Writing Intensive Curriculum Program

At the start of Fall term, OSU's current WIC Director Sarah Tinker Perrault presented on the use of ungraded writing exercises to promote students' content knowledge and writing confidence. She shared insights into current research about the use of writing to learn, as well as practical ways to meaningfully and seamlessly incorporate ungraded writing exercises into the classroom. 

Led by Sarah Tinker Perrault (Oregon State University)

• Watch the recording

What can the Marvel universe teach us about trauma and how to reach our students? WandaVision is a television series based on Marvel’s Scarlet Witch. I watched the series the first time for entertainment, but I kept thinking about how it is the perfect exploration and representation of the power of grief and trauma. In this talk, we will explore the trauma-informed classroom and demonstrate how educators can embed lessons from superheroes into their curriculum that can help with student retention and engagement. We will create a menu of options that are based on your classroom needs, demographic, and discipline.

Led by Sydney Elliott (Tillamook Bay CC)

• Watch the recording

During this lunchtime conversation, a panel of faculty new to teaching WIC classes will talk about how they have been applying WIC principles in their classes. They will share what’s working for them, the challenges they face, and how their courses continue to evolve. After the panelists talk about their classes, there will be time for others to join the conversation by asking questions and by sharing their own experiences applying WIC principles to their teaching.

Led by Bori Csillag (Business), Philip McFadden (Biochemistry & Biophysics), Kim Rogers (Kinesiology), Vaughn Robison (Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences), and Alexander Ulbrich (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)

• Watch the recording

In this lunchtime conversation, Dr. Patti Sakurai (Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies) will talk about how she guides students through the process of drafting and revising written work in a WIC class. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of experience teaching at OSU, she will share how she teaches students about creating rhetorically effective drafts, and how she uses supportive feedback to help them revise. There will be plenty of time for questions and for a group conversation about how to apply her strategies and insights in other classes and disciplines.

Led by Patti Sakurai (Ethnic Studies)

• Watch the recording

WIC Director Dr. Sarah Perrault and a group of faculty at OSU Cascades met to talk about how to use informal, low-stakes writing to promote disciplinary learning in both WIC and non-WIC classes. Dr. Perrault shared ideas about specific low-stakes writing exercises. Faculty practiced using one and talked about how they might use it in their classes.

Led by WIC Director Sarah Tinker Perrault

• Read the recap

This workshop will introduce pedagogical principles related to teaching writing and give participants the opportunity to think about how they can or do use these principles to design, scaffold, and respond to writing assignments. Participants will also learn about and discuss how advanced digital tools (such as ChatGPT) might or might not be useful in writing classes.

Led by Nadia Jaramillo Cherrez, WIC Director Sarah Tinker Perrault, and WIC GTA Olivia Rowland

• Watch the recording
• Read participant contributions

This workshop, led by Dr. Stephanie Kerschbaum, addresses the ways that identities matter to our classrooms and how disability identify in particular might be important for shaping our teaching and learning experiences. Such attention is not solely about the possibility that students in your classes might identify as disabled or have experiences with disability and need accommodations, but also about the ways that faculty understand their teaching identity and their own needs and preferences in setting up and arranging classroom activities and practices. 

Led by Dr. Stephanie Kerschbaum

Dr. Stephanie Kerschbaum, Associate Professor of English at the University of Washington and Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, explores how we notice and attend to disability. Drawing from her most recent book, Signs of Disability, she introduces the concept of "dis-attention" to examine the ways in which disability can be both hypervisible and invisible. 

Led by Dr. Stephanie Kerschbaum

• Watch the recording

Research shows that using informal writing can enhance student learning in all disciplines, at all levels (from lower division through graduate classes). However, many faculty are unsure how to incorporate informal writing into classes, or concerned about taking time away from course content. This 50 minute interactive workshop demonstrates how easy it is to include informal writing that accentuates course content, and that helps develop students’ content learning as well as their academic writing skills.

Led by WIC Director Sarah Tinker Perrault

• Download the workshop slides, microthemes document, and writing to learn rationale and activities

Learn what each WIC learning outcome means, identify how these WIC outcomes can support the disciplinary outcomes, and integrate the two sets of outcomes in clearly defined exercises and assignments that will help students learn course content and disciplinary writing.

Led by WIC Director Sarah Tinker Perrault

• Watch the recording
• Download the workshop slides and the graphic organizer

This workshop describes the need for linguistically inclusive practices in all academic disciplines. It offers specific tips on how we can value and support students’ use of different languages and varieties/dialects of English, lower barriers to access, and increase learning opportunities for students from all linguistic backgrounds.

Led by Adam Schwartz (OSU), Sergio Loza (UO), and Devin Grammon (UO)

• Watch the recording
• Download the workshop slides

In the midst of the pandemic and a shift to remote learning, many are at our wits’ end converting classes, keeping our students motivated, and keeping ourselves motivated. Just thinking about how to better a WIC course or try something new may be daunting. However, biologist Lauren Dalton has some tried and true activities/strategies that may help both you and your students; she shares 3 quick hacks that are fun (or mostly fun) and also help build students cognizance around their communication abilities, agency in what they write about, and logical flow in their written pieces.

Led by Lauren Dalton (Biochemistry and Biophysics)

• Watch the recording
• Download the workshop slides, writing prompts, and communication activity instructions and image

When you publish your discussion post, you’re hopeful. Hopeful that students will match the effort you put into crafting a great question: thoughtful, well-articulated, compassionate responses that demonstrate growth and understanding. And yet. A scattering of twenty word responses, some “please get me through this” posts, and a few eager students diving into the deep end—but where are the discussions that build to an energizing and meaningful conversation? Ask better questions and you’ll get better answers. Watch this workshop where we’ll show you how to write questions that maximize student engagement and that create meaningful experiences for your students.

Led by WIC GTA Alexander Mahmou-Werndli and WIC Interns Jessica Al-Faqih and Erin Vieira

• Watch the recording
• Download the workshop slides, handout, and workbook

Contrary to popular belief, information literacy and its components do not follow a linear model. When students critically explore and engage in texts their actual experience is often messy, dynamic, frustrating, and rewarding. If you are interested in exploring how to integrate information literacy so that students are empowered and create stronger connections in their thinking, watch this workshop on teaching information literacy.

Led by Hannah Gascho Rempel, Professor, Graduate Student Services Coordinator and Science Librarian & Jane Nichols, Associate Professor, Head, Teaching and Engagement Department, OSU Libraries and Press

• Watch the recording
• Read the recap

Are conspiracy theorists and anti-maskers anti-fact? Are confirmation bias and ideological bubbles inevitable? Or is there a deeper dynamic at play? Mike Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning at WSU Vancouver and nationally recognized digital literacy expert, discussed our current “digital dissensus” and how our approach to education may be making problems worse.

This talk was co-sponsored by OSU's Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC), the OSU Libraries Library Faculty Association Seminar Series, and the OSU Writing Program (SWLF).

Led by Michael Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning at WSU Vancouver

• Watch the recording
• Read the recap

Nathan Kirk shares his reflective writing prompts and discusses the learning gains for students in this informal freewriting exercise.

Led by Nathan Kirk (Integrative Biology) 

Led by WIC GTA Ruth Sylvester, WIC Intern Marisa Yerace, and SWLF graduate student Ian Ferris 

Instructors for Argumentation (WR 222), Tech Writing (WR 327), and Business Writing (WR 214) discuss writing skills from WR II courses that should transfer to a student’s WIC course in the major.

Led by Becky Haddad (Agricultural Education), Cyndie McCarley (Ecampus), and Randy Moore (Fisheries and Wildlife)

The WIC Team introduces the ATD’s recent article on High-Impact Writing Practices, a central theme for this year’s lunch series, and explores hands-on multimodal learning.

Led by WIC Director Vicki Tolar Burton and WIC GTA Claire Roth

• Download the handouts:
  • Constructs for Effective Writing Practices and Deep Approaches to Learning Scales and Items (Adapted from the article “How to Create High-Impact Writing Assignments that Enhance Learning and Development and Reinvigorate WAC/WID Programs: What Almost 72,000 Undergraduates Taught Us")
  • Zine Activity Introduction and Instructions by Vicki Tolar Burton

Dennis Bennett and panel discuss the major transition into the Writing Studio, the reasons behind the change, and what faculty need to know.

Led by Dennis Bennett, Director of the Writing Center

• Download the handout

Kay Sagmiller discusses connections between cognition and student learning.

Led by Kay Sagmiller, Center for Teaching and Learning Director

Tasha Biesinger explains how to make the most of Canvas, Eli Review, and other writing technologies.

Led by Instructional Technology Specialist Tasha Biesinger

This discussion will focus on the issues and challenges INTO students face as they transition from INTO courses to regular OSU courses.

Led by Erich White (INTO), Phil Chambers, (INTO), and Galina Romantsova (Writing Center)

Wesley Snyder will discuss the growing number of international students and second language learners enrolled in courses at Oregon State as part of a nation-wide trend. He will also suggest an emerging pedagogy that may guide how WIC faculty can best respond to L1 and L2 writing alike. Kristina Lum will discuss teachers’ expectations for students who are US citizens or have graduated from an American school, but do not speak Standard American English as a first language. Kristina suggests that this situation is especially applicable to students from Hawaii and prompts further exploration in how we can better serve these students in our writing instruction. Corey Taylor will discuss ways in which multilingual writers, particularly Hispanic students, are disenfranchised by current traditional models of writing assessment, and how Writing Across the Curriculum pedagogy can be used to create more equitable assessment of student writing.

Led by Wesley Snyder (SWLF), Kristina Lum (SWLF), and Corey Taylor (SWLF)

Tracy Ann Robinson, the designer of the Writer’s Personal Profile (WPP), will discuss her use of the WPP in MIME Capstone Design as an example of how the tool can be customized to support student writing skills development and program assessment needs in specific majors. André Habet will discuss some ways the Writer's Personal Profile can be modified to be more inclusive of more diverse student demographics with a special interest in addressing international students.

Led by Tracy Ann Robinson (MIME) and André Habet (SWLF)

• Writer's Personal Profile

Each presenter will discuss two Canvas tools that can be used in a writing intensive course to more effectively help students in the writing, feedback, and revising process.

Led by Karen Watte (Ecampus), Sara Jameson (SWLF), and Brooke Howland (TAC and CTL)

Disabilities may hinder students’ ability to navigate and engage with the web and other documents essential to their education. It is paramount that all resources be made available and accessible to students with disabilities. Our presenter will discuss and provide resources on how to create, ensure, and affirm equal access and equal opportunity to all students.

Led by Gabriel Merrell (Office of Equity and Inclusion)

• View the presentation slides
• Download the handouts:
  • Creating Accessible Microsoft Word Documents
  • Creating Accessible Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations
  • Converting Microsoft Word Documents to Accessible PDFs
  • Creating Accessible PDFs
  • Quick Reference Cards

The coherent transmission and communication of ideas is essential to science writing, technical writing, and students’ professional development as writers and speakers across disciplines. Three panel presenters will offer ideas, insights, and strategies for helping students write as professionals in the field.

Led by WIC GTA Allen Sprague, Ehren Pflugfelder (SWLF), and Christine Pastorek (Chemistry)

• Download the handouts:
  • Allen Sprague:
    • Writing-to-Learn in Science and Business
  • Ehren Pflugfelder:
    • Parallelism
    • Ten Hundred Words
    • The Given/New Method
    • The Paramedic Method
  • Christine Pastorek:
    • Integrating Good Figures, Tables, and Graphs
    • Chemistry 462 Writing Examples

As discussed in Sue Kunda’s Winter 2013 newsletter article, fair use is “both a blessing and a curse for educators … So if we’re confused about copyright, what about our students?” Our presenter discusses how we help students think critically about using copyrighted materials, and provides a helpful framework to guide students and additional useful sources on the topic.

Led by Sue Kunda (Valley Library)

• View the presentation
• Download the handouts:
  • Fair Use
  • The fair use reasoning process

For all students, the culture in which they grow up influences their writing; this is called “contrastive rhetoric.” This presentation identifies the topic as “cultural rhetoric,” and recognizes, discusses, and offers insights into this important, sensitive subject as a fundamental element to all students’ development as writers in a diverse world.

Led by Rebecca Valdovinos (INTO OSU)

• View the presentation
• Download the handout on Cultural Rhetoric