Running the Intellectual Marathon at Mason: Coaching Our Graduate Student Writers Across the Finish Line

Abstract

Research on graduate-level writing highlights the many demands on today's graduate students, including the obstacles they face and the supports they need to move through the dissertation phase and towards full participation in the professions. This panel presents results from two separate mixed methods studies of Mason graduate-level writers across the disciplines. The studies surface the most critical challenges faculty and students face in negotiating graduate level curricula, instruction, and writing and point towards data-driven interventions designed to support the successful completion of degree programs.