QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINE COURSES

The purpose of the Guidelines for Writing in the Discipline Courses is to assist faculty as
they develop proposals for these courses. Faculty should also use these Guidelines as
they develop Writing in the Discipline courses, and the QEP Advisory Coittee should
use the as they revie! course proposals and design faculty developent activities.
Writing in the Discipline courses are "###$ and %###$level courses that introduce
students to the thin&ing and !riting of the discipline. Courses and assignents that
ephasi'e Writing in the Disciplines introduce or give students practice !ith the
language conventions and forats typical to a given discipline.
Writing in the Discipline (W)D* is +ased on the idea that each discipline has its o!n
conventions of language use and style and the conviction that these conventions ust +e
taught if students are going to participate in successful acadeic discourse. Courses and
assignents that ephasi'e Writing in the Discipline give students practice !ith the
language conventions and forats typical to a given discipline. The purpose of assigning
!riting tas&s in disciplinary courses is to introduce students to the thin&ing and !riting of
that discipline. Even though students read disciplinary te,ts and learn course aterial,
until they practice the language use of the discipline through !riting, they are less li&ely
to learn that language thoroughly.
Guidelines for the Writing Enriched courses are contained in a separate docuent.
-e.uired or recoended eleents for courses that !ill +e designated as Writing in the
Disci!ine courses are listed +elo!.
/. Syllabus. Faculty teaching Writing in the Discipline courses should include !riting
assignents in course re.uireents and sylla+i and clearly define e,pectations for
perforance.

0. Student Learning Outcomes. The sylla+us should include student learning outcoes
that are reflective of and consistent !ith those of the QEP, +ut it need not address all of
the outcoes outlined in the QEP. QEP student learning outcoes for iproving !riting
in the discipline s&ills encopass &no!ledge and s&ills in four areas1 rhetorical
&no!ledge2 critical thin&ing, reading and !riting2 processes2 and &no!ledge of
conventions. 3ee Appendi, A for a coplete description of the QEP student learning
outcoes.
". Instruction and Evaluation of Papers. 3tudents enrolled in W)D courses !ill receive
instruction in a variety of s&ills, including ho! to !rite for a variety of audiences and
counicate through several fors of !riting relevant to a particular discipline (e.g.,
reports, outlines, proposals, research papers, course 4ournals, essays, la+ reports, letters,
and revie!s, aong others*2 ho! to use !riting as a eans for engaging in research and
developing analytical s&ills2 ho! to revise and edit drafts, individually and in
colla+oration !ith peers and faculty2 and ho! to structure and organi'e !riting, use
docuentation and styles of arguentation !ithin specific disciplines as appropriate.
W)D courses ay include soe for of instructional support for !riting, including, +ut
is not liited to, a !riting te,t+oo&, in$class instructional activities, group !or& on
!riting, conferences !ith course instructor, and tutorial support.
%. Assignments. Writing assignents should +e used throughout the seester, rather than
concentrated at the end, to help students vie! !riting as integral to learning !ithin and
across disciplines. There should +e opportunities for !riting for varied audiences as
appropriate, including foral and inforal papers, 4ournals, learning logs, in$class
responses, !riting +ased on research, !riting for professional or general audiences, and
other !riting appropriate to the discipline.W)D assignents are typically, +ut not
e,clusively, foral papers prepared over a fe! !ee&s or even onths. The final papers
adhere to forat and style guidelines typical of the professional papers they are helping
students learn a+out.
5. Required umber of Papers or !ords. The aount of !riting re.uired !ill vary +y
departent, depending on disciplinary e,pectations. A possi+le standard for !riting in
the designated course ight +e t!enty pages (5### !ords*, !hich could include revisions
of previously su+itted !or&.
6. Revision. There should +e opportunities for revision of !ritten !or& after a reader
has responded to a draft. 7pportunity for peer response is encouraged.
8. "se of Rubrics. Faculty ay provide students !ith ade.uate feed+ac& on their !ritten
!or& +y using ru+rics in evaluating papers and providing e,tended coentary on
drafts. Writing saples ay +e assessed using ru+rics, and students ay +e taught ho!
to assess their o!n and their peers9 !riting using ru+rics. -u+rics ay +e used to clarify
e,pectations for students and a&e the grading process transparent. Waypoint 7utcoes
soft!are !ill +e used to collect aggregate data for the purposes of progra assessent,
+ut not for the purpose of deterining course grades unless desired +y the instructor.
:. #o$ !riting !ill Affect %inal the &rade. Assessent of !riting should +e a
significant coponent of students; final grades for W)D courses.
<. 'lass Si(e or Instructor)Student Ratio. W)D courses should have a student$to$teacher
ratio that does not e,ceed 0#1/.
/#. Support Services. 3tudents should +e encouraged to use the resources provided +y
the =niversity, such as the =niversity Writing Center, the >ary ?iverore ?i+rary, and
the Center for Acadeic E,cellence.
APPENDI" A
QEP STUDENT LEARNING O#$ECTI%ES
A/. -hetorical @no!ledgeAGeneral Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
Articulate the purpose of a piece of !riting and effectively organi'e the !riting in
light of that purpose.
E,hi+it consistency in focus and reasoning. Details !ill +e of sufficient .uality
and .uantity to support thesis.
3tudents !ill deonstrate the a+ility to develop content in !hich the central
ideaBpurpose is clearly stated, the content is accurate and relevant, and credi+le
support is provided.
Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of forality !ith attention to appropriate
audience. E,hi+it s&ills in style and fluency, including voice and voca+ulary
appropriate to audience, discipline and tas&.
=se conventions of forat and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
E,hi+it structural integrity in organi'ation and developent. This !ill include a
clear thesis and purpose2 logical arrangeent of ideas2 and appropriate opening,
conclusion, and transitions.
A0. -hetorical @no!ledge$$$DisciplinaryBProfessional Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
=nderstand and eploy the ain features and purposes of !riting in the relevant
discipline.
C/. Critical Thin&ing, -eading, and WritingAGeneral Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
=nderstand a !riting assignent as a series of tas&s, involving finding, analy'ing,
evaluating, and synthesi'ing appropriate priary andBor secondary sources.
Assess the nature and scope of !riting assignents to deterine appropriate
!riting andBor research strategies.
E,hi+it a+ility to access, evaluate, and utili'e inforation fro a variety of
sources and edia.
Constructively develop their o!n ideas in relation to those of others.
E,hi+it critical thin&ing +y applying principles and strategies of analysis and
arguentation.
C0. Critical Thin&ing, -eading, and Writing$$$DisciplinaryBProfessional Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
?earn the interrelationships aong critical thin&ing, critical reading, and !riting
in the relevant discipline.
E,hi+it a+ility to synthesi'e research in !riting appropriate to the discipline.
C/. Processes$$$General Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
Write ultiple drafts to create and coplete a successful te,t.
Develop fle,i+le strategies for generating, revising, criti.uing, editing, and proof$
readingBcopy$editing.
?earn to criti.ue their o!n and others9 !or&
C0. Processes$$$ DisciplinaryBProfessional Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
Write ultiple drafts to create and coplete a successful te,t in the relevant
discipline.
Write in stages, revie! !or&$in$progress in colla+orative peer groups, save
editing for the latter stage of the !riting process, and apply technologies
coonly used to research and counicate in their fields.
-eforulate and revise first drafts, attending first to concerns a+out arguent and
accuracy and later to ore local, paragraph, and sentence issues.
?earn to criti.ue their o!n and others9 !or&s according to the standards of the
relevant discipline.
D/. @no!ledge of ConventionsAGeneral Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
=se appropriate synta,, graar, punctuation, and spelling. E,hi+it copetency
in usage and !riting echanics so that !ords accurately convey the !riter9s
eaning
Appropriately docuent their !or&. 3tudents !ill deonstrate the a+ility to
incorporate research appropriately and to cite sources accurately.
Develop &no!ledge of genre conventions ranging fro structure and
paragraphing to tone and echanics. 3tudents !ill deonstrate the a+ility to
organi'e papers !ith an identifia+le structure.
D0. @no!ledge of Conventions$$$ DisciplinaryBProfessional Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
Appropriately use speciali'ed voca+ulary, forat, and docuentation in the
relevant discipline. =se synta,, terinology, and technical language appropriate
to the selected discipline9s overall style.
Write in the fors and genres of !riting re.uired +y each discipline (i.e.,
conference papers and research articles*.
E. 7therADisciplinaryBProfessional Copetency
3tudents !ho coplete courses in the Writing )ntensive Progra !ill +e a+le to1
E,hi+it confidence in the eerging !riting s&ills and cognitive a+ilities needed to
counicate in the disciplines.
E,hi+it less apprehension a+out scholarly !riting
Deonstrate !riting s&ills sufficient to fulfill the !riting re.uireents of each
acadeic progra (i.e., a graduate level thesis*.