University of Wisconsin–Madison

Resources for Instructors

Communication-B & Writing-Intensive Criteria and Courses

CRITERIA FOR COMMUNICATION-A COURSES

CRITERIA FOR COMMUNICATION-B COURSES

REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITING-INTENSIVE COURSES

COMMUNICATION-B ASSESSMENT STUDY EXECUTIVE STUDY

Foundations for Teaching with Writing

Why Learning to Write Well in College Is Difficult

Some Guidelines for Respecting Language Diversity in Writing

National Council of Teachers of English: Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing

Explaining to Students Why They Should Write in Your Course

Why Should You Use Writing Assignments in Your Teaching?

Sequencing Assignments in Your Course

Sequencing Assignments Over the Course of a Semester

Sequencing Tasks for a Substantial Paper in an Advanced History Course

Sequenced Graded and Ungraded Writing Assignments in a Writing-Intensive Literature Syllabus

Using a Semester-Long Writing Project to Support Essential Learning Goals

Sequencing Different Genres of Writing Assignments in a Women’s Studies Syllabus

Curriculum Scaffolding in Writing for Science Research

Sequencing Short Assignments Throughout the Semester in a History Syllabus

Goals for History 201–The Historian’s Craft

Poverty and Place Case Study in Community and Environmental Sociology 578

Sequencing Smaller Assignments to Support a Semester-Long Research Paper in Sociology

Labor Portrait Paper in Human Ecology 375

Learning Contract for Semester Writing Projects in a Graduate Social Work Course

Sequencing Assignments for a Final Project and Presentation in Asian American Studies

Sequencing Writing Assignments in Intermediate Organic Chemistry

Sequenced Assignments to Introduce Students to a Field of Study

Designing Effective Assignments & Courses

The Anatomy of a Well-Designed Writing Assignment

Tips for Writing an Assignment and Teaching It to Students

Informal Writing Assignments

In-Class Writing

Weekly Assignments in Theatre and Drama and History of Science

Short, Informal Writing Assignments in a Large Literature Lecture Course

Course Topic Reflections in a Pharmacy FIG

The 50-Word Assignment

Writing to an Outside Audience in Astronomy 150

A Course Blog with Student Analyses of Weather Events

A Research Paper in a Psychology Course for Majors: Presenting Understanding of a Course Concept

A Narrative Assignment in Chemistry

CRITICAL REFLECTION ON FORMS OF ARGUMENT IN COMMUNICATION ARTS 262

Epistolary Fiction Assignment

Two Short Writing Assignments in Zoology

Written Analysis of a Photograph in English

Carbon Footprint Analysis: A Written Analysis Based on Computation

A Take-Home Midterm in Dairy Science

Writing Assignments for the Research Sequence in Engineering Physics

Analyzing Textual Echoes in Literature

Summary-Analysis Papers in a Communication-B Course

Building Process into Short Assignments in Economics

Creative Writing Assignments in African Languages and Literature

Features Story Assignment in Management and Human Resources

Analyzing Multiculturalism in Mass Media Writing Assignments

A Research Summary in Animal Sciences

USING LOW-STAKES RESEARCH PROJECTS TO CRITICALLY ANALYZE COURSE CONTENT

Compare and Contrast Two Treatment Approaches in Social Work

Reading and Case Study Analysis for Social Work

Explicit Guidelines for a Formal Writing Assignment in History of Science

Historical Arguments and Wikipedia Paragraphs in Byzantine History

Writing about Habitus in Introductory Anthropology

Writing Assignments in History and Environmental Studies: Animals Making History

Team Poster Projects in Biocore

A Collaborative Paper in Geography

A Collaborative Paper and Oral Presentation in Consumer Science

Team Research Projects in Biochemical Engineering

Coaching Students to Succeed with Assignments

Helping Your Students Improve Their Writing and Their Learning

Motivating Students to Grow as Writers

Supporting Undergraduate Writing Through Research and Publication

Student Introduction Sheets

Coaching Writers with Disabilities to Succeed

Challenges for Writers with Disabilities

Developing an Accessible Learning Environment

Making a Sociological Argument: Orienting Students to a New Field

From Topic to Thesis

Crafting a Thesis Statement

Teaching Revision

In-Class Discussions of Student Writing: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Writing Lessons and Minimizing the Class Time You Use for Them

Offering Students Encouragement as They Revise

Revising Paragraphs

Using a Reverse Outline to Revise

Writing an Introduction for a Scientific Paper

Sample Paper in Scientific Format

Designing Activities and Assignments to Discourage Plagiarism

Using Turnitin to Teach Students about Plagiarism

Putting Grammar in Its Place… But Making Sure It Has a Place

Twelve Common Errors: A Student Self-Editing Guide

An Introduction to Multilingual Writers at UW-Madison

Student Questionnaire on Language Background

Helping Multilingual Writers Succeed in Your Course

Strategies for Working with Multilingual Writers

Establishing Priorities for Choosing Which Errors to Mark

Evaluating and Grading Multilingual Writing

Resources for Working with Multilingual Writers

Multimodal Writing Assignments and Writing in Online Courses

MULTIMEDIA WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN EAST ASIAN VISUAL CULTURE

SELF-EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR A STORYBOARD ASSIGNMENT

CRITICAL INTERNET PROJECT IN COMMUNICATION ARTS

RADIO STORIES IN A FIG COURSE SYLLABUS

ARIS FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT AND REFLECTION ESSAY

VOCABULARY FOR EVALUATING NEW MEDIA ASSIGNMENTS

SHARING INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES THROUGH WRITING ONLINE

ENCOURAGING ORIGINALITY ONLINE: LESSONS IN ACADEMIC INTEGRITY FROM THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

Conferences and Peer Review

Conducting Student-Teacher Conferences

Preparing for Effective One-on-One Conferencing

Save Time by Making One-on-One Conferences as Efficient as Possible

Preparing for Student-Teacher Conferences

Conferencing with Students About Group Writing Assignments

Making Peer Review Work

Preparing Students in Advance for Peer Review

Putting Together Peer Review Groups

Guidelines for Peer Review

Peer Review Checklist

GUIDELINES FOR IN-CLASS PEER REVIEW

ACTIVITIES FOR FOCUSED PEER REVIEW

Responding, Evaluating, Grading

GLOBAL AND LOCAL CONCERNS IN STUDENT WRITING: EMPHASIZING THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME

Responding to Student Writing

BEYOND LAZINESS: LOOKING BENEATH THE SURFACE OF STUDENTS’ PAPERS

Responding to Students’ Drafts Using Audio

HOW TO BUILD AND USE RUBRICS EFFECTIVELY

Establishing Explicit Grading Criteria

Shared Goals for Writing across Undergraduate Literature Courses in a Large Department

USING RUBRICS TO TEACH AND EVALUATE WRITING IN BIOLOGY

Rubric for a Research Proposal

PROBLEM REPORT AND REFLECTION RUBRICS FOR WRITING IN MATH

EVALUATION SHEET IN PHILOSOPHY

STUDENT-GENERATED EVALUATION CRITERIA

SAMPLE RUBRICS FROM A JOURNALISM COURSE

GRADING CHECKLISTS FOR A SEQUENCED ASSIGNMENT IN ENGINEERING

A SAMPLE END COMMENT IN HISTORY

USING A FORM TO GUIDE INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK IN PLAN PATHOLOGY

ELECTRONIC COMMENTS ON A STUDENT PAPER IN SOCIOLOGY

RESPONDING WITH FEEDBACK TO AN ENTIRE CLASS IN LITERATURE

USING FEEDBACK MANAGER TO RESPOND TO SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN LARGE LECTURE COURSES

STUDENT SELF-EVALUATION IN WOMEN’S STUDIES

A PORTFOLIO PROJECT IN MATH

A WRITING PORTFOLIO IN BIOLOGY: BALANCING PROCESS WITH PRODUCT

Fostering Research and Inquiry

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBRARY RESEARCH & INFORMATION LITERACY COMPONENT OF COMMUNICATION-B COURSES

TIPS FOR DESIGNING LIBRARY RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS

A LIBRARY INSTRUCTION SESSION HANDOUT FOR BYZANTINE HISTORY

USING CITATION MANAGEMENT TOOLS IN WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

WRITING ABOUT ARCHIVES IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES

A PRECIS OF A RESEARCH ARTICLE IN JOURNALISM

A THEATRE AND DRAMA LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT

A PRIMARY SOURCE PAPER IN LEGAL STUDIES

ACKNOWLEDGING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING SOURCES

Teaching Oral Communication Skills

INCORPORATING THE ORAL COMMUNICATION COMPONENT

PARTICIPATION GRADING SHEET

MOCK TRIAL ASSIGNMENT

WORKS IN PROGRESS PRESENTATION

PREPARED AND EXTEMPORANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS IN A COMMUNICATIONS-B COURSE

SCAFFOLDING ORAL PRESENTATION ASSIGNMENTS IN COMMUNICATION ARTS

USING ORAL DEBATES TO FIND AN ARGUMENT

DOS AND DON’TS FOR BRIEF RESEARCH TALKS

PREPARING STUDENTS TO GIVE PRESENTATIONS ON RESEARCH PAPERS

INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS

PREPARING POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS

MAKING CRITERIA FOR CLASS PARTICIPATION EXPLICIT

EVALUATING STUDENTS’ ORAL PARTICIPATION IN CLASS

THE CHALLENGE OF EVALUATING ORAL PRESENTATIONS