CTLT

Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Teaching Writing

Writing MattersWriting can be a powerful tool for learning for students in all disciplines—agriculture, architecture, business, engineering, liberal arts, math or the sciences. Effective writing has long been at the core of Cal Poly's Student Learning Objectives, and is consistently on the top of employers' list of the most valued abilities of college grads. For all of these reasons, we have created an opportunity for Cal Poly educators to share with each other our most effective practices for using writing to support learning, for using unique disciplinary writing practices to support writing instruction, and for sharing ways to create and assess writing-rich environments and assignments.  

Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Teaching Writing

12:30pm-5pm, Monday, September 11, 2017 

Overview 

Writing can be a powerful tool for learning for students in all disciplines—agriculture, architecture, business, engineering, liberal arts, math or the sciences. Effective writing has long been at the core of Cal Poly's Student Learning Objectives, and is consistently on the top of employers' list of the most valued abilities of college grads. Many of us use writing in our teaching, and for some of us, teaching writing, what writing does and how it does it, is our primary focus.

Our intention is to create an opportunity for educators across campus to exchange innovative and effective writing instruction and evaluation practices, and to bring together colleagues who are invested in developing students' writing practices throughout their degree work at Cal Poly. This event is co-sponsored by the CTLT and the English Department.

For all of these reasons, we invite Cal Poly educators to an afternoon devoted to sharing with each other our most effective practices for using writing to support learning, for using unique disciplinary writing to support writing instruction, and for sharing ways to create and assess writing rich environments and assignments.

Program

Schedule Activity
12:30-1:10 pm Lunch
1:15-1:20 pm Welcome
1:20-1:30 pm Framing the afternoon
1:30-3:00 pm

Panel #1
"Connecting the Disciplines: Writing Philosophies,
Audience Engagement & Authorial Voice"

 

§ Brian Bates, English

  • Presents an activity to help students and instructors develop their philosophies about writing in specific disciplines and across the disciplines

§ Rebekah Oulton, Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Presents effective writing practices for communicating about science, technology, and engineering across STEM disciplines and to the general public

§ Courtney Brogno, English

  • Presents a method that encourages students during early writing stages to concentrate on their own voice and authorial intent as a means to spark creative and innovative thinking
3:00-3:15 pm Break
3:15-4:45 pm

Panel #2
“Writing as Process: Peer Review, Editing, and Scaffolding”
 

§ Ashley McDonald & John Hagen, Chemistry and Biochemistry

  • Presents a calibrated peer review process that prompts students to evaluate their peers’ writing assignments while also reflecting on their own writing and interpretation of the calibration assignment

§ David Braun, Electrical Engineering

  • Presents Richard Lanham’s “Paramedic Method” computer-based tool, which helps undergraduate and graduate students transform ambiguous, dull, or vague prose into clear, concise, and lively language

§ Dianna Winslow, CTLT

  • Presents a model for dividing writing assignments into sequenced and concretely scaffolded, smaller chunks that support student learning and encourage close attention to writing as a developmental process
4:45-4:55 pm Wrapping up the day
4:55-5:00 pm Farewell

Register here

Questions?

Please contact Dianna Winslow (diwinslo@calpoly.edu), Writing Instruction Specialist at the CTLT, or Brian Bates, English Department (brbates@calpoly.edu ).

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