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5050 Topics in Writing

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COLLEGE-LEVEL WRITING INSTRUCTION, Prof. Steve Lamos

This course is designed to introduce MA and PhD students to fundamental theories and practices of effective college-level writing instruction as conceptualized within the contemporary field of composition studies.

The first part of the course will focus on a number of key “how-to” pedagogical strategies relevant to the teaching of writing:  how to design and implement course syllabi, writing assignments, and classroom activities geared toward promoting students’ “higher-order” (e.g. argument, organization, evidence) and “lower-order” (e.g. grammar, style) writing abilities; how to assess student writing both formally and informally; how to conduct a variety of one-on-one, small-group, and large-group writing workshops; how to introduce students to useful academic research strategies; how to integrate technology into writing instruction; and how to address the needs of diverse learners. 

The second part of the course will ask students to analyze the pedagogical strategies covered in the first part of the course using various theoretical perspectives on contemporary writing instruction (e.g. “expressivist,” “social constructivist,” “cultural studies,” “post-colonial,” “post-process,” etc.).

Coursework will include the following:  a number of short written responses to reading material; a short self-reflective teaching project / presentation rooted in students’ own teaching experiences; a statement of teaching philosophy intended for use on the academic job market; and an extended critical project related to some set of pedagogical and/or theoretical issues discussed in the course.  

Key course readings will likely include the following:  Villanueva, Crosstalk in Comp Theory; Glenn, Goldthwaite and Connors, The St. Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing; Meyer and Smith, The Practical Tutor; and a coursepak made up of articles from College English, College Composition and Communication, Written Communication, Rhetoric Review, Pedagogy, the Journal of Basic Writing, and various others.