teaching with writing

why teach with writing?

At the University of Minnesota, instructors from across the disciplines are incorporating writing into their courses. Doing so has affirmed the important role that writing activities can play in student learning. It has also allowed faculty and students alike to recognize that language use and text production take place within disciplinary language communities; writing in Law, for example, looks different, is directed at a different audience, and is produced for a series of different purposes than is writing in Computer Science.

What follows is an expanding compendium of practical suggestions and model materials created by faculty and teaching assistants as they have integrated writing into their courses. Some will apply to all courses, whereas others are specific to disciplines or clusters of disciplines. Feel free to download and adapt material you find on our site. We ask only that you give credit to author(s) and that you identify the Center for Writing as the source. If you've developed assignments or other materials that you feel might be useful to other instructors, we invite you to forward them to us at writing@umn.edu.

current highlights:

New! Visit the newly updated and expanded Assignment Calculator from the University Libraries. The new beta version allows full customization—by students and instructors—of the steps and deadlines in the process of completing an assignment.

Checklist for Writing-Intensive Syllabi

Browse and borrow books from the Center for Writing's library (cataloged through LibraryThing)

Creating Effective Peer Response Workshops

Preventing Plagiarism

Quick Suggestions for Helping Non-Native Writers