Opinions

Committing to a standardized writing requirement

In print | April 9, 2009

Swarthmore has a tradition of graduating great writers. Indeed, academic writing is a skill that is emphasized in the curriculum, and students are given a wide range of resources on campus to nurture their writing abilities. The primary method through which the school ensures every student graduates at least as a competent and coherent writer is through the writing requirement, which advises that students complete three W-designated courses by the end of sophomore year.

This aspect of the Swarthmore curriculum is one of the several that distinguish us from other schools, and it is easy to see the potential benefits of such an endeavor. Writing is a necessary skill for any student, from the honors Biology student constructing a lab report to the Philosophy major penning another dissertation.

However, students have consistently noted that some W-designated courses do not focus on improving writing skills nearly as much as other W-designated courses — or even non-W courses — do. The current method of determining which classes count as W courses results in vast disparities across the board.

If the college is committed to ensuring a writing requirement system that results in student entering junior year knowing how to effectively write an academic paper, then the curriculum requirements of W courses, which are mostly solid in principle, must be consistently upheld. And for the arguably weaker parts of the writing requirement system, a more rigorous evaluation of what constitutes a writing course is necessary.

According to the Swarthmore website, in order to receive W-designation, a course has to fulfill three requirements. First, writing classes must mandate “twenty pages of analytic writing per semester.” Second, they must “pay explicit attention to helping students develop, compose, organize, revise and edit analytic prose.” Finally, they must allow students to “use feedback” to revise their writing. Unfortunately, these listed criteria are not always followed in the classroom. Frankly, they are too vague to give professors — or for that matter, students — a clear idea of what, exactly, a W course entails.

The most obvious criticism of the Writing Course designation is that many Writing Courses do not demand the 20 pages of writing they are supposed to. This is a problem that, for whatever reason, has not been rectified by the semester-end student evaluations. The school is right in requiring that every Writing Course have a very significant writing component — after all, effective writing only comes about through practice. What is commendable in theory only becomes problematic when students are not actually required to fulfill the 20-page requirement in their W courses.

Yet this is exactly what is happening: students, many of whom have taken writing courses in a variety of different disciplines, are not being asked to fulfill one of the explicitly defined tenets of a W course. Though some may argue that the page requirement is an arbitrary standard that does not necessarily reflect writing growth, it is nevertheless a standard. And standards must be adhered to if W-designation is to mean anything. To that end, the Curriculum Committee must do a better job of ensuring that each listed writing course meets the page requirements standards.

The second aspect of Writing Courses is that they have professors who take time out of their regular lessons to actively teach discipline-specific writing skills. There are certainly a number of professors of Writing Courses who do just this. But there are also a large percentage of writing courses whose professors do not actively teach writing skills to the students. Nor do the professors at least utilize the Writing Associates and the writing experience they offer that may be available to attach to a course.

It is doubtful that any professors are purposefully violating this precept. It is the standards that need to be made clearer. What exactly does the Curriculum Committee mean by “pay[ing] explicit attention to helping students develop [and] compose … analytic prose”? Does it intend professors of Writing Courses to give regular lessons on writing and grammar, as some professors of Writing Courses have opted to do? Or does the Committee intend professors to make casual remarks about writing only when student essays are handed back? Both approaches are defensible, and both approaches are practiced. In fact, both approaches can be quite effective. But without explicit direction, the Committee’s words leave room for neither approach to be taken, and that is where the problems begin. Thus, it is imperative that a course that “helps” students write analytic prose knows exactly what “help” means.

The final requirement of W courses is that they “must have students use feedback to revise their writing.” But feedback has multiple meanings. Feedback could mean anything from a few jotted notes on the back of the paper to a one-on-one conference with the professor. Professors of W courses regularly opt for both strategies. In fact, professors of non-W courses regularly opt for both strategies. Delineation, then, is needed to justify this separate writing requirement and ensure that the requirements are in fact met.

It seems problematic that professors of W courses are not required to do anything more specific than “give [students] feedback to revise their writing.” As it turns out, professors of non-W courses often impose more stringent writing requirements, and give more detailed feedback, than professors of W courses.

There are a number of simple strategies that could rectify this. Professors of W courses should be explicitly required to meet individually with students to go over their papers, or, if the class is too big, students meet with a WA to go over the professor’s feedback on the paper. Otherwise, why establish a separate W course system?

If students are required to fulfill a set writing requirement, if students are required to take courses they otherwise would not, then it is imperative that the “W” designation actually mean something. The 20 pages must be written. Professors must go over student writing in a painstaking fashion. Further, it is essential that professors do take special efforts to communicate feedback on writing.

Swarthmore has established a system that is in the best interests of student development, and the college takes student writing very seriously. But in order for principles to translate to results, Swarthmore must take the student writing requirements very seriously also.