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…)

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…)

On Feb 19th the Writing Center invited us to their staff meeting to discuss the type of work we do at WAC. After giving an overview of the services we provide for faculty and graduate students we discussed some ways that WAC and the Writing Center could work together including: potential collaborative workshops and promoting each other’s programs with clients. (more…)

Professor Stephen Lee invited us to talk to his students in BME 600 about the different ethical obligations scientists have in writing about their work in different contexts. (more…)

Shannon Thomas and I worked with Mechanical Engineering lab TAs, their coordinator Kimberly Clavin, and Professor Xiaodong Sun to develop criteria for grading technical writing on student lab reports. (more…)