparticipantsineachgroup
isasequalaspossible.

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Materials
Twoindividualscripts,createdbytheresearcher,willbeusedfortheverbal
recommendationgivenbyprofessorsintheprofessorgroupandconfederatesinthestudent
group.Anadditionalscriptwillbegiventoprofessorsintheprofessorgroupforuseintheir
writtenrecommendation.AsurveydeliveredbytheXavierwritingcenterwillbeusedto
measurethenumberofparticipantvisitationsandwhichrecommendationencouragedthesubject
tovisit(seeAppendixC).Thissurveyiscurrentlygiventoeveryvisitorandwasdevelopedby
theXavierwritingcenter.Writingcenteremployeeswillbeaskedtomakethecoursetitle
numberandprofessorquestionsmandatory.Thequestion,Whichofthefollowingencouraged
youtovisitthewritingcenterthemost?willbeadded,inordertocollecteachrecommendation
(seeAppendixD).

Procedure
FourEnglishCompositionprofessorsatXavierUniversitywillparticipateinthestudy.
Twooftheseprofessorswillbeplacedintheprofessorgroupandtwointhestudentgroup.
Duringthefirstclassofthesemester,theprofessorsplacedintheprofessorgroupwillbeasked
togiveawrittenrecommendation,typedinboldtextonthefirstpageoftheclasssyllabus,anda
verbalrecommendationtotheirstudents.Bothrecommendationswillusescriptsdesignedbythe
experimenter(seeAppendixA).
Thetwoprofessorsplacedinthestudentgroupwillbeaskednottogiveany
recommendationtotheirstudents.Instead,threeundergraduatesfromeachclasssectionwillact

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

asconfederateswithintheirsection.1Eachconfederatewillbegivenalistthatnameseightof
theirclassmates,whomtheywillbeaskedtoverballyrecommendtothewritingcenter,usinga
scriptdevelopedbytheexperimenter(seeAppendixB).
Attheendofthesemester,asurveythatisalreadygiventoeverystudentvisitingthe
Xavierwritingcenterwillbeusedtocollectthenumberofvisitationsforbothgroups(see
AppendixC).Mostimportantly,thissurveyaskshowtheparticipantheardaboutthewriting
center,whichwillallowforaccurateanalysisofstudentversusprofessorrecommendationson
visitstothewritingcenter.

ProposedResults
IplantocomputeaonewayKruskalWallisanalysistomeasuretheeffectsofprofessor
andstudentrecommendationsonundergraduatevisitstothewritingcenter.

Proposed Discussion
Thepresentstudysupportsthehypothesisthatundergraduatesrecommendedbyfellow
studentsaremorelikelytovisitthewritingcenter,thanundergraduatesrecommendedby
professorsfromtheiruniversity.Thesefindingssuggestthatthecurrentmethodofencouraging
studentuseofcampuswritingcenters,throughrecommendationsfromprofessors,isan
inefficientadvertisementtechniquethatcouldbegreatlyimprovedorabandonedinfavorof
studentrecommendations.Sincethemajorityofundergraduatesfollowedtherecommendations
ofotherstudents,insteadofthosegivenbyuniversityfaculty,theseresultsareconsistentwith
Thenumberofconfederatesandstudentsassignedtoeachwasdeterminedunderthe
assumptionthattheaverageEnglishCompositioncoursehas21students.Thisnumbercanbe
alteredaccordingtoclasssize.
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Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Whites(2010)conclusionthatstudentsdevelopincreasinglynegativeviewstowardstheir
university,asasemesterprogresses.Undergraduatepreferencetowardsrecommendationsgiven
byfellowstudentsalsosupportsZhaos(2011)findingsthatwordofmouthrecommendations
aremoreeffectivewhengivenbypeopleplacedinasituationsimilartothatofthesubject.
Theresultsofthepresentstudycouldbeusedbycampuswritingcenterstoadvertise
theirservicesmoreeffectively.Whilecurrentmethodsofadvertisementcouldstillremainin
place,theadditionofstudentrecommendationswouldgreatlypromotetheuseofwritingcenters.
Thesefindingsalsosuggestthatanyadvertisementsmadebyastudentsuniversityareless
effectivethanthosegivenbyotherstudentsinthepopulation.Thisdiscoverycouldleadtothe
reformationofuniversityadvertisementsandimprovedstudentparticipationinalluniversityled
events.
Whilethefindingsofthisstudycouldleadtogreatimprovementsregardingstudent
involvement,certainproblemswithmaintaininghighinternalvaliditycouldhaveskewedthe
results.Duetotheinabilityforresearcherstodirectlymonitorstudentrecommendationsgivenin
thestudy,itispossiblethattheconfederatescouldhavegreatlydeviatedfromtheirscripts.
Whileminordivergenceisexpected,itcouldbesevereenoughtoalterthepositiveresponses
predictedbythecurrentresults.Thewritingcenterquestionnaireslimitedthechancesof
misinterpretingasubjectsreasonforvisitingthewritingcenter,butitisalsostillpossiblethat
certainsubjectsmighthavegiveninaccurateanswers,duetoextraneousfactors.
Therearemanyfuturestudiesthatcouldbeconductedtofurtherinvestigatetheeffectsof
universityversusstudentwordofmouth.Afollowupstudywouldlikelylookintomethodsfor
effectivelyintegratingstudentrecommendationsintowritingcentermarketingandanyformsof

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

compensationthatmightbenecessaryforstudentparticipation.Morestudiescouldbeconducted
tospecificallyexaminethesuccessofotherformsofadvertisementforthewritingcenter,such
aswrittenadvertisements,aswellasinvestigationsintoapplyingthesefindingstoother
universitypromotions.Thelowmonetaryriskandsimplicityofthisstudywouldalsoallowitto
berepeatedinthefuture,tomonitorchangesandtrendsinstudentopinionsonuniversityword
ofmouthadvertisement.

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

References
Bell, D., & Frost, A. (2012). Critical Inquiry and Writing Centers: A Methodology of
Assessment. Learning Assistance Review (TLAR), 17(1), 15-26.
LaClare, E., & Franz, T. (2013). Writing Centers: Who are they for? What are they for?. Studies
In Self-Access Learning Journal, 4(1), 5-16.
White, C. J. (2010). The impact of emotions on service quality, satisfaction, and positive wordof-mouth intentions over time. Journal Of Marketing Management, 26(5/6), 381-394.
doi:10.1080/02672571003633610
Zhao, M., & Xie, J. (2011). Effects of Social and Temporal Distance on Consumers' Responses
to Peer Recommendations. Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR), 48(3), 486-496.
doi:10.1509/jmkr.48.3.486

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

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Appendix A
Professor Recommendation Scripts
Verbal: If you need any help writing your papers this semester, I strongly recommend that you
visit the writing center, before scheduling office hours with me. My other students have had
success there in the past. You can find it on the fourth floor of the Conaton Learning Commons.
Written: Please schedule an appointment with the writing center in room 400 of the Conaton
Learning Commons for any writing assistance, before scheduling an appointment with me.

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

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Appendix B
Confederate Recommendation Script
Verbal: I just went to the writing center yesterday. They really helped with my paper. Have you
tried it out? Its on the fourth floor of the CLC.
The confederate may be forced to alter the order in which they deliver the script, depending on
how the conversation is initiated. It is only vital that the location and a positive recommendation
to the writing center are given.

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Appendix C
Writing Center Survey

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Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

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The answers to these questions will be used to connect each participant with their group
and record which recommendation encouraged them to visit. The name of the participant is only
necessary for recognizing multiple visits by the same individual. The researcher will assign a
number to each participant, prior to publishing any results.

Student Recommendations on Xavier Writing Center Visits

Appendix D
Added Survey Question
Whichofthefollowingencouragedyoutovisitthewritingcenterthemost?

A flier

A recommendation from my professor

A recommendation from a classmate

Other
o Please specify below

The flier and other answers were added to limit presentation bias.

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