A resource for informal writing assignments is John Bean and Dan Melzer’s “Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom.” Here’s a link to the UT Libraries e-book version of this text.
Reach out to the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center staff for conversation and guidance. We can help you develop informal writing assignments for your classes. Contact us at writingcenter@utk.edu.
“Write to Learn”
“Write to Learn” assignments are used in many disciplines to keep students writing frequently and informally.
Short writing assignments in a college classroom can provide many benefits for students. These include giving students more writing practice and helping them explore ideas. A benefit for faculty is that you don’t have to grade them conventionally. Yet, they help students think about and learn the course content.
For effective “write to learn” assignments, consider the following:
Assign short writing assignments in class (3-10 minutes).
Ask students to write a word, a sentence, question, or a paragraph to class discussion or homework.
Get responses throughout a class period via brief written responses.
Freewriting
Freewriting is a simple way to encourage students to write with ease. Students may have encountered freewriting before. They may have different associations with the process than you, the instructor, do. If you encourage freewriting, clarify what you mean by freewriting and the purpose of the activity!
One-Minute Papers
One-minute papers include a prompt that must be responded to efficiently. Teachers can use one-minute papers to judge how effective a lesson or discussion is.
This overview of one-minute papers explains how to use them in a classroom.
This guide to one-minute papers suggests ways to incorporate one-minute prompts.
Microthemes
Microthemes are condensed writing activities that require thought before writing. This distinguishes it from freewriting. Their size (fitting onto a notecard) is quick to grade, and less intimidating to the student.
This article, “Microtheme strategies for developing cognitive skills” by John Bean, Dean Drenk, and F.D. Lee, provides questions for microthemes. (UT Libraries link.)
Log books
Many educators have moved away from the term “journals” and use the terms “log books” or “notebooks.” A log book encourages students to keep responses to readings, lectures, experiments, or class discussions. Creating a dialectical log book ensures that students will both recall and reflect. Check out Elizabeth Olsson’s blog post on using log books.
Question-Hypothesis-Question
Have students ask a question and hypothesize an answer. Then ask new questions based upon information gained through lecture or reading. This may be used during single lectures or across a series of lectures. They may be done individually in class or assigned for homework and may form the basis for small group discussion or individual presentations.
Scenario Prompts using “Small Genres”
Create short scenarios related to course material. Have students to respond with letters, memos, short “plays,” etc. Read more about small genres.
Sample Prompt: You have been invited to address the City Council meeting to advocate for an issue. You must provide the Council members with a handout offering a short summary of your main points. Include three bullet items of your supporting reasons.
Student-designed Assessment
Have students prepare exam questions which may be used on quizzes, midterms, and finals. Here, the instructor will gain insight to whether the students have grasped the main concepts for a topic. The students will carefully evaluate their notes, since it is their own exam they are composing. A PDF about student-designed assessment is available here (page 9, #38).
Writing Out of the Day (WOOD)
Students will be asked at the end of each class period to summarize what was learned that day. The instructor will also write along with the students. The class will read their summaries to each other and rewrite anything they might have missed in their summary as a homework assignment.A PDF about Writing Out of the Day is available here (page 16, #79).
Semester-Long Project/ Exam Preparation Journals
This method provides strong motivation for exploratory writing. It uses course exams to drive a maximum amount of learning. To use the method, the teacher, early in the course, gives out a list of essay questions from which midterm and final exam questions will be drawn. Students are instructed to devote a section of their journals to each question. Then students gradually work out answers to the questions as course material builds and develops. Some teachers allow students to use their preparation journals during the exams.
~John Bean, “Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom” (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2001), 109.