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 »
Tag: writing
Writing In Class to Reduce Students’ Stress and Overreliance on AI
When I think of the scads of papers I wrote as an undergrad, I recall hunkering down in my dorm room, alone with my laptop and books. Only my Shakespeare professor took a different approach: she had us write (by hand, in blue books) timed essay exams instead of take-home paper assignments. Although these essays,… Read more »
Peer Review Makes Writing More Authentic for Students
Can you remember the last project you wrote for a single reader? How about the last one you finished in one draft and with zero input from peers? In papers written for one reader (the instructor) without peer feedback (classmates), learners face an artificial situation. They write to perform—not to communicate, the purpose of most… Read more »
Reading: The Partner of Good Writing
Without reading well, students can’t write well. The two skills cannot be disentangled. Yet, in my writing courses, I’ve often lamented that students don’t seem to be completing or comprehending the reading assignments. Why aren’t they reading? My colleagues Sarah Pedzinksi and Madeleine Gonin lay out five common barriers and some solutions in their post,… Read more »
Bad Ideas about Writing
We all hold a lot of beliefs about writing, especially what “good writing” is and how it ought to be taught. But what if a lot of our assumptions are wrong? That’s the premise of Bad Ideas About Writing (2017), a collection of essays that is also available as a podcast. Lydia Wilkes, who earned… Read more »
Mentoring Senior Thesis Writers
The IU2030 Strategic Plan’s emphasis on “meaningful and mentored research and creative experiences” for undergraduates is an opportunity to think about how we support our seniors’ writing thesis and capstone projects. Thesis writing can be overwhelming: often a student’s first foray into long-term research projects feels like a completely different experience to classes and coursework…. Read more »