Material Detail

This is a guide created for faculty members.

'This booklet is based on the premise that writing is more than just an important asset in all academic disciplines; rather it is, to borrow from linguist Robin Lakoff, the currency of the university. It is through language and writing that we communicate the knowledge that we accumulate. Writing includes far more than mechanical skills such as punctuation, grammar, and capitalization. Writing is an intellectual process that involves all the major forms of critical thinking (analysis, synthesis, comparison, inference, deduction, conclusion) and the ability to organize information, evidence, arguments, and counter-arguments in a logical and compelling form.

To encourage all instructors—whatever subject they teach—to incorporate writing assigments into their classes, we present some facts, some opinions, and some suggestions about the place of writing in the general university curriculum. We hope these ideas will be convincing to instructors who question the value of assigning writing in their classes, and our advice should prove helpful to instructors who want to assign more writing but are unsure how to proceed. The last section of this booklet—“Tip Sheets for Writers”—contains a set of one-page handouts that you can photocopy and distribute to your students.'

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