{"id":1277,"date":"2014-03-01T17:32:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-01T17:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/english\/?page_id=1277"},"modified":"2023-03-31T15:19:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:19:48","slug":"assessing-writing-to-learn-activities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/english\/resources\/writing-toolkits\/assessing-writing-to-learn-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessing Writing-To-Learn Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing to learn activities are meant to encourage students to explore new concepts and to deepen understanding of those concepts. In essence, students use\u00a0informal language to explain new ideas to themselves.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, assessing writing-to-learn activities requires the instructor to take on the role of mentor rather than expert. Students who write journals, notes, rough drafts, minute-papers, and exit slips need to focus on clear expression\u2014not on grammar and punctuation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, regular writing-to-learn activities can improve overall writing proficiency. When the emphasis is on clarity, student writing-to-learn assignments can be structured to emphasize organization, topic sentences, or providing cogent examples of a concept.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Colorado State University WAC offers a number of useful suggestions for responding to WTL activities without spending endless hours grading.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some of the tips from their site<\/a>:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Because most teachers cannot read through and comment on every WTL activity students complete, we suggest the following alternatives:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n