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Pittsburg State University
1701 South Broadway
Pittsburg KS 66762
Don Judd
WAC Coordinator
English
Phone: (620) 235-4697
Kathleen De Grave
Assistant WAC Coordinator
English
Phone: (620) 235-4705
Cynthia Woodburn
Assistant WAC Coordinator
Mathematics
Phone: (620) 235-4490
Bruce Shields
WAC Graduate Assistant
English
Phone: (620) 235-4686
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Why would I want to teach a WL course?
Teaching a Writing to Learn course has many benefits, even though extra work is involved.
The main benefits in teaching a WL course are that
Teaching a Writing to Learn course isn't easy --
the teacher first comes up with assignment ideas
that actively engage students in learning and then
responds to those assignments when they are written
and handed in. A WL course asks teachers to be
flexible in their teaching styles and to work in a
student-centered classroom.
Although teaching a WL course demands a lot from the teacher,
there are many rewards. Coming up with invigorating assignments
is a pleasure in itself, and watching students engage in the
course material can be satisfying, too. When a teacher reads
written work from a student regularly during a semester, he or
she gets to know that student in a way that usually doesn't happen
in a lecture course with scantron tests. So the classroom dynamic
is different
-- teacher/student interaction keeps the class lively and keeps the
teacher on his or her toes. Reading student feedback also helps the
teacher determine just how well he or she is getting across the course material.
Much of the writing in a WL course is short and in-class.
Students can respond to issues as they arise in class discussion. If
students exchange their writing or tell the class what they wrote,
intense discussions can result. Such active participation energizes
the class, making it a joy to teach, and students appreciate the chance
to have their say.
One reason the WL course can be student-centered is its size:
WL classes are capped at 25 students. What a teacher can do with
25 students is very different from what he or she can do with 60 or
120, as in most freshman and sophomore classes. A WL class allows
not only for interesting writing assignments, but also for other
kinds of learning experiences, including small-group work, role
playing, and field trips.
The purpose of a WL course is to encourage students to think
critically and to help them put those complex thoughts down on
paper. Informal writing and other assignments that stimulate
critical thinking are part of the pre-writing stage, necessary
before students can craft a formal, fully-developed essay that
meets academic standards.
For instance, before having her students write an essay on Edgar
Lee Masters'
"Spoon River Anthology" (in which the dead speak) one English teacher takes her WL General
Literature students to the cemetery to read the inscriptions on
tombstones while they read Masters' poems. An anthropology teacher
brought the students in his introductory WL course to the top floor
of Russ Hall to analyze the graffiti carved into the old desks --
they learned the methods of the discipline by identifying the cultural
changes at PSU since 1903. An economics teacher had her WL students
read the Wall Street Journal to find issues in everyday life that
reflected what they were studying in class. These are the kinds of
experiences we typically give our upper-level students, but because
WL classes are small, we can let our freshmen and sophomore students
have this benefit, too.
Why teach a WL course? Because it lets you develop your teaching skills even as you help your students learn.
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