Vanaja Nethi

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Jennifer Reeves

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Steve Hecht

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Megan Leith Sexton

Turnitin

Excellent academic writing skills are pivotal for student success at the undergraduate or graduate level. As educators, we play a vital role in nurturing strong academic writing skills in our students. In this session, we discuss how we can harness the potential of Draft Coach, a feature in Turnitin (https://www.turnitin.com/products/features/draft-coach), to assist in this endeavor. We will delve into strategies for faculty members to effectively utilize Draft Coach, which offers tools and functionalities designed to support the entire writing process, from sentence-level editing to final drafts. Key areas of focus during the session include:

o An Introduction to Draft Coach: A comprehensive overview of the Draft Coach toolset, including its plagiarism-checking capabilities, feedback mechanisms, and writing guides.

o Examples of Draft Coach use in course activities: We discuss how we bring Draft Coach into two doctoral-level research courses to lead to improved student writing outcomes. The courses will be taught in the Winter term 2024.

o Hands-on experience with Draft Coach: A 15-minute breakout room session to explore this tool and discuss ways in which you can use this tool in your teaching.

o Discussion and sharing experiences: Participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions, ask questions, and share their own experiences with Draft Coach.

Join us in exploring the potential of Draft Coach in Turnitin and how students can use this through their free Microsoft 365 account. Discover how faculty can become catalysts for improving academic writing skills among students. The session will provide participants with actionable insights.

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe Turnitin's Draft Coach features that help students improve their academic writing skills.

2. Discuss examples of its integration into course activities.

3. Apply Draft Coach (hands-on) to a specific writing task.

4. Consider its potential for their courses.