Managing Writing Assignments
On February 20, 2009, Neil Baird, Director of the Writing Center, presented a C.H.A.T. session on managing student writing assignments. The session included a demonstration of a Writing Center Tutored Session by Cypriane McNulty and Jeff Hill, center tutors. The discussion included issues around managing student expectations regarding writing assignments, efficient grading, and getting the most from Writing Center support services.
Highlights and Points of Discussion I. What actually happens during a Writing Center Tutored Session?
Students meet with a center tutor for 30-50 minutes.
Tutors follow a process that typically includes:
Establishing the needs of the assignment.
Establishing the point the student is at in the writing process.
Reading the draft out loud, catching small errors along the way.
Consulting on the paper's strengths and weaknesses, purpose, direction, and match to the assignment guidelines.
Identifying areas and opportunities for improvement.
Using questions to lead the student to decisions and action plans.
Helping students to identify specific changes.
Coaching rewriting of specific sections.
Reviewing grammar and spelling rules, if needed.
Providing tip sheets for specific learning needs.
Closing the session and planning follow-up.
II. What can faculty do to manage and facilitate the writing process?
Help students to understand the difference between "proofing" and "reviewing" the writing. The Writing Center does not proof documents, and that is still the student's responsibility. The Center's role is to provide writing guidance.
Create detailed assignment sheets. Be explict and clarify expectations, particularly the criteria that will be used to evaluate the final paper. Help students identify a clear purpose for the writing.
State your expectations for citations and references. The Writing Center can provide support for citation checking and guidance on plagiarism. The Center will also provide guidance is using the Style Manual.
Establish some efficiencies in your grading process. The instructor is not the editor, but the grader of the writing. Use a highligher or circle problems, but do not mark all errors. Help students see patterns of mistakes, and identify 2-3 areas to work on. Other suggestions include:
Use a rubric for grading that is consistent with the assignment sheet and criteria you gave them in the beginning.
Provide a comment at the bottom of the rubric that states: "The one thing you could do to improve this paper is...."
Refer students to the Writing Center who would benefit from writing guidance. Do NOT send all students to the Writing Center, as sending good writers to the center can overtax the center staff.
IV. Final Thoughts
The best thing faculty can do is to reinforce to students that writing is a process. Help students recognize that pre-writing, drafting, and reviewing are necessary steps to good writing. And that it is OK to ask for help.
Handouts and Resources
