Checklist for Designing Writing Assignments
Purpose
- connect this assignment to the goals of the course and discipline
- connect this assignment to other reading and writing assignments
- connect this assignment to the students’ interests or goals
Audience
- consider an audience other than just the teacher: peers, experts in the field, specific journals, etc.
- consider having students choose an audience
What the final product should do and not do
- summarize, explain, compare, synthesize, persuade, negotiate, etc.
- academic discourse conventions
- genre conventions
- level of formality
- structure: introductions, bodies, conclusions, internal organization options
- example products: professional essays, student essays, mediocre essays to critique
Grading criteria
- describe paper at each grade or “the best papers will....”
- list absolute criteria
- use a grading rubric
- describe what the final product is not
- correlate grading criteria with the purpose of the assignment
- indicate level of mechanical correctness necessary
Formatting instructions
- length, margins, typing, cover page, page numbering
- documentation style (give samples, if possible)
The writing process
- consider photocopying a student draft and critiquing it as a class
- encourage students to take a draft to The Writing Center
- consider using peer response workshops
- comment on a draft or allow a rewrite