May 14, 2007
An innovative program training faculty to make writing an integral part of the learning experience
BMCC professor Rifat Salam teaches Sociology, not English, but writing has always figured importantly in her courses. "I’ve always seen writing assignments as fundamental to effective teaching and learning," she says.
That view lies at the heart of BMCC’s Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program, which trains participating faculty in the design and implementation of "writing-intensive (WI)courses." The idea, according to WAC coordinator Gay Brookes, "is to use both formal and informal writing as a way to foster critical thinking and communication skills and to construct knowledge."
Laying the groundwork
To date, more than 100 BMCC faculty have gone through WI workshops, where they learn how to design WI syllabi and create writing assignments that enhance student understanding of course content. Importantly, it’s the approach, not the content, that sets WI courses apart from their non-WI counterparts. "The curriculum is the same," Brooks notes. "The main difference is the heightened emphasis on writing and, because classes are capped at 25 students, the smaller class size."
Writing assignments range from journals and "freewriting" to longer papers, where the emphasis is on revision. Two CUNY doctoral candidates – Kris Burrell and Yvonne Hung – serve as writing fellows, consulting with teachers and students and helping them get the most out of the writing-intensive experience.
"Apart from whatever I may have contributed to the program, I’ve also learned things that will help me improve my own teaching techniques," says Burrell. "I’m looking forward to getting back to my own students and implementing the tools I’ve acquired here."
Hung says she has been impressed by the relevance of WAC methodologies to courses "like math, where you would assume writing wouldn’t readily lend itself." Recently, students in a "history of mathematics" course were assigned to write a last will and testament bequeathing Archimedes’ Palimpsest – a landmark document in mathematics theory – to the next generation. "The exercise enabled the students to recapture and repackage the information they were given in class far more effectively than if they’d simply studied it," Hung says. "They were able to see Archimedes’ work from a different perspective, so that it became a valuable lesson in critical thinking."
An aid to learning
Students who have taken WI course say it has challenged and expanded their cognitive and critical abilities and helped them get far more out of their coursework than they thought possible.
"I found I had an much easier time grasping concepts, and that learning became much more than a matter of memorizing dates and facts," says Anibal Sanchez-Reyes, who was introduced to the WI model in a sociology course taught by Professor Salam. "I’m now able to read material without having to give myself a headache trying to figure out what the author is talking about. It’s something I know I can apply to other courses."
