Planning Your W1 Lab Course
The Writing 1 Lab is a one-unit course designed to support students currently enrolled in Writing 1 as they move from high school to college-level writing expectations. Please refer to the Writing 1 Lab Checklist as you begin to design your section.
The Lab will provide a space for students to engage with the foundational concepts introduced in Writing 1, such as developing process, understanding rhetorical situations, and crafting sound arguments.
Within a casual, interactive workshop format (up to six participants) that is practical and tailored to the unique needs of the group members, students meet once weekly with a writing instructor to further develop their writing skills and their individual writing processes. Students should expect to bring a Writing 1-related assignment or project to each Lab meeting.
Writing 1 students should consider the following questions to determine whether they might take advantage of this support option:
How well did your high school writing experience prepare you for the demands of college writing?
Are you confident in your ability to write for multiple audiences, for multiple purposes, using multiple genres?
Do you have successful experience finding and using outside research to support a stated position in an academic paper?
Do you have strong time management skills?
Would you benefit from increased accountability and a designated time in your week to further your work on major writing assignments from your current Writing 1 course?
Student responses that indicate reduced confidence, underpreparedness, and/or lack of knowledge of the skills required for successful college-level academic writing are key indicators that the student would benefit from a Writing 1 Lab.
"I don't think writing is scary anymore."
"I have learned to use my own unique voice."
"This lab is a great class to have with Writing 110."
Check out more materials about preparing to teach a Writing 1 Lab course HERE, and reach out to Jill Hartwig, the First-Year Writing Coordinator, with any questions as you think about how you want to best support your students in the Writing 1 Lab classroom.