What is the best way to teach writing?

Inside Higher Ed reports.

With writing, study finds, quality of assignment and instruction — not quantity — matters

Much research suggests that more writing is associated with more learning, and that’s given more credence to the Writing Across the Curriculum movement, which promotes the importance of writing assignments everywhere, not just in composition classes. The landmark 2011 book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, for example, says the one notable exception to the finding that students learn little after three semesters at college in terms of critical thinking and complex reasoning is among those students who write the most. But the research on which writing interventions are most helpful is less conclusive, and that’s caused some to doubt the effectiveness of pedagogies that promote a good deal of writing in fields beyond English. Supporters of such pedagogies, meanwhile, believe in writing to learn.

A new study sheds more light on the quality versus quantity issue. It seeks to clear up some of the outstanding questions about which writing interventions work best — and whether more truly is better.

In short, the study says, it’s not.