You don’t have to be an expert in writing or grammar to assign writing in your classes. There are many options for kinds of writing you can assign. One of the most useful for student learning is informal write-to-learn assignments, such as writing a reflection on course material or reading assignments. Even if you assign more formal writing assignments that you expect to meet certain conventions and standards, the responsibility for grammar errors and correction should be placed on the student. Research shows that students do not learn how to write better from teachers correcting grammar errors on their papers. Rather, students learn how to avoid these mistakes by writing more and by taking responsibility for editing their own work.

Getting feedback on drafts is incredibly helpful for student writers, but many times it’s impossible to fit this into your already heavy grading load. Students can get help on in-progress work from the University’s Writing Center (in Humanities Hall). Here, students can get one-on-one feedback from experienced writers for free. You may also want to consider building in time for peer workshop in your course. Giving some course time to peer workshop can have many benefits. Students have a deadline for their essays that’s before the final deadline, keeping them from writing the whole essay the night before it’s due. Students get the opportunity to get feedback from peers going through the same process, and they get ideas on how to craft their own writing from reading their peers’ work. Peer workshop is most effective when you follow some helpful guidelines. Click here for Peer Review Recommendations

This is a common complaint from college instructors no matter what university they teach at. Reading flawed drafts can be discouraging. However, a lot of the success of a writing assignment depends on how the assignment is framed in the class and how the requirements are presented. When you assign an essay in a class and it is only mentioned in the syllabus and maybe referenced in class for ten minutes, students will either forget about it until right before it’s due or they will see it as not having as much value as the other work the instructor spends more time on in class. Emphasize the importance of the assignment and give some class time for planning and talking about it. Also, make sure to spell out key criteria for the assignment. You may want to refer to our writing assignment template as a resource. Click here for an Assignment Template

Surprisingly, teachers have been known to assign writing tasks without articulating to themselves what the task is supposed to do for students. Good writing assignments always start with a clear goal that the teacher can express, usually on the assignment sheet so that students understand the goal as well. Good writing assignments also often take shape by thinking backwards. In effect, teachers ask themselves, "What do I want to read at the end of this assignment?" By working from what they anticipate the final product to look like, teachers can give students detailed guidelines about both the writing task and the final written product.

This is a common concern from non-writing faculty, and with good reason. Assessing writing can be a daunting task. However, using a rubric with clearly defined criteria can help immensely both in providing feedback to students and in speeding up the grading process. There are many different kinds of rubrics you can use. Having all the criteria on the rubric will allow you to simply mark the level for each category (focus, organization, grammar, etc.) and also provides a rationale for your grade. Also, it is important to fight the urge to mark grammatical errors on finished work. If the student will not be revising the essay, providing feedback on grammar and usage errors is not an effective use of your time.  Click here for Rubric Samples

Two of the most common areas students struggle with when writing for non-writing classes is in providing clear thesis statements to set up the focus of their papers and including paragraphs that are focused and organized. While these are both concepts students should’ve learned in College Writing, when writing for other classes, they sometimes forget to approach the writing task with purpose and planning. Spending just 10 minutes of class time reviewing these concepts can help them tap into the knowledge from freshman year and transfer it to their current writing task. If you’d like to include some brief refreshers in your class, here are some resources. Click here for a Thesis and Paragraph Lesson

• Explain the purpose of the writing assignment.
• Make the format of the writing assignment fit the purpose (format: research essay, position paper, brief or abstract, lab report, problem-solving essay, etc.)

• Provide complete written instructions.
• Provide formatmodels where possible.
• Discuss sample strong, average, and weak drafts.

Where appropriate, peer group workshops on rough drafts may improve the overall quality of student writing. For example, have students critique each others' drafts one week before the due date for format, organization, or mechanics. For these workshops, outline specific and limited tasks on a checksheet. These workshops also give you an opportunity to make sure that all the students are progressing satisfactorily on the project.

On a grading sheet, indicate the percentage of the grade devoted to content and the percentage devoted to writing skills (expression, punctuation, spelling, mechanics). The grading sheet should indicate the important content features as well as the writing skills you consider significant.

• Does the grading criteria section specifically indicate which writing skills the teacher considers important as well as the various aspects of content?
• What part of the course grade is this assignment?
• Does the assignment include use of models (strong, average, weak) or samples outlines?