Tag: teaching writing

The Prevalence of Low Stakes Writing and Writing-to-Learn Activities in WI Courses

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date May 17, 2017

By Rachael Lussos

What is Low Stakes Writing, and Why is it important?

Low stakes writing and writing-to-learn activites (see table 1) include assignments such as in-class writing exercises, ungraded activities, and reflective writing opportunites. Table 1 poses the characteristics of low stakes and writing-to-learn activites in contrast to high stakes writing activites, which includes assignments like independent research and scientific papers, essay exams, and writing assignments that carry a high percentage of a final grade.

Tags low stakes writing, teaching writing, Writing, writing intensive courses, writing to learn activities

Graduate Students Teaching Writing

“Evolution not Revolution”: Empathy as Supportive Practice

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date February 11, 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.

This post is the second in a series on empathy and writing scholarship. For Rachael’s first post, please click here.

In my previous post, I discussed what empathy is partly by talking a bit about what it is not. The challenge presented by proposing we should actively include empathy as a curricular goal is convincing writing teachers that the change is a natural and necessary one. Consequently, my previous entry began the task of examining and overturning a few misconceptions that have long plagued how we talk about empathy in rhetoric and composition (when we talk about it at all), and then suggesting that a more constructive definition of empathy might help us reinvigorate some of our problematic or confusing writing practices. In this entry, I want to continue to expand our understanding of empathy in rhetorical practice on our own disciplinary terms.

Tags Empathy, pedagogy, supporting student writers, teaching writing, theory, Writing, writing pedagogy

Graduate Students Teaching Writing

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

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date January 27, 2016

By: Rachael Burke

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

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