Writing Intensive Courses
Writing-intensive (WI) courses at 91探花 integrate a significant amount of writing (and opportunities for revision) into the work of the course, providing a variety of formal and informal occasions for students to write and learn the goals, assumptions and key concepts of a course.
Formal writing opportunities allow students to learn the formats characteristic of a discipline, such as a research report, a critical essay, an essay examination, or a laboratory report. Formal writing is used primarily as a means for demonstrating learning outcomes. Informal writing opportunities allow students to use writing as an instrument of learning through write-to-learn strategies, such as journals, letters, logs, lists, questions, short in-class responses to readings, lectures, and discussion. Informal writing enhances the quality and depth of the learning process.
Although no definitive quantity of writing can be stipulated for a WI course because of disciplinary differences, writing opportunities, both formal and informal, should account for a minimum of 50% of the grade weight. In addition, apart from informal writing and examinations, at least 10-15 pages of writing should be assigned (e.g., reports and essays); and, on at least one occasion, students should be allowed opportunities for revision, with critical comments on drafts, before a final grade is awarded.
