Kim Hill, winner of the 2007 W Course Award, says there are no golden rules in teaching writing.

Poli sci professor wants students to value writing

Kim Quaile Hill, a professor in the Department of Political Science, has won the 2007 W Course Teaching Award. The award is presented annually to a W course instructor who teaches writing with thoughtfulness and vigor.

Hill received the $3,000 prize for his work in POLS 209, Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, a required course for all majors in his department. Even before the advent of W courses, Hill, who has taught at Texas A&M since 1988, incorporated frequent writing assignments into his courses. He stresses writing because he believes it helps his students learn.

“I think students are forced to reason with material more when they write. They’re forced to engage with it more deeply and more meaningfully, and I think it’s more likely to stay in their heads,” says Hill, who adds, “Writing is practice in critical thinking.”

While Hill has long been a believer in the power of writing, the introduction of W courses made him reconsider how he was teaching writing in his sections of the sophomore course. Reconfiguring the course so it met the W criteria, he says, “helped me enrich the class in terms of advancing objectives that I already had but wasn’t pursuing as rigorously.” He now assigns four papers and requires students to meet with him individually to discuss at least one of those papers in draft.

He made other changes as well.

“I now make students pay attention to the effectiveness of the writing in the materials we read,” Hill says. He also assigns readings that address writing directly; the selections typically include George Orwell’s famous essay, “Politics and the English Language,” and a piece by Mark Twain on concise writing.

Hill responds attentively to his students’ writing, pointing out grammatical or punctuation errors, as well as problematic word choices and vague language. Most of the student papers he receives in response to his first, very brief writing assignment are, in his estimation, mediocre. He finds, though, that the papers improve when students know he is paying attention to the writing—and that he expects them to do so as well.

Hill says, “I try to reinforce the notion that my job is to help them do better—not to grade them down if they do poorly, but to help them improve those skills. This is a class in skill acquisition.” Writing is a skill Hill thinks will be crucial to his students’ future success: “I tell my students if you want to persuade someone that you know some material or that you have a compelling conclusion about that material, then you have to write well.”

Hill finds that teaching the principles of scientific inquiry along with the principles of thoughtful writing is “one of the best ways that the promise of the liberal arts is realized.”

For all of his devotion to the cause of improving student writing, Hill still has doubts: “I’m sometimes not sure I’m doing the right thing for each student. I think that’s an uncertainty that we all should have, because I don’t think there are golden rules that you can count on across the board. I do like to think, though, that more practice, more instruction, and more attention are going to help.”

While W courses are usually thought of as upper-level classes, there are a few departments and colleges offering Ws at the sophomore level. Psychology, horticulture, marine science, and the Mays Business School, for example, all currently offer 200-level Ws.

Instructors are proposing these lower-level Ws for several reasons. Some of the courses are designed to help meet the growing demand, particularly now that undergraduates are required to complete two Ws for graduation. In other cases, departments are offering a W earlier in their students’ careers to help develop writing skills needed in later courses. And sometimes a 200-level W is designed to meet both logistical and curriculum needs.

The Department of Political Science, for instance, has only one course that’s required of all majors, POLS 209: Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, so it made sense to propose that as a W. But the course also lays important groundwork for later classes.

“We’re trying to teach students fundamental scientific skills they’ll use in later classes, and at the same time, we’re sharpening their writing skills,” explains Professor Kim Quaile Hill, who teaches POLS 209.

According to Sommer Hamilton, coordinator of the Center for Effective Communication at Mays and a member of the W Course Advisory Committee, these 200-level W courses can be beneficial for students: “The sooner students become accustomed to writing in the style and language of their chosen field, the sooner they are prepared to engage with professionals in the field, and they become better communicators as a result. So, I’m pleased when I see a 200-level course come up for approval before the committee.”

Instructors may, however, have to make some small adjustments when teaching a W at the 200-level, says Hamilton: “There are a particular set of challenges in working with younger students who are still learning the technical material itself, let alone how to communicate that material.

“But in my experience and from what I’ve researched, the earlier we on the other side of the podium can integrate technical material with the proper tools to communicate it, the better prepared the student is to not only perform but also properly communicate the tasks related to the field.”

UWC services are available at our West Campus location as well as in Evans Library.

Encourage your students to use our services.

Do you ever ask a colleague to review your writing before you submit it? Let students know the UWC can be their version of that trusted colleague. We serve as objective readers who can help students clarify thoughts and organize arguments. (We do commas, too.) Remind students that we offer consultations at both Evans and West Campus Library and have an Online Writing Lab as well.

Encourage, but don’t insist, that your students use our services.

Please don’t require students to get help from the UWC, since we can’t guarantee every student an appointment. In addition, we find that when students are required to use the UWC, it colors their experience. An uncooperative writer all but ensures an unproductive session. Many students already resist and resent writing; don’t make coming to the UWC one more hurdle to jump.

Put your assignment in writing and remind students to bring it along if they come to us.

Better yet, post it online, so students can refer to it even if they lose the hard copy. Consultants often ask to see the assignment: it helps if we know what the student is expected to do.

State your expectations.

Clients often ask things like “Is it okay to say ‘I’?” Conventions about using first person (“I,” “we,” “me,” etc.) vary from discipline to discipline and instructor to instructor. The same is true of rules on passive voice, citation styles, what to say in an introduction, and a host of other topics. If it matters to you, spell it out. When consultants are unsure about what’s expected on a paper, they advise clients to go back to their instructor for clarification.

Dr. Balester encourages faculty to read the C course proposal and to share their opinions with their representative to the Faculty Senate, which will consider the proposal soon.

After a family trip to New York City last year, my daughter, then 14 and in tenth grade, sent me a link to a video she’d created and posted on YouTube, a combination of still photos, videos of a visit to the New York Aquarium, and original titles, all set to Bobby Darin’s song “Beyond the Sea.” I was amazed at her technical sophistication and impressed by her creativity in capturing a family memory. Her composition of this video, I believe, portends the new reality of communication.

Texas A&M students have much to offer when they graduate, but if they can’t communicate using the latest technologies, their contributions may be discounted. To meet this challenge, the W Course Advisory Committee has proposed to the Faculty Senate that we modify the W course requirement to allow the option of including courses that stress oral and electronic communication skills when appropriate to the major. Passage of the proposal would give departments the option of offering students either two traditional W courses or one W and one communication-focused (or “C”) course.

We know communication is changing. We are immersed daily in Web 2.0. In this incarnation, the Web is no longer simply an immense repository of information, but rather a collaborative world where participation requires facility with both words, whether spoken or written, and images, whether still or moving. Likewise, the advent of audio and video podcasts means oral presentations are no longer made only to an audience seated in front of you. And the books and scholarly journals that were at the center of our education—traditional linear texts that start at page one and progress to an end—are now often replaced in our students’ lives by online texts that are complexly layered, linked to other texts, and interlaced with visual and interactive elements.

Increasingly, academic composition in all disciplines will require an interweaving of audio, video, visual, and written elements. Shelley Wachsmann, Meadows Associate Professor of Biblical Archeology in the Nautical Archeology Program, recently told me how the presentation of data in his field is evolving to be as much visual as verbal. Imagine an archeological site we can explore via virtual reality. These new ways of transmitting information require both new technical skills, such as video editing, and traditional academic skills, such as evaluating information. To help students function in this rapidly changing communications environment, assignments in the proposed C courses will require both some writing and some oral presentations; in many instances, C course assignments will also involve visual elements such as charts, graphs, photos, or drawings.

A typical C course assignment might ask students to record an audio podcast about some aspect of the course content. Or students might be called upon to do something more traditional, like preparing a research poster and presenting it to an interested observer. Even a seemingly straightforward assignment such as that requires a complex blend of skills. To be effective, a poster must present findings clearly and use visual elements such as graphics or charts judiciously. The poster must be succinct, appealing, and well-designed in layout and arrangement; the presentation, likewise, must be thoughtfully organized and appropriate for the specified audience. No matter what students are composing, our process for guiding them is much the same. It’s our job to teach students to ask key questions about their audience and purpose and allow the answers to inform their decision-making. And we must allow students to practice their skills and give them constructive feedback about their attempts. If we follow this process, it makes little difference whether the genre emphasizes speaking, visuals, or writing.

What UWC staffers want you to know

UWC consultants view writing at Texas A&M from a unique vantage point. They’re not instructors, of course—they don’t make assignments or give grades. But, like instructors, they see firsthand the strengths and weaknesses of student writing. They feel the frustration of working with students who lack motivation, and they know the satisfaction of helping a student improve.

Consultants can also appreciate the students’ point of view. They are students themselves, after all, and every day they watch their peers grapple with the hard work of learning to write in an academic environment.

Consultants may have a broader perspective, though, than others students because they study how people learn to write. All UWC consultants—whether undergraduates, graduate students, or staff members—receive extensive training. Specifically, our consultants

• complete coursework in consulting;
• attend and/or lead weekly staff meetings;
• participate in annual group training;
• read about writing and tutoring;
• observe veteran consultants in action; and
• are themselves observed when working with clients.

Consultants spend as much as twenty hours a week sitting beside students as they think and write and revise. They offer encouragement to clients feeling uncertain, and they listen as students confide things about their writing that they’d probably never tell an instructor.

We asked our consultants recently to share some of what they’ve learned through their work. A few common themes emerged from their responses.

Writing assignments matter.

Consultants report that failing to understand a writing assignment is a common problem for our clients. Sometimes the student isn’t reading carefully, but many times the assignment itself is the problem.

“An unclear or jargon-filled assignment can seriously affect how students write their papers. I’ve had several students make appointments with the writing center just to have a consultant dissect their assignment! It can be completely maddening to the point where the students just become apathetic."
– Flo Davies, junior, Creative Writing

“Students tend to have difficulty with assignments at the extreme ends of the spectrum: very narrow with a list of specific points that need to be addressed or completely open without any parameters. Students need a basic structure, but freedom to work within the structure."
– Amanda Moehnke, senior, History

Students need to own their writing.

Instructors are often surprised to learn about something we don’t do at the writing center: we don’t write on clients’ papers, in part because we believe students need to take charge of their own work. Consultants may make suggestions, but clients make the decisions. It takes a while for consultants to get the hang of this non-directive tutoring: the desire to grab a pencil and"fix things” is hard to resist. But consultants say resisting that impulse pays off for our clients.

“Not all papers have to be written the way I would write them. I have to concern myself more with whether the way that writer has chosen to work with the information is effective according to the assignment."
– Allison Barrineau, senior, English

“I try to identify the pattern of mistakes students make, but I don’t correct all of the errors. Rather, I explain the rules, so that students can identify the mistakes themselves next time. During consultations, it’s amazing to see students finding and correcting their mistakes on their own."
– Charu Aggarwal, graduate student,

Construction Management"Unless poor word choice interferes with clarity, it should be left to the writer. I hate to see a student bring in a page marked on by a grader who changes words to ones he or she likes better. If it was understandable before, then the changes aren’t helping: they’re actually limiting the students’ ability to develop their own style."
– Lindsey Sydow, junior, Environmental Geoscience

Simple things can make a difference.

Consultants say that one of the most powerful techniques we use at the writing center is also one of the simplest: we ask students to read their papers aloud. It’s a surprisingly effective way for students to experience their words from another point of view, an important first step in developing a writer’s critical eye.

"Reading the paper out loud helps so much. You not only catch silly typos, but you can actually hear how the paper sounds to others. It’s always interesting to have students give us a funny look when we ask them to read their own papers to us, but by the end of the session, they see why it’s helpful. I have even started doing this for my own papers!"
– Kristi Thomas, junior, English

Grammar and punctuation are only part of the story.

Consultants say that students and instructors both need to learn to look beyond surfacelevel concerns to see the big picture. Yes, correct verb tenses matter. But if a writer doesn’t have something to say or can’t draw logical conclusions, all the punctuation marks in the world aren’t going to help. Focus on the message, though, and the details fall into place.

"I talk to students about how writing is just another form of communication. When we talk to someone, we have facial expressions, tone of voice, volume, body language, and gestures. When we write, we have words, punctuation, and organization—and that’s it. So we have to use those things to our best advantage to communicate effectively."
– Pat DiCuffa, UWC staff member

"Critical thinking is far more important than the formulaic methodology often placed on writing. It’s not about a specific number of grammatical mistakes; the emphasis should be on the logic of the thought processes."
– Lauren Klaffke, junior, Biochemistry

"Focusing on grammar and mechanics causes students to worry about the wrong things. They get caught up in surface details and forget what they’re trying to communicate. On the other hand, focusing on content improves grammar almost automatically. "
– Charlotte Slack, UWC staff member

When you look at a piece of writing, try not to lose sight of the writer.

Our consultants tend to be confident writers themselves, but they understand that writing is a source of great anxiety for many and that we all need encouragement sometimes.

"So many students come in saying, ‘I’m just a terrible writer, and my professor always hates my papers,’ or ‘I have never been able to write.’ These defeated students all have stories about having papers returned after being massacred by a red pen."
– Kristi Thomas, junior, English

"I have found that finding at least one positive aspect about a paper improves the writer’s confidence which, in turn, improves writing ability. This is especially true for international students who are often insecure about writing in a new language. If I were trying to write in Greek or Chinese, it would mean so much to me to have someone praise my writing."
– Katie Greiner, graduate student, Curriculum and Instruction

"Never assume you know how much work a student put into his or her paper."
– Christi Morton, senior, Recreation, Park, and Tourism Science

"I think faculty might be surprised to know how many students think, figuratively speaking, that the ability to write requires membership in an inscrutable private club into which they are allowed to peek, but never fully enter. My number one objective is to expose this myth and help students understand that good writing is accessible to them."
– Debbie Pipes, UWC staff member

This month the UWC introduces a new option for faculty who’d like to know more about teaching students to write: an online workshop hosted on WebCT.

Most W course instructors have little, if any, formal training in teaching writing. As a result, most tend to teach the way they themselves were taught, occasionally trying out one or two new ideas they’ve gleaned from colleagues. It’s a hit-or-miss approach that often leaves instructors with more questions than answers:

• How do I create clear, effective writing assignments?
• How do I teach students basic writing skills like punctuation and grammar?
• How do peer review sessions work, and can they really help students revise?
• What are some strategies for grading writing fairly and efficiently?

The UWC has created The Write Place for Faculty, an online course designed to answer those questions and more. The course is designed to be supremely flexible, letting faculty choose when and how they access the information.

“I picture it as a cross between an online workshop and a digital book,” explains course designer and facilitator Nancy Small, a lecturer in the English department who began teaching writing at Texas A&M in 1994. “Once information is posted, it will remain there for participants to come back to whenever they need it.”

Instructors can e-mail Small to be added to the course roster; after that, they’re welcome to dig in, looking to see what might be relevant to their particular needs.

“Researchers in composition have learned a lot about what does and doesn’t work in teaching writing,” explains UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester. “This online course distills that information and makes it accessible for faculty. I see this becoming a primary resource for faculty teaching writing, an essential place for finding and sharing information.”

As Small points out, “If you look up ‘writing assignments’ on the Web, you’ll get millions of results, and the results will be everything from elementary school assignments to college writing. So my job is to filter all that and find a good representation of what’s available and relevant to Texas A&M students.”

The course is divided into four sections (Design, Deliver, Reflect, and Revise) and features an initial set of 12 modules. Small plans to continue adding and revising modules in response to participants’ needs.

For each module, Small has included relevant readings as well as videos, handouts, discussion areas where faculty can exchange ideas, and quick activities instructors can complete if they’d like to put some of the ideas to work. Much of the information is intended only for faculty, but some, such as a video on the difference between academic and non-academic writing, can be used directly with students.

As an example, under the Deliver heading, participants can click on a module entitled “Designing and Using Rubrics” and find

• a video discussion of rubrics,
• a variety of readings on the topic,
• sample rubrics,
• a worksheet to help create a customized rubric, and
• a forum for discussing rubrics with the facilitator and other Texas A&M instructors.

Although W course instructors are the primary audience for the course, any instructor assigning writing, even if it’s only essay exams, might benefit from browsing through the course material. Likewise, while the course is aimed at those new to teaching writing, even experienced writing instructors may want to check out topics like how to add a student blog to their course. Experienced instructors are also encouraged to use the space as a way to discuss good practices for their disciplines and lessons they’ve learned along the way.

“I think different instructors will use this course in different ways,” says Balester. “Some instructors may want information on only one or two topics, like where to find handouts on various citation styles or how to use turnitin.com. Others will want to keep coming back to the course for ideas as new situations arise in their teaching.”

The course also gives instructors the chance to exchange information with colleagues across campus. That’s particularly helpful since some departments have only a few instructors teaching writing. Small sees the potential for interdisciplinary interaction as the course’s greatest asset and hopes the WebCT offering eventually becomes “an active but informal, low-pressure community of practitioners who can support one another.”

Instructors with questions about the course are invited to email Nancy Small: n-small@ tamu.edu. Or to register for the course, go to writingcenter.tamu.edu.

“Guided Tour” offered this summer

This summer, Lecturer Nancy Small will conduct a guided, online workshop for instructors who’d like a more structured, linear approach to using the UWC’s new WebCT course, The Write Place for Faculty. The time commitment will be minimal, perhaps an hour a week over five or six weeks.

“It will be almost like a day-long workshop on teaching writing, but spread out over time and with more independence. Instructors will complete the online workshop with both ideas and materials they can apply to their courses,” says Small.

You may register for the guided workshop online.

Don’t limit yourself to using student papers as models—articles from professional or trade journals can also serve as effective writing samples.

Providing students with writing models is a time-honored, and often highly effective, teaching technique. In some cases, using models seems almost a necessity: imagine trying to teach someone to write a resume without showing them examples.

But using writing models is not without hazards, one of which came to light in a recent discussion on the W course instructors’ listserv. The exchange was sparked by a question from an instructor who’d used a model but was concerned when students followed it slavishly.

It’s not surprising that students are sometimes reluctant to deviate from a model. With the advent of standardized writing tests, many of today’s students have been encouraged to see models as prescriptive: Here’s what they expect on the test.

Students are also more likely to adhere rigidly to models if they feel intimidated or overwhelmed by writing. When they are unsure of their abilities—or uncertain about their instructor’s expectations—students tend to view a model as a life raft they can cling to. Of course, sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable for students to be less than original in their approach to writing.

In certain academic fields, much of the writing follows specific and unvarying rules. If that’s the case in your discipline, then by all means, give your students a model. Even in disciplines that prize creative expression, though, models can provide students with a necessary foundation. That’s particularly important when the material is unfamiliar or challenging. In such instances, models may be a crutch, but a crutch that students may genuinely need.

But is it possible to incorporate writing models into a course and still encourage critical thinking and creativity? You’ll need to experiment to find what works for your particular situation, but the following guidelines can help:

Offer multiple samples. If you point to only one model, you’re feeding into students’ tendency to want the one and only right answer. Of course, even three or four examples won’t begin to suggest the endless possibilities for how to write something, but they’re at least a start.

Introduce models later not sooner. If you assign a piece of writing and then immediately show students a model, you may limit their ability to interpret the assignment in their own way. If that’s a problem for you, consider sharing sample responses only after students are thoroughly engaged in a large project or have already written several low-stakes pieces. Let them develop both some confidence and some ideas of their own before adding examples into the mix.

Use parts not wholes. Rather than showing students a completed piece, use only a few paragraphs or even individual sentences to help them see how to handle a specific challenge, such as how to introduce a quotation or summarize data. By using only portions of a text, you offer specific help without establishing too many other expectations.

Consider the source. Most instructors use student papers as models. It’s best to use pieces submitted in past semesters, but be sure to get the students’ permission. Some instructors like to present the papers along with the grades and comments, so students can see what it takes to earn an A, B, or C. Be careful, though, if you’re discussing student papers that are less than successful; if your criticism seems too harsh, students may fear they’ll never be able to meet your expectations.

You can, of course, also create a model yourself by producing a response to your own assignment. It’s time-consuming, but you may discover both problems and potentials you hadn’t anticipated in the assignment. You may also feel more empathy toward your students as your fingers hover over the keyboard.

Another option is to share your own professional writing with your class. While probably not immediately relevant to your students’ own work, such examples can give them insight into the writing process. Provide a first draft and subsequent revisions and you’ll be giving students tangible evidence that revision is both routine and necessary for anyone who writes successfully.

Perhaps the best models are professional examples from your discipline. Let students see the kind of writing that will be expected of them in future coursework or in the workplace. Often, the less successful the piece, the more they’ll learn from it.

Talk it up. Whatever models you use, take time to discuss them with students. Ask them to consider the choices the author has made and analyze how those choices affect the reader. In doing so, you’ll be modeling for them how to use a model. After all, your ultimate goal is not only to have them learn how to follow a model, but to know how—and when—to deviate from one, as well.

Grading papers can be the bane of a writing teacher’s existence. It’s time-consuming, yet doesn’t necessarily improve students’ writing. There are, however, tools that can make the process more efficient and effective.

The UWC has scheduled three faculty workshops to present one of those tools: Waypoint software, a Web-based package that simplifies the job of responding to student papers.

Waypoint Outcomes , already in use at Mays Business School, helps instructors respond to papers consistently and quickly by using rubrics and standard comments. The program also tracks individual and class performance on specific criteria.

The UWC has secured a one-year trial license for Waypoint, and workshop participants will receive a subscription.

Faculty can choose to register for one of three sessions:

• 10 a.m. to noon, May 13;
• 10 a.m. to noon, July 25; or
• 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., July 25.

“Waypoint helps instructors focus on key objectives when they look at student writing, which streamlines the process,” says UWC Executive Director Valerie Balester. Register at writingcenter.tamu.edu .