writing – Teaching Hub

Teaching Grad Students Academic Writing

January 3, 2020

Butterfly pupae at different stages of maturity

by Daniel Riches, Department of History To me, the most important role we serve as teachers of graduate students, especially early-career graduate students, is helping them along the path of transition from being students of a field to becoming (admittedly junior) professionals in that field. This process of becoming a professional is, in my opinion, the very core of graduate education and deserves careful attention, though surprisingly few graduate courses seem to make their role in this process explicit, and […]

Why Workshops Matter for Professionalization, Productivity, and Life!

September 30, 2019

table with people's hands, pens and paper

by Jenny Shaw, Department of History One of the most important skills graduate students learn is how to receive, assimilate, and act on feedback from peers and mentors. Often, as with peer review, feedback comes anonymously, and in written form, so responses can be contemplated and thought through. But at conferences, seminars, and public talks, scholars have to respond in person and in real time. Similarly, giving feedback in written or oral form is another essential skill and one that […]

Piloting ePortfolios in the First-Year Writing Program

March 19, 2019

Students working on ePortfolios in Dr. Kidd's classroom.

by Jessica Fordham Kidd, Department of English On February 22, 2019, Natalie Loper, Brooke Champagne, and I participated in the Faculty Technology Showcase with a presentation on the First-Year Writing Program’s (FWP) ePortfolio Pilot program, which is in its second semester. This ePortfolio initiative was inspired by Dr. Kathleen Blake Yancey’s visit to UA in February 2018 when she presented “EPortfolios for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.” Her faculty website lists her recent scholarship, much of it related to ePortfolios. The […]

Writing Across Media: A Hands-On Exploration of New Literacies

February 25, 2019

by Donna Branyon, Department of English In English 313: Writing Across Media (WAM) fall 2018, we examined modes of communicating, identified the conventions of media, and created several multimedia presentations. We looked at new media theories, including topics such as process, authorship, affect, design, and multimodality. Additionally, we spent a great deal of time exploring the intersections between various media: print, film, images, sound, social media, and web design. We considered the ways writing (and communicating in general) is shaped […]

The Benefits of Co-Writing with Students

October 31, 2018

Mairin Odle figured out one way to solve one core issue of teaching excellence across the university curriculum: how do students learn to write well in their discipline? Dr. Odle’s solution is to co-write alongside her students through a series of essay-related assignments. She writes that “Major writing assignments in this course are scaffolded, meaning that students first submit a topic proposal, then complete a bibliography, partial drafts, a peer review, and ultimately a final draft.” I can see so […]

Marshmallow Launchers Spur Student Writing

February 8, 2018

Students firing marshmallow launchers on the Quad

by Donna Branyon, Department of English For the final project in EN 102 (freshman composition) and EN 319 (technical writing), we do versions of the marshmallow launcher project. Students are presented with an imaginary rhetorical situation: The UA Writing Center provides snacks for clients and consultants. They would like to be known as the most congenial department on campus, so they want to provide snacks as quickly as possible. Because the Writing Center is woefully understaffed, consultants can no longer […]

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