Bonnie and others:
When I floated the idea a few years ago about WI courses in engineering with a
course cap of 30, I was more or less laughed out of the room. Our classes are,
as is typical in Engineering, more like 100 (or up to 400 in some cases). We
have an innovative new course coming onstream next year which combines small
group seminars (25 students) with a larger lecturer and a design lab. It will
combine communication and design. It will involve significant writing
instruction, but the model is very different than WI courses as I've seen them
conceived.
Rob
Quoting Bonnie Waterstone <[log in to unmask]>:
> Rob,
> As one of the faculty -- or rather a sessional instructor -- teaching a
> class of 30 (Education 100: Selected questions and issues in education)
> as a pilot writing intensive last semester as SFU, I can tell you that
> I think the class size needs to be examined, and/or teaching assistants
> considered. However, there are ways to use writing activities in class
> and ways to avoid lots of marking. CWIL staff at SFU are really
> helpful in thinking about this. But, there are only 3 of them, and a
> big program to implement.
> Bonnie
> (jumping in for the first time to this list serv)
> On Thursday, May 20, 2004, at 10:56 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > Kathryn:
> >
> > I didn't see mention of class-size restrictions in your W courses.
> > Traditional
> > WI course structures limit class size in order to facilitate the
> > teaching of
> > writing and revision. It was this factor that killed off the idea in
> > Engineering at U of Toronto. Are your numbers restricted? If not, how
> > do/will
> > the faculty cope?
> >
> > Rob Irish
> >
> >
> > Quoting Kathryn Alexander <[log in to unmask]>:
> >
> >> At 01:14 PM 5/19/2004 -0600, you wrote:
> >>
> >> Hello all - as you might know from Wendy Strachan and my
> >> presentation
> >> at INKSHED - SFU has now passed in Senate as of last monday the "W"
> >> requirement for writing-intensive learning across the entire
> >> undergraduate
> >> curriculum.
> >>
> >> I can pass along our web-site for the Centre for Writing Intensive
> >> Learning (CWIL) and links to faculty resources that have a list of
> >> pilot courses and some assignments and syllabi.
> >>
> >> These are the criteria that new "W" courses will be expected to
> >> integrate
> >> into their existing curricula and they define what SFU means by a "W"
> >> course. I have posted them below.
> >>
> >> I have also provided a link to the Centre for Writing Intensive
> >> Learning
> >> web-site where you can find these guidelines
> >>
> >> http://www.sfu.ca/cwil/facrespg/wguidelines.html
> >>
> >> and also discipline specific resources that have been developed in
> >> pilot
> >> courses since the FALL 2002 semester.
> >>
> >> http://www.sfu.ca/cwil/facrespg/wil_courses.html Here you can look at
> >> syllabi and some assignments from pilot courses that have already
> >> begun to
> >> integrate w criteria.
> >>
> >> The general rule of thumb will be that as of Sept. 2006 new
> >> students
> >> will be required to take 6 credits ( 2 courses) of w courses in
> >> total, one at lower division and one at upper division.
> >>
> >> This is a work in progress ( as is the web-site) - but after two
> >> years of
> >> really hard work - the criteria and the infrastructure is in place.
> >> Let
> >> the games begin!
> >>
> >> cheers
> >>
> >> kathryn
> >>
> >>
> >>> I'm putting together a workshop on the state of WAC and I want to
> >>> update
> >>> myself on what other people are doing. I'm especially interested in
> >>> which universities use a writing-intensive course model. I'd be even
> >>> more grateful for specific resources such as the criteria used for WI
> >>> courses, how many of them must be taken, how this is enforced -- the
> >>> logistical nitty gritty.
> >>>
> >>> If everyone is willing, I'd suggest replying to the list rather than
> >>> to
> >>> me personally -- there have been a number of such discussions that
> >>> started on CASLL and then moved off-list, and I for one would have
> >>> liked
> >>> to follow the conversation; I'm sure many others will be interested
> >>> too. Nice break from viagra ads.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks, all!
> >>>
> >>> Doug
> >>> --
> >>> Dr. Doug Brent
> >>> Associate Dean (Academic)
> >>> Faculty of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary
> >>> 2500 University Drive N.W.
> >>> Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
> >>> Voice: (403) 220-5458 Fax: (403) 282-6716
> >>> http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dabrent
> >>>
> >>> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >>> To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> >>> [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
> >>> write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
> >>>
> >>> For the list archives and information about the organization,
> >>> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> >>> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> >>> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >>
> >> "A Writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for
> >> other people." Thomas Mann
> >> _________________________________________
> >>
> >> Kathryn Alexander, Ph.D.,
> >> Centre for Writing Intensive Learning (CWIL),
> >> Simon Fraser University,
> >> Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
> >> Office: AQ 6207
> >> Tel: (604) 268 - 6799 Fax: (604) 268 - 6915
> >> email: [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >> To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> >> [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
> >> write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >> For the list archives and information about the organization,
> >> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> >> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> >> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >>
> >
> > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> > To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> > [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
> > write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
> >
> > For the list archives and information about the organization,
> > its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> > http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> >
> >
> Bonnie L. Waterstone, Ph.D.
> Faculty of Education
> Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
>
> phone: 604 886-3227 (h)
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
> write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
>
> For the list archives and information about the organization,
> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
