CONFERENCING VIA E-MAIL: AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO RESPOND TO STUDENT WRITING

This article reports the findings obtained in a research project that aimed at determining the efficiency of responding to student writing by means of conferencing via e-mail. Such research project was carried out with nine professors from the faculty of engineering and one advanced engineering student at a public university in Costa Rica during the second semester in the year 2008. To collect information for this project, two questionnaires, conferencing forms, instructors' reflections, and student reflections were used. A reduced number of the students completed the instruments and took part in the conferencing exchanges expected of them, yet both the surveyed students and the instructor found conferencing efficient. Still, more research is needed in order obtain conclusive results about the effectiveness of conferencing via e-mail as an alternative way to respond to student writing. Suggestions for further research are given