AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

Declining scholarly writing abilities are well-documented among college students and are of particular concern in schools of nursing whose graduates are groomed to become leaders in the nation’s healthcare system. Reasons for students’ poor writing are multifactorial; however, faculty’s inability to correctly identify errors and wide variability in grading practices have been identified as major components. A doctoral translating evidence into nursing practice project was designed to study the effectiveness of a faculty-focused writing course on (1) improving identification of errors, (2) reducing inaccurate feedback, and (3) reducing grading variability. This descriptive, crosssectional, interventional study was implemented at a private liberal arts university in the Midwest. Results were measured by having participants grade the same fictitious student paper containing 41 grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, and APA formatting errors pre and post the interventional course. Sixty-seven participants completed the four-week online writing course, and 43 participants completed the study with fully evaluable data. The writing course significantly increased the number of errors identified and decreased the number of inaccurate comments on the fictitious paper; however, overall grading variability remained unchanged. The study identified characteristics of faculty most proficient in grading practices and ways to potentially improve faculty writing and grading abilities. The creation of a guide to assist students in writing and faculty with grading APA formatted papers was an incidental outcome of the study.