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Using the Guide: Preparing Students to Write Effectively
By Kirsti Sandy, Director of Writing, English
The Keene State Guide to Writing is designed for use in a variety of courses, from Biology to Theater. It includes sample papers and assignments, worksheets, guidelines for writing, and other information of use to students and faculty in across the disciplines. If you haven't yet used the Guide in your class, the list below offers a few suggestions.
Helping Students with Research and Documentation
Use the worksheet on "Finding Your Research Topic" as an in-class activity (31). Have students respond to each other's topics, then collect them yourself. This gives you a better sense of the projects your students have in mind, and it provides you with an opportunity to offer valuable early feedback. It also shows that instructor and peer feedback can be useful at any level of the writing process-even at the "idea" stage!
Are you worried about plagiarism? Go over in detail the section on "The Difference Between Paraphrasing and Quoting" (33). It's a quick but very thorough lesson (and a good way to deal with the plagiarism issue without sounding like the plagiarism police). If you want to take a more direct approach, go over "About Plagiarism" (37).
When your students are working on a paper involving research, you may want them to keep clear records of their source materials. One effective method is to have them use the worksheet for their "Working List of References" (36).This is a useful way to help students organize and summarize their sources. It's a new and improved version of the "notecard" approach.
Are you frustrated with students' use of unreliable Internet sources? Instead of simply banning Internet sources from your class, why not go over the section on "Evaluating Internet Sources?" (39).
The Guide can help students distinguish primary sources from secondary sources. For a quick, clear explanation of the difference, have them read "Primary vs. Secondary Sources" (38-9).
Are your students unsure whether to use MLA, APA, Chicago Style, or CBE? Do they know how to write an in-text citation? If not, have them refer to "Choose a Documentation Style" (34) and "Constructing Works Cited, References, or Bibliographies" (35).
Revision/Editing
Encourage students to draft and revise their work before it is turned in for a grade. To emphasize the importance of revision, have students read "Writing Drafts and Revising" and "Receiving Feedback" (11-12).
To stress the importance of editing a final draft, go over "Producing Final Copy"(12).
Before students hand in a paper, have them take a look at "A Guide for Self-Evaluation" (24). This checklist is long and quite thorough, so you might want to have them prepare it ahead of time and hand it in with their papers. "A Guide for Self-Evaluation" provides opportunities for reflection, as well. I like my students to respond to the following each time they hand in a paper: "Have you shown in every way possible that you care about this paper and that it reflects your best work?"
Do your students write multiple drafts of their papers? If so, you may want to have them exchange early drafts with peers. This allows students a better sense of what their peers are writing, and it can offer them some early feedback. "A Guide for Peer Evaluation" (25) can be used in this process (better yet, revise it to fit your own assignment).
Go over the "Common Revision Symbols"(228) with students. These symbols can be confusing! Ideally, give them some practice in using these symbols.
Do your students use computer spelling checks but still have errors in their work? Have them read "Some Simple Advice" (22) to help them see the limits of computers as proofreaders.
Resources and Support
Do students seem to keep forgetting the Writing Center hours? The hours and other facts about the Writing Center are listed on page 42. Ideally, they should bring their copy of the Guide to each tutoring session. This helps to reassure students that we (the Writing Center and the Keene State faculty) promote the same approach to writing.
The Guide supports and refers to KSC's Academic Honesty Policy and offers a section on the penalties for academic dishonesty (37).
The Guide offers a section on writing business letters and resumes (218-225).
Having difficulty finding what you need in the Guide? An alternative index titled "Kinds of Writing Found in the Guide" can be found on page 226.
Use the "Guidelines for Effective Writing" (8) to help you evaluate student papers.
Preparing Students to Write Effectively
If your students are having difficulty generating paper topics, try using the strategies on pages 9-11. Students can try these in succession, or you can try a different one each time you start a new paper.
Ask students to choose one of the student essays in The Guide. Then have them discuss how well it meets the criteria for effective writing on page 8.
Put the following statement on the board: "Effective writing is created and defined differently in different situations and for different disciplines" (8). Ask your students to examine the essays in the section of the Guide devoted to your discipline and discuss how effective writing is defined in your field.
To demonstrate to students the various types of writing they will do in college, "Effective Writing has a Clear Purpose" (13) describes the differences between expressive writing, persuasive writing, and informative writing. After they read this, explain to them what kind (or kinds) of writing they will do in your class.
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