Pasadena City College Staff Development Writing Across the Curriculum - Home WAC - Writing Across the Curriculum Pasadena City College Staff Development Writing Across the Curriculum - Home
Home What is WAC? Instructional Aides Resources Tips Writing Fellows Writing Intensive
Pasadena City College Staff Development Writing Across the Curriculum - Home Welcome to Writing Across the Curriculum

Writing Intensive Course

GUIDELINES TO CREATING A WRITING INTENSIVE (WI) COURSE

Writing Intensive is a curricular designation which, when assigned to a course, indicates a specific set of writing experiences will occur in that course regardless of the course content or discipline. This label is meant to serve as a signal to students that a particular course is following the guidelines for Writing Intensive Courses.

  1. Faculty who teach WI courses have attended WAC workshops to learn about the principles and techniques of developing and teaching writing intensive classes.

  2. A Writing Intensive course includes a variety of informal and formal writing activities and assignments. These writing experiences are a reflection of the two approaches to Writing Across the Curriculum: “Writing to Learn” and “Learning to Write.” Formal assignments are designed using a process approach to writing so that students are provided revision opportunities and receive feedback during that process. Depending on the discipline, there is a minimum of 2500 words during the semester. This minimum assists in monitoring the volume of writing.

  3. Activities and assignments in a Writing Intensive course are planned so as to incorporate a Writing Fellow that may be assigned to the class. The Writing Fellow can assist with student conferencing on assignments, peer-review activities, and collaborative projects.

  4. Faculty members who teach WI classes limit themselves to two WI courses per semester. By doing so, they acknowledge the labor-intensive character of the WI course and are able to provide the necessary time for feedback to students throughout the WI course.

  5. Faculty members interested in having a class designated WI follow the application process, and when approved, notify their Dean of the designation in the class schedule for the semester the class will be offered.