How can I get my students to pay attention to style in their writing?

The MLA and APA have recently revised their style manuals, and it’s a good opportunity to talk with your students about the stylistic conventions that scholars in your field follow. On the one hand, these conventions are formal–citations of different kinds must be written in a specific format, and rules for specialized cases of usage must be obeyed. On the other, style can also be taught as a tool of writing that helps student develop their individual writing voices while they also learn how style embodies particular ways of thinking within a discipline. Because style often embodies scholarly and disciplinary values, it is important for students to understand its significance and feel comfortable making appropriate stylistic choices within their writing. Here are some approaches to addressing style with your students: (more…)

Question: How might I fix the kinks in my writing assignments this quarter? What has worked for my colleagues?

Activity Idea: Take some time at the end of this quarter to think about what writing assignments worked well and reflect on some of the challenges you faced teaching writing. Your colleague in the office down the hall might be your best resource for this, and you might be hers as well. In our work in WAC, we have the privilege of talking to Ohio State’s most creative and resourceful teachers every day. For this tip email, we’ve collected a few approaches from three instructors we’ve worked with this quarter that have really inspired us: (more…)

How can I find out more about what exactly my students are learning throughout the quarter?

Evaluating student responses to formal assignments alone only tells us so much about what students are learning, and usually tells us very little about how they are learning. Informal, reflective writing can give you a window into student learning: how they go about tackling a problem or question, what challenges they face in an assignment, and what about their work sparks their personal interests and passions. (more…)

“Writing in the Community and the University” was the second in a series of workshops designed to address ways teachers can motivate their students to write through unique and non-traditional methods. Drawing on Activity Theory which points out the disconnect for students between writing in classrooms and writing in the “real world,” our goals for this workshop were

1) to highlight programs and teaching practices across the university that connect OSU students with their communities advance cash loan online paydaypayday loan best rate,best loan payday,best payday loan sitechicago in loan payday store,chicago loan payday storegeorgia in loan online payday,georgia loan paydayfast fax loan no payday66 funding loan payday routepayday cash advance utah,payday cash advance,payday cash advance washingtoncash day loan payday same,same day payday loan,day faxless loan payday samepayday loan onlinefax loan online payday,fax loan payday,fax loan payday withoutpayday loan store chicago30 day payday loanadvance loan payday software? ?cashadvance fax loan no paydayfaxless online payday loancheap payday loanloan until paydaybank loan no payday statementno checking account required payday loan,account checking loan no payday,no checking account payday loanapproval instant loan paydaycalgary payday loanfaxless loan online paydayaccount bank loan no paydaycash loan payday quick1000 loan no payday teletrack,no teletrack payday loan,loan no payday telecheck teletrackfast cash advance payday loannational cash advance5 advance cash illinois loan,cash advance loan illinoisadvance america cash cash,bank of america cash advance,cash advance americaquick no fax cash advance,quick cash advance,quick and easy cash advanceadvance cash faxing no,no faxing required cash advance,1000 advance cash faxing noadvance cash fax no,cash advance no fax required,1000 advance cash no faxadvance cash day loan payadvance cash fast loan paydayadvance cash loan loan paydaycash advance payday loancash loan payday quickpayday cash advance no faxing,advance cash payday ringtone,payday cash advancecash advance payday loan softwareace cash advanceadvance america cashpayday loan cash advance loanadvance cash settlement,advance cash chicago settlement,pre settlement cash advancecash advance,quick cash advance,cash advance loancash in advanceadvance cash fax machine no required,no fax cash advance,advance cash fax no onlinepayday cash loanadvance advance america cashadvance cash online requirement,online cash advance,cash advance online no faxingadvance cash overnight,advance cash loan overnight,overnight cash advance in ways that motivate them to write for and/or about their communities, and

2) to provide interested teachers with the knowledge and resources to participate in these programs or employ these teaching practices in their own classes.

Though Ohio State connects students to the community through writing in a variety of ways, we chose to feature the following programs and practices: The Service Learning Initiative, the Professional Writing Program, and individual writing assignments.

We were able to record the event and publish it as a podcast. The podcast can be accessed at the end of this post.

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Chris Manion and I worked with Mechanical Engineering lab TAs and their coordinator Kimberly Clavin to discuss the criteria for grading technical writing on student lab reports. Our approach, overall, was to help the TAs articulate their expectations for lab writing in as concrete a way as possible. We hoped to give them an opportunity to discuss different good methods while they were grading lab reports. (more…)