Conflict Analysis

Jakob is an undergraduate student at the University of Missouri Columbia double majoring in Computer Science and Music. He was the secretary of the Eta Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, and a mellophone player in Marching Mizzou, the Big M of the Midwest. In his spare time, he's a performer,…

A Glimpse of Everything

Sean is a junior in Biological Science, majoring in biology. He is originally from Wildwood, Missouri. He has two papers published in Artifacts Journal: A Conscious Universe and How to Live a Life. As he was interested in examining a section of a work that came close to illustrating an author's entire worldview,…

Using Outlines to Teach Critical Thinking

In the years that I have been teaching WI courses at the University of Missouri, I’ve learned a few things that have helped me be a more effective teacher. First, it is important to be clear about your goals and to include learning strategies that enable students to achieve that goal.

Student Writing Before—and in Addition to—WI Courses

Many faculty are understandably curious about the writing instruction students will receive as students here. To earn an undergraduate degree at MU, every student is required to take three writing courses: English 1000 followed by two WI courses, one of which must be at the upper division level in the major. ENGL 1000 is overseen by the Composition Program in the Department of English, while the WI curriculum is overseen by Campus Writing Program.

Teaching Writing Using Rubrics

Evaluating student writing can be difficult, and assuring consistent grading from one assignment to the next and between various faculty/TA graders can be particularly challenging. You might ask, why is this? Many factors contribute to the issues we face when evaluating student writing.

Intentional Ambiguity in Assignment Design

When deciding to incorporate writing into a course, most instructors have learned that this is not as easy as “I’ll just assign an essay.” For many, the first step is to determine what the learning objectives are for the writing assignment: what do you want your students to get out of writing this paper?

“We’re all in this together”: Methods for Utilizing Peer Review

Peer review allows students to experience the advantage of feedback not only from the instructor but from their colleagues as well. There are several reasons to recommend employing such an approach, not least of which is a related phenomenon: peer pressure.

Biological Sciences Professor Earns Win Horner Award

Biological Sciences Professor Miriam Golomb sees Writing Intensive (WI) courses as a chance for students to re-examine concepts with a deeper understanding.

WI Class Challenges Students to Collaborate

For Joan Hermsen, teaching a Writing Intensive (WI) class is a collaborative learning process that enhances course content and cultivates an invaluable skill set. Hermsen, department chair for Women and Gender Studies, changed her class Social Research 2950 to a Writing Intensive course last year because she wanted writing products to be the primary assessment.…

New WI Course Guidelines for Group Work

Many excellent Writing Intensive (WI) courses feature group work assignments. These guidelines are intended to clarify questions that arise when group work is included in the WI proposal. As with all WI courses, these guidelines are intended to be flexible. Alternative means to the same end will certainly be considered. CWP staff are happy to…