Designing effective assignments

1. Designing effective assignments Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program September 19, 2017 Alicia Andrzejewski and Emanuel Moss

2. Workshop Outline • Writing intensive certification • Kinds of assignments • Informal writing assignments • Reading assignments • Formal writing assignments • Scaffolding toward a final assignment • Misconceptions about writing assignments • Writing-to-learn philosophy • Summary

3. Overview of WAC Certification Process • Fall semester: • Selected readings about WAC pedagogy • Attend 3 WAC workshops • Designing Effective Assignments: 9/19, 1pm • Avoiding plagiarism: 10/18, 4pm (N-819) • Effective grading/minimal marking: 11/28, 4pm (N-403) • Meet your writing fellow

4. Overview of WAC Certification Process • Spring semester: • Attend two faculty workshops, Creative Classroom and Writing Intensive Syllabus • Meet regularly with your paired writing fellow • Develop & revise teaching materials following WAC principles • Syllabus: explains role of writing in your course • At least 1 scaffolded writing assignment: clear due dates • Present your experiences & materials at year-end colloquium • Beyond Spring: • Implement new syllabus/assignments • Certified instructors may be asked to contribute to future WAC activities / assessment

5. Focused Freewrite In the course of your training, what kinds of assignments involved writing?

6. Writing to Communicate • A polished piece of work that is representative of formal writing in the field • Assignment significantly impacts student grades • Writing to Learn • Focus is not on grammar or organization • Low-stakes (not graded or minimal points) Formal Writing Assignments Informal Writing Assignments Formal vs. Informal Writing Assignments

7. Informal Writing Assignments • Exploratory writing • Some ideas for incorporating exploratory writing • In-class writing • Out-of-class writing • “Shaped exercises”

8. Benefits of Informal Writing Assignments Interact with course readings and content Connect new concepts with previous knowledge Retain key concepts and process readings Create opportunities to explore class concepts at low risk Assess student comprehension Prevent plagiarism

9. Examples of Informal Writing • Journal Entries • Guided Reading • Write at beginning / middle /end of class • Writing quiz questions • Freewrite before / after a lab • Define concepts being used in class (“success”, “accuracy”, “error”)

10. Formal Writing Assignments • Meaning-constructing task • Problem-focused, not topic-focused • Define the purpose • Define the audience • Clear explanations of expectations • Purpose • Grading criteria • Written assignment prompt • Scaffolding

11. What is Scaffolding? • Systematically structuring smaller informal or semi-formal assignments that build towards a larger, formal assignment • Reverse-engineer your course

12. Example: College Writing Paper I: Interpretation of a Personal Dream (5%) Goal: to analyze a single primary source to support an arguable thesis. Rough Draft: September 19th (bring two hard copies for peer review) Final Draft: September 28th In this paper, you will select one of your own dreams (ideally one you’ve described in a blog post and gotten feedback on) and develop an interpretive argument using the techniques provided in class to answer the question: what is the dream’s psychic meaning? You must interpret it using Freudian or Jungian techniques and concepts, meaning your argument must be an attempt to reveal the latent content in the dream, and strive to “read” the dream closely, instead of coming to the most obvious conclusion.

13. Skills to Demonstrate / Requirements • formatted using MLA guidelines: 3-5 pgs, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman (or similarly sized font), 12 pt. font, double-spaced, running header, etc. • a clear argument responding to the question: what is the dreams psychic meaning? • knowledge and use of Freud’s organization: Preliminary Statement, Description of the Dream, Analysis of the Dream (Method of Investigation) • use of Freudian and / or Jungian psychoanalysis to “dig deeper” and analyze the latent content of the dream versus the manifest content, cited in-text and in a Works Cited page using correct MLA format • use of the OED, cited in-text and in your Works Cited page using correct MLA format. • use of rhetorical devices (pathos, ethos, logos) to convince your audience • use of key terms and concepts (4-5)

14. Scaffolding: informal assignments • blog post 1 due by 11:59PM: Describe a dream, from any time in your life that felt meaningful and resonant— one that you’d like to explore further. Reflect a little on why you think it stands out in your mind. • two comments due on blogs by 11:59PM, one that makes use of the OED to close-read a seemingly insignificant part of a described dream, illuminating the meaning. • reading quiz question: What does Freud mean when he states, “every dream is a fulfilment of a wish”? How does he explain nightmares or troubling dreams? What example does he give to demonstrate this? (hint: it involves a girl dreaming of her sister’s child.)

15. Misconceptions Aboutwriting-Focused Learning • “Emphasizing writing in a course will take away from content” • “Writing assignments are unsuitable in non-English courses” • “Adding more writing to my course will bury me in paper grading” • “I am not knowledgeable enough about grammar to help students with their writing”

16. Writing-to-learn • Writing promotes critical thinking • Students benefit when they do different kinds of writing • A well-designed writing assignment is the most intensive and demanding tool for eliciting sustained critical thought on a subject matter • Should treat writing assignments as useful tools to help students achieve course objectives

17. Summary • Where designing effective assignments matters • Informal writing assignments • Reading assignments • Formal writing assignments • Scaffolding toward a final assignment • Misconceptions about assignment-focused learning • Writing-to-learn philosophy • This workshop drew from Bean (2011) • Recommend especially chapters 1, 6, 7, and 8

18. Upcoming Workshop • Avoiding Plagiarism • Tuesday, 10/17 • 4:00-5:15pm Location: N-819 • The next workshop will focus on: • Understanding plagiarism • Strategies for preventing plagiarism • Responding to plagiarism