The Core Curriculum “W” (Writing Intensive)

Background

In various contexts members of the USM Faculty have for many years advocated for including a second writing course in the Core Curriculum. This reflects a widely shared view that acquiring a secure command of written English in one of the most valuable attainments USM undergraduates may aspire to. A proposal establishing a required second writing course was developed by the Core Council over several years in the late 1990s and was approved by the Faculty Senate in April 2000. As of Fall 2000 USM undergraduates must successfully complete at least one “W” course to graduate. This document is meant as a guide to faculty members and departments that want to create a “W” course – one that students can use to satisfy this new requirement.

All work on prospective “W” courses should be done with an eye on the goal, the kind of writing we’d like to see students produce. The following description was part of the proposal establishing the “W” requirement:

In any discipline excellent writing:

v Is shaped by a strong sense of purpose, and is clear and well-organized.

v Conforms to the organizational conventions relevant for its purpose and audience.

v Presents the reader with a clear, logical and conceptual structure.

v Takes account of the intended reader, including the reader’s point of view, assumptions, and background knowledge.

v Conforms to standard grammatical spelling and punctuation conventions unless th3e writer consciously violates these standards for effect.

v Draws widely on both the vocabulary of the discipline and the language as a whole to produce writing that is clear and concise.

v Reflects a high sense of responsibility for accuracy and precision, and acknowledges other writers and researchers whose words or ideas have contributed significantly to the work at hand.

Rationale for “W” Courses

The general goal of “W” courses is to foster excellent writing skills in USM students and to help students become aware of the centrality and value of those skills in a wide variety of professional, personal, and civic contexts. In general, it is expected that “W” courses will take a ‘writing-to-learn’ approach that stresses the utility of effective writing as an aid to learning and understanding. The “W” requirement is intended to serve two purposes identified by the Provost’s Writing Committee in work done in the mid 1990s: (1) to give the student added experience and training in writing, and (2) eventually to do this in relation to a wide variety of disciplinary contexts. That is, it is expected that there will be “W” courses offered by different departments, making it possible for students to satisfy the “W” requirement via a course in the sciences or social sciences, or in a variety of arts or humanities disciplines. The point of involving a wider range of departments in teaching “W” courses is twofold. First, it is meant to demonstrate to students that writing is a universally important skill, relevant to many aspects of their professional, intellectual, and personal lives. Second, it is meant to establish that excellence in writing is a central commitment of the entire USM faculty, involving participation from a wide range of departments and individual faculty members.

“W” Course Criteria

Courses that satisfy the “W” requirement will usually be introductory courses (having only ENG 100 as a prerequisite) and will generally bear some other Core letter-designation in addition to “W.” Apart from the prerequisite, however, neither of these is a requirement. “W” courses may be upper division courses (indeed it is hoped that numbers of departments will create such courses) and they need not have any other Core letter designation. It is specifically intended that “W” courses will be developed in a wide range of disciplines across all the colleges offering undergraduate courses at USM. Courses that are to carry a “W” designation must be reviewed by the Core Curriculum Council and certified to meet all of the following criteria:

v The course takes improvement in student writing as one of its central goals and communicates this focus to students in the syllabus.

v The course is conspicuously writing-intensive. It may use a variety of types of writing (e.g., journals, class writing, reaction papers, etc., in addition to or in place of more conventional formal papers). The course should use these writing tasks in a variety of roles in the course and writing should be a frequent mode of interaction between students as well as between students and faculty.

v The course curriculum includes explicit discussion of writing issues, whether this relates to matters of form and style or matters of grammar, sentence structure and punctuation.

v The course effectively promotes the habit of revising writing, as well as the skills needed to make this effort productive.

v The course acquaints students with the writing-related resources that are available to them at USM.

v The course enrolls at most 25 students per section.

v The course is taught by faculty members who have participated in activities specifically intended to prepare them for this task.

v The faculty member teaching a “W” course and the sponsoring department agrees to participate in an ongoing effort, organized through the Core Office, to collectively assess the effectiveness of “W” courses in relation to student writing ability.

Proposed a Course for the “W” Designation

As with other Core letters, the “W” requirement is implemented via the USM Core Curriculum. Upon application from individual departments, the Core Curriculum Council will designate some courses as writing intensive “W” courses. For complete instructions on proposing a letter designation for a departmental course, to www.usm.maine.edu/core/FacLD.html. Contact Diane Brackett in the Core Office (780-4586) for further information.

Because writing pedagogy is not normally addressed in the training of most faculty members, those who are to teach “W” courses must be approved by the Core Curriculum Council as having specifically prepared for this assignment, either through faculty development activities for through other means (e.g., alternative development activities or graduate training).

Departments should keep in mind that, as with other Core letter-designated courses, once a “W” is warded to a particular course, all future sections of that course must meet the “W” criteria and be taught by appropriately prepared faculty.