have reported that working through this module has helped them improve their writing, and it has also helped me to give them more specific feedback on their lab reports throughout the course. At the end of my courses, in addition to learning organic chemistry content, laboratory techniques, and problem-solving skills, I hope that students come out with an appreciation for writing as a communication tool and practice in using this tool effectively. The simple module described above, though, really isn’t all that simple and reminds me that our students tend to compartmentalize their classes. They don’t always see how skills from different classes in different disciplines are transferable. They also don’t readily see how many conventions may need to be tweaked when one moves between genres or writes for a different audience. In this light, the simple can instead be revelatory, and, I hope, this serves as a reminder that no matter our discipline, as instructors, we all need to step back and have these conversations about writing and communication with our students. We can’t simply think “I’ll leave the writing to those communication-intensive courses; I have too much content to get through.” Instead, we all have a responsibility to help our students hone these skills and give them opportunities to practice writing regardless of the discipline, because writing equals communication.
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Writing@SVSU
