Designing Effective Writing Assignments


	Introduce myself; get names/disciplines of faculty participants.

	Not every class has to include a writing assignment. But it’s clear that the more writing our students do, the more likely that they’ll become good writers.

	There’s no way we can teach our students everything there is to know about writing in the first-year composition sequence, partly because their abilities and our demands change with every new course.

	Think about it: how many of us feel our writing improved after our first year in college? After we graduated from college? After graduate school?

	But we can’t just throw out any writing assignment, or even the kind of assignment WE like best. The traditional research paper (tell them on the 1^st day, collect them on the last day) works well for some students, but we can craft assignments which help more of our students—and which reduce some of the burden on us. (U.S. faculty typically spend lots of time correcting essays, not enough time during the writing process.)

	Time spent tailoring the assignment will pay off in increased student learning and fewer faculty headaches.

	I want this session to be as useful as possible, so I won’t spend much time giving a formal presentation. However, I did prepare by bringing lots of info, so I can help with whatever issues have inspired you to come today. Also, I have planned time for you to talk to each other, rather than listening to me talk.