Please note that some accommodations may require time to arrange. Our institution is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Indigenous Initiatives Office.
Phone: x Fax: Email: cte uwaterloo. The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Skip to main Skip to footer. Centre for Teaching Excellence.
Faculty and staff Chairs and directors Postdoctoral fellows Graduate students. Writing to encourage active thinking and learning Critical thinking problems are designed to convert students from passive to active learners who use course concepts to confront problems, gather and analyze data, prepare hypotheses, and formulate arguments. Sample activities An instructor has decided that over the course of the term his class will complete five short writing assignments.
One student, who is familiar only with the traditional term paper, is unsure why or how the instructor expects her to submit five written assignments. Write a dialogue between the two that comes to a mutually-satisfying resolution. Be sure to explore the student's concerns along with some reasons behind the instructor's decision to incorporate certain writing activities into the course. Support or refute the following argument: "Writing is both a process of doing critical thinking and a product communicating the results of critical thinking; therefore, writing exercises have a place in every university classroom.
He is trying to decide whether he should assign several short writing exercises or one or two longer ones. Consider the material being covered in his class, class size and desired learning outcomes. What insights can you offer about which type of assignment would be more appropriate and why?
Create your own version of a Centre for Teaching Excellence tips sheet that offers ten ways to incorporate writing exercises into a class of over students.
Be sure to explain why these exercises would be efficient and effective learning and teaching tools. Don't forget to include examples. Writing to explore The main goals for exploratory writing exercises are to clarify thinking, explore ideas, ask questions, reflect on learning, and search for connections between theory and practice.
Sample activities Write a one page "thought letter" to a colleague at another university who is unfamiliar with the notion that writing can be an effective learning tool. In the letter, you might wish to discuss points that you found particularly useful in the TRACE writing workshop along with any concerns or reservations you might have about integrating these exercises into your classroom.
Divide a blank sheet of paper into two columns. Title one column "Workshop exercises" and beneath it list and describe the types of writing activities covered in today's workshop. In the next column, "My mental work and brain exercises," consider the thought processes involved in doing each exercise.
What specific challenges did each activity pose and how did you meet these challenges? Imagine that you are the soon-to-be retired CEO of a multi-national corporation. You have decided to say a few words at your retirement dinner about the writing workshop you attended years ago as a graduate student.
What insights into effective communication and critical thinking skills did the workshop offer? How have you put these skills to good use in your professional career?
Considering the possibilities. Brewer, S. Making economic principles personal: Student journals and reflection papers. Journal of Economic Education, 37 2 , Britton, J.
The Development of Writing Abilities London: Macmillan Education. Browning, B. Gladwell and group communication: Using "The Tipping Point" as a supplemental text. Communication Teacher 25 2 , Bruner, J. Davies Ed. London: Heinemann. Carnegie, J. The use of limericks to engage student interest and promote active learning in an undergraduate course in functional anatomy. Anatomical Sciences Education, 5 2 , Carnes, L.
The role of the business educator in a writing-across-the-curriculum program. Journal of Education for Business, 76 4 , Cavdar, G. Learning through writing: Teaching critical thinking skills in writing assignments. PS: Political Science and Politics, 45 2 , Centellas, M. PS: Political Science and Politics, 43 3 , Chamely,Wiik, D.
From Bhopal to cold fusion: A case-study approach to writing assignments in honors general chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 89 4 , Cheng, C. Assessing the effectiveness of a voluntary online discussion forum on improving students' course performance. Cisero, C. Does reflective journal writing improve course performance? College Teaching, 54 2 , Clark, K.
Applied and transformed understanding in introductory psychology: Analysis of a final essay assignment. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10 3 , Coe, C. Scaffolded writing as a tool for critical thinking: Teaching beginning students how to write arguments. Teaching Philosophy, 34 1 , Coles, K.
Journal assignments in an introductory -geology course help the student and teacher. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : Cooper, A. Today's technologies enhance writing in mathematics. The Clearing House, 85 2 , Cunningham, K. Applications of reaction rate. Journal of Chemical Education, 84 3 , Danielson, C. Writing papers in math class: A tool for encouraging mathematical exploration by preservice elementary teachers. School Science and Mathematics, 8 , Defazio, J.
Academic literacy: The importance and impact of writing across the curriculum—A case study. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10 2 , Doll, K. Using students' journals about death experiences as a pedagogical tool. Doty, L. A mathematician learns the basics of writing instruction: An immersion experience with long-term benefits.
Primus, 22 1 , Drabick, D. Keeping it short and sweet: Brief, ungraded writing assignments facilitate learning. Teaching of Psychology, 34 3 , Ellis, R. Emig, J. Writing as a mode of learning. College Composition and Communication, 28, Festa, A. Teaching critical thinking to freshman writers by engaging contemporary artists' work. Forsman, S. Gere Ed. Fouberg, E. Concept learning through writing for learning: Using journals in an introductory geography course.
Journal of Geography, 99 5 , Frank, R. The economic naturalist writing assignment. Journal of Economic Education, 37 1 , Franz, A. Organic chemistry YouTube writing assignment for large lecture classes. Fulwiler, T. Fulwiler and A. Young Eds. Galer-Unti, R. Student perceptions of a writing-intensive course in health education. Gallavan, N. Learning to write and writing to learn: Insights from teacher candidates.
Action in Teacher Education, 29 2 , Gillette, A. Why did they fight the Great War? A multi-level class analysis of the causes of the first World War. History Teacher, 40 , 1 , Gladding, S. Family snapshots: A descriptive classroom exercise in memory and insight. Goodman, R. Using letter-writing to enhance a calculus course. Gordy, L. Bringing creativity into the classroom: Using sociology to write first-person fiction.
Teaching Sociology, 33 4 , Guill, J. A written media review project that reinforces introductory biology topics and promotes critical thinking. American Biology Teacher, 68 6 , Gump, S. Demystifying response papers. College Teaching, 58 1 , Habre, S. Improving understanding in ordinary differential equations through writing in a dynamical environment. Halsor, S. Enhanced student learning through writing in a physical-geology class. Hamilton, W.
Using student ethnography to teach sociology of religion. Harter, L. Storying selves in conventional and creative resumes. Communication Teacher, 22 3 , Hauk, S. Fostering college students' autonomy in written mathematical justification. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 2 1 , Hellman, C.
Mens sana in corpora sano A sound mind in a sound body : Implementing and evaluating writing across the curriculum strategies in physical education. Physical Educator, 65 4 , Herrington, A. Writing to learn: Writing across the disciplines. College English, 43, Holliway, D. Towards a sense-making pedagogy: Writing activities in an undergraduate learning theories course. Holtzman, M. Teaching sociological theory through active learning: The irrigation exercise.
Teaching Sociology, 33 2 , Hooey, C. Journal writing and the development of spatial thinking skills. Journal of Geography, 6 , Horton, E. Learning to write and writing to learn social work concepts: Application of writing across the curriculum strategies and techniques to a course for undergraduate social work students.
Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 31 1 , Hosten, C. Introducing undergraduates to the role of science in public policy and in the service of the community. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 12 3 , Hourigan, T. Investigating the emerging generic features of the blog writing task across three discrete learner groups at a higher education institution. Educational Media International, 47 2 , Hudd, S. Moving forward looking backward: An exercise in recursive thinking and writing.
Teaching Sociology, 35 3 , Hughes, J. Encouraging students to apply human sexuality material to themselves by using integration papers. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 3 3 , Hynd, C. Thinking like a historian: College students' reading of multiple historical documents. Journal of Literacy Research, 36 2 , Jackson, B. Teaching the analytical life. Then, too, the child who is given the opportunity to put her first marks on the page is already beginning to make meaning in the world.
When reading a book, she sees it as something constructed from a world she already knows because her scribbles connect to those of others and give her the powerful idea that she has a voice. Writing early and constantly, in and out of school, is a powerful lever for helping our students learn to read profoundly. Here are five ways writing supports reading and vice versa:. The student who writes becomes alert to the structure of sentences, the rhythm of multiple words together, and words that surprise.
Because our students are using the tools of language to build their own stories, they are awake to the qualities of texts. Students who write quickly learn the necessity of genre.
My 1st graders were writing informational texts and choosing their own topics. Later, I saw her scouring a book with a glossary in it. My readers might need to know some of the big words I use to describe where my grandpa lives. When our student writers are finishing works to put into the classroom library, they have an opportunity to see themselves side by side with published works, which feels celebratory.
Writing, theirs and others, inspires and connects them. Even the smallest writer has big ideas. My 2nd grade class once wrote letters to the entire neighborhood inviting them to come see our play.
People young and old came, and students saw how they could change their communities with the power of their own words.
So, when they read, they consider all the ways writers can change people. The student who writes is building confidence, courage, and a sense of self. She is one herself. Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post. Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post.
You can send one to me at lferlazzo epe. You can also contact me on Twitter at Larryferlazzo. Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email or RSS Reader. And if you missed any of the highlights from the first eight years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. Classroom-Management Advice. Best Ways to Begin the School Year.
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