Many undergraduates have done little writing and need more practice. While the number of students in a large class can make it cumbersome to grade long term papers or essay exams, this should not deter you from having student sin large classes write. Several short writing activities requiring a minimal amount of feedback from the instructor can be incorporated into a lecture course. These activities involve students who are reluctant to participate in a large-class discussion provide another way to encourage all students to be active learners.

Graded Assignments

Term Papers- Grading lengthy individual papers can be a burden many faculty teaching large classes would rather avoid. Two alternatives are to make such papers optional or to use a series of shorter writing response activities, including reaction papers, journals, or reflections, rather than a single long essay. Essay Exams- While it is recommended that exams combine short-answer and essay questions, grading these responses can be time-consuming. One way to control the length of responses is to provide students a limited amount of space for their answers. When restricted to a certain space, students are forced to get to the point.

Ungraded Assignments

Ungraded writing assignments give students writing practice and offer instructors valuable feedback without the burden of heavy grading. Ungraded assignments ask students to share their understanding of the course material. (The instructor should be prepared to answer questions students may have about this process.)Instructors can use ungraded writing exercises to begin class, by tying their topic to material covered in the previous class or to lead into the current day's topic. These exercises can be used also as at the end of class to assess what students understand from the lecture and if the lecture was effective. As for grading, the assignments can be marked for either creditor no credit, or full, partial, or no credit. (See the list of references for activities not described here.) Ranking Activities- Nancy Shapiro of UMCP uses ranking activities on the first day of class. Students are asked to list three to five goals they hope to achieve by taking the course. After listing these goals, they then rank them in order of importance. They rank the list again according to the difficulty of achieving each goal. Then, working in small groups, students are asked to arrive as a consensus of goals and ranking. These goals can be revisited at mid-term and end-of-semester evaluations in a similar follow-up activity.

Chain Notes- At the beginning of class, students are given index cards. During the class, students pass around a large envelope on which a question is written. Each student spends a few minutes writing a response to the question when the envelope reaches him or her. The instructor can then respond to what the students have written and will also have gathered feedback on the class.

One-Minute Paper or Daily Report- In the one-minute paper, students write responses to the questions, "What point(s) are most clear to you?" and "What point(s) are still unclear to you?". In a daily report, students are ask to complete the following sentences: "The point of today's lecture is. . . " and "A question I have is .. . ". These reports can be graded or ungraded and can provide a clear sense of which areas are presenting students with the greatest difficulties.

Three-Minute Thesis- After discussing an issue, have students write down their reactions and reasons to support one side or another. Circulate the responses and ask students to support and elaborate on their comments.

Five-Minute Entry- In a five-minute entry, students are asked to respond in writing to reading or a topic assigned for the day. Papers are marked satisfactory or unsatisfactory, and mechanics (grammar, spelling, etc.) do not count. Satisfactory entries demonstrate "beyond a reasonable doubt" that their authors have read and thought about the assigned reading. Dennis Holt gives this example: "We have been discussing Frederick the Great and Otto Bismarck. State one major contribution each leader made to the rise of modern Germany. In terms of their significance for German history, how do these contributions differ?"

Reading Journals- Journals students keep chronicling their thoughts about the assigned readings offer a way for an instructor to focus on student reflections about what they are studying. Journal assignments can ask students to summarize the main points of the reading and react to it. They might also be asked to pose questions for further study or to link the reading to the lecture material. A certain number of journals may be required over the semester or for one unit in the course. A variation on this assignment asks students to draw a line down the center of the page. On the right side, they write notes or summaries of the reading. On the left, they write down their reactions--questions, disagreements. You may wish to collect them to get a sense of their understanding and to provide them feedback.

Group Writing Projects- In a group writing project, each person contributes one part of the assignment. Another option is to have all parts written collaboratively.

For more Writing Activities, see: Cross, K. P. and Angelo, T. A. Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for faculty. Ann Arbor, MI: National Center for Research to Improve Post secondary Teaching and Learning, 1988.

Herteis, E. and Wright, W. (eds.) Learning through writing: A compendium of assignments and techniques. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Dalhousie University, Office of Instructional Development and Technology, 1992.

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