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WRITING
USING WRITING
It is almost axiomatic that writing is, as Emig (1977) argues, "a central academic process." Hence, any course
that introduces students to the college experience must include writing.
The Writing Across the Curriculum and the Writing to Learn movements have given increased focus to
the goals and process of writing, emphasizing that "writing represents a unique mode of learning-not merely
valuable, not merely special, but unique" (Emig, 1977). The objective is to use writing as a means to learn, not
to "eradicate the problem of poor writers" (Herrington, 1981 ). These movements also suggest that a variety
of types of writing beyond traditional formal papers be incorporated into the learning process. This
instructor's manual provides a variety of writing exercises for both in-class and out-of-class activities.
Types of Writing
College courses frequently incorporate a variety of types of writing. These are commonly categorized as free,
or informal, writing and formal writing. You will want to incorporate both categories of writing into your
course. You might also include both types of writing in the formal requirements and grading of the course.
Informal Writing. Informal writing can be used in a variety of ways. The most important informal writing
activity recommended for the course is the journal [LINK to JOURNAL WRITING.doc]. You should also
consider using informal writing in class in other ways. For example, have students take 5 minutes at the
beginning of the period to write about the previous class, about the chapter just read, or about a program
they attended or a speaker they heard; have them do one of the exercises from their textbook that asks them
to write on something; or at the end of the class have them write about their reaction to that day's class or
summarize what was discussed. Writing at the beginning of the class can help focus or encourage discussion
of an issue. Writing at the end of the class period can help bring closure or help students summarize what was
discussed.
One strategy to get students involved is for you to write while they are doing their writing, and then share
your writing on the subject. The prime benefit of free writing is the activity itself-involvement in the process
of thinking and writing. Have them share their writing aloud occasionally. You should occasionally collect
students' writing and note for their individual records that they are doing it. You might also want to count it
in some way in the course grade. Keep in mind, however, that free writing is not judged in the same manner
as formal writing. Grammar, spelling, and mechanics are not evaluated or marked. The objective is to get the
pen and the ideas flowing.
Formal Writing. You will also want to include some formal writing assignments. The writing assignments
can be used directly in relationship to the various chapters in the textbook, or they can focus on a theme or
an area of your own choice.
If you plan a series of assignments, they should be sequenced so that they advance in complexity and so
that each assignment prepares students for the next one (Herrington, 1981 ). The assignments should both
specify the topic and define the purpose and audience for the paper. "This specificity will help the writers
understand what is required of them and usually will challenge them to something more than restating
information for no purpose" (Herrington, 1981 ).
Evaluation
No matter how well designed or creative the writing assignments, if you do not treat them meaningfully, they
will have little value. "If the teacher treats the resulting writing as unimportant or merely samples of writing,
then the students begin to resent having to write. [Conversely,] if the teacher treats the student writings as
important to the course and as worthy of substantive response, then the students can be expected to feel
more positively about future assignments and to invest more in them" (Herrington, 1981 ). The process of
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evaluation should be correlated with the specific assignment, and the criteria for judging the assignment
should be specified clearly. An assignment from a psychology class provides an example:
Short Paper 3: Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
The Senses of Trust, Mistrust; Autonomy, Shame/Doubt; Initiative, Guilt; Industry, Inferiority; Identity and Role Confusion.
Question: Using the definitions and the causes of each "sense" for the first five stages of psychosocial
development, indicate which "sense," for example, trust or mistrust, is more characteristic of you and
why you believe that sense is more characteristic of you than its opposite. Write your essay as if you were
writing an Eriksonian autobiography to facilitate someone's understanding of your psychosocial
development.
Requirements: In order to write this assignment, you must:
1.
Know Erikson's definition of each sense
2.
Know the cause of each sense, as seen by Erikson
3.
Be able to recognize each sense in yourself
4.
Be able to provide concrete examples of each sense in yourself
Evaluative Criteria: Your instructor will evaluate your essay with these criteria in mind:
1.
Did you clearly understand Erikson's conceptualization of each sense, that is, Erikson's
definition of the sense and his assertions about its cause?
2.
Did you provide lucid examples of how each sense is evident in your psychosocial
development?
Note: Your instructor will evaluate each short paper for content only. You will be allowed to write one
revision of the content of your paper to try to earn a higher grade. Your instructor will note your
grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors, which you must correct in pencil on your paper. Correcting
your errors is mandatory. However, correcting your errors will not raise your grade. If you fail to correct
your errors, a grade of "F" will be assigned to your short paper. (Herrington, 1981)
A GUIDE TO PEER REVIEW
The purpose of student peer review of writing assignments is to enable students to help one another
improve the quality of their writing.
The process of student peer review involves passing the papers around in the group, reading them, and
making specific suggestions and comments. After all members of the group have finished reading and
commenting, discuss the papers in the group as a whole.
The comments should be useful. Although it is desirable to affirm that a fellow student is doing a
good job, general comments that are not specific are not very helpful. Statements like "Nice job" or "I
liked what you wrote" may make the student feel good, but they do not offer much practical help on how
to improve the writing.
Reading the paper closely for specific errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation may be helpful, but
remember, the paper will most likely be retyped. The most useful information is organizational and
substantive. Organizational information relates to questions like the following: Is the paper logically
organized (does each element or paragraph follow logically from the preceding one/? Does each paragraph
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make sense in itself, and is it logically organized internally? Substantive information relates to questions
like the following: Does the paper address the question? /For instance, if the question asks for four
examples, does the writer give four examples?) Does the paper use an appropriate form of response? (For
instance, if the question asks for a description, does the writer give a true description?)
In this assignment the requirements are clearly outlined step by step, and the evaluation criteria are specifically
stated (Herrington, 1981).
Drafting
Many first-year composition or writing classes introduce students to the concept of drafting-the process of
writing, rewriting, and refining. You should incorporate this process in the way that you design your writing
assignments, allowing for time between drafts. It is also a good idea to set aside one class period for peer
review of papers as part of the revising and editing process. Peer review gives students a chance for someone
else to read and critique their papers before they turn in their final drafts.
For peer review divide the class into groups and have the students exchange papers; then have them discuss
the papers. You could combine both mechanical editing and content evaluation in the peer review, but you
should ask your students to read and comment on only one or two specific types of errors or problems, such
as subject-verb agreement and provision of supporting examples.
Computers and Writing
Computers are wonderful tools for writing and can take much of the drudgery out of the process. Encourage
your students to write their papers on the computer. To help them, you should be familiar with your campus
computing facilities-location, hours, software, training, and laboratory assistance. Include the facilities on your
campus tour. Check with your students on how much they know about using the computer. You may want to
arrange individual training sessions for them in the computer center.
Using computers for writing facilitates and even encourages multiple drafts. Computers make editing
faster and easier; they can encourage collaboration and can simply make writing more fun (Fulwiler, 1989).
Remind students to use a spelling checker, and encourage them to try out one of the new grammar-checking
programs as well. Using a computer to eliminate at least some of the irritating mechanical problems can make
writing less burdensome and more rewarding for students.