Getting there...

Wachholz, Patricia B. and Carol Etheridge. "Speaking for Themselves: Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs of High- and Low-Apprehensive Writers." ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 403 563.

These researchers examined the differences in writing self-efficacy in freshman students with either high or low apprehensive feelings about writing. Like many other studies on self-efficacy and writing, performance is greatly related to a student's sense of self-efficacy. They used the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test with follow-up interviews of 5 high-apprehensive students and 5 low-apprehensive students. The study suggest that it is important for instructors to be aware of these students and their senses of self-efficacy in order to help all of their students achieve their writing goals. I wonder if it would be helpful to administer the Daly-Miller WAT to separate students who feel apprehensive into classrooms with peers who feel similar. The same goes for students who are not as apprehensive. The problem is that these groups are still relatively small in comparison to the vast majority of freshman students. Is the GSP questionaire indicative of apprehensive feelings of incoming freshmen? There is a connection between self-efficacy and performance, but does this guarantee that all students will make the right decision with respect to their placement in freshman composition courses? I'm not sure.

Harrington, Susanmarie et al. "The Influence of Word Processing on English Placement Test Results." Computers and Composition 17 (2000): 197-210.

This article focuses on a study that explores the impact of technology on placement testing for freshman composition. The researchers wondered if students would do better on placement tests if they were word processed, and if raters would rate tests higher if word processed. While not directly related to GSP, this study raises some interesting issues about the placement procedure and the need for making decisions based on more than impromtu essays. The researchers found that there was no difference in score between tests that were typed and tests that were hand-written. In both cases, students were placed in courses regardless of the format they completed there tests in. This study relates to GSP because it shows that placement cannot be accurately determined on impromptu essays alone. Researchers even recommend that "placement tests must match up not only with the curricula into which they place students, but also with the prior writing practices of the students who will take them" (205). Perhaps, if administered in a time-efficient way, placement would work best based on combination of both GSP and impromptu essays.

Zimmerman, Barry and Albert Bandura. "Impact of Self-Regulatory Influences on Writing Course Attainment." American Educational Research Journal 31 (1994): 845-862.

This article focuses on self-efficacy levels in freshman comp students. The researchers conducted a semi-field study where they did not control for certain variables. They administered a questionaire to determine students' efficacy levels about writing, which may be useful if I decide to create my own questionaire for my study. They found that students had high self-efficacy when it came to using sources in their papers, but low efficacy when it came to getting work done with distrations. The first result seems a little unbelievable when I compare it to my first year students, but the latter seems to fit well with what I've seen so far. Zimmerman and Bandura recommend that first year instructors evaluate self-efficacy at the beginning of each semester in order to meet their students at the appropriate level. Maybe I need to see if the GSP questionaire is a measure of self-efficacy and therefore omits the need for testing self-efficacy levels of students who have already been placed in English 120 or 121. Maybe this is how I can modify my study....