1. Designing Effective Assignments
4/4/2019
Designing Effective Assignments
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program
September 24th, 2015
Claire Hoogendoorn & Drew Fleming 1

2. Overview of WAC Certification Process
Fall semester:
Selected readings about WAC pedagogy
Attend 4 WAC workshops
Today’s
Avoiding plagiarism: 10/22, 1pm
Effective grading/minimal marking: 11/19, 1pm
Creative classroom: 12/10, 1pm
Meet your writing fellow 2

3. Overview of WAC Certification Process
4/4/2019
Overview of WAC Certification Process
Spring semester:
Meet regularly with your paired writing fellow
Develop & revise teaching materials following WAC principles
Syllabus: explains role of writing in your course
At least 1 scaffolded writing assignment: clear due dates
Present your experiences & materials at year-end colloquium
Beyond Spring:
Implement new syllabus/assignments
Certified instructors may be asked to contribute to future WAC activities / assessment 3

4. Workshop Objectives
Differentiate formal vs. informal writing assignments
Discuss informal writing and provide tools
Explain importance of writing-to-learn philosophy & offer strategies
Introduce scaffolding techniques
Discuss formal writing assignments
Misconceptions about assignment-focused learning
Explain value of typed assignment handouts

5. ‘Traditional’ Writing Assignment
Assignment 2: Take-Home Final Exam Essay: Turkey and the
European Union
Discuss the controversy over Turkey's membership in the European Union. What are the potential benefits for Turkey? For the European Union? Beyond Europe?
What are the arguments for and against membership? Who's making these arguments and why? What are the economic implications? Papers must be typed, double-spaced and stapled. Sources must be cited, using Chicago style. You must include a list of Works Cited.
This assignment represents the equivalent of a final exam. Therefore, I expect you to put considerable time and energy into it. Papers should be focused, make an argument, and draw on course materials. I want to see evidence of thinking. I will reward originality. Points will be deducted for grammatical and syntactical errors. It's a good idea to write more than one draft of your assignment. If you need extra help, you can get it in the Writing Center. I recommend this strongly. Plagiarism is prohibited by Queens College, and any student caught teaching will receive an F on the assignment, fail the course, and be referred to the Dean of students. Don’t do it!
My pet peeves: Confusion between "there" and "their;” Pronoun – anteceded disagreement; Incorrect verb tenses; Confusion between "it's" and "its“; Use of the second person ( "you“); Unsupported statements of opinion. 5

6. Formal vs. Informal Writing Assignments
Writing to Communicate
A polished piece of work that is representative of formal writing in the field
Assignment significantly impacts student grades
Informal Writing Assignments
Writing to Learn
Focus is not on grammar or organization
Low-stakes (not graded or minimal points) 6

7. Benefits of Informal Writing Assignments
Interact with course content
Connect new concepts with previous knowledge
Retain key concepts
Create opportunities to explore class concepts at low risk
Assess student comprehension
Prevent plagiarism

8. Specific formats/structures of assignments you found helpful?
What kind of assignments help students learn course content through writing?
Specific formats/structures of assignments you found helpful? 8

9. Writing-to-learn Strategies
Note-taking
Questioning what text means or how the parts of the topic connect
Define concepts or ideas about subject matter
Paraphrase, translate, or rephrase the text
React or respond to texts
Create problems to be solved with subject matter
Apply the subject matter to one’s life
Summarize concepts and ideas from text/discussion

10. Reading and Writing to Learn
Writing as active reading
Ask students to summarize lectures or course readings
Help students explore how note taking and other writing helps sharpen ideas
Purposeful writing assignments
Achieve course outcomes
Connect to students’ life experiences
Draw upon students’ prior knowledge
1010

11. Two Column Note Taking Lecture notes Summarizing and Main Ideas Date:
Topic:
Lecture notes
Topics and notes to yourself
Summarizing and Main Ideas

12. What is Scaffolding?
Scaffolding involves systematically structuring smaller informal or semi-formal assignments that build towards a larger, formal assignment.
Scaffolding helps support class learning objectives, and this should be made transparent to students.
Scaffolding also allows instructors to steadily assess student progress.

13. Scaffolding Examples Assignment: Defend an Assigned Thesis
English:
Philip Roth is/is not a misogynist writer.
Assignment: Group Brainstorming
English:
Students brainstorm what author they would want to write about, and identify potential controversies about their writing (before any research is done)

14. Formal Assignments Students gain experience with polished writing
Often ask students to “do” the discipline
Students gain experience with polished writing
Benefit from scaffolding:
Build on/integrate informal assignments
Should require multiple drafts
Tend to be “high stakes”

15. Scaffolding Traditional Assignments
Dear Dr. Catlove, You’ve got to help me settle this argument I am having with my girlfriend. We were watching a news show the other night when the news anchor began discussing the benefits of Turkey joining the European Union. I thought that the guy was making some good points, but my girlfriend told me that Turkey joining Europe was a bad idea! I said she was stupid. Needless to say, that started an argument. Please help us save our relationship! Sincerely, European Union Blues Can this relationship be saved? Speaking as Dr. Catlove, write an answer to European Union Blues. Restrict your answer to 250 words or less. Don’t confuse Mr. Blues by using any special political terms unless you explain clearly what you mean.

16. Activity: Transform The Assignment with Scaffolding
Take-Home Final Exam Essay: Turkey and the European Union
Discuss the controversy over Turkey's membership in the European Union. What are the potential benefits for Turkey? For the European Union? Beyond Europe?
What are the arguments for and against membership? Who's making these arguments and why? What are the economic implications? Papers must be typed, double-spaced and stapled. Sources must be cited, using Chicago style. You must include a list of Works Cited.
This assignment represents the equivalent of a final exam. Therefore, I expect you to put considerable time and energy into it. Papers should be focused, make an argument, and draw on course materials. I want to see evidence of thinking. I will reward originality. Points will be deducted for grammatical and syntactical errors. It's a good idea to write more than one draft of your assignment. If you need extra help, you can get it in the Writing Center. I recommend this strongly. Plagiarism is prohibited by Queens College, and any student caught teaching will receive an F on the assignment, fail the course, and be referred to the Dean of students. Don’t do it!
My pet peeves: Confusion between "there" and "their;” Pronoun – anteceded disagreement; Incorrect verb tenses; Confusion between "it's" and "its“; Use of the second person ( "you“); Unsupported statements of opinion.

17. Misconceptions About Assignment-Focused Learning
4/4/2019
Misconceptions About Assignment-Focused Learning
“Emphasizing writing in a course will take away from content”
“Writing assignments are unsuitable in non-English courses”
“Adding more writing to my course will bury me in paper grading”
“I am not knowledgeable enough about grammar to help students with their writing”

18. All Assignments Benefit From Clarity
Always Provide Students with a Typed Assignment Handout
Helps the students understand what they “need to do”
Assists tutors in the Learning Center in providing appropriate assistance to the student
Allows teachers to purposefully design assignments and receive feedback from colleagues

19. Assignment Handout Checklist
Is the task clear?
Do students know what they’re being graded for?
Have I listed the assignment requirements?
Are citation requirements included?
Is the audience specified?
Are revisions assigned?
(peer review can be helpful)

20. Next Time on WAC… Avoiding Plagiarism The next workshop will focus on:
Thursday 10/22
1:00-2:15pm Location: TBA
The next workshop will focus on:
Understanding plagiarism
Strategies for preventing plagiarism
Responding to plagiarism
Reading from Bean book
Chps. 1, 6, & 7