Available through the UW–Madison Writing Center’s website, the UW–Madison Writer’s Handbook is a reference guide designed for academic and professional writing. Drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every month, the Writer’s Handbook provides over 100 …
Coaching Students to Succeed with Assignments
CONCEPTUAL MAP EXERCISE FOR A RESEARCH PROJECT IN SOCIOLOGY 210
SARAH FRANK SOCIOLOGY 210: SURVEY OF SOCIOLOGY
METHODS WRITING PRACTICE ACTIVITY IN BIOMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY 504
PROFESSOR ANGELA KITA BIOMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY Based on lab 1: Pipetting & Spectrophotometry The methods can be a difficult section to write. It needs to be a clear and precise description of how the experiment was …
HANDOUT: FROM OUTLINE TO FIRST DRAFT
SARAH (FRANKIE) FRANK SOCIOLOGY 210: SURVEY OF SOCIOLOGY You’ve written an outline for your paper – now what? Ideally, you’ll have written an outline that includes headings and topic sentences. Also, you should have a list …
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT IN POLICY ANALYSIS 881
PROFESSOR EMILIA TJERSTROM POLICY ANALYSIS 881, LA FOLLETTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Learning goals In this assignment, you will begin building the portfolio of resources that will eventually form the foundation for your cost-benefit analysis. Successful …
Twelve Common Errors: A Student Self-Editing Guide
The Writing Center, writing.wisc.edu The following list contains only brief examples and explanations intended for you to use as reminders while you are editing your papers. To learn more: Take a free grammar or …
Putting Grammar in Its Place… But Making Sure It Has a Place
REBECCA SCHOENIKE NOWACEKWRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Of all the questions facing teachers of Comm-B and Writing-Intensive courses, one of the most puzzling is the question of how—and even whether—to teach grammar. For the most part, …
Using Turnitin to Teach Students about Plagiarism
Jean Heitz, Course Coordinator, Biology 151/152 Why do students plagiarize? A number of recent studies indicate that the vast majority of students admit to having cheated or plagiarized assignments at least once in their …
Designing Activities and Assignments to Discourage Plagiarism
Alice J. Robison, Bonnie K. Smith, Writing Across the Curriculum Plagiarism is a serious topic raised frequently when we talk about responding to student writing, and it makes sense that we should want to …
Sample Paper in Scientific Format
Biology 151/152 The sample paper below has been compressed into the left-hand column on the pages below. In the right-hand column we have included notes explaining how and why the paper is written as …
Writing an Introduction for a Scientific Paper
Dr. Michelle Harris, Dr. Janet Batzli, Biocore This section provides guidelines on how to construct a solid introduction to a scientific paper including background information, study question, biological rationale, hypothesis, and general approach. If …
Using a Reverse Outline to Revise
Rebecca Schoenike Nowacek, English What is a reverse outline? If a regular outline is something you write before you draft out your paper, a reverse outline is something you do after you write a …
Revising Paragraphs
Professor David Zimmerman, English Topic sentences are the most important sentences of your essay. They provide the scaffolding or frame for your argument. The function of a body paragraph in an analytical essay is …
Offering Students Encouragement as They Revise
Dr. Ann Burgess, Biocore In the following email sent to all students in a large course, Dr. Ann Burgess—former director of the Biocore program—encourages Biocore students to keep working on their revisions, even when …
In-Class Discussions of Student Writing: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Writing Lessons and Minimizing the Class Time You Use for Them
Molly Peeney, Slavic Languages and Literature Using student writing samples as the basis of your in-class discussions about writing is an effective method to teach writing and it saves you time. Why? You can …
Teaching Revision
Rebecca Lorimer and Rebecca Schoenike Nowacek, Writing Across the Curriculum Revision, revision, revision: the term is nearly a mantra in Comm-B and Writing-Intensive (WI) courses. Indeed, the university criteria for Comm-B and Writing-Intensive courses …
Crafting a Thesis Statement
Professor David Zimmerman, English Crafting a thesis is hard work. A successful thesis is typically the result of a long process of trying out different claims, selecting a few to refine and elaborate, and …
From Topic to Thesis
Tisha Turk, Women’s Studies 101 A well-constructed thesis statement helps hold an essay together by showing the reader where the paper is going to go. It defines not just a paper’s topic but its argument, …
Making a Sociological Argument: Orienting Students to a New Field
Greta Krippner, Sociology “Of course the method of presentation must differ in form from that of inquiry.” (Karl Marx,1867) Introduction Once you have developed a viable research question, your next task is to review …
Developing an Accessible Learning Environment
Elisabeth Miller, Writing Across the Curriculum According to the US Department of Education, 11 percent of undergraduates enrolled in 2- and 4-year colleges and universities report some form of mental, physical, or emotional disability. …
Challenges for Writers with Disabilities
Stephanie White, Writing Across the Curriculum, Ohio State University Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator’s Office Many students experience difficulties with college writing. For some students with disabilities, however, there may be even greater obstacles …
Coaching Writers with Disabilities to Succeed
Stephanie White, Writing Across the Curriculum, McBurney Center for Disability Resources For some writers with disabilities, these disabilities may be visible, such as a physical impairment. For others, these may be invisible, such as …
Student Introduction Sheets
David Ebenbach, Psychology 225 Beth Godbee, English 201 David Ebenbach, Psychology 225 1) Name: 2) Section (circle one): Early or Late 3) Major: 4) Year in School: 5) Special Needs: 6) Are you in …
Supporting Undergraduate Writing Through Research and Publication
Beth Godbee and Rebecca Lorimer, Writing Across the Curriculum When undergraduates engage in substantial, original research, they move into a powerful role of teaching others about complex ideas. Faculty, instructors, and TAs can offer …
Motivating Students to Grow as Writers
Sara Lindberg, Psychology 225 There are several things you can do to help your students cope with critical feedback—a necessary evil in the writing process. The techniques outlined below are designed to help you …
Helping Your Students Improve Their Writing and Their Learning
Writing Across the Curriculum While many of these principles and techniques take time to implement, and some may be logistically impossible in large classes, they have proven successful here and at many other schools …