Integrated Writing Course Development and Approval

Integrated Writing Courses at Wright State University enable students to improve their competency in writing works in Standard American English or other standard, discipline-specific languages. The writing in an IW-designated course will be distinguished from the writing done in a non-IW course by: (1) the quantity of writing that the student will complete by the end of the semester (a minimum of 2000 words in IW courses in the Core, and 5000 words in the major); (2) the inclusion of at least some instructional materials specifically designed to develop their writing skills; and (3) the expectation of editing and/or revision of written work, based on instructor responses to initial drafts. While the common expectation will be explicatory essays in standard written American English, the writing assignments may also integrate other genres, communication formats and media, and languages as appropriate to the disciplines in which the writing will take place.

The expected outcome is that students will graduate with the ability to effectively communicate in a variety of written formats and genres with others in their communities, jobs, nation, and the world.

To foster writing competence, the IW designated curriculum needs to provide opportunities for students to:

• Grow as writers;
• Use writing as a tool to discover and communicate ideas;
• Practice discipline-specific ways of writing;
• Demonstrate understanding of course content through writing;
• Develop writing appropriate for the audience and purpose of a particular writing task;
• Demonstrate the degree of mastery of disciplinary writing conventions appropriate to the course (including documentation conventions); and
• Show competency in standard edited American English. (Units may substitute competency in another language as appropriate to the discipline in which the course is offered).

Courses that address these outcomes will be designated as Integrated Writing (IW) courses. Students who take over 50% of their Core Curriculum at Wright State University must take any two courses designated as IW in the Core and two additional IW courses in the major as part of their curriculum.

Faculty seeking IW designations for their courses will be required to explain (a) how the instructional strategies/academic assignments (readings, writings, exams, presentations, reflection activities, projects, etc.) will be connected to each of the required outcomes; and (b) how the accomplishment of each of the required outcomes will be assessed. The IW learning outcomes should be included in the syllabus of any approved IW course.

The IW designation for a course must be approved by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Responsibility for ensuring that these course requirements are met rests with the colleges offering the courses and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Assessment of the Integrated Writing courses is done as part of the annual Core assessment, overseen by the Undergraduate Core Oversight Committee.

All undergraduate students who first enroll at the University Fall 2012 or thereafter must complete two designated integrated writing (IW) courses within the Wright State Core in addition to the two required first- and second-year writing courses in Element 1 of the Wright State Core.

Students who cannot successfully complete two IW courses in the Wright State Core (excluding the Wright State Core writing requirement) may satisfy the IW requirement in any of the following ways:

• Pass one IW course in the Wright State Core and submit an Independent Writing Project for review by faculty in the student’s major (see below).
• Earn a grade of C or better in an approved IW course in the major and submit an Independent Writing Project for review by faculty in the student’s major.
• Complete an additional IW course with a C or better in the major beyond the two required IW courses in the major.

All students must also successfully complete two integrated writing courses in their major field in order to graduate. Students pursuing a dual major may have the writing requirements for the second major waived at the discretion of the department or college.

Under exceptional circumstances, a professor for a course in the major may assign and supervise a paper of at least 2500 words, to satisfy one unit of the two units of IW attribute required in the major. This option may count as satisfying no more than one unit of the IW requirement and must be approved by the chair of the student's major department. Students are expected to fulfill the rest of the minimum requirement by completing one or more regular IW courses in the major.

Transfer Students, see University Policy 3245 Transfer Student Requirements for Writing Across the Curriculum.