By Dr. Josef Vice

Not all college students bring confidence to their first-year writing classes, as evidenced by their high levels of writing anxiety and an unfortunate fatalistic approach to writing. Leveraging a human connection and the concept of “teamship” among students and their audiences can build the confidence necessary for students to embrace the writing process and see themselves as writers who can impact others through the power of their words. 

Introduction

Those who teach first-year college composition know that most students don’t see themselves as writers, and many (if not a majority) will if asked confess to multiple writing weaknesses. They will tell you up front that they are not good at writing. Their words signal to us less about their actual skills and capabilities and more about their confidence levels. The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University (2026) confirms what many of us already suspect, when they note that many writing students are “gun-shy about writing assignments; they may believe they’re “just not good at writing” or that “the grading is all subjective anyway” and thus approach writing assignments with the expectation of failure” (para. 1). Writing classes can often create high levels of “anxiety or sense of fatalism about writing” (para. 1). 

Anxiety, self-doubt, and fatalism–they are not a recipe for success at all, and certainly these afflictions do not lead to flourishing or positive transformation. But what I have found this term is that the more human the connection we can create–both between classmates in the course and the audiences they are writing to–the less anxiety, the less self-doubt, and the less fatalism these students experience, allowing them to embrace the writing skills they might not realize they have. And as Nallaya et al. (2022) note, “confident students experience better learning outcomes and are more likely to complete their studies than those who are not” (p. 267).

“Teamship” in the Writing Classroom

This term, I leaned heavily on the concept of “teamship” in my CM107, College Composition I, in the discussion board and in seminar activities, to try to help students see that they have a relevant connection with others that can make a difference, have an impact, change their classmates’ writing processes, and even their audience’s lives. 

We built on the concept of teamship, as expressed by Galanes et al. (2024), which emphasizes its mutually beneficial nature. One important classroom strategy I used to accomplish this was to help students first reflect on the discussion board as a team exercise. This helped students see it as being more than a place to practice writing and earn points, and to instead see it as a safe space where they can honestly share their thoughts, try out ideas, get help from others, and give help without worrying if what they post or if their feedback is perfect. Seeing the discussion board as a safety net with a team of classmates and instructor all working as a team and filling in any gaps that might occur helped build teamship and a willingness to take writing risks. 

I also emphasized the power of teamwork by having Shout-Out sessions at the beginning of each seminar. Asking students to find something to praise about themselves as writers (whether in their posts or themselves, no matter the slightness of the improvement) helped them re-evaluate themselves as writers who recognize that they can improve. I then asked students to give shout-outs to classmates, praising either something they noticed in a classmate’s writing or someone they wanted to thank for the advice and help they had received. This simple five-minute practice at the beginning of seminars reinforced the teamship model and showed students they are deserving of praise from others when they write to them. 

Further human connection was built around the relationship between the student writer and their audience. Using a shared Google doc in each seminar, I asked students to identify their topic or thesis and also share how their assignments might help their audiences. In the Unit 4 Assignment, students learned that writing about a challenge, change, or problem they had experienced could help those in the audience facing similar barriers. This helped students value writing, see its power, and then, by association, see the power of their own words impact others. 

Grace is also central to building human connection and teamwork in the writing class. Sharing examples of our own writing challenges and failures with our students can have a remarkably transformative impact. Sharing with students how we navigated these challenges shows them that challenges can be overcome, that writing does not have to begin with perfection to ultimately become effective. Sharing rough, problematic drafts of our own writing can show students that they are not alone, further reinforcing a human connection to both us and writing. 

I also showed students that I valued their thoughts as writers and team members by asking for their feedback through an anonymous Google Forms survey. I asked students to share their honest thoughts about how the seminar exercises might have helped them, or what I could do differently to make their experience more valuable. I asked students to share how seeing themselves as team members might impact or improve their ability to brainstorm topics, draft, or revise, and how teaming up with the PG librarians and the Academic Success Center tutors might have helped them improve their writing skills. Their responses were helpful and often insightful. 

A Student Writer Speaks

One student noted:

I see myself as an active member of a team in CM107 because I participate in discussions, provide feedback, and learn from my classmates’ perspectives. Even though we complete individual assignments, our collaboration and shared ideas make the class feel like a supportive team environment

This same student also shared the following: 

Working together in a Google doc during seminar helped me see how collaborating improves ideas. It showed me that giving and receiving feedback is part of growth, not criticism, and made the class feel more supportive and interactive. Peer review activities and class discussions have also affected how I see myself as a member of the CM107 team. Giving feedback and responding to classmates’ ideas made me feel more involved and responsible for contributing to our shared learning experience. Seeing myself as part of a team makes me feel more confident as a writer. I now understand that writing is a process, and feedback helps me grow. It reminds me that I am not writing alone and that my voice has value.

Conclusion

Granted, not every student shared this writer’s feelings. However, each time students practiced various team-building activities and gave a shout-out in class, and to themselves, classmates, PG Librarians, and ASC tutors, the more engaged they were in the learning process and the seminar. They were more connected with others and with themselves as writers, more confident, and more capable.

References 

Carnegie Mellon University. (2026). Solve a teaching problem: Students may be intimidated by writing and lack confidence in their abilities. Eberly Center. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/strat-cantwrite/cantwrite-05.html 

Galanes, G. J., Adams, K. L., Hoelscher, C. S., & Spates, S. A. (2024). Effective group discussion: Theory and practice. McGraw Hill. 

Nallaya, S., Hobson, J.E., & Ulpen, T. (2022). An investigation of first-year university students’ confidence in using academic literacies. Issues in Educational Research 32(1), 264-286. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373924315_An_investigation_of_first_year_university_students’_confidence_in_using_academic_literacies 

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About the Author

Dr. Josef Vice (he/him) has taught College Composition at Purdue University Global for the past 22 years, with a total of four decades in the classroom. He is sometimes a confident writer, but he is always confident that if students embrace the writer within, great things happen.