Kevin Eric DePew,

1
COMPOSING WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

• Kevin Eric DePew,
• Director of Writing Tutorial Services

2
What are my goals?

• Always start with your course goals, then ask
• How will writing supplement or facilitate these
  goals?
• What type of writing will best fulfill these
  goals?

3
Start with your goals

• Typical goals for academic writing include
• knowing course content
• applying course content
• learning how to research in the field
• being critical of or scrutinizing material
• demonstrating correct grammar and format

4
Students perception

• How should students perceive writing?
• Writing Assignment Grade
• OR
• Writing Communication Participating in the
  Field

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Writing to learn Learning to write

• W2LWriting helps students cognitively process
  course material
• Examples summaries, demonstrations of
  application, reports
• L2WLearning the writing conventions of a
  specific discipline
• Example explicitly teach students the mechanics
  and format of the genres in your discipline

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Goals determine your tasks

• Use your goals to determine what tasks students
  should accomplish
• comprehension ? summarize, explain, describe,
  define, discuss, illustrate, review
• application ? design, demonstrate, develop
• critical ? analyze, evaluate, defend, compare,
  contrast

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Assignment sheets

• Consider the following elements for your
  assignment sheet
• Purpose Student should understand why they are
  doing the assignment
• Preparation How should students prepare to
  write? Where will the information come from?
• Writing Explains what they are writing
• Assessment How will you grade the paper?

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Format of an assignment

• Use document design principles to make your
  assignments easier to read
• This is a professional document, not a manuscript
• You can view document design principles at
  http//www.odu.edu/kdepew/pwprinciples.pdf

9
ESL students

• Be culturally sensitive
• Provide opportunities to write about home issues
  when appropriate
• Determine how important correctness is to you

10
Assessing your own assignment

• Assignments clear to you may be confusing to
  students, especially those new to the university
  or discipline
• Get students to read assignments in first week
  allows you to revise assignments to your student
  audience
• If students do not meet your expectations, reread
  your assignment before you assess

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Your Turn

• Take some time to examine your own assignment
• What are your goals for the course?
• What is the purpose of the writing assignment ?
• How does the assignment help fulfill the course
  goals?

12
Peer Review

• Give your assignment and responses to a partner
  as the partner consider how a student would read
  this.
• Is the purpose of the assignment clear?
• Are the instructions written clearly?
• What questions do you anticipate the students
  will ask?
• Is the document easy to read and navigate?