I cannot say that after playing videos from a Stanford series on writing that I saw wholesale improvements in my students’ writing. However, I can say that I saw an up-ratchet in enthusiasm.
One of my sections of 1101 was heavily populated with engineering and computer science majors. Though these particular students evidenced high levels of intelligence, many of them could not articulate arguments or support arguments at anything resembling college level proficiency. When I happened on this Stamford series, which features mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists expounding on the value of writing in their fields, I knew it would be worth showing in class. The series appeals not just to tech-weighted minds, but to any student of writing (willing or not as the case may be in 1101). For example, one video featured a mathematician who described how brilliant work from others in his field did not see the light of day for far too long because, quite simply, the creator(s) of the work could not adequately articulate the value of what had been created. They just couldn’t write well.
The videos, as I mentioned, did not rocket up grades but they did energize class discussion. I was left with the feeling that many of these students did indeed see more value in writing than they previously had seen.