Generic vs context embedded study skills support: A tale of two essays

This paper describes a short program of essay-writing instruction that has been embedded into a unit in The Faculty of the Sciences, UNE, from 1996-1999. The program was evaluated using three approaches. A quasi-experimental comparison of marks for a subsequent essay in another unit was undertaken, comparing students who had attended the essay-writing workshops to those who had not.' This revealed that over the four years there were no significant differences in the marks between the workshop and non-workshop groups. Results from student interviews and an anonymous questionnaire in 1999 suggested that the students thought that they had benefited from the workshops. It is argued that lack of transfer of the essay-writing skills is one probable cause for the lack of apparent workshop effect. This suggests that there are constraints to the utility of context-embedded study skills support, and that a combination of linked generic and context-embedded programs could optimise student learning.