Writing Across the Curriculum

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Writing Across the Curriculum

• Pilot Project DABCC
• Susan Wood
• Pierre Laroche

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What is the question?

• Is every teacher a writing teacher?

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What is the problem?

• The transfer of writing and thinking skills
  learned in composition and rhetoric courses at
  DABCC to other courses offered at DABCC

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What is a possible solution?

• Assess the problem
• Put together a team of DABCC faculty across
  disciplines to look at student data and student
  writing
• Learn about Writing-Across-the-Curriculum
  theories and principles
• Develop a plan to address identified
  problems/issues

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DABCCs Pilot Project

• NMHEAA Summer Retreat
• At least one faculty from each division at DABCC
  attended a three day retreat in Ruidoso this past
  summer to learn about assessment and create a
  plan for an assessment project

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DABCCs Pilot Project

• In our plan we
• Developed a mission statement
• Clearly defined our goals and expected outcomes
• Proposed a preliminary writing assessment tool
• Generated a detailed timeline for accomplishing
  project
• Asked for volunteer participants representing
  each division at DABCC

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Pilot Project Plan

• Pilot Project group representatives from all
  divisions (full and part-time faculty)
• Timeline 7 working meetings between September
  and May

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Pilot Project Plan

• Mission Statement
• To implement a Writing-Across-the-Curriculum
  program at DABCC that helps students meet the
  Communication and Literacy instructional objective

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Pilot Project Plan

• Goals
• Assess the writing needs of DABCC students
• Create tools for instructors and students that
  will standardize student-writing across the
  campus
• Provide Writing-Across-the-Curriculum
  professional development to full and part-time
  faculty participating in project
• Offer a support structure to faculty
  participating in project

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Pilot Project Plan

• Outcomes
• A tool to help teachers design writing
  assignments
• A revised rubric to evaluate student-writing
  campus-wide
• A recommendation report based on assessment data

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Pilot Project Plan

• What weve accomplished
• Have conducted benchmarking
• Have provides professional development
• Have created and conducted surveys
• Have redesign assessment tool for students
• Have created writing assignment creation tool
  for instructors
• Next steps
• Create, administer and assess writing assignments
  using tools
• Assess pilot project and write recommendation
  report

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Tools in Process

• DABCC Pilot Project Writing Standards Rubric
• Planning a Successful Writing Project tool

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Preliminary Data

• ENGL 111 students

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Preliminary Data

• DABCC Associate Degree Graduates

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Preliminary Data

• ENGL 111 students

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Preliminary results from Survey

How important is writing to your academic success? q7            
Course 1 2 3 4 5 9 Grand Total
COLL 201       5 3   8
COMM265   1 5 10 19 35
ENGL 111   2 5 7
ENGL 218   3 4 1 8
OEBU 204   5 10 9 24
OEBU 264 1 2 5 8 16
PSY 201   9 5 24 38
Grand Total 1 1 21 40 72 1 136
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Preliminary results from Survey

How important is writing to your professional success? q8            
Course 1 2 3 4 5 9 Grand Total
COLL 201     2 4 2   8
COMM265   1 4 8 22 35
ENGL 111   2 5 7
ENGL 218   1 1 5 1 8
OEBU 204   4 9 11 24
OEBU 264 1 3 2 10 16
PSY 201 1 2 7 10 18 38
Grand Total 2 4 20 36 73 1 136
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Preliminary results from Survey

Do you have confidence in your writing? q6            
Course 1 2 3 4 5 9 Grand Total
COLL 201     1 7     8
COMM265   1 1 22 11 35
ENGL 111   1 6 7
ENGL 218   5 2 1 8
OEBU 204   1 5 11 7 24
OEBU 264 1 2 8 5 16
PSY 201   1 5 25 5 2 38
Grand Total 1 5 12 79 36 3 136
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QA

• What do you think?
• What are your suggestions?

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Contact information

• Pierre Laroche505.527.7615plaroche_at_nmsu.edu
• Susan Wood505.527.7711sandrusw_at_nmsu.edu