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Evaluating Students' Progress by Reading Their Journals

The success of instructor-student interaction is critical for effective teaching of writing techniques. Such a collaborative instructional approach has long been endorsed by scholars such as E.D. Hirsch, author of The Philosophy of Composition. In his 1977 text, Hirsch proposed an environment where “teacher and student become colleagues in a joint enterprise, rather than suspicious adversaries” (Wiist, 1997). Yet, classroom lectures and writing lab instruction are often inadequate for providing educators with the type of feedback they require from their students. To supplement office hours, regularly scheduled student conferences enhance opportunities for face-toface interaction. The goal of such conferences is to encourage and empower students to use self-coaching and selfediting techniques, thereby supporting the writing process (Wiist, 1997). But, by definition, the writing process is one of the most complicated human activities. It varies according to the writing task and the learning style of individuals (Murray, 1987). The challenge for journalism educators in writing classes is to facilitate the connection between teaching and learning.