HELPFUL LINKS
Dealing with Plagiarism |
Incorporating Writing into your Course Design
The Importance of Writing Regardless of Major
A number of authors have described disengagement among college students as epidemic (Hassel & Lourey, 2005; Higher Education Research Institute, 2001; Hu & Kuh, 2002; Kuh, Hu, & Vesper, 2000; McDougall & Granby, 1997; Sacks, 1996; Trout, 1997). One proposed solution to the disengagement dilemma is more writing throughout the disciplines (Kepler, 2005; Monroe, 2003), including informal writing to learn (Bazerman et al., 2005; Indrisano & Paratore, 2005; Murray, 2001; Sorcinelli & Elbow, 1997).
Writing-to-learn activities require minimal class time and allow instructors to suspend composition and evaluation formalities in order to stimulate deeper engagement (Brent & Felder, 1992). Writing has been called “central to the work of higher education” (Monroe, 2003). According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), it is a “high-impact practice” that engages students, but one students expect to do more than they actually do when they enter college (Kuh, 2007). Moreover, Hobson and Schafermeyer (1994) have noted the relatively limited number of engaging activities manageable in large classes, arguing that writing to learn “gets everyone in the class to engage their brains at the same time without creating anarchy” (p. 424).
References
Bazerman, C., Little, J., Bethel, L., Chavkin, T., Fouquette, D., & Garufis, J. (2005). Reference guide to writing
across the curriculum. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.
Brent, R., & Felder, R. M. (1992). Writing assignments: Pathways to connections, clarity, creativity.
College Teaching, 40(1), 43-47.
Hassel, H., & Lourey, J. (2005). The dea(r)th of student responsibility. College Teaching, 53, 2-14.
Higher Education Research Institute (2001). The American freshman: National norms for fall 2001. Record
levels of academic disengagement, record high grades. Los Angeles: University of California Graduate School
of Education and Information Studies. Retrieved January 19, 2007, from
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/norms_pr_01.html
Hobson, E. H., & Schafermeyer, K. W. (1994). Writing and critical thinking: Writing to learn in large classes.
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 58, 423-427.
Hu, S., & Kuh, G. D. (2002). Being (dis)engaged in educationally purposeful activities: The influences of student
and institutional characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 43, 555-575.
Indrisano , R., & Paratore, J. R. (Eds.). (2005). Learning to write, writing to learn: theory and research in practice.
Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Kuh, G. D. (2007). What student engagement data tell us about college readiness. Peer Review 9, 4-8.
Kuh, G. D., Hu, S., and Vesper, N. (2000). They shall be known by what they do: An activities-based typology of
college students. Journal of College Student Development, 41, 228-244.
Kepler, K. (2005, August). Faculty views on the importance of writing, the nature of academic writing, and
teaching and responding to writing in the disciplines. Technical Communication, 52, 401-403.
McDougall, D., & Granby, C. (1997). Effects of expectations of questioning method on education majors’
preparation for class. Education 117, 349-355.
Monroe, J. (2003). Writing and the disciplines. Peer Review, 6, 4-8.
Murray, Donald. (2001). Write to learn. (7th ed.). New York: Heinle & Heinle.
Sacks, P. (1996). Generation X goes to college. Chicago: Open Court.
Sorcinelli, M. D., & Elbow, P. (1997). Writing to learn: strategies for assigning and responding to writing across the
disciplines. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Trout, P. (1997). Student anti-intellectualism & the dumbing down of the university. Montana Professor, n.p.
LINKS
About Writing in UNI's Liberal Arts Core
Smoothing the Transition from General Education to Major Courses
Major Doesn’t Matter: Arguments for Incorporating Informal Writing Across the Disciplines
Writing to Learn Managerial Accounting
Dartmouth : Teaching Argument / Thinking
Brent, R., & Felder, R. M. (1992). Writing assignments: Pathways to connections, clarity, creativity. College
Teaching, 40(1), 43-47.
Granville, S., & Dison, L. (2005). Thinking about thinking: Integrating self-reflection into an academic literacy
course. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4, 99-118.
Hobson, E. H., & Schafermeyer, K. W. (1994). Writing and critical thinking: Writing to learn in large classes.
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 58, 423-427.
Lockhart, M. (2002). The use of student journals to increase faculty and learner inquiry and reflection. (The
scholarship of teaching and learning). Academic Exchange Quarterly, 6, 21-2.
Teaching with Writing: Activities for Various Disciplines
Writing-to-Learn Assignments
Informal Writing Assignments
Suggestions for Assignments
Assignments Requiring Minimal Out-of-Class Time
Assignments Requiring No Out-of-Class Time
Responding to Writing: Efficient Methods of Giving Feedback
Responding to Writing
Strategies to Save Grading Time
Characteristics of A work and C work
Sample Evaluation Criteria
