Introduction of a plan submission to a university-wide writing initiative

Since 2012, all PolyU undergraduate students need to fulfill an English Writing Requirement (EWR) before graduation. The EWR takes the approach of process writing and stipulates the submission of three drafts of a writing assignment, generally at the end of Week 5, Week 9 and Week 13. The English Language Centre (ELC) of PolyU is responsible for providing feedback and consultations on Drafts 1 and 2 to approximately 1600 students per semester. Until this academic year, Draft 1 required that students submit 700 words, usually consisting of an introduction and part of the body section. However, due to concerns from stakeholders about the early timing of Week 5 for the first draft submission, and observations from ELC instructors about the seemingly slapped-together quality of many first drafts, a pilot was launched this academic year in selected courses to explore the substitution of a plan for Draft 1 instead of the 700-word submission. While the use of essay plans is common in process writing, their application to a program as large as EWR is not as well-researched. In this presentation, we will share the preliminary findings from the pilot, including the nature of student-submitted plans, the types of feedback provided, and stakeholder views on the effectiveness of a plan as the Draft 1 submission. There will also be discussion of this essay-plan method as a means of encouraging student authorship in the ChatGPT era.