Kevin Eric DePew,Director of Writing Tutorial Services

COMPOSING WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

What are my goals?

Always start with your course goals, then ask…

•How will writing supplement or facilitate these goals?•What type of writing will best fulfill these goals?

Start with your goals

Typical goals for academic writing include… knowing course content applying course content learning how to research in the field being critical of or scrutinizing

material demonstrating correct grammar and

format

Students’ perception

How should students perceive writing?

Writing = Assignment = GradeOR

Writing = Communication = Participating in the Field

Writing to learn & Learning to write

• W2L–Writing helps students’ cognitively process course material Examples –summaries, demonstrations

of application, reports

• L2W–Learning the writing conventions of a specific discipline Example – explicitly teach students the

mechanics and format of the genres in your discipline

Goals determine your tasks

• Use your goals to determine what tasks students should accomplish comprehension summarize,

explain, describe, define, discuss, illustrate, review

application design, demonstrate, develop

critical analyze, evaluate, defend, compare, contrast

Assignment sheets• Consider the following elements

for your assignment sheet… Purpose: Student should understand

why they are doing the assignment Preparation: How should students

prepare to write? Where will the information come from?

Writing: Explains what they are writing

Assessment: How will you grade the paper?

Format of an assignment• Use document design principles

to make your assignments easier to read

• This is a professional document, not a manuscript

• You can view document design principles at http://www.odu.edu/~kdepew/pwprinciples.pdf

ESL students• Be culturally sensitive• Provide opportunities to write

about home issues when appropriate

• Determine how important correctness is to you

Assessing your own assignment• Assignments clear to you may be

confusing to students, especially those new to the university or discipline Get students to read assignments in

first week; allows you to revise assignments to your student audience

If students do not meet your expectations, reread your assignment before you assess

Your Turn

Take some time to examine your own assignment

What are your goals for the course? What is the purpose of the writing

assignment ? How does the assignment help fulfill

the course goals?

Peer ReviewGive your assignment and responses to a partner; as the partner consider how a student would read this.

Is the purpose of the assignment clear?

Are the instructions written clearly? What questions do you anticipate

the students will ask? Is the document easy to read and

navigate?