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Writing intensive (WI) courses

Courses may continue to be submitted for both LE and WI designation, though the WI review will now be handled by the Campus Writing Board.  Reviews by both bodies will be coordinated as much as possible to assure timely responses. The CLE strongly supports writing in the curriculum, and emphasizes the importance of writing as part of a liberal education curriculum.

Guidelines

The below guidelines are taken from the 2005 memo from the Council on Liberal Education. These guidelines are currently in effect for writing intensive course proposals:

In the past, the English Department, Rhetoric Department, and General College had the primary responsibility for teaching writing. As of fall 1999, all undergraduate departments are sharing in that responsibility. Writing is a way for students to further their understanding of disciplinary goals and concepts. In writing-intensive courses, writing is integrated with the course content. The course grade is tied directly to the quality of the student's writing as well as to knowledge of the subject matter; students who do not meet minimal standards of writing competence cannot pass the courses. To meet the writing intensive requirements, courses must meet the following standards:

  1. Writing is an integral part of the course. The Council looks for evidence that writing assignments and grading criteria are tied to course objectives and content, and that writing is assigned and discussed throughout a term.
  2. Students complete at least ten to fifteen pages of polished writing, beyond informal writing and in-class examinations and exclusive of charts, graphs, etc. This page minimum applies to final drafts only and can be broken into several shorter assignments.
  3. Writing instruction is part of the course. The Council looks for evidence of writing instruction in syllabi and course descriptions. Examples of writing instruction activities that are tied to specific assignments include discussion of models, disciplinary formats, informal writing activities, and patterns of common errors, as well as peer response workshops.
  4. At least one writing assignment must be revised and resubmitted by the students after feedback by the instructor. The Council strongly recommends that the revision and resubmission take place early in the course so students benefit from writing instruction. Although including peer response activities in WI classes is often extremely useful, feedback on at least one assignment must be offered by the instructor or graduate teaching assistant.
  5. Writing assignments must count for at least one-third of students' final course grade.

More than one writing intensive course per major is encouraged, especially in the case of majors with few electives. Writing assignments may be of various kinds and have various purposes, as appropriate to the discipline. Examples of formal writing include creative writing, essays, research papers, formal lab reports, mathematical proofs, etc. The overall course grade must be dependent to a significant extent on the quality and level of the writing.

WI courses must include writing instruction as a part of the course. The revision/resubmission component with feedback by the instructor is required of all students in the course. Although peer review of writing assignments is a valuable teaching tool and may be used in writing intensive courses, it does not replace the instructor and/or graduate TA review. Reading assignments or textbooks on writing can be used, both as teaching aids and as a way to help with the workload. For example, instead of writing out comments on grammar or style when grading papers, instructors might refer students to the appropriate section of a writing text. Writing consultants in the Center for Writing work with students who need additional help on writing beyond what the instructor or TA can provide.

The Center for Writing has a number of materials on developing and teaching WI courses on its website at http://writing.umn.edu/tww/. The Center for Writing also provides support for instructors and TAs including training sessions and workshops on topics such as developing WI courses, handling the paper load, dealing with plagiarism, creating writing assignments, grading issues, etc. The Center can be contacted at writing@umn.edu or 612-626-7579.