Writing in the Disciplines Academic Writing Research Project 2009-2010

At London Met, Write Now is currently engaged in a research project which aims to implement and evaluate a systematic approach to implementing Writing in the Disciplines work (cf. Monroe, 2002 and 2003). Building on its previous work in this area, this project involves six lecturers (in Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL); Accounting; Business; Film Studies; International Relations; and Sports Therapy) and aims to promote ownership of the teaching of academic writing by subject lecturers (cf. Wingate, 2006).

Learning from our own previous work and influenced by the work of Paul Anderson of Miami University Ohio, who visited the London Met Writing Centre in January 2009, this project aims to provide a more systematic framework than usual for WiD collaborations and in particular to promote lecturer autonomy and involvement through clear expectations of the lecturer’s role in taking responsibility for student writing. The project has involved academic staff diagnosing strengths and weaknesses of student writing in a more precise and rigorous fashion than usual and, through discussion with a writing specialist, targeting particular areas for curricular development. Participating lecturers then made limited but sustainable changes to the student learning experience according to their particular needs.

In evaluating the project, we are particularly interested in student writing improvement, pedagogical changes and in issues of "teacher change” (e.g. Richardson, 1994). We are also interested in reflecting on the intersection of Writing in the Disciplines work with Academic Literacies (cf. Russell et al. 2009) approaches and the extent to which the two approaches complement each other and the particular emphases and strengths of each approach (as well as any tensions between these two approaches).

Slides outlining the initial project, presented at the Thinking Writing Academic Literacies Seminar held at Queen Mary, University of London, June 2009, are available here.

Monroe, Jonathan (Ed.) (2002) Writing and Revising in the Disciplines. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Monroe, Jonathan (Ed.) (2003) Local Knowledges, Local Practices: Writing in the Disciplines at Cornell. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Richardson, Virginia (ed.). (1994). Teacher Change and the Staff Development Process: A Case in Reading Instruction. New York: Teachers College Press.

Russell, David R., Mary Lea Jan Parker, Brian Street, and Tiane Donahue (2009). Exploring Notions of Genre in "Academic Literacies" and "Writing Across the Curriculum": Approaches Across Countries and Contexts. In Bazerman, Charles, Bonini, Adair, and Figueiredo, Débora (Eds.) 2009. Genre in a Changing World. Perspectives on Writing. Fort Collins, Colorado: