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Designing Discipline-Specific Writing Assignments

Learn to write (ltw) activities.

Writing can help students learn and think critically about course content. When students are asked to write discipline-specific genres, they learn to think and write like professionals in those disciplines. Two approaches to integrating writing in courses include write to learn (WTL) and learn to write (LTW) activities; for more about WTL activities, see our Principles page . LTW activities are high-stakes writing in which students learn to think like and communicate as professionals in discipline-specific genres. 

Objectives for Learn to Write Activities

• Learn course content
• Practice disciplinary ways of thinking
• Learn about discipline-specific genres
• Practice writing discipline-specific genres
• Adapt one’s writing to a variety of audiences 

Which Genres Matter Most in Your Discipline?

Genres often vary by discipline and reflect what, how, and to whom the discipline communicates. Here are just some of the genres that we’ve seen in JYW courses at UMass: personal narratives about students’ disciplinary interests; critical responses to scholarship; analyses of images, texts, or other cultural artifacts; literature reviews; research proposals; research articles; lab reports; op-eds; oral presentations; informational videos on YouTube or other media; blog posts for public audiences; and more.

When thinking about the select disciplinary genres that you assign, consider the form, habits of mind, or audiences that professionals in your discipline recognize. By form, how is this particular genre often structured? When considering the habits of mind, ask what ways of thinking, kind of evidence and logic, and skills students might need to write successfully in disciplinary genres. Lastly, you’ll want to consider the intended audiences for the genre and assignment. 

It’s worth noting that some assignments may require similar content skills, but in terms of writing, they require different audiences and habits of mind. A lab notebook might be more about the detail and process, including some personal observations of the process, for an audience of the writer and perhaps few others. On the other hand, a lab report is more contained, focused on the findings, and the audience might be just the professor or possibly a lab group. Lastly, an article is a polished, finalized product of this research. The emphasis is on persuasive and strong evidence, with a much far-reaching audience. 

Sequence the Assignments

It’s important to consider in what order students should work through assignments. How can you require multiple occasions for writing? What might students need to practice in order to be successful on future writing assignments?  For example, the curriculum may sequence assignments along one or more of the following tracks:

• first, specialists; then, non-specialist scientists (e.g.: NSF); last, popular audience
• literature review, methodology, analysis of teacher-provided or new data; conclusions; new research proposal based on findings 
• literature review; lab report with teacher-provided methodology and data; research proposal to specialist audience; research proposal to funding agency

Designing Effective Assignments 

• Identify and communicate 3-4 learning goals for the assignment. 
• Make the prompt meaningful by helping students identify their purpose and intended readers.
• Create scaffolded activities to help students meet those learning goals. 
• Set a plan with clear expectations and deadlines.
• Be sure to include multiple opportunities for drafting, feedback (both  peer  and  instructor ), and revision throughout. 

Questions to Ask Yourself when Designing Assignments

• What are the main units (and associated assignments) in your course?
• What are the main learning objectives for each unit?
• What are the chief concepts or principles you want students to learn?
• What thinking skills or habits of mind are you trying to develop in your students?
• How should you write the assignment to convey the learning goals to students?
• Does the assignment clearly articulate the desired learning outcomes? 

Further Reading

• Bean, John C. “Designing and Sequencing Assignments to Teach Undergraduate Research.” Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom , 2nd Edition , Jossey-Bass, 2011, pp. 224-63. 
• –. “Part Two: Designing Problem-Based Assignments.” Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom , 2nd Edition , Jossey-Bass, 2011, pp. 89-145.
• Glenn, Cheryl and Melissa A. Goldthwaite. “Successful Writing Assignments.” The St. Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing , 7th Edition , Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp. 95-124. 
• UMass Amherst University Writing Program. “ Sourcebook for Junior Year Writing Courses .” 2007-2008. 

What is Writing in the Disciplines?

Getting Started

Why include writing in my courses?

What is writing to learn?

WTL Activities

What is writing to engage?

What is writing in the disciplines?

WID Assignments

Useful Knowledge

What should I know about rhetorical situations?

• Do I have to be an expert in grammar to assign writing?

What should I know about genre and design?

What should I know about second-language writing?

What teaching resources are available?

What should I know about WAC and graduate education?

Assigning Writing

• What makes a good writing assignment?

How can I avoid getting lousy student writing?

What benefits might reflective writing have for my students?

Using Peer Review

Why consider collaborative writing assignments?

Do writing and peer review take up too much class time?

How can I get the most out of peer review?

Responding to Writing

How can I handle responding to student writing?

How can writing centers support writing in my courses?

What writing resources are available for my students?

Using Technology

How can computer technologies support writing in my classes?

Designing and Assessing WAC Programs

What is a WAC program?

What designs are typical for WAC programs?

How can WAC programs be assessed?

More on WAC

Where can I learn more about WAC?

Writing assignments are often used to support the goals of Writing in the Disciplines (WID), also called writing to communicate. Writing assignments of this sort are designed to introduce or give students practice with the writing conventions of a discipline and to help them game familiarity and fluency with specific genres and formats typical of a given discipline. For example, the engineering lab report includes much different information in a format quite different from the annual business report.

Because WID is used by a large number of WAC programs, this guide presents a great deal of information on WID, including a detailed rationale, examples, and logistical tips.

A Fuller Definition of WID

WID assignments are typically, but not exclusively, formal documents prepared over a few weeks or even months. The final documents adhere to format and style guidelines typical of the professional genres they help students learn about and practice. Teachers comment primarily on the substance of these assignments, but teachers also expect students to meet professional standards of layout and proofreading (format and mechanical correctness).

Without doubt, the single most important reason for assigning writing tasks in disciplinary courses is to introduce students to the thinking and writing of that discipline. Even though students read disciplinary texts and learn course material, until they practice the language of the discipline through writing, they are less likely to learn that language thoroughly. In addition, teachers cite other specific advantages of WID tasks, large and small. Such writing helps students to:

• integrate and analyze course content
• provide a field-wide context to course material
• practice thinking skills relevant to analyses in the discipline
• practice professional communication
• prepare for a range of careers in the field

When to Choose WID, WTE, or WTL

Teachers need to decide which goals are most important for them and for the students they typically teach. For instance, if you ordinarily teach a freshman-level survey course that introduces students to the field, giving students practice in the conventions of writing for that field is generally inappropriate. Rather, you would probably want to give students opportunities to write about the new, foundational concepts they're being introduced to so that you can be sure they are learning the fundamental ideas they will need to take other courses in your discipline.

Teachers thinking about assigning writing in their courses also need to consider just how much time they'll have to review or respond to student writing. Assigning a 20-page term paper in a course with 200 students is unrealistic because teachers seldom have time to read and respond to such lengthy student writing.

Adjusting WID Tasks to Your Teaching Context

As teachers determine goals for writing and their time commitment, they discover an entire spectrum of writing they might assign in their classes. You will base your decisions on complex factors, but the simplified grid below can point you toward additional materials that might be most useful to you as you plan your writing component for each class.

Use this grid to suggest which kinds of writing might be most appropriate in your classes:

Alternate Forms/Formats that Mimic Professional Writing

Think of alternate forms/formats. Although the research essay is the most common kind of WID assignment, it's not the only format that students can use to learn about disciplinary writing conventions. If professionals in your field use any of these types of writing, consider using these formats to help students understand the thinking and writing of your discipline:

• Project or lab notebook
• Progress report
• Management plan
• Position paper
• Interpretive essay
• Review of literature
• Journal or professional article
• Project proposals
• Grant proposals
• Lab/field reports

Combining WTL and WTE with WID

In addition to discipline-specific formats, other kinds of writing assignments can help students learn the language and ways of thinking of a discipline, even though they may not mimic its professional writing. Any of these writing activities can provide the basis for a longer, more formal assignment, or can be used only to promote class discussion and/or thinking about course material:

Reading Journal

In a discipline-specific context, teachers using a reading journal ask students to write summaries, responses, and syntheses as appropriate for the field. "Readings" might include not only assigned textbook material, but also lectures and outside reading of professional or popular articles relevant to the course material. Teachers might want to assign specific questions to be answered in entries about each reading, or they might link readings in other ways.

Jargon Journal

When you introduce new terms in your lectures or when students see them in readings, ask students to jot the terms down in a notebook or electronic file. Periodically, students then return to the list of terms and fill in or revise working definitions of each term. (Some terms will be easy to define immediately after they are introduced in a course; other terms might take more familiarity with the complexity of a concept to define accurately.) Build in some incentive for keeping the jargon journal by pointing out that students can refer to the definitions as they prepare for—and perhaps write—exam responses.

Rhetorical Analysis

In addition to analyzing articles for content, as students might do in the reading journal, teachers can also ask students to look specifically at professional articles for rhetorical issues:

• Scope and focus
• Organization (conventional headings)
• Arrangement
• Level of detail
• Kinds of evidence required
• Uses of citations

Small-group or full-class discussion of these analyses will help students understand the critical approaches professionals in the field typically adopt as well as the writing conventions accepted by major journals in the field.

Analyze an Expert's Revisions

Bring in drafts of your own work or of someone else's professional work that you have permission to share with students. Show students:

• how professionals shape and revise research questions
• how professionals work from raw data to write sections outlining results and discussion
• how professionals move from draft to draft as they work through the entire writing project

Popular Article

Because the popular article is written to a general audience with little specialized knowledge, teachers often assign this writing task to be sure students understand material well enough to explain it in non-technical terms. If you're concerned about assigning a full-length article, you could assign this task as a group writing project, with different group members responsible for chunks of the final article. Or you might just assign the introduction and an outline for key ideas that would go into the remainder of the article.

Sequencing Tasks

One reason that students report feeling overwhelmed by WID tasks is that they aren't sure where to start and then how to proceed to produce a good project of the sort required by the assignment. You can help students—and get better final drafts to read—by setting up a sequence of tasks that build toward the final project.

Two approaches work well when designing a sequence:

• Break the large writing task into chunks so that students can tackle parts of the assignment and get feedback before moving to the next chunk. For an example, view the Ag Econ sample assignment.
• An alternative is to devise tasks that build on each other, known as scaffolding. For instance, if you hope to assign a professional review of literature as the final project, first have students write abstracts or summaries of articles, then ask for annotations, and finally ask for synthesis. At the same time, have students analyze published articles to determine what a review of literature typically looks like in your field. By giving students scaffolded writing and analytic tasks, they become more confident and more able to meet your criteria for the final writing task.

Responding to Student Writing

You'll find more detailed advice about feedback in the sections under

• How can I handle responding to drafts?

A few points bear repeating here:

• Responding to students' writing involves far more than simply marking errors in punctuation and mechanics. Most grading time, by far, is devoted to commenting on focus, development and arrangement of ideas, the quality of arguments, and other larger issues.
• Tell students in advance specifically what your expectations are for high-level writing skills. Then focus your commenting on how well students meet those specific criteria. Also consider developing a rubric or some other commenting guide to help you comment quickly but thoroughly on the points you decide are most important for a given assignment. (See the samples in "What makes a good writing assignment?" and "How can I handle responding to drafts?" )

Improving the Research Essay

When professors are reluctant to assign research essays, they often claim that students cannot write clearly and logically, synthesizing sources and evaluating data to draw closely argued conclusions. Most often, these weaknesses are not the result simply of poor writing skills, but also of poorly defined criteria that students don't grasp. Fortunately, teachers can improve the research essay by clarifying goals for the assignment and keeping students' resources in mind.

Excellent Goals for Assigning Research Essays

Most university professors agree that research-based writing in college classes can and should meet these goals:

• foster critical thinking about raw data and other people's conclusions
• give students an opportunity to work independently on a large project
• mimic behaviors that students must know if they pursue advanced academic degrees
• mimic behaviors that students will draw on in other aspects of their lives (examples range from buying cars to management decisions)
• familiarize students with major journals, research methodologies, and writing conventions of their major fields

Questions to Ask about how Students will Perceive your Goals

Students often view the research-based paper as an exercise in cutting and pasting rather than in carefully sifting and synthesizing key ideas that support their own thinking. So teachers get the best results from research-based assignments that they have revised after considering these questions:

• Have we, in teaching research rather than critical thinking about researched information, misled ourselves and our students into reducing this vital undertaking into a set of easily replicated steps?
• And then by focusing on the steps, do we give students the wrong message about what is important in doing research?
• When we give students 50 pages on documentation styles, are we telling them that format is more important than the critical synthesis of views and data?
• How, then, might we reorient students' thinking about research-based writing?
• Do students who see most of the grading criteria and weighting of the final grade devoted to the mechanics of finding and citing material believe in the goals we hope to foster with research-based writing?

Three Points to Consider

If you've decided that a traditional research essay best meets your teaching goals, please consider three ideas that might make this assignment more useful for students:

Find out what your students already know about using the library and the Internet for research

Most students in upper-level courses (and even most freshmen) know how to find general sources. But many upper-division students may not yet be familiar with specific sources in your discipline. Make sure they know how to find these, and even consider arranging a session in the library to go over search techniques for databases in your field.

Find out what your students already know about reading research-based articles in your discipline

Students are remarkably reluctant to admit they have a hard time reading research-based texts. But if they don't know how to read professional articles in your field, they certainly won't know how to evaluate the data and conclusions in those articles. You can tackle this problem with some sequenced "mini"-writing tasks (like those described in the Combining WTL and WID section ).

Give students a chance (or chances) to work on parts of the final assignment as separate tasks

The Ag Econ assignment is a good example of breaking down a larger writing task so that the teacher can see if students need help with key elements of the larger writing task. If students, for example, don't know how to frame an adequate research question, you can head off this problem if you give students a mini-task that asks for a research question long before students begin their source work.

Similarly, if your experience with this course in the past suggests that students often struggle to analyze or synthesize data, you might want to set up sequenced writing tasks that give them some practice—and feedback—on these key writing skills.

Beyond the Basics

The literature now available on writing in the disciplines or writing to communicate is deep and broad, encompassing far more than a brief bibliographic essay can accurately capture. Let me offer instead two pieces of advice—consult the general resources noted here and look at the journals in your discipline that take up teaching issues. Those journals are most likely to include articles that situate writing to communicate activities in the courses you might find yourself teaching. The articles themselves will glean from the robust resources to point you toward those titles that will best fill in background you might find helpful.

We collect below titles from across disciplines to offer some potential starting points. We have organized the resources in a table to cluster articles by discipline. Please note, however, that disciplinary titles here point to writing in the disciplines rather than writing to learn (or writing to engage) titles that are included in the WTL section of this resource. All titles refer to the list of Works Cited that follows the tables.

Titles sorted by broad disciplinary focus

Abbate-Vaughn, J. (2007). The graduate writing challenge: A perspective from an urban teacher education program. Action in Teacher Education, 29 (2), 51-60.

Addams, L.H., Woodbury, D., Allred, T., & Addams, J. (2010). Developing student communication skills while assisting nonprofit organizations. Business Communication Quarterly, 73 (3), 282-290.

Allwardt, D.E. (2011). Writing with wikis: A cautionary tale of technology in the classroom. Journal of Social Work Education, 47 (3), 597-605.

Bahls, P. (2012). Student writing in the quantitative disciplines: A guide for college faculty . Indianapolis, IN: Jossey Bass.

Bank, C. (2006). Reading and writing taught in a sophomore course on plate tectonics. Journal of Geoscience Education, 54 (1), 25-30.

Becker, S.F. (1995). Guest comment: Teaching writing to teach physics. American Journal of Physics, 63 (7), 587.

Beiersdorfer, R.E. (1991). An integrated approach to geologic writing for non-science majors based on study of a California river. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : 196-198.

Beins, B.C. (1993). Writing assignments in statistics classes encourage students to learn interpretation. Teaching of Psychology, 20 (3),161-164.

Blevins-Knabe, B. (1987). Writing to learn while learning to write. Teaching of Psychology, 14 (4), 239-241.

Bourelle, T. (2012). Bridging the gap between the technical communication classroom and the internship: Teaching social consciousness and real-world writing. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 42 (2), 183-197.

Bressette, A.R; & Breton, G.W. (2001). Using writing to enhance the undergraduate research experience. Journal of Chemical Education, 78 (12), 1626-1627.

Brumberger, E.R. (2004). The "corporate correspondence project": Fostering audience awareness and extended collaboration. Business Communication Quarterly, 67 (3), 349-358.

Buddington, A.M. (2006). A field-based, writing intensive undergraduate course on

Buzzi, O., Grimes, S., & Rolls, A. (2012). Writing for the discipline in the discipline? Teaching in Higher Education, 17 (4), 479-484.

Carlson, J.L., Chizmar, J.F., Seeborg, M.C., & Walbert, M.S. (1998). Using undergraduate journals and peer pressure to improve undergraduate writing in economics. The Journal of Economics, 24 (2), 77-86.

Carlson, P.A., & Berry, F. C. (2008). Using computer-mediated peer review in an engineering design course. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 51 (3), 264-279.

Carroll, F.A., & Seeman, J.I. (2001). Placing science into its human context: Using scientific autobiography to teach chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 78 (12), 1618-1622.

Carson, R.J. (1991). Land-use-planning writing assignment for an environment-geology course. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : 206-210.

Carter, M., Ferzli, M., & Wiebe, E.N. (2007). Writing to learn by learning to write in the disciplines. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 21 (3), 278-302.

Cass, A.G., & Fernandes, C.S.T. (2008). Simulated conference submissions: A technique to improve student attitudes about writing. 2008 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Vols. 1-3 ; pp. 1535-1540.   

Centellas, M. (2010). Pop culture in the classroom: "American Idol," Karl Marx, and Alexis de Tocqueville. PS: Political Science and Politics, 43 (3), 561-565.

Chamely,Wiik, D.M., Kaky, J.E., & Galin, J. (2012). From Bhopal to cold fusion: A case-study approach to writing assignments in honors general chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 89 (4), 502-508.

Cheng, C.K., Pare, D.E., Collimore, L., & Joordens, S. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness of a voluntary online discussion forum on improving students' course performance. Computers & Education, 56 (1), 253-261.

Chiang, C. D., Lewis, C. L., Wright, M. D. E., Agapova, S., Akers, B., Azad, T. D., Banerjee, K., Carrera, P., Chen, A., Chen, J., Chi, X., Chiou, J., Cooper, J., Czurylo, M., Downs, C., Ebstein, S. Y., Fahey, P. G., Goldman, J. W., Grieff, A., Hsiung, S., Hu, R., Huang, Y., Kapuria, A., Li, K., Marcu, I., Moore, S. H., Moseley, A. C., Nauman, N., Ness, K. M., Ngai, D. M., Panzer, A., Peters, P., Qin, E. Y., Sadhu, S., Sariol, A., Schellhase, A., Schoer, M. B., Steinberg, M., Surick, G., Tsai, C. A., Underwood, K., Wang, A., Wang, M. H., Wang, V. M., Westrich, D., Yockey, L. J., Zhang, L., & Herzog, E. D. (2012). Learning Chronobiology by improving Wikipedia. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 27 (4), 333-336.

Colabroy, K.L. (2011). A writing-intensive, methods-based laboratory course for undergraduates. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education: A Bimonthly Publication of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 39 (3), 196-203.

Collins, J. (2010). Engineers learn to write: Coaching the art of noticing with writing samples. 2010 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference ; 80-86. New York: IEEE Press.

Conrad, S.H. (1991). Balancing teaching and learning geology on the writing fulcrum. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : 230-231.

Craig, J.L., Lerner, N., & Poe, M. (2008). Innovation across the curriculum: Three case studies in teaching science and engineering communication. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 51 (3), 280-301.

Crisp, K.M., Jensen, M.M., & Moore, R.R. (2007). Pros and cons of a group webpage design project in a freshman anatomy and physiology course. Advances in Physiology Education, 31 (4), 343-346.

Cunningham, K. (2007). Applications of reaction rate. Journal of Chemical Education, 84 (3), 430-433.

Davis, L.E. (1991). Student abstract writing as a tool for writing across the curriculum in large introductory-geology courses. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : 178-180.

Deese, W.C., Ramsey, L.L., Walczyk, J., & Eddy, D. (2000). Using demonstration assessments to improve writing. Journal of Chemical Education, 77 (11), 1511-1516.

DeWolf, J.T. (2002). Incorporation of writing into a steel design course. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 128 (2), 71-74.

Dickovick, J.T. (2009). Methods in the madness: Integrative approaches to methodology in introductory comparative politics. Journal of Political Science Education, 5 (2), 138-153.

Doty, L.L. (2012). A mathematician learns the basics of writing instruction: An immersion experience with long-term benefits. Primus, 22 (1), 14-29.

Elberty, W.T., & Romey, W.D. (1991). "What are you interested in" as a writing assignment theme. Journal of geological education, 39 : 237-239.

Elliot, L., Daily, N.L., Fredricks, L., & Graham, M.S. (2008). Transitioning from students to professionals: Using a writing across the curriculum model to scaffold portfolio development. Teacher Educator, 43 (1), 46-58.

Falk, H., & Yarden, A. (2011). Stepping into the unknown: Three models for the teaching and learning of the opening sections of scientific articles. Journal of Biological Education, 45 (2), 77-82.

Fencl, H.S. (2010). Development of students' critical-reasoning skills through content-focused activities in a general education course. Journal of College Science Teaching, 39 (5), 56-62.

Ford, J.D. (2004). Knowledge transfer across disciplines: Tracking rhetorical strategies from a technical communication classroom to an engineering classroom. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 47 (4), 301-315.

Ford, J.D., & Newmark, J. (2011). Emphasizing research (further) in undergraduate technical communication curricula: Involving undergraduate students with an academic journal's publication and management. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 41 (3), 311-324.

Fredrick, T. (2008). Practicing professional communication principles by creating public service announcements. Business Communication Quarterly, 71 (1), 58-63.

Froese, A.D., Gantz, B.S., & Henry, A.L. (1998). Teaching students to write literature reviews: A meta-analytic model. Teaching of Psychology, 25 (2), 102-105.

Galer-Unti, R.A. (2002). Student perceptions of a writing-intensive course in health education. Health Educator: Journal of Eta Sigma Gamma, 34 (2), 35-40.

Gallavan, N.P., Bowles, F.S., & Young, C.T. (2007). Learning to write and writing to learn: Insights from teacher candidates. Action in Teacher Education, 29 (2), 61-69.

Goma, O.D. (2001). Creative writing in economics. College teaching, 49 (4), 149-152.

Goodman, R.E. (2005). Using letter-writing to enhance a calculus course. PRIMUS, 15 (4), 298-302.

Guildford, W.H. (2001). Teaching peer review and the process of scientific writing. Advances in Physiology Education, 25 (3), 167-175.

Halsor, S.P., & Faul-Halsor, C.L. (1991). Enhanced student learning through writing in a physical-geology class. Journal of Geological Education, 39 : 181-184.

Harding, B.A. (2005). "A simple mechanism to teach a complex practitioner knowledge set." Innovations in Engineering Education 2005 ; pp. 479-486. ASME.

Hocks, M.E., Lopez, E.S., & Grabill, J.T. (2000,. Praxis and institutional architecture: Designing an interdisciplinary professional writing program. Academic Writing . Accessed at https://wac.colostate.edu/aw/articles/hocks2000.pdf

Hosten, C.M., Talanova, G., & Lipkowitz, K.B. (2011). Introducing undergraduates to the role of science in public policy and in the service of the community. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 12 (3), 388-394.

Hotchkiss, K., & Hougen, M. (2012): Writing like a historian: What teacher candidates should know and be able to teach, The Social Studies, 103( 4), 149-157.

Howell, P.R. (2007). "Writing to specification: An approach to teaching scientific literacy, and a prelude to writing 'The World of Materials' essays." In J.E.E. Baglin (Ed.), Proceedings of the Symposium and Forum Education in Materials Science, Engineering and Technology ; pp. 247-289.

Irish, R. (1999). Engineering thinking: Using Benjamin Bloom and William Perry to design assignments. Language and Learning across the Disciplines, 3 (2), 83-102.

Jalali, H., Hanlan, L., & Canal, J.P. (2009). "The use of writing-intensive learning as a communication and learning tool in an inorganic chemistry laboratory course." In M. GuptaBhowon, S. JhaumeerLauloo, H.L.K. Wah, and P. Ramasami (Eds.), Chemistry Education in the ICT Age ; pp. 153-160.

Jebb, J.F. (2005). The crisis posting: Scenarios for class discussion and creation. Business Communication Quarterly, 68 (4), 457-478.

Kahn, J.M., & Holody, R. (2012). Supporting field instructors' efforts to help improve student writing. Journal of Social Work Education, 48 (1), 65-73.

Kasman, R. (2006). Critique that! Analytical writing assignments in advanced mathematics courses. PRIMUS, 16 (1), 1-15.

Kaufer, D., & Young, R. (1993). Writing in the content areas: Some theoretical complexities. In L. Odell (Ed.), Theory and practice in the teaching of writing: Rethinking the discipline . Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Kebede, A. (2009). Practicing sociological imagination through writing sociological autobiography. Teaching Sociology, 37 (4), 353-368.

Killingbeck, K. (2006). Field botany and creative writing: Where the science of writing meets the writing of science. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35 (7), 26-28.

Klein, B., & Aller, B. M. (1998). Writing across the curriculum in college chemistry: A practical bibliography. Language and Learning Across the Discipilines, 2(3), 25-35.

Kokkala, I., & Gessell, D. A. (2003). Writing science effectively: biology and English students in an author-editor relationship. Journal of College Science Teaching, 32 (4), 252-257.

Kroen, W. (2004). Modeling the writing process: Using authentic data to teach students to write scientifically. Journal of College Science Teaching, 34 (3), 50-53.

Kreth, M.L. (2005). A small-scale client project for business writing students: Developing a guide for first-time home buyers. Business Communication Quarterly, 68 (1), 52-59.

Lavelle, E. (2006). Teachers' self-efficacy for writing. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 4 (1), 73-84.

Lewis, M. (2004). Reflections: 'This class will write a book': An experiment in environmental history pedagogy. Environmental History, 9 (4), 604-619.

Libarkin, J., & Ording, G. (2012). The utility of writing assignments in undergraduate bioscience. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 11 (1), 39-46.

Lillig, J.W. (2008). Writing across the semester: A non-standard term paper that encourages critical data analysis in the upper-division chemistry classroom. Journal of Chemical Education, 85 (10), 1392-1394.

Linsdell, J., & Anagnos, T. (2011). Motivating technical writing through study of the environment. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 137 (1), 20-27.

Lord, S.M. (2009). Integrating effective "writing to communicate" experiences in engineering courses: Guidelines and examples. International Journal of Engineering Education, 25 (1), 196-204.

Luthy, K.E., Peterson, N.E., Lassetter, J.H., & Callister, L.C. (2009), Successfully incorporating writing across the curriculum with advanced writing in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 48 (1), 54-59.

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