Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form (2/14)
I. General Education Review – Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/Program
Wildlife Biology
Course # (i.e. ANTY
Subject
455) or sequence
Course(s) Title
see attached
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course.
Block of courses
(distributed requirement)
Students in the Wildlife Biology major currently meet their upper division writing requirement
as follows. students are required to take BIOE 371, Ecology Lab; and then take 2 of the
following upper division courses: BIOE 428, Freshwater Ecology; BIOO 320, Botany; BIOO
408, Advanced Fisheries; BIOO 470, Ornithology; BIOO 475, Mammalogy; WILD 470,
Conservation of Wildlife Populations; and WILD 499, Senior Thesis.
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name Signature
Instructor
Phone / Email
Program Chair
Dean
Date
III. Type of request
New
Renew x
Reason for new course, change
or deletion
One-time Only
Change
Remove
IV Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description
In the sciences, writing skills require learning a very structured, concise, scientific format
which requires our students to think and communicate clearly about the integration of
theoretical, quantitative, and conceptual issues in their field of study. These skills are best
learned through a series of content-focused courses in which students can hone these skills. We
propose a distributed writing model to meet these goals since we believe this allows
disciplinary content to be integrated with scientific writing in the most effective way.
1) Successfully complete three distributed writing courses as listed in the table below, that
collectively require sufficient length and feedback on individual student writing assignments to
meet ASCRC upper division student outcome goals. Each of these distributed writing courses
will have at least 20% of the course grade based on writing assignments, and provide
substantive feedback to students on their writing, normally requiring students to provide at least
2 drafts of major writing assignments. All courses are small enough or have sufficient TA
support to provide substantive feedback to students on writing.
2) Achieve satisfactory scores on a sophomore/junior level writing course (NRSM 200 Natural
Resources Professional Writing or WRIT 325, Science Writing, or WRIT 201, College Writing
II) will need to be completed prior to enrolling in all courses that meet the distributed writing
requirement above. Course catalogs will specifically list these requirements for all distributed
writing classes.
V Learning Outcomes: Provide examples of how the course will support students in
achieving each learning outcome.
Identify and pursue
sophisticated questions for
academic inquiry
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
All our UD writing courses require students to write research
proposals or research papers which require students to determine how
proposed work advances general scientific or technical knowledge, or
to identify important gaps in knowledge to answer key questions of
interest
Find, evaluate, analyze, and
synthesize information
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
effectively and ethically from
diverse sources (see:
http://www.lib.umt.edu/libraryinformation-literacytables#Table2) Subject liaison
librarians are available to
assist you embed information
literacy into your course:
http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/115
#instructors
Manage multiple perspectives
as appropriate
All our UD writing courses require students to effectively use a broad
range of scientific literature, and other sources of information, and
properly cite and integrate this information together in their papers.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Since students will take at least 3 UD writing courses, they will be
able to develop writing skills from a variety of applications and
perspectives. Their work in ecology, management, and conservation
all require integration of multiple viewpoints (or academic traditions).
Recognize the purposes and
needs of discipline-specific
audiences and adopt the
academic voice necessary for
the chosen discipline
Use multiple drafts, revision,
and editing in conducting
inquiry and preparing written
work
Follow the conventions of
citation, documentation, and
formal presentation
appropriate to that discipline
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
UD writing courses include theoretical, or conceptual and applied
topics, so will require students to write for a variety of audiences and
purposes.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
All UD writing courses require revisions, or extensive student
feedback to improve subsequent writing.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
 Yes
If yes, how will student learning be supported?
Training students to properly cite information sources, according to
the traditions for a given discipline are essential components of all of
our UD writing courses.
 No
If no, course may not be eligible
VI. Writing Course Requirements
Enrollment is capped at 25
students.
If not, list maximum course
enrollment. Explain how
outcomes will be adequately
met for this number of
students. Justify the request
for variance.
Briefly explain how students
are provided with tools and
strategies for effective writing
and editing in the major.
Which written assignment(s)
includes revision in response
to instructor’s feedback?
Since we distribute the writing requirement across 3 courses, we are
able to maintain small enough class sizes to allow faculty to
effectively evaluate student’s written assignments. Where larger
classes (35+), such as BIOO 470 and 475 are included, TA support
provides sufficient resources to maintain high levels of student
feedback on all writing assignments.
Our students are provided intensive training in writing in their
sophomore level writing classes, since they will take 3 UD writing
classes they will have many opportunities to hone their writing skills
in combination with developing greater understanding of the process
of scientific inquiry and its applications to natural resources.
Most of our UD writing courses require 20 pages or more writing
assignments per course.
VII. Writing Assignments:
Please describe course assignments. Students should be required
to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade
should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Quality of content and writing are
integral parts of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments
Informal Ungraded
Assignments
Paste or attach a sample writing assignment, including instructions for students.
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.
The syllabus must include the list of Writing Course learning outcomes above.
Table 1: Upper division writing courses for distributed writing requirement in Wildlife Biology
Writing %
Number of
Total
Course
Title
Types of Writing
of Grade
Assignments
Pages
Revision
Required
Graded Writing
with Written
BIOE 371
Ecology Lab
50
9
15-20
papers, term paper
yes
yes
BIOE 428
Freshwater Ecology
30
8
14-20
papers, term paper
yes
yes
BIOO 320
General Botany
15
1
20+
field project
notebook
yes
yes
BIOO 470
Ornithology
10
2
10
papers
yes
yes
BIOO 475
Mammalogy
20
4
20-40
papers, term paper
yes
yes
WILD 408
Advanced Fisheries
20
8
papers, proposal
yes
yes
WILD 470
Conservation of
Wildlife Populations
20
10
30-40
papers, proposal
yes
yes
WILD 499
Senior Thesis
100
1
20-30
senior thesis
yes
yes
8