Author: caitlincholmes

Empathy: Rethinking “Student-Centeredness” in the Writing Classroom

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date January 27, 2016

By: Rachael Burke

Rachael Burke is a second-year Writing and Rhetoric PhD student at George Mason University. Her research centers on empathic articulation and social-emotional design. She has taught composition, ESL, and interdisciplinary studies, and she is currently teaching at GMU and Northern Virginia Community College. You can reach her at rburke13@gmu.edu.

Almost every semester, there is one assignment that I approach a bit differently from many composition teachers: the metacognitive essay. I love the overall spirit of this essay and what it asks students to do, as it encourages students to understand their own writing habits and the general composition process. And I certainly support the idea that rhetorically savvy writers must possess the capacity for introspective analysis. For me, however, part of the problem with the most traditional versions of this assignment (ones where students are centering their awareness on their own writing) is that it primarily asks students to re-form a relationship with their own ideas, feelings, and processes, in addition to cultivating self-evaluative judgment.

Tags Empathy, pedagogy, Teaching, teaching writing, theory

Evaluating Writing Modules

Commenting Strategies

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date September 24, 2015

Tags teaching writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, writing exercises, Writing in the Disciplines, writing pedagogy

Evaluating Writing Teaching Writing

Error in Student Writing: A Balanced, Developmental Approach

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date September 10, 2015

By Paul T. Corrigan

Paul T. Corrigan teaches writing and literature at Southeastern University, where he serves on the steering committee for Writing Across the Curriculum. He writes at Teaching & Learning in Higher Ed. You can reach him through Facebook, Twitter, and paultcorrigan.com.

Errors in writing may irk and confuse readers, imply ignorance or negligence on behalf of the author, and have unintended consequences in the real world. For these reasons, many teachers feel compelled to try to “cure” students’ writing of errors, often by prescribing heavy doses of red ink. I am grateful for the thankless efforts these teachers make to help students become clearer, more accurate writers. But I bear bad news. There is no cure for errors in student writing. We need to be absolutely clear on this. Short of not writing, students will continue to err, no matter what we do.

But—let me hasten to add—this bad news is also the good news.

Tags Assignment Design, Correction, Error, Error Correction, Grammar, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing in the Disciplines, Writing Mechanics

Evaluating Writing Teaching Writing

Mini and Mighty: How the One-Minute Paper can Transform Your Teaching

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date August 27, 2015

By: Tom Sura

Tom Sura is an assistant professor of English and the undergraduate writing coordinator at West Virginia University. Tom would love to know if you use one-minute papers in your courses and what discoveries they have led to. You can find him several ways: @tom_sura on Twitter, thomas.sura@mail.wvu.edu on email, and tomsura.tumblr.com online.

One of the most powerful tools in a teacher’s toolkit—regardless of the discipline—measures just three inches by five inches. That’s right. The standard-issue index card has a remarkable power for increasing student engagement, assessing pedagogy, and providing evidence of exceptional teaching.

Tags Assignment Design, best practices, composition, education, in-class writing, undergraduate writing, Writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing in the Disciplines, writing pedagogy

Evaluating Writing Teaching Writing

Portfolios in Writing Classes: Instructor Goals v. Program Assessment

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date May 21, 2015

Editor’s Note:

Writing Portfolio (n.) : Since the mid-1980’s, portfolios—collections of student writing that have been workshopped and revised during a term or over series of terms—have become a fixture in writing classes and programs across the US. These tools are useful for program assessment, but they may have a number of positive pedagogical effects as well, such as increasing students’ attention to the process of effective writing, attuning students to the importance of feedback and audience awareness, allowing students’ ideas (and so work) to mature over time, and presenting opportunities for metacognitive reflection.

For those interested, the following websites offer more information about the use of portfolios in support of undergraduate writing:

Washington State University, Junior Writing Portfolio

University of Massachusetts-Boston, Writing Proficiency Exam and Portfolio

University of Washington-Bothell, IAS Degree Portfolio

– Dr. Michelle LaFrance, Director of Writing Across the Curriculum
Editor, The Writing Campus

Portfolios in the Classroom: A Reflection

By: Cat Mahaffey

Cat is the Associate Director of First-Year Writing in the University Writing Program at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. She teaches various levels of Writing and Inquiry in Academic Contexts. She is an avid blogger. Visit her teaching blog at catmahaffey.wordpress.com, follow her on Twitter @CatMahaffey, or email her at chmahaff@uncc.edu.

Tags assessment, teaching writing, undergraduate writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing in the Disciplines, writing pedagogy, writing portfolios