The Writing Fellows program is one of the ways we take an active approach to writing instruction by reaching students through departmental course offerings. Scholarship in composition studies has argued persuasively for decades that graduate writing instruction should not be considered separately from disciplinary content, and that explicit attention to the writing process within subject-centered courses (via assignment sequencing, the scaffolding of writing tasks, self-reflection, and rhetorical metacognition) can meaningfully address the procrastination, anxiety, and confusion common to confronting graduate-level writing challenges. Seminars dedicated to disciplinary writing have been found to be an effective solution to this problem, as have embedded tutors: the integration of process-based writing instruction into introductory disciplinary courses through a series of topical workshops and the ongoing involvement of a Writing Consultant to work closely with both the instructor and the class as a whole.
The goals of the embedded tutoring program are:
- To provide students with a set of transferable skills for segmenting and planning the writing tasks required by graduate seminars.
- To collaborate with instructors to integrate incremental assignment design and “writing to learn” strategies into their courses.
- To offer students a familiar point of contact for seeking help with their writing.
- To build students’ confidence in their writing abilities.
Our Writing Fellows Program has grown exponentially since it began in Fall 2015.