Writing in the disciplines

Writing in the Disciplines (WiD) is a growing field in which discipline-based academics, writing developers, and learning technologists collaborate to help students succeed as subject specialists. This book places WiD in its theoretical and cultural contexts and reports on initiatives taking place at a range of UK higher education institutions. Also includes surveys of current developments and scholarship in the US, Australia, Europe and elsewhere, making it of interest to both a UK and an international audience.

Author Notes

Mary Deane is Senior Lecturer in Academic Writing at Coventry University's Centre for Academic Writing. Her publications include Academic Research, Writing and Referencing and Critical Thinking and Analysis. Mary won a Teaching Excellence Award in 2008, and is an Executive Board member of the European Writing Centers Association and the International Writing Centers Association.
Peter O'Neill is Senior Lecturer in Academic Writing at the Write Now Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, London Metropolitan University. He works with staff who are interested in teaching writing in the disciplines, helping them to develop effective techniques for teaching writing and to incorporate 'writing to learn' activities within their courses. He has published articles on Writing Centre theory and practice.

Mary Deane and Peter O'NeillChristiane DonahueEmily PurserKatherine HarringtonUrsula WingateSteve Foster and Mary DeaneDave Horne and Kelly PeakeMyrtle Emmanuel and Peter O'Neill and Debbie Holley and Linda Johnson and Sandra SinfieldPeter Samuels and Mary DeaneBirgit Schippers and Jonathan WorleyDipti Bhagat and Peter O'NeillRebecca Bell and Sarah Broadberry and Julius AyodejiJohn BeanCeline Llewellyn-Jones and Martin Agombar and Mary DeaneLisa Ganobcsik-WilliamsMary Deane and Peter O'NeillCheryl Glenn

List of Tables and Figures	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Series Editors' Preface	p. xix
Notes on Contributors	p. xx
Part I Contexts
Writing in the Disciplines: Beyond Remediality	p. 3
Discipline-based writing instruction	p. 3
The origins of WiD	p. 5
WiD and "Academic Literacies" theorising	p. 7
Writing in the Disciplines: The argument of the volume	p. 8
Notes	p. 11
References	p. 11
1 Cross-Cultural Approaches to Writing and Disciplinarity	p. 14
Introduction	p. 14
Contexts for teaching writing	p. 14
Critiques of current US models	p. 16
New models of expertise	p. 18
Transfer of writing knowledge: Learning from longitudinal studies	p. 20
Conclusion: Learning from recent developments in France and the US	p. 24
References	p. 26
2 Developing Academic Literacy in Context: Trends in Australia	p. 30
Introduction	p. 30
The Australian experience: background and directions	p. 31
Challenges	p. 35
Balancing the priorities	p. 37
Conclusion: Projects to develop literacy in the disciplines	p. 42
Notes	p. 43
References	p. 43
3 The Role of Assessment in "Writing in the Disciplines"	p. 48
Introduction	p. 48
Assessment for learning	p. 49
Using assessment criteria to facilitate dialogue and feedback	p. 53
The problem of "academic writing"	p. 56
Principles of WiD-supportive assessment practice	p. 58
Conclusion	p. 59
References	p. 60
Part II Collaborating to Support Student Writers
4 A Comparison of "Additional" and "Embedded" Approaches to Teaching Writing in the Disciplines	p. 65
Introduction	p. 65
Additional and embedded approaches	p. 67
Case Study 1: "Additional" writing support	p. 68
Design of the modules	p. 69
The module "academic writing"	p. 70
Piloting of the modules	p. 72
Implementation and evaluation	p. 73
Case Study 2: "Embedded" writing support	p. 74
The five intervention methods	p. 74
Evaluation	p. 77
Covering subject content	p. 78
Teacher workload	p. 78
Student perceptions of the intervention	p. 79
Improvements in student texts and the impact of formative feedback	p. 80
Other evidence of enhanced understanding and competence	p. 81
A critical comparison of the two approaches	p. 82
Conclusion	p. 83
Appendix 1 Screenshot of list of tutor comments	p. 84
Appendix 2 Analysis of an argument from a student essay	p. 85
References	p. 85
5 Enhancing Students' Legal Writing	p. 88
Introduction	p. 88
Expectations of law lecturers about students' writing	p. 88
Teaching legal writing to first-year students at Coventry University	p. 91
Breakdown of legal writing course components	p. 94
Findings	p. 98
Conclusion	p. 100
References	p. 102
6 Writing Hazards	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
Thinking Writing	p. 103
"Developing Academic Literacy in Context"	p. 104
Developing assessment criteria	p. 109
Outcomes and reflections	p. 113
Subsequent developments	p. 116
Acknowledgements	p. 119
References	p. 119
7 Taking Action in Business	p. 122
Introduction	p. 122
Redesigning the first-year experience	p. 123
People Management: Challenges and Choices	p. 124
Challenges delivering PMCC in the first semester	p. 129
Reading for PMCC	p. 131
Writing for PMCC	p. 134
Solutions for getting students to engage in reading and writing	p. 136
Conclusion	p. 137
References	p. 138
8 Writing for Mathematics Education at Doctoral Level	p. 140
Introduction	p. 140
Pressure to publish	p. 141
Mathematics education	p. 141
Mathematics writing workshops	p. 142
Event 1: Producing journal abstracts	p. 142
Event 2: Reviewing the literature	p. 144
Event 3: Postgraduate conference preparation	p. 147
Findings	p. 149
Conclusion	p. 150
Acknowledgements	p. 150
Appendices	p. 151
Note	p. 153
References	p. 153
9 Political Theory, Academic Writing, and Widening Participation	p. 155
Introduction	p. 155
Studying politics in an era of disenchantment?	p. 156
Political theory as critical theory	p. 158
Political theory on a widening participation programme: Liberal Arts in Belfast	p. 160
Addressing the challenges of politics in the writing centre classroom	p. 162
Reading: Understanding the discourse of political theory	p. 163
Writing in politics: The rhetoric of criticality	p. 167
Conclusion	p. 171
References	p. 172
10 Writing Design	p. 174
Introduction	p. 174
Design and academic writing	p. 177
Thinking about writing	p. 181
Planning: Curriculum re-design	p. 182
Acting: Writing as part of workshop practice	p. 184
Observation and evaluation 2007	p. 186
Collaboration	p. 190
Conclusion	p. 193
Notes	p. 194
References	p. 194
11 From WAC to WiD: Trialling Writing-Intensive Pedagogies with Academic Staff in UK Higher Education	p. 198
Introduction	p. 198
Convincing colleagues to collaborate	p. 200
Using WiD to develop student writing	p. 203
Using WiD activities to meet learning outcomes	p. 205
Conclusion	p. 208
Notes	p. 211
References	p. 211
Part III WiD and the Institution
12 Backward Design: Towards an Effective Model of Staff Development in Writing in the Disciplines	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
Theoretical design of WiD workshops	p. 216
Departmental action: Assessment and backward design	p. 225
Designing powerful writing assignments	p. 228
Conclusion	p. 233
Acknowledgements	p. 235
References	p. 235
13 Writing in the Disciplines and Learning Technologists: Towards Effective Collaboration	p. 237
Introduction	p. 237
Learning technologists as integral to WiD work	p. 237
Challenges of collaboration	p. 240
Examples of collaboration	p. 242
Collaborative aims	p. 247
Conclusion	p. 247
Acknowledgements	p. 248
Note	p. 248
References	p. 249
14 The Writing Centre as a Locus for WiD, WAC, and Whole-Institution Writing Provision	p. 250
Introduction	p. 250
A sense of possibility for writing development in UK HE	p. 251
The influence of US and European theories and models of writing development	p. 252
The writing center/centre	p. 254
The writing centre as a base for WiD and WAC	p. 255
Key challenges and strategies	p. 258
Conclusion	p. 259
Notes	p. 259
References	p. 261
Conclusion: Ways Forward for WiD	p. 265
Collaboration	p. 265
Professional development	p. 265
Research and publication	p. 266
WiD and rhetoric	p. 266
References	p. 269
Afterword-and Onward!	p. 271
Index	p. 273

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