Honors 1320 Students Published in Young Scholars in Writing 

During spring 2023, students enrolled in Honors 1320 with Professor Joyce Kinkead conducted a research study that has just been published in Young Scholars in Writing, a nationally-recognized journal for undergraduates that seeks articles that make an intellectual contribution to the field. While focusing on the history of writing, the students found that through the ages writing implements have been enormously important. What about tools for writing now? Their IRB-approved study involved developing a Qualtrics survey, coding essays, and analyzing data, culminating in presenting a poster at the 2023 Spring Student Research Symposium.  

In YSW, they report on their empirical study of the writing tools preferred by so-called “digital natives.” Spoiler alert! They found that while preference for digital or analog tools depends on the context, many of the college-aged participants reported a preference for tools such as gel pens, ballpoint pens, or mechanical pencils and that their writing tool preferences were often connected to their writing identities. Their study contributes to an increasing interest in the material culture of writing. Avery Truman, Environmental Studies and Geography major and member of The Statesman staff, took the lead on submitting the article and working through its publication with the journal editors over the past year. In addition to Avery, authors included Dylan Ash, Mason Bodell, Jane Harvey, Clarissa Lloyd, Ellie Miller, Lauren Myers, Hannah Potter, William Spence, Anna Tuite, Isabelle Vasquez, Nevaeh Villastrigo, and Undergraduate Teaching Fellow (UTF) Landon Corbett, who was named Honors UTF of the Year in 2023. Joyce was invited to author a preface to the essay as it is unusual to have so many authors collaborating on one essay. Young Scholars in Writing is an annual publication founded in 2003. The essay, “Is the Pen Mightier than the Laptop? Digital Natives and Their Preferred Writing Tools” can be accessed here.