Sue Mendelsohn SLU Writing Center Coordinator
Teaching College Writing
Outline
• Why teach writing?
• The habits of successful writers
• Assignments
• Expectations at the college level
• Grading
Why teach writing?
“More than 90% of mid-career professionals
cited the „need to write effectively‟ as a skill
„of great importance‟ in their day-to-day
work.”
Light, Richard. Making the Most of College. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
UP, 2001. 3.
Why teach writing?
“More than 50% of 1st-year college students
are unable to produce papers relatively free
of language errors. Analyzing arguments and
synthesizing information are also beyond the
scope of most 1st-year students.”
National Commission on Writing. “The Neglected „R‟: The Need for a
Writing Revolution.” April 2003. 17.
Why teach writing?
The National Commission on Writing
recommends that 1) teachers double the
amount of writing they assign students and
2) universities train all faculty to teach
writing.
National Commission on Writing. “The Neglected „R‟: The Need for a
Writing Revolution.” April 2003. 3.
The habits of successful writers
Inexperienced: Writing is a one-time performance
Experienced: Writing is an evolving practice
Inexperienced: Revision is rewording
Experienced: Revision is rethinking
Inexperienced: A solitary activity
Experienced: A social process
The habits of successful writers
Inexperienced: Focus on rules, correctness,
formula
Experienced: Focus on argument, reader,
dissonance
Inexperienced: Prioritize stylistic concerns
Experienced: Prioritize ideas & structure earlier in
the revising process and stylistic concerns later
Sommers, Nancy. “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and
Experienced Adult Writers.” Landmark Essays on Writing Process. Ed.
Sondra Perl. CA: Hermagoras Press, 1994. 75-84.
Assignments
• Build-in a process
• Make it social
• Make it problem-based & authentic when possible
• Connect assignments
• Create an assignment sheet
Resources
Writing@CSU http://writing.colostate.edu/learn.cfm
Getting Started http://writing.msu.edu:16080/interactive/humanities/
Virgil http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/virgil/?q=
Expectations
• Complex arguments conveyed with clarity
• A structure that compliments the argument
• Some engagement with major voices in the
discipline
• Responsible use of outside sources
Resources
Model Documents Gallery bedfordstmartins.com/modeldocs/
What Is Plagiarism at Indiana U? education.indiana.edu/~frick/plagiarism/item1.html
Grading
The research suggests that paper comments
work best when they…
1) put the student back in control
2) treat the writing as in-progress rather
than a fixed product
Grading: Respond as a reader
Nancy Sommers: “Most students find it difficult to imagine a
reader‟s response in advance, and to use such responses
as a guide in composing. Thus, we comment on student
writing to dramatize the presence of a reader, to help your
student to become that questioning reader themselves,
because, ultimately, we believe that becoming such a
reader will help them to evaluate what they have written and
develop control over their writing.”
• I-statements.
• Avoid equating writing simply with grammar.
Grading
Set expectations.
Be Zen. Prioritize.
– Higher and lower-order concerns
– Recurring vs. isolated concerns
Resource
Purdue OWL http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Grading options
Rubrics
Audio comments
Portfolio grading
Resource
Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php