How to Encourage Good Writing in All Subjects

New Ideas in English and History

NOTE: This material is adapted from John Bean, Engaging Ideas (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996). See Bean’s discussion of Kolb, 41-43.

I. Some General Principles of Assignment Design

· A series of short assignments gets better results than a long one.

· A long assignment (e.g. term paper) works better if broken into stages.

· A mixture of assignment types accommodates different types of learning styles (e.g. journals, learning logs, freewrites, formal papers, reflective pieces, creative pieces).

· Structured assignments promote more growth. Specify a problem to address, clarify expectations (content, structure, length), make grading criteria explicit.

· Opportunities for group work and experiential learning will assure that students learn from each other.

· Assignment sequences that increase in levels of difficulty should provide many chances for early success. An explanation for the purpose of every assignment motivates students to “stay with the program.”

· Frequent and timely feedback will encourage students, guide improvement, and reduce worrying.

II. The Learning Cycle and Types of Assignments

Learning Cycle Phase Suggested Writing Assignments

Concrete experience

Introducing new concept 1. Nongraded personal writing that

through film, demonstration, observation. records personal thoughts,

raises questions, expresses

puzzlement

Reflective observation

Reconsidering concepts after readings, lec- 2. Exploratory writing connecting new

tures, class discussion, exchange of material to personal experi-

differing perspectives ence & previous knowledge

3. Autobiographical experiences with

a concept

4. Personal reflection, thinking aloud

on paper rather than thesis

with support

Abstract conceptualization

Mastering & internalizing conceptual 5. Formal academic papers with

components, seeing relationships between thesis-based analysis & argu-

new material & other concepts ment

Active experimentation

Using new concepts to solve problems 6. Position papers based on cases that

use the concepts

7. Laboratory reports or field research

using the concepts

8. Proposals applying new concepts to

solve real-world problems

9. Creative pieces demonstrating

grasp of new concepts

III. Try It Yourself: Write & Share

Please divide yourselves into groups of three to four. Choose one of the tasks below. Write for 5 minutes. Then please take 10 minutes to share what you wrote. Elect someone to summarize your responses. Your spokesperson will share your summarized responses with the rest of us.

Task One: What questions, doubts, or concerns do you have about the material you’ve looked at on assignment design and assignment types?

Task Two: What’s been your most successful writing assignment—either one that you’ve given to your students, or one that you have done yourself as a student? How do you account for its success?

Task Three: Briefly state your own stance on assigning writing in a course you teach. Give a thesis, three reasons you feel as you do, a refutation of a perspective that differs from yours, and a conclusion you feel is pertinent to other teachers in your discipline.

Task Four: Observe what you see happening as each group begins to do its different writing activity. Based on the materials you’ve examined on this handout, what predictions can you make about the kinds of group interaction and insights each prompt will bring about—including the one for your own group?

Task Five: Write a free-verse poem about the pen you’re holding or the piece of paper in front of you. Express something about the concepts of assignment design & types you’ve just reviewed.

IV. Predominent Learning Styles

Convergers are those who prefer quick closure to problems. They seek concrete solutions.

Divergers incline toward brainstorming and coming up with a number of alternative solutions to problems.

Assimilators collect large amounts of information, contrasting and comparing approaches to problems. They theorize and build models.

Accommodators tackle problems with a trial and error approach, basing solutions on the accumulation of experience.

· What category seemed to predominate among your group?

· In what category would you place yourself?

· In what category would you place the majority of your students?

· To which categories would you match each of the brief prompts above?

V. Questions that Guide the Design of Writing Assignments

1. What are the main units in your course?

2. What are your main learning objectives for each unit? What are the most important concepts or principles?

3. What thinking skills do you want students to develop? E.g. ways of observing, habits of mind, questioning strategies, use of evidence?

4. What are the aspects students have found most difficult in the course?

5. What would you most like to change about your students’ study habits?

6. Ten years later, what do you want students to remember most about your course?