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ENG 309W

5/6/04

Dr. Wahlstrom

 

WAC For English

 

Introduction:

When I first heard about writing across the curriculum I thought to myself “how easy, a whole paper on how English teachers plan their curriculum”! However, I was completely wrong with my initial thought. I merely thought that writing across the curriculum was writing throughout whatever grade a student was participating in that year. I thought that the teachers would assign writing tasks that coincided with a particular activity or unit. The research has proved me to be very wrong on what writing across the curriculum actually is.

 

While I was contemplating a topic for this paper I kept holding off from the topic of writing across the curriculum. I felt that I would be getting in way over my head. There are so many different styles of writing and many activities when it comes to a Language Arts class. I kept telling myself that something better would come along; a topic that was not as broad and that didn’t require me to stress out with loads of information. After I had made my final decision on writing across the curriculum, I wanted to know what it was all about. I mean, I had no clue what so ever on this topic. I thought for a moment that it would be extremely beneficial to find out what the actual concept of Language Arts classes was all about. I wanted to know how English teachers coped with having to teach literature, grammar, and have their students become these great writers. It seems impossible. I have learned from my classes that most of the time there is just simply not enough time to do any of these things. I figured that with a little research my questions would be answered. I would finally learn how to become that super woman English teacher and be able to do it all: reading, writing, and grammar, and by doing this with my students they would excel. When I actually started to research writing across the curriculum, I found that everything that I had just stated above was completely wrong and that I was in it for the long haul!

 

The Hunt!

My research hunt went very well. I first used my computer and went to the Buffalo State website. The Butler Library home page helped me to find some articles on exactly what writing across the curriculum was. There was actually so much that I was glad I couldn’t access some of the articles from my house. At this point I found that writing across the curriculum is mostly addressed as WAC and that it is capitalized, so from now on I will use this. Next stop was the electronic catalogue to find some books on WAC. This is where it got a little ridiculous and my fears of too much information came back into play. I went through each description of the book and filtered out the ones that I thought would not be as useful as the others. I also searched websites for information. There was a plethora of information on WAC so I wasn’t worried about not getting a lot out of this topic. When I went to Buffalo State’s library, I found ten different books that I had checked out. Four out of the ten books seemed to be very useful. My favorites out of the bunch were Writing-Across-the-Curriculum and the Academic Library: A Guide for Librarians, Instructors and Writing Program Directors, edited by Jean Sheridan, and Strengthening Programs for Writing Across the Curriculum, edited by Susan H. Mcleod.

I found five journal articles from four different sources. These articles all proved to be useful. Sources included College English, English Journal, NASSP Bulletin, and Clearing House. The information that I had found on the Internet was mostly from other university websites, such as Colorado State, which meant that they were pretty trust worthy. I didn’t come across any junk websites, which was good. My interview with my sister’s husband Craig Urich went quite well. Even though he is a Physics teacher, his interview fit into my research because he is an example of a teacher that does not have any emphasis on writing in his class. He is strictly Chemistry all the way (and that’s sad). There were only a few things that I could say were annoying. A lot of the books that I had checked out were repetitive with the information. It was very time consuming to look through books with 100+ pages in them, and fish out the most useful and beneficial information.

 

What WAC Is

The topic of WAC is all very new to me, so when I did my research I found that there are different aspects involved. First I needed to find out exactly what it was and why teachers across the nation get involved in this program. I didn’t realize this at first but it is an extremely big and important program. The Colorado State University website helped me to understand the basic principles of the WAC program and why we should include writing into all disciplines. “As one response to students’ lack of writing practice throughout the university curriculum, Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs emerged in the 1980’s. The philosophies underlying these programs generally agree on certain basic principles:

  • that writing is the responsibility of the entire academic community,
  • that writing must be integrated across departmental boundaries,
  • that writing instruction must be continuous during all four years of undergraduate education,
  • that writing promotes learning, and
  • that only by practicing the conventions of an academic discipline will students begin to communicate effectively within that discipline (Kiefer).

This is based on the fact that students need practice to be able to use writing effectively. One or two writing classes just can’t provide enough daily practice. This website also gave the benefits that WAC has on students and teachers. When I was reading over the research it gave me information that I never really sat down and thought about. The website mentioned how students often report that they do no writing at all. This is true because there have been semesters where I did no writing. The situation is very real when students only take multiple –choice exams. I actually avoided having to write my whole first year at college. Assigning writing in classes of all disciplines helps students learn material and improve their thinking about ideas in the courses. WAC helps students prepare for the day-to-day communicative tasks they’ll face on the job. This just became relevant to me this past semester when we were teaching our mini-lessons. When the history majors would teach their min-lessons, for example on DBQs, I didn’t know what that was. I have come to the conclusion that this is a result of being lectured to, and not required to write anything in my required History courses.

 

Now I started to see the benefits of this program and why it was so important. Kiefer also says that including writing in courses has both short and long term benefits for teachers. “In the short run, teachers are better able to gauge how well students grasp information and where they need elaboration of key concepts. In the long run, as more teachers incorporate writing into more courses, students become more and more practiced at using writing as a communication and learning tool”.

 

What I’ve Learned

I have learned a lot throughout this past spring semester about writing. Although I am no genius on the subject yet, it is not hard to understand that some students do not like to write. They dread writing; we all have at some point in time. When I came across the Malaspina University’s website on WAC, Brenda Sully outlined in the “Why WAC?” section some of the typical writing problems that students face:

Typical Writing Problems:

  • Attitude (the motivation and interest of students)
  • Mechanical Skills (spelling, punctuation)
  • Organizational skills (how to piece it together)
  • Style (conventions appropriate to task and audience)
  • Reasoning ability (thinking, logic)
  • Knowledge (something to write about)

She adds that “if we accept that students need more writing and more communications skills, then we must look at the problems which are apparent in their writing. It is clear that students themselves do not necessarily perceive writing as critical to their success.”  This website also enlightened me that an individual student’s writing requires persistent and frequent contact with the student both inside and outside the classroom. It requires assigning far more papers than are usually assigned in other college classrooms. It also requires reading them and commenting on them not simply to justify a grade, but to offer guidance and suggestions for improvement; and it requires an atmosphere of trust. Sully has shown me that the WAC program implies change.

 

The research for this paper has taught me that writing in other disciplines, other than English, is extremely important to the success of our students. Some of the journals that I found were about collaborating with teachers of other course subjects so that they can tie what they are teaching into writing assignments. In the English Journal, the article “Engaging the Disaffected: Collaborative Writing across the Curriculum Projects” by Nancy Zimmet  suggests “we have our students write notes to other students in class, asking for help with aspects of their papers that most concerned them” (105).  Another article from Education Digest suggested that “composition teachers would plan with other discipline areas in their grades to coordinate writing assignments and evaluation” (Gill, 62). I personally do not think this has ever happened in my whole school career. My English teachers have never collaborated with my biology teacher in any way to help with my writing. Although this is an ideal scenario, I just don’t think there would be enough time to make this happen.

 

So, what is WAC after? What are some of its issues? And what needs to be introduced to make this a successful program? Strengthening Programs for Writing Across the Curriculum edited by Susan H. Mcleod, answered my questions.  The kinds of change that WAC is after are “more required writing classes, more writing required in existing classes. The ultimate goal of all WAC programs is to establish writing as a teaching and learning tool throughout the entire post secondary curriculum, integrating it into every class and every discipline” (5). I found this to be a very good goal. It seems to be an enormous goal, but I think that it could be accomplished. To achieve this goal we need to know the issues behind the program WAC. I also found this in McLeod’s book. A lot of the issues have to deal with bringing about curricular changes, how to sustain faculty interest and enthusiasm, how to evaluate established programs, and of course, how to collaborate on research with colleagues in other disciplines. “We must work collaboratively in order to learn about their expectations, their discourse communities, their epistemologies” (7). She gives great ideas as to what needs to be introduced into classrooms such as journals or reading logs. This is most helpful with classes of a larger size; since that is one of the most common reasons faculties give for not including writing.

 

So I have come to the point in my research where I am pretty established with the basics of the WAC program. All-in-all WAC wants teachers of all disciplines to start putting an emphasis on writing. I have to ask myself this question at this point: why is it so important to put such a great emphasis on writing? Editor Jean Sheridan states “during the process of writing, new knowledge emerges because new relationships are seen and new connections are made. The writer is drawn deeper into the experience because writing requires the ordering of insights, which leads to deepened understanding. Furthermore, writing is a holistic activity in which all functions are integrated and eye, hand, and both hemispheres of the brain are coordinated cyclically” (5). The book A Student’s Guide to Writing Across the Curriculum is a book solely based on teaching students how to write anything from research papers to case studies. When I opened it up the preface blew me away. It listed criteria for good student writing compiled by a group of university faculty members. I read through the list and then at the bottom it asked the student if the criteria for good writing sounded familiar to them. The catch was that the list that looked very much like it came out of an English course was actually compiled by the Chemistry Department. “Good writing is important in every discipline. Faculty members in all departments throughout the university expect their students to be able to write well. Writing is a craft which requires both ability and practice” (v). I have seen this importance of writing mostly throughout my college years. Not all of my college years though. Only when I had entered my education courses was this great emphasis on writing even mentioned and why it is so important.

 

WAC in Secondary Education

Now, I have learned why WAC is important to colleges and universities but what about the secondary level? Aren’t high school students important?  Some of my research showed that there is actually an emphasis on WAC in high schools and middle schools. My research findings found that WAC is just the same for all students no matter what level you are, except for one thing. This is where I am introduced to the high school writing center. Clearing House published an article titled The Natural Connection: The WAC Program and the High School Writing Center which taught me that “School writing centers are an excellent place for writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs to be located” (Mullin & Childers, 24). This article gave me a better understanding on how a high school writing center can effectively involve all the people who are necessary to a successful WAC program: the students, teachers and the administrators. This is because they can work more closely with parents, and this allows high schools to create community support for curricular changes in ways often unavailable to universities. This led me to believe that there should definitely be more research on WAC that benefits secondary schools. I’m not saying that secondary teachers have more time to collaborate with other teachers because I know they are pressed for time. The writing center simply gives more of an opportunity to do more writing in other discipline areas. Mullin and Childers gave examples of teachers who benefited from the purposes of the writing center. The writing center:

  • stimulated discussions about assignments, assessment practices,
  • demonstrated how writing is both a creative and generative tool for learning,
  • encouraged self-directed learning in the areas of writing to learn, writing to communicate, writing as social activity and,
  • assisting faculty with their own writing by serving as a resource (25).

 

When I was in high school the writing center, or academic center as it was called, was a place where we could go to instead of study hall. None of us ever wanted help with our writing. It was mostly a place to get help with in math because the only teachers on duty were math teachers. They should have just called the “Math Center”. I feel that if the atmosphere was more inviting to get help with writing assignments, more students would have done it. It would have been extremely beneficial, and perhaps gotten us better prepared for what was to come in college. I completely agree with WAC and the writing center coinciding with one another in schools across the nation.

 

Further Questions

After researching WAC I have found myself to know the basics of the program. All of the information and sources that I gathered were great materials. Would I like to know more about the program? Yes, definitely. It seems to be a really great program but there is not a lot of emphasis on it in schools (or so I think). I never once heard about the importance of writing until I took my required writing education courses this semester.

It’s a shame that teachers do not require more writing. Everything seems to be so by-the-books nowadays that teachers in other disciplines do not have enough time to do this, so everybody puts it all on the English teacher. I may have picked to broad of a topic to even be putting my opinion in, I may not know the “whole picture” of the WAC program. The one thing that counts is the fact that I now know that there is such a thing out there. As a future teacher I now know that collaboration with other faculty is important and beneficial to my student’s futures. If students don’t get that proper training in today’s society, they may fail as adults. They must know how to be good writer’s in any situation.

 

I can now say that I am done with the research of this topic, and I admit that there are certain questions that still arise in my head. I don’t feel like I am fully aware of the things that WAC has to offer. If I were to do more research it would include the budget for such a program, who directs such a program, and is it really that time consuming to collaborate with other teachers about what they are doing in class? Is collaboration difficult or easy? Is the program difficult or easy to run? How many schools actually participate in the WAC? To answer these kinds of questions I would probably continue to look at books and Internet websites. Also I would talk to English teachers in schools that I am observing in. I feel that with further research on Writing Across the Curriculum, I can become more knowledgeable on the topic and hopefully be able to one day participate.

 

 

Works Cited

 

 

Journals

 

Childers, Pamela B. & Mullin, Joan A. “The Natural Connection: The WAC Program and the High School Writing Center”.  Clearing House 69.1 (1995): 24-27.

 

Gill,  David.  “Split UP the English Curriculum for Better Writing Skills”. Education Digest. Apr. 2000: 61-63.

 

Zimmet, Nancy.  “Engaging the Disaffected: Collaborative Writing across the Curriculum Projects”.  English Journal  90.1 (2000) : 102

 

 

Books

 

McLeod, Susan H., ed.  Strengthening Programs for Writing Across the Curriculum. San Francisco:  Jossey –Bass Inc., 1988.

 

Sheridan, Jean, ed. Writing-Across-the-Curriculum and the Academic Library: A guide for Librarians, Instructors, and Writing program Directors.   Connecticut: 

    Greenwood Press, 1995.

 

Meyer, Charles F, and Karen L. Pelz. A Student’s Guide to Writing Across the Curriculum. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1985.

 

 

Interview

 

Urich, Craig.  Personal Interview.  13 Apr. 2004.

 

 

Internet

 

Malaspina University-Colleges Writing-Across –the Curriculum Project.  Brenda Sully. 1995. Malaspina University. Apr. 1995   http://www.mala.bc.ca/www/wac/proj.htm.

 

An Introduction to WAC. Kate Kiefer. 2003. Colorado State University. http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop2b.cfm