Student Writing Assignments

How to Create and Efficiently Assess an Effective Student Writing Assignment

Session Description

Are you looking for help as you think about your course writing assignments? Are you worried about the time it takes to grade student writing assignments? Have you assigned writing assignments that just don't seem to work for your students? In this session, join Drs. Williams and Burnet as they share strategies for structuring writing assignments, time-saving methods to effectively assess them, and ideas for how to incorporate a revision process during your course.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of the session, you will be able to:

• Design writing assignments that encourage students to write well
• Give students productive guidance on their writing while saving time
• Incorporate in-class writing activities into your teaching
• Identify strategies to help students revise their writing

Presenter Bios

Jennie E. Burnet, Ph.D., is a fifth-year assistant professor of anthropology. She has a B.A. in French and comparative literature from Boston University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a graduate student, she worked as a writing tutor in the UNC Writing Center. Dr. Burnet's research concerns processes of identity, subjectivity, and reconciliation in post-conflict societies with a focus on the African Great Lakes region.

Bronwyn T. Williams, Ph.D., is a professor of English and the director of the University Writing Center. He teaches and writes about issues of literacy, popular culture, identity, and digital media. His books include Shimmering Literacies: Popular Culture and Reading and Writing Online; Popular Culture and Representations of Literacy (with Amy Zenger); and Identity Papers: Literacy and Power in Higher Education. His latest book, an edited collection with Amy Zenger, titled New Media Literacies and Participatory Popular Culture Across Borders, was published by Routledge Press in March 2012.