2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

normalization was utilized as the rotation method. An alpha level of .05 was used for all
statistical tests.
Results
Quality of writing instruction received
Using a scale of 1 to 10, 394 respondents indicated a generally positive view of the
quality of writing instruction they received in high school ( x = 7.31, sd = 1.70). Another 366
students indicated an equally favorable view of the quality of writing instruction they received at
their university outside of their major ( x = 7.5, sd = 1.54). Considering quality of writing
instruction received within their major, 225 students indicated an equally positive view ( x = 7.8,
sd = 1.8). However, 172 students indicated ―too early to tell‖ for this item.
Attitude toward grades within major
A majority of respondents (66%, n = 261) indicated they were comfortable earning a ―B‖
in classes within their major. Just under 25% (n = 99) indicated a desire to earn an ―A‖ in all
classes if at all possible. Another 4% (n = 17) indicated that a ―C‖ was good enough. Notably,
5% (n = 19) indicated that high grades were not as important as gaining actual media experience.
Levels of student self-efficacy and apprehension
Utilizing factor rotations to analyze student self-efficacy and apprehension items, the
researchers discovered that five distinct student cohorts or ―profiles‖ emerged among students:
1.) Skilled writers with high self-efficacy and low apprehension. The largest among all
respondents, this group indicated strong agreement with statements including, ―I look forward to
writing,‖ ―I put a lot of myself into my writing,‖ and ―I would enjoy any kind of writing job.‖
They indicated strong disagreement with such statements as, ―I write only when I have to.‖
The pattern of responses indicates that group one is confident with their writing skills and
that they know how to approach the task. It is also evident that this group enjoys writing,
understands it at a deeper level, and thinks about how to succeed at writing.
2. ) Unskilled writers with low self- efficacy and high apprehension. The second-largest
among all respondents, this group indicated strong agreement with statements including, ―I have
a terrible time organizing my ideas when I try to write,‖ ―I‘m nervous about writing,‖ and ―I feel
lost when it comes to grammar and punctuation.‖ They indicated strong disagreement with such
statements as, ―At times, my writing has given me deep personal satisfaction,‖ ―I visualize what
I‘m writing about,‖ and ―I expect good grades on essays and papers.‖
On the whole, responses indicate that group two is largely problem-centered. These
students do not appear to enjoy writing, and are largely surface-level writers. However, they
realize they need to improve and want help.
3.) Heavy social media users who minimize the value of writing. The third-largest among
all respondents, this group indicated strong agreement with statements including, ―Because I can
write witty ―tweets‖ on Twitter, I can also write professional media articles,‖ ―Writing about
myself on Facebook is good practice for developing professional media writing skills,‖ and ―The
ability to write well is becoming less important for professional success.‖ They indicated strong
disagreement with such statements as, ―My writing skills will be a valuable asset in my
profession,‖ ―I can write a paper that connects the different paragraphs in a coherent way,‖ and
―I can use the right punctuation marks and put them in the right places in my text.‖
Responses from group three indicate these students are social media lovers who do not
care much about conventional media writing. They view professional writing skills as
unimportant and believe they will be professionally employable regardless of their writing skills.
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