As an instructor for HS 101, Medical Law and Bioethics, one of the first classes students take in Health Science, I have adopted the philosophy that writing is a process and that writing skills are developed through practice. This has proved to be a successful philosophy for my students and for me as well. Since this a first-term course, many of my students are novice writers, reporting that they haven’t written a formal paper in years. One of my goals, therefore, has been to reduce their stress by teaching a writing process that gradually builds on writing expectations from one assignment to the next.
To begin with, I post project guidelines (expectations) for each assignment outlining what I will focus on during the grading process. Communicating and providing written expectations for the writing assignment reduces stress for students. Those that begin writing assignments without direction spend time thinking about what the instructor wants instead of content. This preoccupation distracts them from their task at hand.
My grading focus with the first assignment in Unit 3 is on content, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. I ask students to attempt to organize their paper in APA format but stress that they do not have to be proficient. My expectation is that they include a title page and reference page, but I do not ask for citations within the text. Students receive credit just for including title and reference pages. I do not spend a lot of time grading the reference page, but I do make suggestions for future writing assignments. Prior to initiating this step process, I found that with the first project papers, students become so focused on perfecting APA format that they forget about the writing process and developing their content.
I add to my grading focus with the Unit 5 project. In addition to content and structure, I ask students to spend time choosing appropriate references and typing them on the reference page in correct APA format. I introduce citations and ask that they include a few within the text, but again, I don’t expect proficiency in this area. Students receive credit just for including a few citations. While grading this assignment, I do make suggestions on where citations could have been included and on the correct format of citations.
With the final project, I ask students to pull everything together to create a paper that incorporates all of the writing concepts, which include content, structure, and APA format. I do keep in mind while grading the final project that I am still grading papers written mostly by novice writers.
In addition to setting guidelines and expectations, I spend approximately 10 minutes in each seminar discussing the writing assignments. I introduce the writing projects during the Unit 1 seminar to prepare students in advance that project writing is a requirement of the course. During the Unit 2 seminar, I show the Writing Center PowerPoint and introduce the many services provided by the Writing Center. At this point, I strongly encourage students to take advantage of the services provided and remind them that they are not alone when working through the writing process. During my 10 minute seminar presentations, I generally focus on one area of the writing process. Sometimes, it is just a question and answer session so that I am sure to touch on all topics of interest.
To begin with, I post project guidelines (expectations) for each assignment outlining what I will focus on during the grading process. Communicating and providing written expectations for the writing assignment reduces stress for students. Those that begin writing assignments without direction spend time thinking about what the instructor wants instead of content. This preoccupation distracts them from their task at hand.
My grading focus with the first assignment in Unit 3 is on content, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. I ask students to attempt to organize their paper in APA format but stress that they do not have to be proficient. My expectation is that they include a title page and reference page, but I do not ask for citations within the text. Students receive credit just for including title and reference pages. I do not spend a lot of time grading the reference page, but I do make suggestions for future writing assignments. Prior to initiating this step process, I found that with the first project papers, students become so focused on perfecting APA format that they forget about the writing process and developing their content.
I add to my grading focus with the Unit 5 project. In addition to content and structure, I ask students to spend time choosing appropriate references and typing them on the reference page in correct APA format. I introduce citations and ask that they include a few within the text, but again, I don’t expect proficiency in this area. Students receive credit just for including a few citations. While grading this assignment, I do make suggestions on where citations could have been included and on the correct format of citations.
With the final project, I ask students to pull everything together to create a paper that incorporates all of the writing concepts, which include content, structure, and APA format. I do keep in mind while grading the final project that I am still grading papers written mostly by novice writers.
In addition to setting guidelines and expectations, I spend approximately 10 minutes in each seminar discussing the writing assignments. I introduce the writing projects during the Unit 1 seminar to prepare students in advance that project writing is a requirement of the course. During the Unit 2 seminar, I show the Writing Center PowerPoint and introduce the many services provided by the Writing Center. At this point, I strongly encourage students to take advantage of the services provided and remind them that they are not alone when working through the writing process. During my 10 minute seminar presentations, I generally focus on one area of the writing process. Sometimes, it is just a question and answer session so that I am sure to touch on all topics of interest.
My experience has been that providing written expectations and using a step model to build on project writing creates assignments that do not seem so overwhelming to students. They can narrow their focus; therefore, they feel a sense of accomplishment when completing assignments. It also benefits the instructor because you have an area of the writing process to focus on while grading, instead of trying to incorporate it all in every project. I think one of the main things we want to consider is that our students are learners. They won’t get it all right the first time, and with a step process like the one described above, you can actually help them learn because you are managing the information they have to deal with and incorporate with each project they write for your class.
That Susan is a bit of a fast food and soap opera junkie? Sometimes when she is feeling overwhelmed, she sits on the couch, eats McDonald’s, and watches soap operas. After a day of watching the troubled lives of Erica Kane or Victor Newman, she usually feels better. And the junk food helps too, she says.
Susan Hovey is a professor in Health Sciences and teaches Bioethics and Medical Law.
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2 comments:
I love that you use the step-by-step process to give emerging writers practice and more confidence in their sometimes dusty writing skills. Thanks for sharing this essay, Susan. I enjoyed reading what you had to say (and you made me crave a milkshake after reading your "Did you know" bio-tidbit). LOL!
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