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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 workshops does the WAC program offer?
The WAC Program offers three different kinds of workshops.
The
Writing to Learn Faculty Workshop prepares new WL faculty to
teach a WL course the following semester. Each spring, all faculty
who use writing in the classroom are invited to come to the
"Conversations About Writing"
luncheon (limited to twelve participants).
Every semester, the faculty who are currently teaching a
Writing to Learn section meet to discuss program issues, such as
assessment, and to share their experiences with one another.
Usually at this meeting part of the discussion is focused on some
topic of interest, such as using journals or ways to elicit critical thinking.
Each semester, the WAC program also offers focused workshops on various topics.
These workshops last approximately one hour and are limited to six participants.
They have a hands-on, discussion format, specifically designed to help faculty
integrate writing into their classes, at any level, undergraduate or graduate.
The workshops are offered on a rotating basis.
Rotating Workshops
In the Assignment Design Workshop we focus on how to write assignments that
elicit the kind of essay or other writing you want. This includes using
clear language, ordering the assignments effectively, and thinking through the purpose of the assignment.
Included in the discussion will be the possible ways to incorporate computers in your
assignments. Participants will get a chance to write an assignment for a course they
teach using the concepts discussed.
The Critical Thinking Workshop introduces key concepts in critical thinking
and has participants apply those concepts to course assignments.
To help teachers learn how to better respond to their students' writing, the
Responding to Writing Workshop gives some suggested guidelines for helping
students improve an essay's thesis, development, use of sources, logic,
organization, and mechanics. Participants will revise these guidelines
to fit their particular courses and will practice giving responses to
actual student writing. This workshop includes a discussion of
alternatives to hand-written comments on papers.
The Grammar Short Course reviews the rules for correcting the major
mechanical errors we find in student essays. It includes ideas for
helping students improve their mechanics. The course would also be
helpful for anyone who wants to improve his or her own grammar skills,
as participants play with some grammar exercises.
In the Peer Review Workshop, we consider rules for using peer review
in the classroom: how to set up peer groups and clarify the task;
how to encourage constructive criticism; how to build trust among
he students; and how to move students from the peer review to a
strong revision. Participants will take part in a short peer
review session to see the strengths and weaknesses of various
peer review techniques.
Lectures are not the only way to teach course concepts. The
Collaborative Learning Workshop focuses on helping students
learn by working in groups. Included are how to create groups,
set the task, keep students focused, bring the small group work
back to the larger class context, and evaluate group work.
Students often don't realize the difference between making a
thoughtful revision of a piece of writing and editing for surface
errors. The Revising and Editing Workshop focuses on the differences
between the two processes and ways to elicit effective revisions from
students. Participants will do a hands-on exercise to experience the
difference between editing and revising and will practice guiding student
revision.
The Journals and Short Writes Workshop demonstrates the usefulness of
these two types of writing in student learning and gives suggestions for
crafting journal and short write assignments for specific classes.
Participants will come up with several assignments they can use in
classes they teach and will do some short writes and journal entries
themselves.
Word processing, e-mail, electronic blackboards, and the internet
all offer new possibilities for helping students learn to write more
effectively. The Writing with Computers Workshop gives participants
a chance to play with the possibilities offered by these electronic
aids to student revision, brainstorming, and collaboration.
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