WAC supports instructors across the curriculum to design and assess writing activities and assignments.
Our WAC Sourcebook, called Locally Sourced, includes instructional materials for teaching with writing in disciplines across the curriculum. Featuring assignment examples from UW-Madison instructors, Locally Sourced incorporates best practices for designing and assessing formal and low-stakes writing assignments, for working with multilingual writers, for valuing language diversity, for teaching writing with artificial intelligence (AI), and much more.
For writing resources to share with students, visit the Writing Center’s Writer’s Handbook. You’ll find information about different types of academic writing (e.g. CVs, literature reviews, application essays, etc.), the writing process, style, grammar and punctuation, and citation practices.
Featured WAC Sourcebook Content
Why teach with writing? Opportunities to engage with well-designed, carefully scaffolded writing assignments can empower all students in a course to succeed. Even more, engaging writing assignment can be incorporated into all courses, from large lectures to small seminars. Ultimately, writing serves as a powerful pedagogical practice to make your course inclusive and accessible for all students.
What are some next steps? Below are a few especially useful resources to support you to integrate writing into your courses. Please reach out to us if you’d like to consult on a writing assignment or activity or to learn more!
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Formal Writing Assignments
Formal Writing Assignments
Below are suggestions for designing formal or summative writing assignments for your course. What we tend to call “formal” assignments are typically high-stakes assessments that significantly influence course grades. When designed well, they also significantly deepen student learning, can help students learn the writing conventions of a particular discipline, and can foster a sense of accomplishment and significance for and in students.
- The Importance of Genre, Emily Bouza – Writing Across the Curriculum
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Analysis Assignment from Atmospheric Sciences, Professor Ankur Desai – Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences and Environmental Studies
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The Anatomy of a Well-Designed Writing Assignment, Kathleen Daly – Writing Across the Curriculum
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Assigning Writing in Large Classes, Emily Bouza – Writing Across the Curriculum
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Research-Based Revision Assignment from Classics, Professor Nandini Pandey – Classics 322: The Romans
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Research Essay Assignment from Slavic 231, Professor Łukasz Wodzyński – Slavic
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Two Service-Learning Writing Assignments in a Political Science Course, Professor Kathy Cramer – Political Science 425
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Speaking/Performance Assignment from Classics, Professor Nandini Pandey – Classics 322: The Romans
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Grant Proposal Assignment and Peer Review in Comm. Arts 260, Professor Sara McKinnon – Communication Arts 260
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Critique Assignment from Population Health Sciences, Professor Rebecca Meyerson – SMPH
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Carbon Footprint Analysis: A Written Analysis Based on Computation
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An Analytical Essay Project in a Political Science Course, Professor John Zumbrunnen – Political Science 566: Contemporary American Political Thought
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Using Low-Stakes Research Projects to Critically Analyze Course Content, Professor Catalina Toma – Communication Arts 345
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Writing Project Two: Action Project and Rhetorical Critique of Applied Rhetoric, Professor Caroline Druschke – English 245: Seminar in the Major, “Writing Rivers”
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Writing Assignment in History and Environmental Studies: Animals Making History, Professor Elizabeth Hennessy – History and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
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Collaborative Essay Assignment in a Literature Course, Professor Ramzi Fawaz – English 177: American Fantasy
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A Collaborative Paper in Geography, Susy Ziegler – Geography 365
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Individual and Group Research Papers on Social Identities, Professor Yoshiko Herrera – Political Science 401
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Team Research Projects in Biochemical Engineering, Professor John Yin – Chemical and Biological Engineering 560
Low-Stakes Writing Assignments
Low-Stakes Writing Assignments
Low-stakes or exploratory writing activities are short assignments or exercises that have little to no impact on a student’s course grade. These might be activities that students complete individually or collaboratively, and they might take place during class, in preparation for class, or in a reflection on a class session that has just finished. While these activities are “low-stakes” in terms of students’ grades, they are “high-impact” with regard to student learning. Low-stakes writing offers a means of discovery, questioning, and exploration. It can deepen students’ thinking, analysis, and persuasive skills, offer opportunities for reflection and growth, can build equity into a classroom, and can create connection between students and between students and instructors.
- Examples of Low-Stakes Writing Assignments
- Strategies for Designing Low-Stakes Writing Activities
- Digital Low-Stakes Writing Assignments
- Checklist for Assigning and Responding to Low-Stakes Writing
- Biomedical Engineering: In-Class Essay, Professor Megan McClean – Biomedical Engineering 330: Engineering Principles of Molecules, Cells, and Tissues
- Introductory Biology: 100-Word Response
- Introduction to Physics: Write a Tweet or a Thread
- Journal Entries and Live Music Response in Music 416
- Mini-Projects in an Upper-Level Psychology Course
- Two Extra-Credit Writing Assignments for East Asian Literature 363/Asian Languages and Culture 353
Valuing Language Diversity and Working with Multilingual Writers
Valuing Language Diversity and Working with Multilingual Writers
Evaluating and Assessing Student Writing
Evaluating and Assessing Student Writing
Below offer resources on evaluating and assessing student writing inclusively, transparently, effectively, and more:
Teaching Writing with AI
Teaching Writing with AI
Teaching Comm-B Courses
Teaching Comm-B Courses
Instructional Materials from the Writer’s Handbook
Writing deepens the learning process by helping students make new connections with course content, giving them the opportunity to express themselves and to learn both content and disciplinary conventions at the same time. Below are selected instructional materials from the Writer’s Handbook , developed by UW-Madison’s Writing Center.
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Academic and Professional Writing
The following are some example assignments for professional and academic writing:
Writing Process and Structure
Improving Writing Style
Grammar and Punctuation Considerations
Reference Citation Guidance
WAC Sourcebook
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Workshops
We facilitate regular faculty workshops for our campus partners and programs throughout the university, offering guidance for groups of all sizes and scopes from across the curriculum and in a variety of disciplines, all focused on incorporating the benefits of writing into coursework.