ASCRC Writing Subcommittee Notes 11/15/07

 

Members Present: J. Carter, J. Edwards, K. Kuipers, M. Medvetz

 
Members Excused/Absent: H. Bruce, N. Hinman, D. Micus, P. Silverman, A. Walker-Andrews, R. Wanderscheid

Ex-Officio Present:  K. Ryan

 

Chair Carter called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m. 

 

Communications:

 

Professor Ryan did not reviewed the syllabus for the experimental Science Writing course, but is of the opinion that courses that are 100% writing should be encouraged


Business Items:

 

 

Writing Course Guidelines Document
The document was revised as copied below.

 

Communication for collecting comments on document
The draft will be sent to members electronically for comments prior to sending out.

 

ENEX 200 – tabled pending action by Board of Regents

 

The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.


Recommended Writing Course Guidelines (November 15, 2007)

This document describes the Writing Course Guidelines for The University of Montana-Missoula.

 

I. Overview

The ability to write effectively is fundamental to a liberal arts education, essential to academic inquiry, and important for student success in academic, professional, and civic endeavors. Composition and writing courses at The University of Montana (UM) help students become adept at writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. Effective writing both strengthens and is strengthened by an understanding of critical thinking and information literacy. Students should learn to use writing as a means of finding, synthesizing, analyzing, and evaluating information, retaining course material, and using that information and material in order to form and express coherent thoughts and arguments.
 

 

Writing Requirements

To satisfy the writing requirements at UM and to demonstrate writing proficiency, students must complete:

 

·         Composition (ENEX 101), with a grade of C or better

·         One approved writing course  with a grade of C or better

·         The Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment, with a score of 3 or better

·         Departmental upper-division writing requirement consisting of one of the following options

o   One upper-division writing course (numbered 300-400),  with a grade of C or better defined by the department and approved by the ASCRC Writing Committee

o   Upper-division writing expectation defined by the department and approved by the ASCRC Writing Committee

 

Composition
The Composition Program seeks to advance the University’s mission to pursue academic excellence in the context of writing instruction. Composition courses facilitate students’ achievements in exploring and enacting rhetorical knowledge; critical thinking, reading, writing and research processes; and knowledge of conventions. Writing is a powerful means of purposeful inquiry, communication, and action in the classroom and in the world. [See appendix for course outcomes.]

 

Writing Courses

Courses accompanied by a “w” designation are writing courses. These courses use informal and formal writing to enhance writing skills and promote critical thinking in content areas. Information literacy is integrated into all general education courses approved for Group I: English Writing Skills.  Students are required to complete Composition (ENEX 101), or its equivalent, prior to taking a w-course.

 

Writing Proficiency Assessment

The Upper-Division Writing Proficiency Assessment is a two-hour essay exam that all students seeking their first undergraduate degree must pass. Students pass the exam if their essay demonstrates adequate critical reading, writing, and reasoning skills as measured against a published scoring rubric (available at http://www.umt.edu/writingcenter/documents/17.WPAScoringCriteria.pdf). The exam may be taken after students complete 45 credits and passed before earning 70 credits. 

 

Upper-Division Writing Requirement in the Major

These writing classes typically focus on the student’s major area of study; as such, faculty members develop courses based on their discipline’s expectations for research, analysis and writing in their fields and focused on teaching those same skills to their students.

 

Examples of Writing Tasks

Writing tasks may include formal and informal, graded and ungraded, and in-class or out-of-class exercises. The range of possible writing tasks includes journal entries, case studies, lab reports, free writing, annotated bibliography, essay, analyses, proposals, abstracts, reviews, field notes, electronic postings, research papers, or proofs.



II. Guidelines
Writing requirements fit into a logical progression of development as students move through the college curriculum. Therefore, writing courses and the upper-division writing expectation have different outcomes. Courses that are designated as w-courses or the upper-division writing expectation are reviewed and approved by the Writing Committee and Academic Standards and Curriculum Review Committee (ASCRC). Faculty proposing writing courses or those that are assigned to teach departmental courses are encouraged to seek guidance from the Mansfield Library, the Writing Center, and other campus resources. Collaboration with library faculty is encouraged for addressing information literacy. Departments will determine the criteria for graders, if used.

 

Approved Writing Courses

Upon completing the w-course, students should understand writing as means to practice academic inquiry and be able to formulate and express opinions and ideas in writing. Upon completing the w-course, the student should be able to:

 

Learning Outcomes

 

·         Use writing to learn and synthesize new concepts

·         Formulate and express opinions and ideas in writing

·         Compose written documents that are appropriate for a given audience or purpose

·         Revise written work based on feedback

·         Give constructive feedback on written work

·         Find, evaluate, and use information effectively

·         Begin to use discipline-specific writing conventions

·         Apply appropriate English language usage

 

Requirements for Writing Courses

 

·         Limit enrollment to 25 students per instructor or grader

·         Identify course outcomes in the syllabus

·         Provide students with detailed written instructions, including criteria for evaluation, for all formal writing assignments

·         Provide adequate instruction and require students to write frequently for a range of audiences, purposes, and genres

o   Formal or informal

o   Graded or ungraded

o   In-class or out-of-class

·         Provide feedback on students’ writing and give students the opportunity to revise and resubmit at least one formal writing assignment

·         Require each student individually to compose at least 16 pages of writing for assessment over the course of the semester

·         Base a significant portion (at least 50% of a 3 credit course or equivalent hours) of the course grade on student performance on writing assignments

·         Incorporate information literacy into instruction and assignments



Upper-Division Writing Requirement in the Major
Upon completing the upper-division writing requirement, students should be more active, confident, and effective contributors to a body of knowledge and should understand the ethical dimensions of inquiry. Upon completing the upper-division writing requirement, the student should be able to:

Learning Outcomes

·         Identify and pursue more sophisticated questions for academic inquiry

·         Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information from diverse source material effectively

·         Manage multiple perspectives and voices in writing

·         Recognize the purposes and needs of discipline-specific audiences and adopt the academic voice necessary for the chosen discipline

·         Understand the value and use of multiple drafts, revision, and editing in conducting inquiry and preparing written work

·         Follow the conventions of citation, documentation, and formal presentation appropriate to that discipline 

·         Develop competence in information technology and digital literacy

 

Requirements for Upper-Division Writing Courses

·         Limit enrollment to 25 students per instructor or grader

·         Identify course outcomes in the syllabus

·         Provide students with detailed written instructions, including criteria for evaluation, for all formal writing assignments

·         Provide students with tools and strategies for effective writing in the major

·         Require students to write frequently for a range of audiences, purposes, and genres

o   Formal or informal

o   Graded or ungraded

o   In-class or out-of-class

·         Provide feedback on students’ writing and give students the opportunity to revise and resubmit at least one formal writing assignment

·         Require each student to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment over the course of the semester

·         Base a significant portion (at least 50% of a 3 credit course or equivalent hours) of the course grade on student performance on writing assignments

·         Incorporate information literacy into instruction and assignments

 

Enco

Recommended Department and Campus Support for Writing Courses

To ensure sufficient support for faculty members who teach writing courses, academic departments and the administration are encouraged to consider the following recommendations:

 

·         Provide teaching and grading support when class enrollment exceeds 25

·         Compensate for the additional time and effort required for w-courses in unit standards

·         Provide for a reduction in teaching load for faculty who teach w-courses

·         Provide one-time grants for faculty members interested in developing a writing course

·         Provide a venue (e.g., a listserv) for faculty members to share ideas on writing courses

·         Provide development programs and support for faculty members teaching w-courses  

·         Encourage instructors and faculty librarians to collaborate on the design and implementation of effective information literacy course components.

·         Develop a list of ideas or examples of writing exercises designed to promote critical thinking

·         Ensure that Banner supports the guidelines for class size, course  sequence, and grade requirements







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition (ENEX 101 or WTS 101)

 

Introduction

This course (or its equivalent) is a general education requirement for students at the University of Montana. The ability to write effectively is an important part of a college education and this composition course is part of the means to that reach goal. Below is an elaboration of what “writing effectively” means in the context of ENEX 101 at Montana. These outcomes are a local adaptation of the Council for Writing Program Administrators 2000 “Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.”

 

This statement describes the common knowledges, skills and attitudes sought for students in ENEX/WTS 101 at the University of Montana. 

 

Rhetorical Knowledge

By the end of first-year composition, students should be able to:

 

  • Focus on a purpose appropriate to different writing situations, including different audiences
  • Write in multiple genres with an awareness of how genres shape reading and writing situations
  • Use specialized language from the discipline of composition to support learning

 

Critical Thinking, Reading, Research, and Writing Processes

Critical Thinking

By the end of first-year composition, students should be able to:

 

  • Engage in inquiry as a means of learning, particularly strategies like exploration, explanation, evaluation, and reflection as inter-related means of inquiry.
  • Understand the collaborative and social aspects of learning
  • Appreciate the challenges of communicating effectively across differences

 

Reading, Research, and Writing Processes

By the end of first-year composition, students should be able to:

 

  • Develop multiple, flexible strategies for writing, particularly inventing, drafting, copyediting
  • Learn to give and receive feedback on written texts
  • Understand reading as a recursive transaction between a reader and a text
  • Understand research as a process of gathering, assessing, interpreting, and using different data to compose texts
  • Use a variety of technologies to facilitate research and drafting

 

Knowledge of Conventions

By the end of first-year composition, students should be able to:

 

  • Use documentation appropriately and demonstrate an understanding of the logic of citation systems, especially MLA
  • Control punctuation, grammar, syntax, and spelling