Olivia Imirie Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity about writing metaphors is ideal for the first 1-2 weeks of the term and was originally developed for a first-year writing course. Students often struggle to talk about writing and their challenges with the writing process. They use statements such as “I don’t like writing,” […]
Benjamin Goodwin Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity, designed for the first day or week of a first-year composition course, aims to address several key beginning-of-the-term concerns: breaking the ice and building community, giving students a sense of agency and ownership of the learning space, and addressing the complex issues and impacts of
Collaborative Building of a Course AI Policy Read More »
Sarah Moon Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This activity is inspired by work done at the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse Faculty Seminar and the National Issues Forum approach to deliberative discourse. The activity goal is to provide opportunities to channel research and rhetorical education toward live, extemporaneous speech, not in a debate format
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Deliberative Discourse toward Group Consensus Read More »
Mustafa Masihuddin Siddiqui Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description During my first two terms teaching first-year composition classes at the University of Toronto, I faced multiple problems—my classes were not engaging enough; many of the students’ essays did not showcase deep understanding of the key course readings; some students did not apply the evidence into
“Read, Feed, and Seed”: Fostering Research Writing in Classroom Spaces Read More »
Sarah Swofford Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description The purpose of this assignment is three-fold: 1) it helps students execute prior knowledge about genre so they are able to effectively compose unfamiliar genres of writing; 2) shows students how their writing skills are useful in professional and not only academic contexts; and 3) teaches students
Proposal for Change on Campus Read More »
Joseph S. Vuletich Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description In today’s media ecosystem, politicians dismiss unflattering news stories as “hoaxes” and AI-generated deep-fakes concern us because of their increasingly realistic qualities. Scholars teaching information literacy have responded by developing sophisticated methods for sorting fact from fiction, promoting credibility, and dismissing falsehood. Yet falsehood is not
Impersonation Podcast: Understanding Untruth in Uncertain Times Read More »
Tong Zhang Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description Rubrics, often perceived as scoring devices, are pivotal in assessing students’ writing proficiency. Effectively utilizing rubrics can improve grading efficiency and consistency, guiding students in reflecting on their learning and comprehending the teacher’s feedback. Although rubrics are commonly used in writing classrooms, students may find them unclear
Chris Mayer Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This lesson develops students’ awareness of the synergistic and disruptive potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in storytelling. Designed for a first-year writing class, the lesson explores the interplay between creativity and AI by examining LLMs’ storytelling capabilities. Students will collaboratively create a chain story, then use
Laurence José Volume 6 Chapter Description College classes often involve some level of collaborative work. Technical writing courses are no different. In fact, collaboration has long been identified as one of the key components of technical and professional writing courses (Allen and Benninghoff). Yet, many students and teachers have experienced times of anxiety and even
Stronger Together: Collaborative Work in the Technical Writing Classroom Read More »
Samantha NeCamp & Connie Kendall Theado Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description “Don’t wait for the muse. As I’ve said, he’s a hardheaded guy who’s not susceptible to a lot of creative fluttering. This isn’t the Ouija board or the spirit-world we’re talking about here, but just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul
