Creating Writing Assignments for Large Enrollment Classes

Laura MiccicheDepartment of EnglishAssociate Professor & Director of CompositionUniversity of Cincinnati22 Feb. 2012 / 2:00 – 3:30

Goals for the Session:

• Learn strategies for developing formal and informal writing assignments appropriate for a large lecture class and geared toward specific learning goals• Learn how to construct assignments effectively

so as to solicit student writing that fulfills a specific purpose• Revise or draft a writing assignment for a large

lecture class, share with others, and receive feedback

Assignment TypesLow stakes writing: not a lot of conditions to satisfy; expressive, personal, reflective, taking stock; writing to learn activities; ungraded. Ex. Freewrite about your use of digital tools for writing.

Middle stakes writing: teacher-directed, short writing tasks aimed at practicing key skills (analyzing, synthesizing, critiquing, etc.) and engaging with process of learning disciplinary knowledge; graded or ungraded. Ex. Write a one page analysis of Cindy Selfe’s theory of aural composing.

High stakes writing: formal, audience-directed, engaged with disciplinary conversations and poised to contribute to them; graded assignment.Ex. Write a formal researched argument (6-8 typed pages) on any issue related to digital composing. Integrate source material to support your claim.

Graded Writing Assignmentsformal papers and essay exams that test and measure student

learning.

Alternatives: instead of formal paper, make paper optional or use a series of shorter low and middle stakes writing assignments, scaffolded throughout the course to build on one another; instead of essay exam, combine short-answer and essay questions and control the length of responses.

Ungraded Writing Assignments

designed to give students writing practice and to give instructor feedback about student learning and teaching effectiveness

can be used at beginning and/or middle of class to guide class session; at end of class, to assess student comprehension of lecture/discussion

ungraded could mean that students get credit (full or partial) or no credit

Some Considerations Before Assigning Writing(this and following slides adapted from John Bean’s Engaging Ideas)

Your learning goals for the class: What role do you want writing to have in your course? What thinking skills are you hoping students will develop and writing will facilitate?

How will writing assignments help students learn the course material?

What do you anticipate will be the most difficult parts of your course in terms of content and thinking skills? How can writing function to address these difficulties?

How will you assess student writing? Why do you assess it?What’s the value of writing in relation to your course and/or

disciplinary goals?What do you reward in student writing?

Developing Writing Assignments(adapted from Barbara Walvoord’s Helping Students Write Well: A Guide for Teachers in All Disciplines)

Assignments should be articulated and distributed in writingAssignments should clearly state the main action that is

expected (i.e., analysis, description, reflection, etc.)Specifications should be clearly spelled out (i.e., purpose,

criteria, length, format, delivery expectations [hard copy, email, Bb], due date, etc.)

Assignments should be written with student readers in mind (define specialized terms)

Assignments require that you prepare students by teaching relevant concepts and skills that you expect them to demonstrate through completion of assignment

Ingredients of an Effective Assignment (from Walvoord)

Audience: To whom are students writing? Purpose: What is the writer’s purpose in writing this piece?Topic: Are you giving students a broad topic area they must narrow and define?Length: How flexible are you on length?Expectations: What criteria will you use to grade the papers?Mechanics: What is the standard format, form for citations, etc.?Level of Polish: How important is the final polishing in relation to grammar, spelling, and punctuation? Process Strategies: What steps or strategies might be useful to students in developing the paper?

Ways to Think about Writing Assignments

Approach writing assignments as building on one another to enhance student learning.

Consider writing assignments as opportunities to add complexity incrementally during a course.

Think of writing assignments as a progression of intellectual and, if appropriate, conceptual tasks.

Writing assignments should have a logic within the course that corresponds to overall learning objectives.

Low Stakes Writing Assignments

One-sentence summary: aimed at enhancing listening and comprehension skills, sharpening summary writing skills, and providing you with valuable feedback about student learning.

Task: articulate major points of lecture or segment of lecture through targeted summary writing (i.e., “A question I have is…” or “The point of today’s lecture is…”)

Uses: collect at end of class to gauge student comprehension or collect at half way point, glance through and read several aloud, addressing inconsistencies or points that seem unsettled—invite questions. Or collect, mark with ✓+✓✓-, and use for keeping attendance. Alternatively, ask students to swap summaries, read and discuss briefly, then share discussion points with larger class.

Cont.Opening freewrites: designed to connect readings to lectures, encourage regular writing habits, get the class focused and on task, and gather information for adjusting lectures to student comprehension levels

Task: students write briefly at beginning of class in response to open-ended question (i.e., What questions do you have about our reading on evolution?) or specific ones (i.e., What is the basis for Darwin’s theory of evolution?).

Uses: ask several students to read responses aloud and invite others to discuss; use as the basis for discussion/lecture

Cont.Chain notes: aimed at collecting snapshots of students’ understanding of a concept or idea; active and physical learning activity

Task: instructor passes an envelope or small handful of envelopes around with questions written on them, and students write a response on an index card and put in the envelope

Uses: instructor can select a few cards to read aloud and respond to or ask for student responses; quick way to gather feedback on an aspect of the course; ask a small group of students to pull out several cards and read one or two aloud as a way to start discussion

Middle Stakes Writing Assignments

Journals: useful in leading students to apply concepts to their own life experiences, to reflect on (rather than regurgitate) new knowledge, and to chart their own learning in the course. They can be open-ended, semi-structured or guided by the instructor.

Possible Tasks: catalogue encounters with a subject over the course of a day; find current news articles and editorials about issues related to the course and write brief responses to them; reflect (near the end of the course) on how they think differently about X and about what changes their new knowledge might make in their daily life habits and choices.

Uses: Entries can be read quickly and impressionistically without attention to form. A set of them might be turned in at the end of the course in a mini-portfolio to be graded on a pass/fail basis.

Cont.Shorter writing assignments that mimic phases in more formal assignments:

If a principle learning goal of the course is to foster students’ abilities to observe or read carefully, employ an observation or reading assignment: a two-page description of a designated object or a one-page summary of a reading.

If you’d like to have students gain experience in reading research materials without the whole apparatus of the research paper, employ a directed research assignment: two-page summary or analysis of pre-selected research materials.

Cont.

If you believe that this course is one in which students need to practice supporting an argumentative thesis with evidence, you could assign a microtheme: one to two page argument providing evidence (from lectures, readings, reflections and information collected in short writings, or from guided research analysis) in support of a specific proposition stated in the assignment. Themes can be written by collaborative groups or individuals.

These middle-stakes assignments will require more reading time, but response, evaluation, and grading can be stream-lined by using…

Sample of Evaluation Techniques

Minus/check/plus grading – These symbols indicate that an assignment was done, give a rough estimation of its quality, and take far less time than calculating and defending letter grades. The features characteristic of papers earning each mark can be covered in class.

Models feedback -- With this form of evaluation/grading, teachers make no comments on papers. Instead, they provide feedback through in-class discussion of selected essays. Select an exemplary “A” response and put it on the overhead projector (get permissions early in term). The “models feedback” comes from a discussion of what constitutes an “A” response as well as a discussion of typical problem areas found in weaker papers. This discussion clarifies for students the writing and thinking skills exhibited in strong papers, and reviews and recent course material (the content part of your assignment) (Bean 236).

Sample Assignment #1

Final paper description for a 200-level education class:

You are required to write a final paper, approximately 3-5 double-spaced pages, in which they apply theory, knowledge, and skills in the areas of human learning and human development theories through their unique lens of interest, addressing areas of effective instructional, disciplinary, and/or assessment practices and will be evaluated on writing quality.

Sample #2The nation is facing a variety of ecological problems that have the following general form: an established practice, whether on the part of business and industry or on the part of the public, is contributing to serious health problems for a large number of people. At the same time it would be costly to modify the practice so as to reduce the health problem.

People often say that the answer is one of achieving a "balance" between the amount of money we spend to correct the problem and the number of lives we would save by that expenditure.

Develop a point of view and some plausible criteria for telling how one would determine this "balance." Make sure you address any dilemmas inherent in your strategy for solving such problems.

(from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-sample-assignment-format/438)

Sample #3Reading Journal. In this journal you might include entries that do any of the following: • define key terms• engage with the readings through questions • record and analyze passages of interest• reflect on connections among the readings• identify problems with a particular reading• analyze cultural phenomena (images, websites, movies, clothing, etc.) through the

lens of our readings• use lived experience to expand on or complicate the readings I will collect your journal twice during the term. Each installment should include at least 4 typed entries, totaling 8 typed entries by the second collection date. No specified length for entries, though each one should represent a substantial effort on your part to say something that goes beyond the obvious. I’ll read and grade your journal holistically, focusing on conscientiousness, thoughtfulness, and critical engagement with the material. I expect you to proofread and edit your entries and to draw from our readings both by quoting directly and by referencing debates/issues generally. The purpose of this assignment is to keep a running inventory of your thinking over the quarter—in addition, I hope you’ll do some writing here that informs your final research paper. (25% of total grade)

A different approach:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4445u6TZw&feature=player_embedded

Sample #4

Works Cited

“Activities for Large Classes.” University of Waterloo: Centre for Teaching Excellence, Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.

Gardner, Traci. “Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments.” Traci’s Lists of Ten, 12 June 2005. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

“Large Classes: A Teaching Guide Writing in Lectures.” University of Maryland: Center for Teaching Excellence, 2008. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Walvoord, Barbara E. Helping Students Write Well: A Guide for Teachers in all Disciplines. 2nd ed. New York: MLA, 1986. Print.

“Writing Assignments for Large Classes.” Web. 21 Feb. 2012.