Instructional Strategies for Emphasizing Writing in the Classroom presented by Judith M. Davis, Director Writing Technology Laboratory Hampton University Faculty Institute January 7, 2003
First ask: Who? What? Why? When/where? How?
Who needs to write? Faculty Students All college educated professionals
What do we write? Faculty Students Disciplinary professionals
What types of writing? abstracts case studies essays “research” papers “term” papers lab reports articles reading responses journals literature reviews scripts arguments analyses instructions process descriptions essay tests
Why write? To express oneself To learn material To demonstrate knowledge To communicate ideas To persuade others
When and where do we write? In-class Out-of-Class
How do we write? FluencyFormCorrectness Planning Revising Drafting Editing Cognitively Collaboratively Competence errors Performance errors
How can we best incorporate writing into our courses? Define goals and objectives (course and assignments) Break up large projects Sequence assignments for increasing mastery Plan some assignments that allow students to “write to learn” Schedule preliminary assignments leading up to a large project
How can we best incorporate writing into our courses? Consider how the project(s) will be evaluated (both as individual assignments and in the broader context of the course grade) Put assignments in writing and include evaluation criteria on the assignment sheet Encourage students to use the Writing Technology Laboratory