1. Introduction to the NSU Write from the Start QEP
Welcome to the online introduction to the NSU Write from the Start quality enhancement plan. In this presentation we’ll discuss how and why the components of the QEP have been developed, as well as some of the best practices for improving learning through the use of writing in NSU courses. This is a good presentation for faculty to review before they make use of the other topic-specific faculty workshops that cover everything from designing assignments to responding to student writing to facilitating peer writing groups.
NSU Write from the Start Writing and Communication Center

2. Components of the NSU QEP
NSU Writing and Communication Center
Writing Fellows and Writing Enriched Courses
Graduate Student and Faculty Workshops, Consultations, and Symposia
SharkWrites
Here are the major components of the NSU “Write from the Start” Quality Enhancement Plan. The first is the creation of a university-wide Writing and Communication Center where students from all colleges and at all levels can sign up for consultations to talk about their writing with a peer writing tutor. While its main location is in the Alvin Sherman library, we regularly hold hours in other areas of campus to accommodate specific populations of students.
The QEP also supports the creation of Writing Enriched courses where our staff can help you develop curricula, and writing tutors with experience in the class being taught can come and work with your students during class time in addition to meeting with them at the Writing and Communication Center.
Presentations like this one are part of the faculty resources being created to support improved use of writing in NSU courses. In addition to in-person and online workshops, faculty can request personal consultations or attend or present at yearly symposia to share and learn about how to use writing more effectively in NSU courses. Graduate students have their own specialized series of workshops tailored to their needs.
Finally, SharkWrites is an online collection of writing resources gathered by each college to help students learn to write in their home disciplines.
For access to and more information about these resources, please visit the Writing and Communication Center web site at

3. What we’re NOT here to do:
Turn you into a writing teacher (or worse, a grammar expert)
Force your students to write persuasive essays
Dictate how you should run your classroom
First, let’s talk about what the faculty workshop series is not intending to do. We’re not trying to turn you into a writing teacher. Writing is an important tool in every discipline, but the focus in your classes should always remain on your course objectives. We believe writing is best thought of as a tool to help students reach these objectives, and a tool for you to measure how well students accomplish these objectives.
Second, we don’t expect you to start assigning specific genres you wouldn’t normally ask students in your majors to write. Persuasive essays like those often found in composition classes may make sense for some disciplines, but for others the important genres that students need to learn to read and write effectively are texts like lab reports, usability tests, personal statements, or business plans.
Third, we’re not here to dictate how you run your classroom. Any recommendations we make are based on research and experience, but there is no one correct way to teach or use writing. You are the final authority on what practices you adopt.

4. What we are here to do:
To further the goals of the NSU Quality Enhancement Plan
To identify effective methods for incorporating, assigning, responding to, and assessing writing in NSU courses
To share resources, experiences, and expertise
Here’s what we are here to do. We’re here to further the goals of the NSU Quality Enhancement Plan, which seek to enhance student learning by helping students become better writers who work carefully through the writing process.
We’re also here to support faculty development related to writing, by presenting effective methods for guiding students through all stages of the writing process.
And there will be opportunities for all of these resources and expertise to be collected and shared so that faculty and students can continue to benefit from the QEP in a sustainable way.

5. Why? Because we believe:
writing is the responsibility of the entire academic community across a student’s entire time as a NSU student, not just one department, class, or year
writing benefits students by promoting learning, self development, and professional achievement
writing benefits teachers by improving transfer of course content and evaluation of student learning, and creates an environment for more sophisticated and fruitful student engagement
So, why did we choose writing as the focus of the QEP? We did so because we believe that writing is the responsibility of the entire academic community across a student’s entire time as a NSU student, not just one department, class, or year. Performance in every discipline benefits from professional communication and writing abilities, and these are skills that cannot be simply learned once and then never developed further.
We also believe that writing benefits students by promoting learning, self development, and professional achievement. For instance, we know from the National Commission on Writing that not only can writing ability be correlated with increased chances of getting a job, it is even more highly correlated with getting a promotion after one is hired. In other words, our students’ communication abilities matter to their long-term professional goals.
Lastly, we believe that writing benefits teachers by improving transfer of course content and evaluation of student learning, and creates an environment for more sophisticated and fruitful student engagement.
Working together, we can create a culture of writing at NSU that improves students’ academic performance across the curriculum.

6. Some best practices: Clear Writing Expectations
Interactive Writing Processes
Meaning-Making Writing Tasks
Real Documents and Situations
Let us share some best practices associated with writing across the curriculum. The three bullets shown here are based on the results of a 2015 survey of over 70,000 students conducted by the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). In the published findings, they report that writing’s contribution to student learning was affected by three factors: the presence of clear writing expectations, interactive writing processes, and meaning making writing tasks.
Clear Writing Expectations occur when instructors provide students with an accurate understanding of what they are asking the students to demonstrate in an assignment and the criteria by which the instructors will evaluate the students' submissions. Without these clear expectations, students are often confused by the responses and grades they received, and fail to focus on the critical aspects of a project that will lead to the greatest learning.
Interactive Writing Processes occur when student writers communicate orally or in writing with one or more persons at some point between when they receive an assignment and when they submit the final draft. The person they interact with might be the instructor, another student in the class, a friend, or any other individual or group, such as tutors in the writing and communication center. When students are guided to reflect on their own writing by peers or by faculty, they can often self-identify deficiencies and opportunities in their own writing.
Meaning-Making Writing Tasks occur when students engage in some form of integrative, critical, or original thinking. Examples include asking students to apply a concept learned in class to their past experience, relate knowledge learned in another class to knowledge in the current class, support a contestable claim with evidence, or evaluate a policy, practice, or position.
Let us add one more practice to this list: Real Documents and Situations. Especially considering NSUs interest in experiential learning, you might consider whether writing assignments in your class allow students to respond to real-world situations. Not only can students learn to do things like perform research by reading and analyzing published research, students can compose projects designed to address real problems or needs, perhaps in coordination with real clients who can benefit from the student’s work. Having a real audience for your work often leads to improved writing by the student, and improved feedback from the client or instructor.
Together, these practices invite students to participate in a rich process where what and how they write matters beyond simply securing a grade.
Source

7. Questions?
Thank you for your interest in improving student learning at NSU through writing. If you have questions or want to work with our staff to please go to our web site or contact us at We look forward to working with you.