Resources for Instructors

Writing assignments can be used to promote and assess student learning across the disciplines. As students learn about the content and methods of a field, learning about how experts in the field communicate knowledge can create a well-rounded experience. Learning about writing can reinforce learning about content, and the reverse is also true.

Students develop competence in writing in the specific genres and styles of writing valued in a particular academic field through guided practice offered by an expert from the field. More generalized academic writing training offered in some first-year courses helps prepare students for such instruction, but those courses do not teach students disciplinary writing knowledge, such as how to write a good caption for a figure displaying a chemical reaction, the role of footnotes in a historical essay, or strategies for organizing an abstract for a computer science research paper.

The guidance provided in these links offers faculty specific information about the key aspects of including writing in a college course. If you would like to consult about a particular assignment you are developing, reach out to writing@caltech.edu.