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What
is WAC?
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is a nationwide educational movement
that was initiated by faculty in the 1970s. The aim of WAC is to
improve teaching and learning by helping both students and faculty see
writing as a central part of not only English courses but courses across
the curriculum. WAC also aims to create a sense of community among
faculty who teach in diverse disciplines but share the common goal of
improving student learning through writing. Although WAC programs may go
by different titles (Writing Across the Curriculum, Communication Across
the Curriculum, Writing in the Disciplines), they share certain basic
premises:
- Writing is thinking.
Writing is one of the most effective ways to engage students in
critical thinking about a subject or discipline.
- Teachers within a
discipline are best prepared to teach the writing required by their
discipline. It is impossible for English composition teachers to
prepare students for all the varied types of writing they will be
assigned in college.
- Students learn to write
by writing often. If students write extensively only in English
composition courses, their writing skills will atrophy.
- Writing is a process.
Students will write more effectively if given a chance to revise and
to receive feedback from peers and teachers throughout the writing
process.
To view
a video of a presentation at James Madison University by Dan Melzer,
Writing Across the Curriculum Coordinator, on the topic "What is WAC?"
visit
http://pzemliansky.googlepages.com/danmelzer%27spresentation
To help encourage faculty across disciplines make writing a central
element of their courses, WAC at CSUS provides faculty with a variety of
types of academic support. The University Reading and Writing
Coordinator can act as a consultant to both departments and individual
faculty on issues of curriculum design and assessment. The Coordinator
is also available to present departmental workshops on topics such as
“Handling the Paper Load,” “Designing Effective Writing Assignments,”
“Responding to Student Writing,” etc. Each semester the Coordinator
presents free campus-wide workshops on a variety of topics related to
reading and writing and publishes a WAC newsletter that is distributed
to all CSUS teachers. To schedule a workshop or consultation, or to find
out more about WAC at CSUS, contact:
Dan Melzer
University Reading and Writing Coordinator
151 Calaveras
Email:
melzer@csus.edu
Phone: 916-278-6925
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