Of the many writing assignments I’ve taught, one stands out as particularly fun for me to read. In a technical writing course for STEM majors, the students wrote and illustrated instruction sets (manuals to walk a user through a process). This assignment sounds bland, but its secret spice was student choice. They could choose any process to write about, as long as they knew it well. Many chose to write instructions for dishes important to their family or culture, giving… Read more »
A Large Lecture Class Writes a Book Together: Dr. Kody Steffy’s Approach
Last semester, when Introduction to Sociology enrolled 143 students, Dr. Kody Steffy ran an experiment. He used an alternative grading system, ungrading, and replaced exams with writing assignments that built toward essays for an e-book. You can see the e-book that resulted from students’ reading, discussions, journal entries, drafting, and revising, on Kody’s website. I… Read more »
Guiding Students to Write Collaboratively in Small Groups: Dr. Cydney McGuire’s Approach
Dr. Cydney McGuire teaches health policy for the O’Neill School of Environmental and Public Affairs. I’ve learned a lot from her approach to using writing to advance her students’ learning in an undergraduate course with 60 students; I asked her to share her insights. Why do you assign your students to write and speak, rather… Read more »
Quick Tip: Using Version History to See Writing Evolve
If you’re asking your students to avoid using AI for writing projects, alert them to the importance of their document’s version history. This record of how a file has changed over time is automatically created in cloud-based documents, like Google Docs or Microsoft Word Online. Generally, a writer can see their document’s version history by… Read more »
Considering the “Why” of Assignments
With a new semester a few weeks away, many of us are preparing syllabi, establishing schedules, and considering assignments. It’s an opportune time to ask, why are we having students write (or speak, make videos, etc.)? And, just as importantly, how are we conveying our rationale to students? Without such explanation, students might interpret assignments… Read more »
Teaching Students to Be Source Detectives
Information literacy is crucial to any conceivable profession and to personal decisions ranging from health to finances (plus, I would argue, to forging a collective future on our planet). Yet, it’s getting harder to teach students how to discern credible sources. As a millennial, I’ve observed the Internet evolve into a homogenous marketing tool. A… Read more »