1. Using Writing
Effectively in
Second-Year
Experience
Courses
Julie Staggers
Ed Nagelhout 1

2. Why Use Writing?
What Do We Have
Them Write?
How Do We Avoid
OVER . . .?
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3. So,
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4. So, the first question is . . .
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5. Why use student writing?
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6. Some might argue for using writing . . .
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7. by referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy
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8. by referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy
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9. Some might argue for using writing . . .
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10. to meet the needs of Learning 2.0
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11. to meet the needs of Learning 2.0
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12. Ultimately . . .
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13. you need to use writing to meet your
goals as a teacher:
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14. to promote active learning
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15. to stimulate participation and discussion
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16. to discover
what students are
thinking and learning
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17. to create
opportunities
for teacher /
student and
student /
student
dialogue
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18. to give everyone a stake in the class
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19. to provide both
formative (process)
and
summative (product)
assessments
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20. More importantly . . .
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21. you need to use writing to help students
meet their learning goals:
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22. to communicate information
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23. to
clarify
thinking
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24. to learn new concepts
and information
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25. to try out
new ideas
and
alternative
strategies
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26. to reflect on their learning
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27. to think
metacognitively
and personally
about their
learning
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28. to discover what they
know and what
they
don't
know
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29. Activity 1
• List your teaching
goals
• List your course
outcomes
• Share
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30. Next question…
What counts as writing?
or maybe…
What do we have them write?
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31. SYE Hallmarks
Writing Critical thinking skills
Communication skills
to Learn 20+ pages writing
vs
Learning
to Write 31

32. writing to learn
short
impromptu
informal
think through key concepts
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33. knowledge probe
5 minutes
beginning of class
summarize a text
define key terms
raise questions
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34. synthesis
1 minute
middle of class
What have they
learned from a
lecture, group work
or activity?
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35. minute paper
5 minutes
end of class
summarize,
evaluate, or
ask questions about
day’s activity
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36. nutshelling
1-2 minutes
anytime
1-2 sentences about
what they understand
about a topic or
question.
Great for starting
class discussions!
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37. process description
5 minutes
after a task/activity
Reflect on steps they
used to solve problem
or develop a position.
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38. concept maps
5 minutes
anytime
Explore concepts or
problems graphically.
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39. summarizing
5 minutes
anytime
Translate specialized
information (like a
reading) into their
own, more colloquial
language.
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40. microthemes
5-10 minutes
anytime
Informally state and
develop a thesis that
compares ideas or
concepts.
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41. opposing views
5-10 minutes
anytime
Reach a decision by
developing side-by-
side lists or
arguments.
Push past pro-con
into the gray areas in
between.
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42. notes and letters
5-10 minutes
to clarify a concept
Exchange notes
explaining or
summarizing a
concept and raising
questions about it.
Respond to each
other.
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43. cases and simulations
variable
to think critically
Apply principles
to a real-world
problem.
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44. Effective write-to-learn assignments...
 Are short (3-15 minutes)
 Ask students to write a word, a sentence, question, or a
paragraph or two
 Are integrated (explicitly) into class
content, objectives, and activity, and, are
optimally, utilized in subsequent writing projects
 Elicit multiple responses
 Where appropriate, receive some content-focused
(versus mechanics-focused) response
 Aren't formally graded, but count toward a portion of
the grade
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45. The big question
How can you integrate writing
in a way that supports your goals
but is not burdensome?
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46. Activity 2-a
Describe Activity Blocks
for a 75-minute class
• Beginning of Class
• Middle of Class
• End of Class
• Share
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47. Activity 2-b
Select writing activities
(from list) that seem
promising for filling
activity blocks
effectively.
• Share
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48. Break – 10 minutes
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49. Activity 3
Connect Activity
Blocks, Writing
Activities, and Course
Outcomes
• Share
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50. More big questions…
How can informal writing help you meet the 20+
page requirement?
And also help you meet your teaching
goals/course outcomes?
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51. Activity 4
• State your goals for using
writing as clearly and
concretely as possible.
• Determine what writing
products will meet these goals
and fit your teaching
style/preferences.
• Determine what constitutes
20 Pages 51

52. Managing the workload
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53. Checklist for managing the workload
 Scaffold/sequence informal and formal writing
 Build assignments and rubrics that reduce your workload
 Separate responding from evaluating
 Respond in process
 Don’t get caught in the copy-editing trap
 Grade efficiently
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54. Rubric is your best friend
• Reverse-engineer from
assignment objectives
• Check off the boxes,
leave some brief
commentary about
strengths, weaknesses,
most important thing to
focus on in next paper
• Egg-timer: 10 minutes
per paper
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55. Good assignments gone bad…
Instructor
For the short paper on a video, I wanted students to make
connections among the archeologist’s questions, the
methods used to get answers, and principles from their
reading.
Student
This assignment was like writing a high-school movie review. I
wanted to give my own personal understanding about the
video, so I was going to write a narrative.
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56. • . You have to
evaluate every
piece of writing
they do
Requiring 2 drafts
of an essay
doubles your work
You have to mark
ALL grammar and
spelling errors
More response is
You have to READ better Writing intensive
everything they means 3-5
write separate,
unrelated
assignments
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57. Informal writing:
Look for understanding,
not correctness
Strategies
o Use warm-up exercise as a
quiz and collect occasionally,
comment on grasp of a
reading or concept
o Have them share with a
couple of partners
o Pick up randomly from 10
students daily
o Have them post to
WebCampus discussion
board
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58. Formal writing? Where does it go from here?
Respond to work in process.
Evaluate completed product.s.
The rubric is your friend.
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59. • Provide samples
(not "models")
• Use peer review
• Require drafting
and revision
• Teach use of spell
check/grammar
check
• Return
documents if
they’re too
difficult to read
Don’t become the Copy Editor
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60. Activity 5
Plan writing activities that
help you achieve your
learning objectives AND
get you to 20 pages for
the semester w/o
assigning a 20-page
research paper or killing
yourself.
• Share
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61. Questions/Discussion
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62. Resources/Handouts Online
Course and workload management
• Addressing Writing in Your Syllabus
• Tips: First Day, Writing Assignments, Feedback
• Handling the Paper Load
Supporting critical thinking
• Writing Activities for Thinking and Learning
• Helping Students Make Connections
• Getting Students to Think
• More Writing to Learn Assignment Ideas
Assignment Development
• Effective Assignments
• Examples of Course Assignment Sequences in Various Disciplines
Research Papers
• Writing and Research
• The Successful Research Assignment
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