Below are the questions exactly as you will see them in the Flag Proposal System when you propose your course for a Writing flag. Your responses to these questions should allow the faculty flag committee to make an informed decision regarding your proposal.
Question 1
What substantial writing projects will your students complete during the course?
Responses should describe the type of writing (essay, research paper, report, case study, etc.) and give some idea of the assignments’ length or level of complexity. Here is a sample response, submitted by an instructor from the Department of Radio, Television, and Film:
Students will complete 4 assignments for the class, all of which require either academic or applied writing. These are: a news comparison and analysis in which they select a topic or event (from among those provided by the professor) and compare the reporting of it in an alternative and mainstream print media source; an overview and introduction to an alternative media artifact; a critique or plan of a “culture jam”; and a standard term paper or an alternative media project. In total, students write about 21 pages of material throughout the semester.
Question 2
What kinds of feedback will students receive from the instructor, and what opportunities will they be given to revise their writing?
In your answer, briefly describe the nature of the comments you typically make on student papers. You may wish to explain how you provide feedback (written on papers, in one-on-one meetings, via Track Changes or other software, etc.). Your response should also demonstrate that students will be using your comments to revise at least one writing project. Here is an example from a professor in the department of Theater and Dance:
Students in T D 357T will receive extensive feedback on each paper explaining where and how they can improve their writing skills. This feedback will include both grammatical corrections and proposals for the re-thinking of major arguments, organizational elements, perspectives, or stylistic choices in the project. As a part of the class each student will be required to meet independently with the professor to discuss the progress of his or her writing. In addition, the final paper will be submitted for comments by the professor. Students will be required to revise their papers based on the feedback of instructor and the grade on this final paper will be based on the student’s revised draft.
Question 3
What amount of the final course grade will come from the written work (minimum one-third for a three-hour course)?
In most cases, you can simply provide the percentage of the grade you will assign to each writing project in the class. This is how an instructor in Educational Psychology described her grading:
Assignment #1 = 15%
Assignment #2 = 15%
Assignment #3 = 15%
Capstone Paper = 15%
TOTAL = 60%
Question 4
What opportunities will students have to read each other’s work and offer constructive criticism?
It is helpful for the faculty flag committee to know the extent of student’s peer interaction, and the degree to which you will guide their criticism of one another’s work. The following example was submitted by a faculty member in the Department of Government:
Students will read and comment on each others’ two short papers (nos. 1 and 4), the first paper starting off the class and the other peer-reviewed paper a little past the mid-way point of the semester. Students, grouped into threes, will upload their papers on Blackboard, and each person on the three-person team will edit their two classmates’ papers (outside of class). The three-person groups of students will then spend time in class discussing the three papers. Students will then hand in their revised draft to the instructor, along with their initial draft as well as the copies edited by their two classmates.
Supporting Documents
Attach up to three optional supporting documents, such as syllabi.
You can use this space to include a syllabus, course description, sample assignments, or any other documents to supplement the information you provide on the proposal. These documents should not take the place of answering the questions above.