SCC's Writing Across the Curriculum Quality Enhancement Plan

“Turning WAC Skeptics Into WAC Participants On 55ç/Day “

Smith, Barbara

The 55ç part of the title comes from dividing the annual $100 budget for WAC by school days. The main thrust of the article was a “Writing to Learn” initiative, which included the usual stages such as data gathering from curriculum faculty, a low-key public relations campaign. These are two examples of their seven strategies(3).

Smith also discussed pitfalls of the “Writing to Learn” initiative:

• Edicts from the administration
• Placing blame for poor writing skills on objective tests
• Overwhelming faculty with writing theory
• Designation of a writing coordinator as the writing authority
• Constantly speaking in negatives instead of positives (8)

“Writing To Lean” selling points include:

• teaching a particular course’s content
• teaching the writing skills specialized within a discipline
• teaching students to become active learners(9).

# posted by Bob Harrison @ 11:49 AM