Writing Across the Curriculum and in Disciplines

Introduction to WAC

Crafting Effective Writing Assignments

  • Responding to Student Papers Effectively and Efficiently (University of Toronto) – This site provides several examples of writing assignment sheets and guidance on marking up student writing.
  • John C. Bean. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2003. (Available in the Writing Center)

Writing In Disciplines

  • Writing in Mathematics (Franklin and Marshall College) – This site includes sample writing assignments from Professor Annalisa Crannell’s Calculus I and Calculus III classes, along with assessment rubrics.
  • Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students – These guidelines contain advice, models and exercises for common writing and speaking assignments in engineering and science.
  • Beall, Herbert, and John Trimbur. A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Higham, Nicholas J.  Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences. Manchester, England: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1998. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Pearsall, Thomas E.  The Elements of Technical Writing. 2nd Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Pechenik, Jan A.  A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. 4th Ed. New York: Addison-Wesley, 2001. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Porush, David. A Short Guide to Writing About Science.  New York: Harper Collins, 1995. (Available in the Writing Center)
  • Zinsser, William. Writing To Learn. New York: Harper and Row, 1988. (Available in the Writing Center)

Avoiding Plagiarism

For further information or assistance in developing writing assignments for your classes, contact Wendy Menefee-Libey, director of Learning Programs, at 909.607.3626 or menefee@hmc.edu.