Author: Evelina Mendelevich

Today, we would like to highlight Professor Gernert’s writing assignment as an example of effective writing assignment design. The assignment was given to students in ARCH 2321 (History of Architecture: 1900 – Now).

What immediately stands out is the learning value of the assignment itself. By asking students to reflect on the readings assigned for the week and providing them with questions that encourage thoughtful and structured responses, the assignment engages students with the material and encourages critical thinking.

Note also how the tasks communicate clearly what the students are expected to do. This is achieved by use of precise action verbs: Describe… trace the changes… Provide examples… Describe and analyze…

Option 1 also provides students with a question that encourages a comprehensive and structured response: “Who were the significant people and what art, cultural movements and technology influenced them?” Option 2 gives a thesis which writers must develop and support. Both of these strategies provide students with a frame within which they can develop and structure their ideas.

In addition, this assignment clearly communicates all the basic requirements to eliminate any guesswork on the part of the student, such as length, format, due date, and where the readings can be found.

It should also be noted that this assignment is the third in a series of assignment leading up to the final research paper in which students are required to develop and support their own thesis. As such, it is an excellent example of scaffolding approach: students learn to support a thesis and present their argument in a well-structured form before embarking on a more challenging task of developing their own thesis and selecting supporting evidence from secondary sources.

This week’s WAC-friendly highlighted assignment
Professor: Anne Leonard; original assignment design by Maura Smale
Course: LIB 1201 – Research & Documentation for the Information Age, Fall 2012
Assignment: Course Blogging

Professor Leonard requires students to write a minimum of 20 posts of at least 100 words each for their class blog. She divides blog posts into several types, some linked to specific stages of the course.

 Reading response (posts from 8/29-11/19; see syllabus for details):

Write a blog post discussing one of the readings assigned for the class. Identify a topic or theme from the reading, briefly summarize it, and analyze it in relation to other readings and themes in the course. Does this reading raise any questions in your mind?

Research journal (posts from 10/29-11/14; see syllabus for details):

Write a blog post discussing and documenting your process and progress on the research paper for this course. You may write about any aspect of this process, for example: deciding on a research topic, finding sources, writing the proposal/annotated bibliography/paper, etc. What have you found difficult or frustrating about this process? What successful strategies have you used?

Blog comment (throughout the semester; see syllabus for details):

Select a blog post by one of your classmates and write a response to her/his post. What other perspectives on this topic can you offer? How does the blog post connect to the course readings and themes? Comments must also be a minimum of 100 words.

 What WAC principle(s) does this assignment exemplify?

Professor Leonard’s blog assignments engage students with course content deeply and meaningfully and are excellent examples of informal “writing to learn” and “exploratory writing” assignments. “Reading response” assignments  encourage students to identify key ideas of the text while at the same time teaching the difference between summary and analysis, thus promoting critical thinking and reading skills. “Research journal” assignments offer students an opportunity to reflect on and evaluate their research strategies and articulate questions and difficulties early in the research process. In addition, Professor Leonard encourages students use the blog to explore ideas that they may wish to develop more fully in their research papers, thus encouraging the view of writing as a multi-stage process and providing opportunity to receive feedback.

How might this type of assignment be used in other courses across the curriculum?

Informal writing assignments asking students to identify and summarize a text or reflect on and describe various stages of a project can be used in courses in any discipline. Requiring students to post on a course blog regularly can help them keep up with the reading and/or various stages of the project. Blog assignments can be especially useful in courses with a large number of students, or courses where students have few opportunities for class discussion.

Professor: Karen Goodlad
Course: HMGT 1101, Fall 2012
Assignment: Industry Leader/Organization Profile

Students describe the characteristics of the hospitality industry and professional duties and standards associated with it.

Task
You have recently been hired by _____________ [choose an industry leader or leading organization in the field you wish to start your career]. As part of the orientation process you are asked to write an essay explaining what you know about the leader/organization and what your career goals are.

Role and Audience
The essay is to be written as if the department head of your desired work location will be reading it.

What WAC principle(s) does this assignment exemplify?

• The assignment clearly states the task, role and audience, format, and expectations.
• The assignment is problem-based, focuses on specific course learning outcomes, and asks students to identify and explain key industry characteristics by relating them to their own goals and experience.
• The assignment promotes learning  of professional terms and communication standards  through reading and application.

How might this type of assignment be used in other courses across the curriculum?

We feel that this Prof. Goodlad’s assignment could be adapted to a variety of courses introducing students to professional duties, goals, and standards of a given field.