Writing and Communication Program

As of spring 2021, applications should be submitted through the common GEP Tag Designation Portal available in the Academic Portal. These are reviewed by the GEP Steering Committee.

Please contact Gwendolynne Reid, Director of the Writing & Communication Program, for help with any stage of WRT course development or implementation: gwendolynne.reid@emory.edu. 

Handouts

• Classifying sources according to use: Bizup's BEAM - Handout for students based on Joseph Bizup's four types of source use. Promotes a more nuanced understanding of sources and research.
• Responding to student writing - Handout for faculty on best practices for feedback on student writing.

Short Articles

• Warner, Michael (2017, Aug. 20). We know how to teach writing. Inside Higher Ed.

Short Guides on Teaching Writing

• Harvard Writing Project. Responding to student writing. Retrieved from https://writingproject.fas.harvard.edu/pages/responding-student-writing

Videos on Teaching Writing

• Across the drafts: Students and teachers talk about feedback. (2005). Cambridge, MA: Telequest. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sbZnoFAZ9o
• MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing. (2011a). No one writes alone: Peer review in the classroom - A guide for instructors. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGloEeb1QlI
• MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing. (2011b). No one writes alone: Peer review in the classroom - A guide for students. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY8CX0J3ILc
• Sommers, N. (2012). Beyond the red ink: Teachers’ comments through students’ eyes. Macmillan Learning. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfLRz7h7gs

Articles on Writing Research and Pedagogy

• Anderson, P. (2013, July 29). New research expands what we know about how to use writing to enhance student learning [Elon University Center for Engaged Learning: An International Center for Research on Engaged Learning]. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from http://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/new-research-expands-what-we-know-about-how-to-use-writing-to-enhance-student-learning/
• Anson, C. M. (2003). Student plagiarism: Are teachers part of the solution or part of the problem. Essays on Teaching Excellence: Towards the Best in the Academy, 15(1).
• Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). What is backward design? In Understanding by Design (2nd ed., pp. 13–34). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Retrieved from https://www.fitnyc.edu/files/pdfs/Backward_design.pdf 

National Organizations & Guiding Documents

• Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing (Habits of mind and experiences important for successful college writing. Developed collaboratively with representatives from the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Writing Project.) 
• National Council of Teachers of English. (2016, February 28). Professional knowledge for the teaching of writing. NCTE. Retrieved from http://www2.ncte.org/statement/teaching-writing/
• Statement of WAC Principles and Practices (2014). Retrieved from https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/principles/statement.pdf. 

Books for Professional Development

• Adler-Kassner, L., & Wardle, E. (Eds.). (2015). Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
• Ball, C. E., & Loewe, D. M. (Eds.). (2017). Bad Ideas About Writing. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Libraries Digital Publishing Institute.
• Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Beaufort, A. (2007). College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for University Writing Instruction. Logan, UT: Utah State UP.
• Yancey, K., Robertson, L., & Taczak, K. (2014). Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing. Logan: Utah State University Press.

Fall 2021

Teaching Reflective Writing – November 19, 2021, 1:30-2:30, Seney & Zoom
Workshop Leaders: Alicia DeNicola, Tasha Dobbin-Bennett, Emily Mclean, Gwendolynne Reid (moderator)

Reflective writing plays an important role in many of our classrooms and programs but can be surprisingly difficult to teach. In this session, colleagues from three divisions will share their experiences with
assigning reflective writing. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their own struggles and strategies with colleagues.

Summer 2020

Student Learning: Writing Assignments, Presentations, Projects, ePortfolios - June 16, 2020, online
Facilitators: Leigh Elion, Gwendolynne Reid & LaTonia Taliaferro-Smith

View the OCOT module, videos, and resources in the Faculty Training Canvas Space.

Spring 2020

Assignment Speed Dating – February 5, 2020, 12:00-1:00, DDR
Workshop Leaders: Gwendolynne Reid and Leigh Elion

Want to assign more writing, but don’t have exciting assignment ideas? Already assign writing in your courses, but ready to make some changes? Or perhaps you’re working on your Discovery Seminar and need some assignment inspiration? If any of these resonate, then this Lunch and Learn is for you. Come learn from your colleagues in a Writing Program assignment swap. In honor of Valentine’s month, this will be run as a speed dating event with chances to talk individually with as many colleagues as possible. To prepare for the event, please bring 12-15 copies of one assignment that has worked particularly well and that isn’t a standard essay/research paper. Since this is also a chance to inspire each other for our DSs, don’t feel limited to writing, but also feel free to bring in an assignment in another mode (e.g., oral) or that is very multimodal. Also feel free to bring inspiring (de-identified) examples of student work in response to your assignment. Please bring 12-15 paper copies of your assignment or email it to Tiffany Whitfield (tiffany.whitfield@emory.edu) by February 2^nd for printing. 

Linguistic Diversity and Inclusivity in the Liberal Arts Classroom – February 28, 2020, 12:00-1:00, Phi Gamma
Workshop Leader: Dr. Shawna Shapiro, Middlebury College

In this talk, we will first discuss what inclusivity means in a liberal arts setting, drawing on interviews I have conducted with students at Middlebury College. We will then consider how this conception of inclusivity relates in particular to multilingual writers—both international students and those with immigrant backgrounds. We will review pedagogical strategies, activities, and assignments that are effective in increasing student participation, improving the quality of student writing, and cultivating a classroom dynamic in which all students, including multilingual writers, experience a deeper sense of belonging. 

Responding Equitably and Effectively to Multilingual Writers – February 28th, 3:00 – 4:00, Pierce 104
Workshop Leader: Dr. Shawna Shapiro, Middlebury College

This session is aimed primarily at writing center consultants and first-year writing faculty and will center on response practices when working with multilingual writers. The session will include hands-on response-related activities. We have limited space, but please email Gwendolynne Reid if you would especially like to attend (gwendolynne.reid@emory.edu).

Fall 2019

Supporting Researched Writing – October 9, 2019, 12:00-1:00, DDR
Workshop Leaders: Gwendolynne Reid, Kitty McNeill, Ellen Neufeld

We know research papers and writing-from-sources can cultivate question asking, critical thinking, and independent learning. We also hope these assignments help students learn to participate in evidence-based conversations. But the results can sometimes be disappointing, with students not always understanding the role of sources in their writing or how to integrate them effectively. In this lunch and learn the writing program and library team up to share strategies for supporting students’ researched writing with tips on assignment design and scaffolding.

Fairness, Diversity, and Writing Assessment: Key Questions for Teachers – November 13, 2019, 12:00-1:00, DDR
Workshop Leader: Mya Poe, Northeastern University

Helping students improve their writing—and subsequently see themselves as writers—is one of the most rewarding aspects of assigning writing. But it’s frustrating when our feedback doesn’t seem to reach students, when our students don’t work well together, and when students become alienated from writing. In this workshop, we will use diversity and inclusion as a framework to work through some of the stumbling blocks for student writers and discuss how attention to diversity and inclusion can improve our teaching of writing. Some of the questions this workshop will address include: What can we do to make writing instruction more inclusive? What does it mean to be “fair” in the way that we respond and evaluate student writing? How can attention to diversity and inclusion help us learn something about ourselves as teachers?

Developing Scientific Writers: Diversity in Science Classrooms – November 13, 2019, 1:15-2:45, DDR
Workshop Leader: Mya Poe, Northeastern University

Increasing internationalization of higher education over the last two decades has surfaced new challenges in the ways that we teach writing across the curriculum. For example, previous models of writing instruction that assumed that students were native English speakers with experience in college writing no longer hold true. While we can think of diversity as an “add on” or an unnecessary intrusion into the science classroom, diversity is at the heart of scientific work. In this workshop, we will use diversity and inclusion as a framework to discuss three ways to frame the teaching of scientific writing today: (1) Science today is global, with researchers working with collaborators across national borders. And while English is the lingua franca of scientific publication, it is not necessarily the only language in circulation in science labs and other research-making spaces. Bringing this global view to scientific research today into the classroom helps connect classroom learning with professional practice; (2) Student populations today are incredibly heterogenous. Rather than thinking of diversity in terms of simple binaries, we can use the notion of “super-diversity” to consider the ways that scientific work actually gets done and apply these ideas in the classroom for the teaching of writing; (3) Revisiting the ways we respond and grade student writing can help us refocus our energies in the teaching of writing to the core concepts that diverse populations of students need to learn to be successful.  

Spring 2019

Using Inquiry to Improve Students’ Writing – March 6, 2019, 12:00-1:00, DDR
Workshop Leaders: Gwendolynne Reid and Jack Hardy

Oxford College prides itself on its emphasis of inquiry-based teaching. In each of our areas of expertise, we know that inquiry helps our students deepen and clarify their thinking, make connections between old and new information, and begin to understand the beliefs and practices of disciplinary communities. In many ways, we use inquiry to help our students begin to enter into the academic conversation. But can we also use inquiry-based teaching to support students’ development as writers? In this session, Gwendolynne Reid (Writing Program Director) and Jack Hardy (Visiting Asst. Professor of Linguistics) will share strategies for using inquiry-based approaches to support students’ writing and lead a discussion of ways faculty might incorporate systematic (yet accessible) analyses of writing as part of their own disciplinary-specific pedagogies. Co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Excellence.

The What, Why, and How of ePortfolios - May 15, 2019 - IPLA, Day 1
Workshop Leader: Dr. Kathleen Blake Yancey, Kellogg W. Hunt Professor of English and Distinguished Research Professor, Florida State University (Co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Excellence.)

Fall 2018

Assessing Student Writing – September 25, 2018, 8:15-9:30, Seney Conference Room
Workshop Leaders: Gwendolynne Reid and Lisa Ward

Gwendolynne Reid (Director, Writing Program) and Lisa Ward (Educational Analysis, Academic Technology) will lead a workshop on developing approaches and criteria for evaluating student writing that are grounded in learning goals. Attendees will learn about holistic versus analytical assignment rubrics and how these can be integrated into Canvas. Faculty are invited to bring an assignment, rubric, or graded student paper to discuss with a colleague. Co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Excellence.

Understanding Chinese International Students’ Mobilities, Literacies, and Identities – November 1, 2018, 8:15-9:30, Seney Conference Room

Workshop Leaders: Steven Fraiberg and Xiqiao Wang, Michigan State University

In this workshop, Steven Fraiberg and Xiqiao Wang, authors of Inventing the World Grant University: Chinese International Students’ Mobilities, Literacies, and Identities, will share insights from their finely-textured study of Chinese international students literacy practices across sites and borders and how these are imbricated in a globalizing education landscape. The authors will help faculty situate their pedagogical practice and experiences in this larger context and consider how we might productively integrate our students’ transnational identities and literacies into our classrooms. The workshop will yield insights of value for both writing instruction and general pedagogy. Co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Excellence, International Student Program, and Academic Affairs.

Spring 2018

Facilitating Effective Peer Response – February 9, 2018, 2:30-3:45, Seney Conference Room
Workshop Leader: Gwendolynne Reid

Recent research continues to affirm that peer response is a high impact practice for enhancing students’ development as writers. We also know that peer response models professional writing and research practices, offering students important insights into knowledge as a social endeavor. But how do we organize peer response so that it is truly effective? In this workshop, we’ll learn about best practices in facilitating peer response, as well as several variations you can adapt to your own courses. Participants are encouraged to bring peer response instructions they have provided students with in the past or an assignment sheet they would like to support with peer response (bring a paper copy and writing technologies of your choice).

Supporting Multilingual Writers – March 1, 2018, 8:15-9:30, Seney Conference Room
Workshop Leaders: Stacy Bell, Belle Wang, Gwendolynne Reid

While many of us feel comfortable assigning writing in our classes, we may have doubts about how to best support multilingual writers. Multilingual writers have additional needs, and supporting them as writers requires a new toolkit. Multilingual writers may also challenge our perceptions of what constitutes “good writing” and good writing instruction. Is good writing error-free? Can we and should we learn to “read around the accent” in order to focus on structure and content? Can we respond differently to multilingual writers and remain fair to our other students? This workshop will give instructors an opportunity to learn about and apply best practices in working with multilingual writers, as well as to reflect on the larger questions about writing and writing instruction that working with multilingual writers can provoke.

Designing a Continuing Writing Course – April 6, 2018, 2:30-3:45, Dean’s Dining Room
Workshop Leader: Gwendolynne Reid

Perhaps you’ve intended to propose a Continuing Writing (WRT) course and been unsure how to design one effectively. Or perhaps you’ve been teaching a WRT course and need an opportunity to reflect on and revise your approach. If you fall into either category, this workshop is for you. We will first learn best practices for designing courses that support student learning about writing before using the principles of backward design to organize our course plans. Participants should bring something to work on, such as course learning objectives, a course description, or draft syllabus (bring 2 paper copies and writing technologies of your choice).

Fall 2017

Responding to Student Writing – October 27, 2017, 2:30-3:45, Language 101
Workshop Leader: Gwendolynne Reid

Assigning writing is easy, but what do you do with it once you’ve got it? How do you give students feedback that will promote learning while keeping your workload manageable? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll learn some best practices in responding to student writing, as well as some variations you can adapt to your own teaching goals and style. Participants are encouraged to bring an (anonymized) example of feedback they’ve given or received (bring a paper copy and writing technologies of your choice). Workshop handout.

Designing Effective Writing Assignments – November 9, 2017, 8:15-9:30, Seney Conference Room
Workshop Leader: Gwendolynne Reid

Recent research suggests that certain features of writing assignments enhance learning more than others, and that, more so than increasing the amount of writing they assign, instructors would do well to focus on developing more effective writing assignments. This hands-on workshop will give instructors the opportunity to learn about and apply best practices in designing writing assignments. Participants should bring something to work on, such as a learning outcome they would like to support with writing or a draft writing assignment to improve (bring 2 paper copies and writing technologies of your choice). Sponsored by the Center for Academic Excellence.

Designing a Continuing Writing Course – December 8, 2017, 2:30-3:45, Dean’s Dining Room
Workshop Leader: Gwendolynne Reid

Perhaps you’ve intended to propose a Continuing Writing (WRT) course and been unsure how to design one effectively. Or perhaps you’ve been teaching a Continuing Writing course and need an opportunity to reflect on and revise your approach. If you fall into either category, this workshop is for you. We will first learn best practices for designing WRT courses that support student learning about writing, before generating ideas for our own courses. Participants should bring something to work on, such as a course outline or draft syllabus (bring 2 paper copies and writing technologies of your choice).