Accepted by Education and Curriculum Committee
March 31, 2005

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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING-RICH COURSES AT CARLETON

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The ability to write effectively is one of the fundamental goals of a liberal arts education. To assess our students' progress toward this goal, Carleton requires all sophomores to submit a portfolio of writing completed in a range of academic contexts and showing a variety of writing skills.

While most Carleton courses require writing, Writing-Rich courses focus more explicitly on helping students to develop the skills necessary for completion of the portfolio. All students are required to take one WR course, and to include in their portfolio one paper from this course.

Successful completion of the portfolio signals that students have acquired a set of general writing skills. We anticipate they will build on this foundation as they enter their major and continue to develop as writers.

I. GOALS FOR WR COURSES:

In writing-rich courses we strive to help students develop fundamental writing skills so that they can use their writing to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for a variety of purposes. The qualities of effective writing listed below are used to evaluate student writing portfolios:

Attention to audience and purpose;

Clarity of prose;

Clear organization;

Effective use of evidence;

Appropriate diction;

Effective use of Standard English.

II. LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR WR COURSES:

In writing-rich courses we also help students to:

understand writing as a process, and begin to form their own individual writing process;

learn how to seek and use feedback;

gain an awareness of audience and of voice and begin to see themselves as part of a community of scholar/writer;

learn how to apply forms of attribution and citation as appropriate;

understand accepted guidelines for academic honesty;

develop confidence in their writing, both through experience and also by producing at least one polished piece of their own writing;

become self-aware and self-reflective as writers.

III. MAIN COMPONENTS OF A WR COURSE:

A. Number and Variety of Assignments

-- A WR course will normally have 3 or more writing assignments. These assignments may include papers, posters, lab reports, web pages and other formats and types of writing project;

-- These assignments may be components of one large writing project or several smaller papers, or some combination of the two;

-- It is possible to include some informal writing assignments, with the goal of working towards a polished piece of writing.

B. Opportunities for Feedback

-- A WR course will offer students feedback on their writing;

-- This will take place through faculty comments and may also include: writing tutors; peer review; class conferences; writing workshops; use of a Writing Assistant; and other opportunities;

-- A WR course may also give students the experience of giving feedback to their peers.

C. Opportunities for Revision

-- A WR course will provide students with opportunities for revision;

-- These may include rewriting; producing drafts of a paper in succession; polishing a paper for the Writing Portfolio; or something else.

D. Other Learning Skills

-- A WR course may also introduce students to other learning skills, for example: oral presentation; information literacy (research skills and/or citation and documentation); disciplinary conventions.