Writing in and across Disciplines
USU IS NOT GERMAN U (AND VICE VERSA): CONSIDERING CONTEXT IN INTEGRATING WRITING INTO CURRICULA
Lahm, Swantje¹, Anderson, Paul²
1. Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany 2. Elon University, Elon, USA
In 2012 a German University and a US University began collaborating in a project aimed at integrating writing into undergraduate courses at GermanU. It is one of the first universities in Germany to systematically embark on such an effort. USU made writing a university wide effort, including WAC/WID goals as the collective responsibility of all faculty in degreegranting programs, not just the few who teach writingintensive courses. GermanU profited from USU’s advice and experience, learning several US “tricks of the trade:” backward design, formulation of student learning outcomes, design and use of rubrics. USU gained new ideas while helping develop WAC/WID strategies for GermanU’s context. Both schools learned that strategies for integrating writing into curricula cannot be transferred automatically from one context to another. The possibilities at any school are impacted by its national educational system, the distinctive traditions of disciplines in its country, and the institution’s particular policies and practices. Using a framework based on theory and viewed through the lens of our experiences, workshop participants from any country will identify and assess easily overlooked features of their national, disciplinary, and institutional contexts that can hinder or promote their efforts to integrate writing into their curricula. Participants will also learn how to build the positive features into structures that support their efforts. Throughout, participants will work collaboratively, helping one another see things that outsiders can discern more easily than insiders—just as the collaboration between GermanU and USU prompted insights neither of us would have discovered working alone.
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