Designing Writing Assignments
The fact is, our students can't learn everything they need to know about writing in Writing 1. We have to take ownership of teaching writing in all of our classes if we want our students to be able to transfer writing skills from one class to the next and understand the differences among the many genres they will encounter in college and their futures. Check out "I Cannot Prepare Students to Write Their (History, Philosophy, Sociology, Poly Sci., etc...) Papers" for more on this topic.
Time spent designing and delivering writing assignments pays out significant dividends in the following forms:
work that engages students and challenges them to think critically,
successful student writing that is focused and purposeful,
and time saved from answering a plethora of detail questions.
If you are working on a new writing assignment or revamping an old one and would like to chat about your ideas, feel free to get in touch: writingprogram@apu.edu. Another great practice is getting together over coffee with a few colleagues in your department. Bring an assignment each of you is working on, exchange struggles and ideas, and see where the discussion takes you!
Creating a new writing assignment
The first step in creating a new assignment is to clarify what you hope the assignment will accomplish. Ask yourself these questions:
What do I want my students to learn and/or accomplish?
What are my expectations?
How am I challenging students?
Am I looking for an argument?
Do I want students to document sources according to specific guidelines?
Am I clearly specifying what I want?
Be as clear as possible. Try to explicitly explain the rhetorical situation of the assignment to your students. Give students the answer to these questions in writing:
What subject should they write about (or do they have choices)?
Who is their audience (or can they choose)?
What is the purpose of the assignment?
What kinds of sources can and should the students use and how many?
Are there any style elements they should consider—i.e. first or third person?
How should the writing be presented?
How is the assignment scaffolded? What are the due dates?
Delivering a writing assignment
Always put your prompt in writing. Ideally, administer the prompt in class and allow significant time to discuss the assignment and answer questions. If you have additional time, consider putting students in groups to discuss their initial ideas or giving time to brainstorm in class. If students leave class with an idea jotted down and a bit of inspiration, they will have an easier time avoiding procrastination.
Additional resources
APU's Student Plagiarism Guide
APU Library. (2017). Student guide to plagiarism. Retrieved from http://apu.libguides.com/c.php?g=723027
A Genre Approach to Writing Assignments
Clark, I. (2005). A genre approach to writing assignments. Composition Forum, 14(2), 1.
Teaching Students to Read Critically
Hagemann, J. (2002). Teaching students to read writing assignments critically. Writing Lab Newsletter, 26(10), 5-7.
Creating More Effective Assignments
Manning, C., & Harnewell, H. (2007). Creating more effective assignments: The challenge of authentic intellectual engagement. Journal of Teaching Writing, 23(2), 35-54.
A National Study of College Writing
Melzer, D. (2009). Writing assignments across the curriculum: A national study of college writing. College Composition And Communication, 61(2), 240-261.
Problem Solving as a Basis for Writing Assignments
Rich, J., Miller, D., & DeTora, L. (2011). From concept to application: Student narratives of problem-solving as a basis for writing assignments in science classes. Across the disciplines: Interdisciplinary perspectives on language, learning, and academic writing, 08(1).
Interdisciplinary Writing Assignments
Soliday, M. (2011). Everyday genres: Writing assignments across the disciplines. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP.