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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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What is the WL Workshop?
The Writing to Learn Faculty Workshop is a discussion group that uses hands-on
activities to help faculty learn Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) theory and
ways to apply it in the classroom. Follow the links below for more detail on what
the workshop is like.
The Writing to Learn Faculty Workshop prepares new WL faculty to teach
their first WL course, although some faculty take the workshop even though
they have no immediate WL assignment. The focus is on teaching the concepts
and language that underpin the Writing to Learn courses at PSU and on helping
faculty design assignments they can profitably use in the specific courses they
will be teaching.
The workshop has two parts, of approximately two hours each. Usually the group
(of about four people plus the workshop leader) meets twice, with the two sessions
coming a week apart, to allow everyone time to digest the material.
The first session grounds faculty in WAC theory and in the way that theory is
implemented on this campus. It also introduces several theories of critical thinking.
From this theoretical base, workshop members then come up with assignments they could
use in the courses they will be teaching the following semester.
The second session deals with ways to allow for the writing process in a WL class as
well as ways to use informal writing and small groups. Much of the session focuses on
responding to student writing. Always there are hands-on exercises, as faculty formulate
more ideas for their new course. Finally, faculty are asked to think about their syllabi,
especially the statements of philosophy and intent that all WL course syllabi include.
The basic materials are a packet of articles and guides, and a textbook, Helping
Students Write Well: A Guide for Teachers in All Disciplines. Workshop participants
produce additional material by creating assignments and sharing their ideas with the
group. Finally, there are handouts to supplement the packet, including sample
student essays to which the workshop members respond, using WL concepts.
The PSU WAC website is also introduced as a continuing source of information.
In the first session, after a discussion of the uses of short writing assignments,
workshop members devise a writing assignment they can use on the first day of class.
For instance, one teacher in mathematics has students write down their worst math
experience and how they got past it. As students do in a WL class, the workshop
members then share what they wrote (in this case, the first-day writing assignment),
so that a discussion can follow. This interaction of faculty from multiple
disciplines is one of the most powerful experiences of the workshop.
An idea that seems obvious to a music teacher, for instance, can be a
surprising stimulus for a teacher of history or French. Assignments that
are second nature in chemistry can energize an English or sociology class.
In the second session, workshop participants read typical WL essays and come up with
responses that would help the student writers revise. It is instructive to hear the
differing reactions to the essays, underscoring the idea that each faculty member
must come up with his or her own criteria for good writing in any given course.
Anyone who teaches a course on the PSU campus can take the workshop by contacting
the WAC coordinator or assistant (teachers at other university and high school
campuses are also welcome, although in this case materials might not be included free).
Although the workshop is designed to prepare teachers who will be teaching a WL course soon,
anyone who is interested in teaching a WL course in the future or in using WL concepts
in his or her courses at any level might benefit from participating.
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