This article describes the results of a survey of community college instructors who were asked about the writing they assign in non-English courses. The 171 respondents, representing 140 colleges, identified the kinds of writing they assign and the challenges that come with assigning writing. These challenges included finding time to grade…

Writing, a critical pedagogical tool, cultivates student learning and fosters deeper understanding of the material. When frequent, low-stakes (informal) writing activities help students write more freely, engage with the material and thus become active learners. Looking at students who are at opposite ends of a community college spectrum, this…

Students often enter community college with little proficiency in writing. The authors of this paper share a series of writing assignments designed to help students develop writing and critical thinking abilities throughout their community college experience. The first is a series of relatively low-stakes exercises aimed at helping beginning…

This article describes a study of how students use first person pronouns in papers written for undergraduate courses in multiple disciplines. If prompted, students imitate some of the ways experts use first person to establish their authority; but just as often students use first person pronouns to express uncertainty or to reveal that they have…

Increasingly community colleges are challenged to improve the basic skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening their students need for success in the business world and for transfer to a senior college. One attempt to meet the challenge has been to incorporate more writing assignments into classrooms across all disciplines. Concurrent with…

A writing across the curriculum program at Queensborough Community College in New York began its work on campus as Writing and Reading in the Technologies (WRIT) and chose to work with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) department. The program's implementation was two-tiered. In Tier 1, over a period of three years, the WRIT…

Describes how English faculty at a community college surveyed the needs of faculty in other disciplines regarding their writing requirements. Relates patterns that emerged and describes changes made in the English 101 course, including a summary/reaction assignment based on a bibliographic resource. Notes positive comments from students and…

English or rhetoric and composition faculty must work to collapse disciplinary boundaries in their institutions. The challenge facing English departments is to collapse the "we-they" mentality, to develop productive partnerships with other departments, and to develop a healthy respect for other disciplines. At Yavapai College in Arizona,…

This report provides outcomes for 1995-96 for Monroe Community College's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) program, an effort designed to help students learn to write in all disciplines through writing centers staffed by student writing fellows. Following introductory remarks, the report provides discussions of the following topics: the future…

This report provides outcomes for 1996-97 for Monroe Community College's Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program, an effort designed to help students learn to write in all disciplines through writing centers staffed by trained student writing fellows. Following introductory remarks, the report provides discussions of the following topics:…

This paper offers a model for Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC), for faculty and students at Union County College (UCC). The paper summarizes the history of WAC at UCC, which was introduced at the college in 1978, but did not become institutionalized. It also explores faculty views on the teaching of writing and the role of writing in the…

Monroe Community College's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) program, designed to help students learn to write in all disciplines through writing centers staffed by student writing fellows, is reviewed in this report. The report includes the following sections: the year in review; 1994-95 Writing Fellows; WAC faculty; statistical data; writing…

In an attempt to combat the problem of poor writing and problem-solving skills among technical program graduates, Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario, Canada began implementing changes in its Computer Studies curriculum. The first change was a greater focus on improving students' writing skills. Writing assignments were…

Designed for use by technical and vocational education teachers, this monograph describes techniques for combining writing across the curriculum strategies with reading and study skills approaches. The teaching and classroom techniques presented were developed as part of the Writing and Reading in the Technologies (WRIT) project undertaken by a…