Writing Across the Curriculum Courses

Writing Intensive or Writing Enhanced?

Two kinds of "WAC" courses (Writing Across the Curriculum) courses have been developed to meet differing needs and course requirements: Writing Intensive (WI) and Writing Enhanced (WE).

Writing Intensive (WI) courses are those in which writing occupies a central position in the student's learning, from the perspective of the discipline in which these courses are offered. In Wl courses, students both explore and articulate course matters through significant writing activities. Writing assignments provide students with frequent writing experience and the opportunity for critique and revision. Wl courses are most suitable for enrollment-limited classes.

1. provide students with a variety of assignments throughout the semester designed to help them understand and develop connections between writing and thinking within the context of a specific discipline. These assignments may include but are not limited to essays, journals, reviews, research papers, reports, summaries.
2. provide students with regular opportunity for feedback on their writing, along with opportunities for revision. Such feedback may include instructor comments, peer review, or both.
3. require a minimum of 20 typed pages (or their equivalent) in final form. Number and type of assignments, pages required for each assignment, and grading practices may vary at the discretion of the instructor.
4. distribute writing throughout the semester.

Writing Enhanced (WE) courses are courses in which writing is used to enhance the learning process but is not necessarily a main focus of the class. Writing assignments may be similar to those offered in Wl courses, but will provide fewer opportunities for revision and a smaller variety and number of assignments. WE courses are most suitable for large classes, classes in which performance is the main vehicle for articulation and evaluation, or classes based on mathematical or scientific language.

1. provide students with a variety of assignments designed to help them understand and develop connections between writing and thinking, particularly within the context of a specific discipline.
2. provide students with some opportunity for critique and revision of their work.
3. require a minimum of 10 typed pages (or their equivalent) in final form. Number and type of assignments, pages required for each assignment, and grading practices may vary at the discretion of the instructor, except that student writing will not consist of a single, unrevised paper.
4. distribute writing throughout the semester.

N.B. The two essential features of W courses are that writing assignments are varied and that they occur throughout the semester. A single twenty-page paper due at the end of the semester, for example, for which drafts and revisions have not been required, does not meet the guidelines for a W course.

Last Modified: Thursday, November 08, 2007 14:29