| Writing in the First Year Seminar
2003 First Year Seminar workshop
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I: Responding To The Needs of First Year Student Writers--Advising about Writing
Advising students about writing I -- the Drew writing requirement:
What the requirement is, how students fulfill it, how we place them in classes, and the role of the advisor in spring registration for English 1 or 2 and in helping students to see the value of writing instruction.
Resources:
| The Writing Requirement:
http://www.depts.drew.edu/composition/Writing_Requirement.htm
Note: the ONLY way to exempt from the Drew writing requirement is to bring something to Drew (AP, SAT II, or IB scores; or a course taken elsewhere). We no longer accept papers as part of petitions to be exempted from writing. |
| F.A.Q. about Writing at Drew: http://www.depts.drew.edu/composition/wtg_FAQs.html |
| Transferring in a course taken elsewhere:www.depts.drew.edu/composition/transfers.html |
| Placement in Writing: www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Handbook_Question2.htm#placement |
Advising students about writing II -- writing at Drew
The composition program; the difference between English 1-A, English 1, and English 2; why it is a good idea for students to take writing in their first year.
Resources:
| The Drew Composition Program: http://www.depts.drew.edu/composition/ |
| Engl. 1-A, Engl. 1, & Engl. 2:http://www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Handbook_Comp-program.htm |
| Extracts from The Harvard Assessment in Writing Report of 1987: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/FYS/Harvard_study.html |
Advising students about writing III -- responding to specific needs
The type of students coming to Drew are well prepared for our classes in some ways, but not in others. The kinds of assignments they are used to support the purpose of writing in high school, which is mostly the recording and reporting of ideas (summary, note-taking, reports), rather than the expanded purpose of college writing where we expect students to go beyond the obvious, develop theses, construct arguments, and make meaning. The FYS can support, reinforce, and draw on the writing courses and, in turn, the composition program tries to support the first year seminars and writing in general at Drew.
Resources:
| Useful links for on-line syllabi: www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/wlinks.html#syllabi links |
| Drew's On-line Resources for Writers: www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Webresources.html |
II: Research and Writing: designing effective research and writing assignments
Students as college writers I: designing writing assignments
The First Year Seminar Enrichment Committee determined the amount and kind of writing most appropriate to the first year seminar (please note: this list does NOT include a full term paper using library research. Studies of student writing--such as the Harvard Assessment in Writing Report of 1987-- show again and again that students learn more about writing and also learn more of the course material if they are given several shorter writing assignments spread throughout the semester).
Resources
| Writing in the First Year Seminar: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/FYS/writing_in_FYS.html |
| Types and Function of Writing in an Introductory Seminar: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/FYS/type_of_writing.html |
| Designing writing assignments that work for all students: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/FYS/writing4all.htm |
Students as college writers II: incorporating research into writing assignments
When students are encouraged to ask and answer questions as a normal part of their intellectual lives, they are more likely to develop a spirit of inquiry and engagement with the material of the class. Our students have grown up with the Internet and take it for granted as a simple research tool, but most of them need to learn how to conduct more focused research using a variety of print and electronic sources. There are many ways for students to learn these research skills as a part of the class and through the series of shorter assignments in the First year Seminar, students can learn the information retrieval and reporting skills that will prepare them for full length research papers in their other classes.
Resources:
| Incorporating Assignments into the Course--A Checklist: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/FYS/2003/FYSchecklist.html |
| Designing Research Assignments: http://www.users.drew.edu/jcaldwel/fysorient.htm#designing |
| Research Resources: http://www.depts.drew.edu/lib/research.html |
Students as college writers III: helping students produce effective papers
Although First Year Seminars are asked to "assign" writing rather than "teach" writing, there are some easy strategies instructors can use to help students approach the task of writing and revising papers--and there are many resources available on-line and on campus to support this endeavor. The reward is more readable papers and more engaged students. Every student in the First Year Seminar is expected to buy the common handbook, The Longman Writer's Companion, which is also used in the Composition courses, and instructors can support the work of the composition program by reinforcing the importance of effective writing and by making use of the handbook in the seminar.
Resources:
The
Longman Writer's Companion (the handbook for FYS and composition classes):
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Helping
students use drafts & other forms of pre-writing:
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| Drew University Writing Center: http://www.depts.drew.edu/writecen/ |
Students as college writers IV: responding to writing assignments
Rough Drafts:
Perhaps the hardest thing about responding to student papers is knowing what to respond to first. Our instinct is to correct surface errors because they are distracting as we read, yet if we want the student to make significant revisions to a draft, we send a mixed message when we also mark editing errors because these cannot be fixed before the student has completed major revisions. Students will tend to make the editing corrections and think the paper is finished. It is much more helpful to note three or four kinds of editing errors and ask students to find and correct those errors once the revision is complete.
Final Papers:
Comments need to both explain the grade and help students know what they should do again in the future--as well as what they should avoid. Students can always list in great detail their flaws as writers, but they are rarely able to list their strengths. It is therefore useful to help them develop greater overall understanding of their writing abilities.
Resources:
| Revising and Editing Strategies for Students: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/12stepediting.htm |
| Strategies for Peer Review and Revision: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Revision.html |
| Commenting
on student paper to help them revise: http://www.emporia.edu/tec/tchid02.htm |
| Commenting on Student Final Drafts of Papers: http://www3.telus.net/eddyelmer/Tools/comments.htm |
| Grade Definition Worksheet: http://www.depts.drew.edu/composition/grade_description.html |
Students as college writers V: helping students learn how to use sources
Perhaps because of the changing emphasis of high school education toward tests and quantifiable skills, or perhaps as some trait of Generation Y, it seems to be difficult for many of our students to imagine themselves as anything other than reporters of already determined knowledge/truth. This attitude leaves them ill prepared for the kind of writing we assign in college: writing calling for a thesis, an opinion, or a response. Few are able to imagine themselves as engaged in a dialog with sources, and therefore most are unable to use source material to generate meaning. This leads to several problems: the first is that they find it quite difficult to write the kinds of papers we often assign unless we teach them how to do so, and the second is that they tend to be unsure how to cite source material--or why it is important to cite sources. Many lack confidence in their own ideas, some find it hard to distinguish between their own ideas and the ideas of others, a few have a genuine difficulty synthesizing idea. These things frequently lead to unintentional violations of the Academic Integrity Policy. There are pedagogical responses to this problem.
Drew's policy, the alternative resolution, teaching students to use sources wisely, and the Academic Integrity Contract.
Resources:
| CLA Academic Integrity Policy: www.depts.drew.edu/composition/Academic_Honesty.htm |
| CLA Alternate Resolution: www.depts.drew.edu/composition/alternatve_resolution.html |
| Avoiding Accidental Plagiarism: www.depts.drew.edu/composition/Avoiding_Plagiarism.htm |
| The very best site for information on Internet Plagiarism: www.plagiarized.com/index.shtml |
| Strategies for preventing plagiarism: www.plagiarized.com/prevent.shtml |
| More information on Plagiarism: www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/plagiarism.html |
| If you have questions
as you plan your syllabi, please contact us! Jody Caldwell (x 3481) or <jcaldwel@drew.edu> Sandra Jamieson (x3499) or <sjamieso@drew.edu> |
