The Guide to Teaching

Writing Assignments Revisited

Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 10:49:37 -0500 (EST)
Sender: Joel J Schwartz <jjschwar@email.unc.edu>

The new topic for the H-teachpol Teaching Guide is: Writing Assignments Revisited

I suggest this topic even though it has been touched upon in many other discussions on the list because I feel that one of the most important skills we can teach our students is how to express themselves clearly and logically. Some faculty will assign traditional research papers; others thought papers. I am looking for comments on how you design your written assignments. How do you help your students develop good writing skills; i.e. How detailed are your comments about writing quality (grammar, spelling, etc.) as opposed to evaluation of content of the paper? Do you require or allow students to submit drafts? Do you recommend or require that students take their papers to the Writing Center at your school (if one exists)? Do you encourage them to have friends or peers read their work and offer suggestions for editing? Can you recommend handbooks for writing (not just for doing library research) in Political Science? If you have your papers submitted by email, how do you answer the above questions: by printing papers out and then commenting; by replying on email and then commenting line-by-line; by summary comments, etc?

From: Suzanna.Ellison@awl.com
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 08:51:40 -0600

At the risk of self-promotion, I can refer you to two resources, one free, one a textbook. The Little,Brown Compact Handbook is a brief paperback handbook, comb-bound and inexpensive ($20 net price) at 300 pages. The latest edition (1998) contains new material on internet research and citation. The ISBN is 0-321-01112-0. We also have an Online Research and Citation Guide on our English website, at http://longman.awl.com/englishpages. It's quite comprehensive, including examples of APA style citation and sample searches (and we hope soon to have a version tailored for political science). Suzanna Ellison Longman Publishers

From: RCARTER@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 10:23:54 -0500 (CDT)

Now that the issue of writing references has been raised, let me praise the following: Diana Hacker, _A Pocket Style Manual_ (2nd ed., Bedford Books/St. Martin's). This guide to effective writing and documentation has a number of advantages: it is brief and thus relatively inexpensive, it includes both the rules of good writing and all the major styles of academic documentation, and it includes examples for the documentation of on-line/internet sources. I now make this book a required purchase for all my courses in which a formal paper is a part. Hope this suggestion helps, Ralph Carter Texas Christian University

From: "Mario Mion"
mailto:MION_MARIO@COLSTATE.EDU
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 10:25:58 EST

Re Carter's comments on the Hacker Style Manual: do you, or others, find the illustration(s) for Internet source documentation adequate in the Hacker or in the Scott manuals? Students increasingly are coming in with sources obtained through the Internet, a habit that is a mixed blessing. Nonetheless, a standardized documentation format is appropriate. Mario Mion

From: Ralph Carter
mailto:RCARTER@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 08:33:20 -0500 (CDT)

Re: Mario's question, I do find that the guidance to citing Internet sources in Hacker's, _A Pocket Style Manual_, is satisfactory. Occasionally, I have to make a judgment call for a student, but that happens with virtually every citation style. On-line sources have become so commonplace that I resisted making such a style book a required purchase until I found one which covered these sources. Ralph Carter TCU

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 11:37:28 -0700
From: Barry Daniel
mailto:bdaniel@mail.western.edu

I have used the "Political Science Student Writer's Manual" (Scott/Garrison) Prentice-Hall with success. A 2nd Edition has just come out which has a good section on electronic sources. The only disadvantage to this manual is its price (approx. $25) because of that I typically have it as a recommended text for lower division PS classes and required for upper division. hope this helps. Barry Daniel

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 22:18:47 +1100
From: Andrew Vandenberg
mailto:vanden@deakin.edu.au

Essay assignments teaching politics I have found "research essays" to be very popular with my second and third-year students (at Deakin Univ. Australia). They put a great deal of effort in researching new material and generally enjoy spreading their wings a little. I ask all students to write a first short essay, covering the first third of the course. This gives me a common measure of each student's competence and provides them with starting points for the research essay. They also sit exam at the end of semester, so students cannot neglect acquiring an overview of what I teach them. In my course description I explain to them how to formulate their own research essay question. I suggest, for example, that they find an author they dislike, take a phrase that represents that author's argument, and then analyse why the argument is wrong. Or they can follow the references of an author they like and analyse that author's protagonists. The more competent students can research issues in themselves, using the internet, Sociofile or other indexes to locate relevant material. I insist that each student submit a plan, comprising a BRIEF description of about twenty paragraphs and comments on ten references (an annotated bibliography). Each student must make an appointment to meet me for ten minutes to discuss their plan. At that meeting, I give them a mark for the ten percent of total assessment carried by the plan. (these appointments speed up my assessment of the plans and ensures they get timely feedback). When they write the essay, they almost always deviate from their plans of course, but that is fine by me (thus far I have suspected plagiarism in no essays). On a practical note, students appreciate not having to scramble to borrow the few available books in the university library that cover a set essay topic. They also appreciate the interview. If anyone wants to read the full descriptions of my courses, they can be found at http://arts.deakin.edu.au/aip205_305 http://arts.deakin.edu.au/aip206 I also have brief advice to students about reading and writing generally, along with some more specific advice on grammar (the list of unrules of grammar is popular). Andrew

Author: "Patrick H. O'Neil" poneil@ups.edu
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 08:57:14 -0800

In response to the comments on writing assignments, I am wondering how others have structured the objectives of their papers. Courses in our department tend to forgo exams in favor of papers, but I find this has the tendency to make one want to turn papers into exams--in other words, to write questions that try to get the students to cover as much material in the paper as possible. Under some circumstances this works quite well, but in uppper-division courses I would prefer short papers along the way that allow more critical thought while not devolving into opinion papers that don't show evidence of having drawn from the course to date. Has anyone found any good approaches in terms of writing more flexible kinds of paper assignments?

Patrick H. O'Neil, Ph.D. University of Puget Sound Department of Politics and Government Tacoma Washington USA 98416 253.756.8219 fax 253.756.3500 http://www.ups.edu/polgov/oneil

Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 01:29:32 -0600 (CST)
From: William J Murin
mailto:murin@uwp.edu

My comments are limited to writing in the Intro to American Politics course. My class size is somewhere between 50 and 80 every semester. We are a totally undergraduate institution and I do this with no gradings, TAs, etc. 1/4 of my students' grades are based on a series of writing assignments that are all Internet based. In fact the assignments themselves are on the home page for the course. There is no assignment that is required. Students simply pick a series of papers and other projects to tackle so that by the end of the semester they have attempted 100 points worth of such assignments. Point values differ based on my view of the complexity and the assignment. The papers they write are usually between 3 and 5 pages each, with a typical student writing 6 to 8 in the course of a semester. I grade on grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, substances, ideas, etc. Part of what I am trying to do is to give them some writing practice in relatively small bites so when they do have a course with a "real" term paper they will at least have had some writing exposure. I am hesitant to assign them something that approximates a real research paper because many of them simply have not had that kind of writing training in high school. The overall work load for the semester, in addition to the writing assignments, is 3 multiple choice/short answer tests, and the exercises in the MicroCase American Goverment book.

Bill Murin Professor of Political Science University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 15:54:23 -0500 (EST)
From: "JAMES T. HENNESSEY JR"
mailto:thenness@osf1.gmu.edu

My comments are all based upon teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level in public administration and government for the past five years. My paper assignments are functional (information, background, decision, and/or staff studies) and research (specific topic with broad application).

1. I always require drafts. It does two things for me and at least the same for the student. First, I can tell if s/he is on the right track. Second, it allows me to guide the errant and better focus the more proficient.

2. I give options for submission, email or hardcopy. If emailed, I comment in the body and follow with general comments afterward.

3. I stress communication and emphasize form. Future public administrators and political staffers must be able to communicate clearly in precise language. Poor grammar and spelling mistakes are acceptable in drafts, but never in a final product.

4. I always encourage students to have someone else read their work before submitting it. Unfortunately, since most undergrads work to tight deadlines the peer review efforts do little more than satisfy the requirement. I have had more luck with peer review in assigning group papers. The paper must read as though written by one person, but each must state (in a separate paragraph) their own contribution to the paper and make it clear to the reader (me) how important their part was to the whole. This catches those groups that get one member to write the paper and the others just take credit.

Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 17:05:45 -0700 (MST)
From: M Poulin
mailto:mpoulin@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca

Concerning written assignments, I take these things so seriously that I devote at least half a class to how to write a paper. I don't mean just grammatical stuff, but how to effectively communicate your ideas and meaning via the written assignment. Good writing skill is critical for all, and especially so for university faculty and students. We (instructors) too often assign written tasks with little instruction on how to proceed. It is as though we assume that students know the basics, and, unfortunately, they don't. I know that I am not in the English Dept. and should not devote too much class time to writing skills, but I don't feel that 30-40 minutes is excessive given the importance of written communication.

Cheers, Marc Poulin Dept. of Political Science University of Alberta

Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 14:39:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Edith Klein
mailto:eklein@chass.utoronto.ca

Re: writing assignments

Having taught different levels and different competencies in undergraduate and graduate political science courses, I can offer the following suggestions: The traditional term paper is still the way to go, but at lower undergraduate levels students seem to lack the basic skills to pull it together. Therefore, I break it up into 4 separate writing assignments:

(1) a five-page blurb on the chosen topic (why it is interesting, important, etc.);

(2) an annotated bibliography;

(3) an annotated outline or plan of the paper;

(4) the completed paper itself. After the first assignment is handed in, no further individual assignment is accepted unless the previous one has been completed.

The grading is structured so that students must complete each individual step before completing the final paper. I have also used the "journal" technique as a supplementary writing assignment, a technique designed to serve several objectives: it gives students who are uncomfortable with traditional writing formats and with speaking up in classes the opportunity to express themselves in a confidential forum; it gives me feedback on what is not getting across in the classroom; it gives me feedback on the assigned readings; it gives me an insight into the student's individual strengths and/or weaknesses, which I can then use in advising the student. In the "journal" students are free to write about virtually anything they want that is course-related (a comment made in the class, a question they might have, something they didn't understand, something they read in the newspaper or saw on televsion, etc.) Warning: the journal is useful only if students submit it on a weekly basis; also, it requires a lot of work to read and mark, and is actually quite difficult to grade. I use it only as a supplementary assignment and I don't give it a great deal of weight in the final mark. Another writing assignment I have used is to get students to write comments on films that have been shown in the course. If you are lucky enough to have a writing clinic at your university, by all means encourage students to use it. I correct grammatical and typographical errors in students' essays and I feel strongly about doing so. Every so often I will spend five minutes of class time explaining a common error (for example, using "it's" instead of "its") and how to avoid it in writing; I then threaten to deduct five points each time that particular error occurs in the next assignment. This is a remarkably effective way of improving students' grammar. I wish it were not necessary. Finally, I always give students the option of handing in a draft in the interests of improving their work and getting a higher grade. The catch is they must hand the draft in two weeks prior to the deadline for the final text. Surprisingly few students take advantage of this opportunity.

________________________________________________________________ Dr. Edith S. Klein, Resident Fellow Publications Officer, Stalin-Era Research and Archives Project Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Toronto 130 St. George Street, Suite 14335, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5 Canada Tel: (416) 978-3330 Fax: (416) 978-3817 E-mail: eklein@epas.utoronto.ca Home tel: (416) 532-3475 Home fax: (416) 537-0665

Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 13:25:01 -0500 (EST)
Sender: Joel J Schwartz <jjschwar@email.unc.edu>

Teaching Guide: Writing Assignments Revisited Summary taken from "Writing to Learn" by Professor Erika Lindemann of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in For Your Consideration by the Center for Teaching and Learning.

All writing assignments need not be research-type term papers. Short, ungraded papers help students to think "on Paper". They allow a teacher to understand if the student understands the concepts presented in class.

Some suggestions for these short assignments are:

Ask the student to apply the principle or concept to his/her experience.

Make a connection between material being presented at present and that which was taught earlier.

Summarize a reading assignment, newspaper or magazine article, C-Span program, etc.

Longer, research papers should be approached differently. Paper assignments should not be assigned with a due date for completion, but with nothing before that. WRITING SHOULD BE APPROACHED IN STAGES. So that the final paper is more than what we would call a "draft," it is necessary to:

1. Write out the assignment explaining not only what to do but how to do it what are the recommended procedures to follow.

2. Give students a chance to explain their plans for the paper. They can write a brief proposal or abstract, discuss their plans in conference, or talk to other students during a "planning workshop".

3. Discuss the project during classes. Offer students the chance to ask questions; present possible strategies for completing the assignment.

4. Ask for drafts by a specific date. Comment on the drafts and allow students to talk over, with you, your comments.

These are just a few ways that writing assignments can enhance the learning experience of students as well as contribute to the development of one of the most necessary of life skills--the ability to explain clearly and concisely one's ideas. And much of what is listed above can be done in a discussion forum if it is well-planned. Remember that forums and papers should help to accomplish the overall goals of your class.

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