John M Ackerman, DirectorAssoc. Professor of CommunicationIneva Baldwin Chair of Arts and Sciences

John M Ackerman, DirectorAssoc. Professor of CommunicationIneva Baldwin Chair of Arts and Sciences

Program for Writing and RhetoricUniversity of Colorado ~ BoulderProgram for Writing and RhetoricUniversity of Colorado ~ Boulder

55 faculty, 15 GPTIs, 10 Lecturers

425 Sections @ 20 per AY ~ 8000 students > 24,000 SCH

University-wide purview: 80% entering students, 80% continuing

PWR - 95% per course completion rate

UCB - 80% retention rate, 60% graduation rate (we contribute)

UCB - 33% in state, 67% out of state (and climbing)

Prediction - soon to be at 0% state funding

Four corners of assessment: WPA, CCHE, NSSE, Flagship 2030

Writing Inquiry Project

Goals & Assessments: WPA http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.htmlGoals & Assessments: WPA http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.html

Goals & Assessments: WPA http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.htmlGoals & Assessments: WPA http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.html

Rhetorical Knowledge: purpose, audience, situation

conventions, formality, genres

field specificity

Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing

Processes

Conventions

Electronic Environments

By the end of the first year students should know …

Goals & Assessments: CCHE http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfers/gtPathways/Goals & Assessments: CCHE http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfers/gtPathways/

Goals & Assessments: CCHE http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfers/gtPathways/Goals & Assessments: CCHE http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfers/gtPathways/

The “content” of state guaranteed communication courses

Rhetorical Knowledge: rhetorical situation

voice, tone, format, structure

multiple genres

Writing Processes

Writing Conventions

Content Knowledge: audience & purpose

academic audiences

adaptation, translation

Goals & Assessments: NSSE/WPA http://comppile.org/wpa+nsse/Goals & Assessments: NSSE/WPA http://comppile.org/wpa+nsse/

Goals & Assessments: NSSE/WPA http://comppile.org/wpa+nsse/Goals & Assessments: NSSE/WPA http://comppile.org/wpa+nsse/

1. During the current school year, for how many of your writing assignments have you done each of the following: [All, Most, Some, Few, None]

1. Brainstormed to develop your ideas

2. Talk with your instructor to develop ideas

3. Talked with classmates

4. Received feedback from your instructor

5. Received feedback from your classmates

6. Visited a campus writing center

7. Used an on-line tutoring service

8. Proofread your draft

2. During the current school year, in how many of your writing assignments did you:

1. Narrate or describe one of your experiences

2. Summarize something you read

3. Analyze or evaluate something your read

4. Describe your methods or findings related to your data you collected

5. Argue a position

6. Explain numerical or statistical data

7. Write in the style of a specific field (e.g., engineering)

8. Include drawings, tables, photos, screen shots or other visual content…[25 more questions]

Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/

Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/

Flagship Initiatives

Residential colleges

Customized, experiential learning

Research Diamond

Transcending traditional boundaries

Global crossroads

University villages

Alternative degree tracks

Year-round learning

Making enterprise work

Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/Goals & Assessments: Flagship 2030 http://www.colorado.edu/flagship2030/

What does all of this have to do with learning to write?

30% of our courses will soon be in RAPs

Our instruction will soon “internationalize”

Writing is a vehicle for inclusion and diversity

PWR is part of the Sustainability Initiative

We partner with Continuing Education (year round)

We are pursuing “multi-literacy” (visual, new media)

We are a “model project” for service learning

How might students be prepared in Colorado?How might students be prepared in Colorado?

Practical writing within and across digital environments

Evidential reasoning: from diverse sources

Argumentation

Writing for specialized groups for actual problems

Close readings: texts, talk, graphics, web data

Working with audiences, clients in the world

Consuming dense works: books, corpuses, data sets

Writing, talking, reading, doing