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last.updated 10.17.09

 

Designing Writing Assignments

Purpose

Composing, as we know, is central to the composition course. But the question we have to ask is: what are we going to ask students to write? what relationship do I want to create among my assignments? Then once we have addressed these question, we have to ask ourselves how are we going to articulate the assignment in a way that makes it understandable and accessible to all of our students? During today's class we will work on answering these questions.

Before Class

FreeWrite

Answer the following questions in "Week 7" (if Blackboard will let the instructor log on) thread of the Blackboard Discussion Board. You have the first ten minutes of class.

What are the outcomes for the assignment you are designing? What are you asking the students to do to achieve these outcomes? How will you use Reid & Kroll's criteria to shape your assignment? Use this time to be as specific as you can.

Presentation–Composing Writing Assignments

The instructor will present "Composing Writing Assignments" as a way to think about multiple aspects of this process.

Discussion: Literacy & Academic Discourse

The discussion today will address the following questions:

  • What questions do you have about the readings?
  • What is the noetic field of the 5-paragraph essay? If we can say that an argument was developed out of the collective wisdom of the WPA-L discussion on 5-paragraph essay, what would that argument be? Which individual argument did you find most compelling? Why?
  • Evans is clearly angry. What is he specifically angry about? In what ways does his argument address the problem he is angry about? How can we build an assignment relevant to other populations from what Evans advocates?
  • What is Reid & Kroll arguing for? Do you agree with their individual analysis? If one of the goals for the composition class is to prepare students for academic writing in other disciplines, what can we learn from the authors' analysis that we can apply to the way we design and compose assignments in the composition class?

Activity: Designing Writing Assignments

As a class we will work together to...

  • articulate the course goals and desired outcomes for the assignment
  • develop an assignment idea
  • outline what we, the instructors, will do to get the students from the point of assigning the project to the point of collecting the final draft
  • composing the actual assignment sheet (if time allows)