Questions & Answers

Procedure for Requesting Writing to Learn Waiver

Note:  The waiver request is made by the Advisor to the Dean on the student's behalf.  Students cannot initiate this process by making a request directly to the Dean.

The Writing to Learn program at PSU is a four-course series that includes two composition courses and two WL courses. WL courses are offered in a variety of departments in both general education courses and courses that meet degree requirements for specific majors and minors. Students seeking to enroll in an upper-division WL course should be aware of possible prerequisites and other enrollment requirements.

Students who transfer to PSU with 55 credit hours completed are not required to take the Writing to Learn series of courses.  All other students, whether they have been at PSU from the start or have transferred with fewer than 55 hours, are expected to take two WL courses as part of their General Education studies.

Sometimes students believe they should be granted a waiver of the Writing to Learn requirement for one or both of the WL courses, usually because they have completed their General Education courses and taking a course for the WL requirement would constitute a hardship.  Only the student's advisor can request a WL course waiver, by writing a letter to the Dean of the college in which the student has his or her major.

Such a letter should be written only in rare or exceptional cases, in which it is clear that a waiver would be justifiable.  For instance, if a student transferred in with just under 55 credit hours and made a good-faith effort to take the requisite WL courses, the advisor might decide to request a waiver.

The Dean of the college is the only one who can grant a waiver of the WL course requirement.  He or she makes the decision after reading the letter from the advisor in which the special circumstances are laid out.  The advisor should specify in the letter why he or she thinks the student should have the requirement waived (or not).  The advisor might want to consult with the WAC coordinator in the process of writing the letter. The decision is made by the Dean on the advice of the advisor, who knows the student's situation best.

In specific, infrequent instances, when the Dean believes this is the best alternative, the student can be given the option of taking a course in the major or minor which requires writing on a regular basis, instead of a WL course.  Such a course would not be a Writing to Learn course and would not be designated as such on the transcript, but it would be an argument for the student being granted a waiver.

It would be the student's responsibility to find a faculty member willing to work with the student in such a course.  Giving such help is entirely voluntary.  No faculty member is expected to do this extra work.  Any faculty member who voluntarily agrees to help the student, would have to agree to the terms of a writing contract, as provided by the Dean's office.

The Dean will notify the advisor of his or her decision, and will send the writing contract if that alternative is taken.

PSU Writing Rubric - Long form  PDF MS Word

PSU Writing Rubric - Abbreviated  PDF MS Word

Although each Writing to Learn class is unique in the way it is taught, there are some general writing assignment ideas that can be utilized across disciplines.  Writing assignments vary from informal writing, such as impromptu in-class writing, journals, personal responses to the readings, to formal writing consisting of fully-developed essays that go through revision.  Through these assignment examples, we hope to promote writing assignment ideas that are both beneficial and interesting to the students.  If there are any more assignments that are utilized that you believe would be good examples, please send them to either Dr. Zepernick or Dr. Judd and label them as WAC example or WL example. 

Automotive Technology Sample Documents

Automotive Technology Electronic Lab Diagnostic Analysis Report

Automotive Technology Electronic Lab Diagnostic Analysis Report Sample

Automotive Technology Electronic Lab Diagnostic Analysis Report Green Pen Check and Rubric

Explorations in Education Sample Documents

Explorations in Education Syllabus

Fluid Mechanics Lab Sample Documents

Engineering Technology Writing Rubric

Fluid Mechanics Lab Report Format (WL)

Fluid Mechanics Lab Research Paper (WL)

General Literature Sample Documents

General Literature Formal Writing One

Geography Sample Documents

World Regional Geography Assignments

World Regional Geography Grading Rubric

World Regional Geography Writing Instructions

Organic Chemistry Sample Documents

Organic Chemistry Lab Formal Report Format

Organic Chemistry Sample Lab Report

Automotive Technology Electronic Lab

Explorations in Education 

General Literature

World Regional Geography

Music Appreciation

Organic Chemistry

Assigning the Longer Paper in WL Classes

Much of the writing students do in WL courses is short and/or informal (short writes in class, responses to outside reading, journals).  But many WL instructors require one or two more extended pieces of writing that ask students to pull together what they have learned and to communicate their idea in some formal way.  Whether this is a "term paper" (i.e., an essay that comes at the end of the semester) or a research project or an essay that simply comes at the end of some segment of the class, there are a couple of things to keep in mind as you put the assignment together.

• Know Your Purpose: Think about what you want your students to learn from your assignment and communicate that to them. Often students second-guess the purpose of an assignment and end up giving you something you didn't ask for. Your purpose will determine the length of the essay, too.
• Choose Your Audience: Most students automatically presume that any essay is written to you, the expert. Therefore they might make leaps in their logic, expecting you to follow, or they give definitions that sound high-faulting but that don't show a real understanding of the concept. If you can give a more specific audience (other students in the class, perhaps, or a client), the students will often be more careful to explain their ideas and give examples.
• Decide What Kind of Thinking You Want: Summaries are different from arguments: each entails a different kind of thinking. As you write your assignment, decide what kind or kinds of thinking you want your students to do, and then be explicit about that as you write. If you want students to take risks, say that. If you want students to use particular concepts from class, name those concepts. If you want a comparison and contrast, be clear about whether you want a block of information on point A and then a block on point B, or whether you want a point-by-point comparison, from A to B all the way through.
• Choose Your Verbs Carefully: Depending on the verbs you use in your assignment, students will give you one kind of paper or another. If you say "Explain," the essay will be pretty much cut and dry. If you say "Argue," the student will need to use more creativity and evidence to make his or her case. If you say "Discuss," there's no telling what you will get, because the verb is too vague. Think about Bloom's Taxonomy of the levels of thinking. Do you want students to write an essay that shows they understand a concept, or an essay that shows they can apply the concepts to something new? If you want students to evaluate something, just remember that you are asking for the highest of all thinking skills.
• Decide on the Essay Length: We joke about students asking how long a paper is supposed to be, but in fact this is a good question. A 10-page paper must have much more depth and study than a 2-pager. At the freshman and sophomore level, a 5-page essay is a pretty hefty assignment, if you are asking for good mechanics and thoughtful content. It’s a good idea to have a very clear understanding of how long a paper needs to be in order to accomplish what you are asking. Then if papers are too short, it is because the assignment has not been fully developed; if it is too long, students may need to work on concision or avoid adding fluff. If you want students to do research, you may have to teach them how to do it, especially if they have not taken English 299 yet. I suggest that you have students use materials from class or on reserve for their evidence, rather than asking them to use the library to find their own sources.
• Be Clear About Expectations: Give your students details about format, length, due dates, and content. What is second nature for us in our disciplines might be foreign to our students. You are introducing your WL students to the expectations and assumptions of the discipline, so that takes some discussion (APA format? MLA?).
• Specify What Counts as Evidence: Many students believe that opinion is enough-they haven't had much practice giving evidence and rationale for their beliefs. But each discipline has a different set of criteria for what evidence has worth and what kind of logic is convincing. In English, the syntax of a sentence is evidence. In history, population data counts. In physics, the angle of an incline affects outcome. Think about what sorts of evidence you assume has value for your discipline, and then make those assumptions clear for your students.
• Model a Good Essay: All the rules and descriptions in the world will not make up for the lack of a good model. Once you have talked through what you are looking for, give your students a sample paper—one from a previous semester, or a solid rough draft from one of the students in class (or write one yourself, as if you were a student). Put the sample on the overhead and take some time to go through it—pointing out format, uses of evidence, development of ideas.
• Give Time for the Process: Good writing takes time. As writers ourselves, we know we should never turn in a rough draft for any important document. We need time to let the first draft cool off, so we can see the gaps and correct the inconsistencies. If you are going to assign a longer paper, allow two to three weeks for the process. But that means that you will need to intervene (or the students will wait until the night before and dash it off). Give a due date for a rough draft (or other early writing). If you could see that rough draft and respond to it (about issues of content and organization), you will be amazed at how much better the final product is. Some teachers hold conferences to talk about the rough draft, because students usually understand verbal commentary better than written. (I give extra credit points for students who come in for a conference or take their paper to the Writing Center.) It is best if the rough draft dates could be written right into the syllabus, but at least they should be on the assignment itself.

 There is a lot to think about when you assign a longer essay.  But the rewards for the students are great.  They have to think at a high level, for an extended period of time.  For many students, the essay will be what they remember best about your class.

The Discipline-based Writing Assessment project is designed 1) to help departments or programs develop their own values for assessing student writing in the major, 2) to assess the writing of a cohort of students produced during their junior and senior years, and 3) to determine how student writing might be improved.

Faculty participate in this two-year project on a volunteer basis, while the rest of the department supports the project by working with the WAC staff to collect student writing samples. A randomly selected cohort of students are identified during their junior year, and all of their writing from the next two years is collected into portfolios. In the first semester, the writing values of the department or program are developed; in the second and third semesters, writing samples are used to fine-tune the writing values of the department or program and to train the participating faculty in using those values to assess student writing. In the final semester, the portfolios are assessed to determine if students are writing at an acceptable level and to determine how to improve student writing.

Participating faculty receive a stipend of $300 per semester and meet approximately five times each semester.

Initiated in 2006, the program has worked with the following departments or programs:

Biology
Family and Consumer Sciences
Geography
Construction Management
Psychology
Engineering Technology

In fall 2014, the School of Nursing and the Teaching and Leadership department will begin their two-year writing assessment project.

Pittsburg State University’s Discipline-based Writing Assessment project is based on the model developed by Dr. Mark Waldo at the University of Nevada, Reno.