At Ciudad Community College (pseudonym) and across the Colorado Community College System, the course competencies for Technical Writing I (ENG 131) have more than tripled to accommodate ENG 131 as a guaranteed transfer course equivalent to ENG 121: English Composition I. Unfortunately, this has had the effect of increasing the workload for…

Most postsecondary faculty in the United States include course goals or objectives as key components of their syllabi. In addition to individual course objectives, many institutions have identified institution-wide student learning outcomes (SLOs). This paper describes one faculty member's attempts to elicit feedback from students regarding their…

There has been little discussion of hospitality as a practice in college writing courses. Possible misuses of hospitality as an educational and ethical practice are explored, and three traditional and still tenable modes of hospitality are described and historicized: Homeric, Judeo-Christian, and nomadic. Application of these modes to…

Class exploration and a writing assignment on "quality" help students to understand the aim of the writing course. (DD)

Compares the principles of music in playing jazz with the teaching method necessary for developing composition skills in students. In attempting to improve composition courses, teachers need to help students choose subjects reflecting their own interests rather than being forced to emulate certain pre-existing forms and styles. (Author/RK)

Discusses a unit designed to develop students' insights into the poetic experience by comparing poetry and photography; includes several student written poems. (DD)

COMPOSITION TEACHERS TOO OFTEN TEACH AS IF MOST OF THE STUDENTS WILL BECOME ENGLISH MAJORS. MANY TEACHERS ALSO GIVE POOR, UNDIRECTED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSUME, AFTER CORRECTING THE PAPERS, THAT THEIR JOB IS ACCOMPLISHED. BECAUSE STUDENTS DO NOT LEARN TO WRITE BY THIS METHOD, THE COMPOSITION COURSE SHOULD BE CUT DOWN TO A FEW BASIC ESSENTIALS.…

Seven short reports of successful practices in freshman composition courses at various universities and colleges. (TO)

Cautions against overemphasizing poor mechanics and overlooking content in writing classes as an overreaction to the problem of deteriorating writing skills. (MKM)

A composition course for teachers emphasizes the importance of writing for a specific audience, of alternating between the concrete and the abstract, and of developing intelligent criteria for evaluating writing. (Author)

An English teacher tells how to make composition classes more interesting, make students learn more, and make oneself a better teacher. (Editor)

Lists and discusses a sequence of first-of-term writing assignments designed to stimulate students' thinking about the goals of an English course and to involve them in the planning of it. (RD)

This article states that advanced composition skills must provide students with means of becoming independent writers, able to monitor their own writing and to know the means to solve problems of effective written communication. (Author/CFM)