DESIGNING EFFECTIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

• Irene Clark. "A Genre Approach to Writing Assignments." Composition Forum. 14.2 (Fall 2005): http://www.fau.edu/compositionforum/14.2/clark-genre-writing.html
• Useful information on assignment design from Case Western University: http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/assign.html
• "What makes a good writing assignment?" (from Colorado State):http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop2i.cfm
• "Good Assignments: A How-To Guide" (from Cal State-LA): http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/write_cn/goodassi.htm
• Writing to Learn at the University of Richland: http://writing2.richmond.edu/wac/wtl.html

RESPONDING TO FORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

• "Responding to Student Writing" (brief article by Richard Straub, the top scholar in this area): http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tc/pt/straub/load.htm and http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tc/pt/straub/straub.htm
• Important Tips from Penn State: http://www.psu.edu/dept/cew/faculty/student.htm
• More from Laura Brady, Director of the Centre for Writing Excellence at West Virginia University: http://www.as.wvu.edu/~lbrady/response.html
• Suggestions from Case Western University: http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/response.html
• Suggestions on grading and evaluation (from Case Western): http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/grading.html
• Suggestions from Cal State-LA: http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/write_cn/writresp.htm
• Writing to Learn at Case Western University: http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/integrating.html
• Writing to Learn at Colorado State: http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop4a.cfm
• Writing to Learn at the University of Richland: http://writing2.richmond.edu/wac/wtl.html

DESIGNING INFORMAL WRITING ACTIVITIES

• Writing to Learn at Case Western University: http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/integrating.html
• Writing to Learn at Colorado State: http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop4a.cfm
• Writing to Learn at the University of Richland: http://writing2.richmond.edu/wac/wtl.html
• Several effective "writing to learn" activities: http://writing2.richmond.edu/wac/wtl.html

MAKING GOOD USE OF PEER REVIEW

• "How can I get the most from peer review?" (from Colorado State): http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop2i.cfm  
• Responding to Writing in Groups (a handout for students [from Cal State-LA:] http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/write_cn/e100respond.htm
• Responding to Writing (a handout for students [from Cal State-LA]): http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/write_cn/e100lvls.htm
• Calibrated Peer Review (CPR): Developed at UCLA (via funding provided by the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) as a tool for faculty and students writing in the sciences, it is a free, “Web-based program that enables frequent writing assignments even in large classes with limited instructional resources. In fact, CPR can reduce the time an instructor now spends reading and assessing student writing.” As explained on the CPR website, “[a]lthough CPR stems from a science-based model, CPR has the exciting feature that it is discipline independent and level independent” (http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/). More than 400 institutions are listed as currently using CPR, including Texas A&M University-College Station.

INVENTION ACTIVITIES

• Downloadable list of invention activities.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES can be found at http://faculty.tamuc.edu/scarter/archive/fyc_rft.htm)

Last Updated, August 2006

Send questions/comments to Shannon_Carter@tamuc.edu

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