IMPLEMENTING DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC WRITING SUPPORT FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE OMANI CONTEXT

Abstract

This paper evaluates how a writing centre in a private higher education institution in Oman supports discipline-specific academic writing for undergraduate students in Computing, Business, and Electronics Civil and Mechanical Engineering. One of the key interventions introduced by the centre was adopting a writing in the disciplines (WID) approach by offering scheduled writing classes for selected modules in these disciplines and incorporating genre-based pedagogy in final-year capstone projects. The embedded sessions were designed to support 550 students enrolled in seven modules across the three disciplines in meeting their coursework requirements. Integrating this intervention into the curriculum involved close collaboration with subject teachers to understand the assigned genres, designing relevant course materials for synchronous and asynchronous learning, and implementing innovative and research-informed pedagogies. Students were also offered individual consultations to complement the support offered during the classroom sessions. This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of these embedded modules and the genre-based pedagogy approach for the capstone projects undertaken by final-year students. Feedback was collected from students, as well as the faculty members involved, through the institutional module evaluation surveys and feedback forms. The findings indicate that there is significant improvement in the quality of assignments of those students who availed the services of the center. Although the interventions are specific to these programmes and contexts, they may provide a model for other writing and language centres to develop innovative pedagogical models to support disciplinary student writing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.