Melissa Nicolas, Ph.D.
Michelle LaFrance, Ph.D.
October 15, 2009
Drew University
WAC Umbrella
Composition
courses
Writing in
the discipline
Writing
intensive
Writing in
the course
learn-to-WRITE-to-learn
Pedagogical Grounding of WI
courses
Successful WI courses are built around three basic
tenets:
 writing is a powerful learning tool
 students can learn course content through carefully
constructed writing assignments
 writing assignments should be tied closely to course
goals and outcomes
Components of WI courses
Informal writing, low stakes writing:
 Writing-to-learn activities that ask students to think
on paper without the pressure of having to develop
fully articulated essays.
 Frequently ungraded or graded on a done/not done
or pass/fail basis.
 Examples include: response papers, journals, the
one-minute essay, entrance/exit slips, lecture
summaries, and thought papers.
Components of WI courses
Formal writing, high stakes writing:
 Assignments that ask students to use writing to
demonstrate, synthesize, analyze, or evaluate course
content in more deliberate ways than informal writing.
 Graded and accounts for a significant portion of overall
course grade.
 Students should be given timely and extensive feedback on
at various stages in the writing process.
 Students should be given the opportunity to revise light of
instructor feedback.
 Includes: essays, literature reviews, annotated
bibliographies, research papers, and lab reports.
Example of WI course
Course Objectives
By the end of this course students will be able to:
 Define “feminism” in a way that is both personally meaningful and
intellectually sound
 Articulate themes and issues that occupy Western feminist thought
 Identify key thinkers in feminist theory and explain their contributions
to feminist thought
 Lead informed discussion about course ideas
 Create a class wiki containing nuanced definitions of important terms
in feminist theory
 Make connections between theory and experience
 Produce short, thoughtful, reflective essays that engage with the
central ideas of the course
 Conduct field research in the form of interviews
Grade Distribution
Response papers
Scrapbook project
Interview project
Class wiki
Class participation
30%
20%
20%
15%
15%
Response Papers
A series of ten, 500 word papers on a question that I
create, related to what we are reading and discussing
in class.
Interview Project
How has feminism affected women of different
generations? What has the climate at Albright been
like for women (faculty, students, and staff) during the
last several decades? What was it like to be a woman
in this country 10 years ago? 20? 50? To get at these
questions, you will be asked to conduct interviews
with several generations of women and map the theory
we read onto their lives. Your results will be
incorporated into a critical essay (6-8 pages).
Scrapbook Project
This is a course on theory, so sometimes it may seem like
what we are reading and talking about has little or no
relevance to the “real” world. However, if you keep your
eyes and minds open, you will find that there are examples
of the theory we are dealing with in just about every aspect
of modern life. The purpose of this assignment is to keep
you on your toes for spotting the theory in everyday life.
You will be asked to collect artifacts (newspaper clippings,
magazine articles, audio clips; signs; conversations, etc,)
throughout the semester that relate in some way to what
we discuss in this course. At the end of the semester, you
will be asked to present a “scrapbook” (paper or electronic)
of what you have collected along with a short, explanatory
essay about your scrapbook (about 5-7 pages).
Class Wiki
Each member of the class will make significant
contributions to the class wiki which will support our
understanding of key terms we encounter during the
semester.
Assignments vis-à-vis outcomes
Response papers
 Articulate themes and issues that occupy Western
feminist thought
 Identify key thinkers in feminist theory and explain
their contributions to feminist thought
 Produce short, thoughtful, reflective essays that
engage with the central ideas of the course
Assignments vis-à-vis outcomes
Scrapbook project
 Define “feminism” in a way that is both personally
meaningful and intellectually sound
 Articulate themes and issues that occupy Western
feminist thought
 Make connections between theory and experience
Assignments vis-à-vis outcomes
Interview Project
 Define “feminism” in a way that is both personally
meaningful and intellectually sound
 Make connections between theory and experience
 Produce short, thoughtful, reflective essays that
engage with the central ideas of the course
 Conduct field research in the form of interviews
Assignments vis-à-vis outcomes
Class wiki
 Define “feminism” in a way that is both personally
meaningful and intellectually sound
 Articulate themes and issues that occupy Western
feminist thought
 Identify key thinkers in feminist theory and explain
their contributions to feminist thought
 Lead informed discussion about course ideas
 Create a class wiki containing nuanced definitions of
important terms in feminist theory
Your Turn!