Every writing teacher needs a toolkit of good lesson plans and inspiring
assignments. The College Writing Toolkit is just such a practical
resource, offering practical tools for both new and experienced teachers
seeking to expand their professional repertoire. The College Writing
Toolkit provides a collection of "tried and tested" methods and
techniques for eliciting and working on students' writing in a college
or university environment. Contributors from all over the world reflect
on best practices for teaching writing and for generating writing
assignments that help college or university students to learn and to
express themselves with confidence, clarity, and originality and in a
range of genres.
Each contribution is written in a format specifying the theoretical and
conceptual framework of the pedagogical activity, its purpose, audience,
and intended outcomes. Contributors also describe the situations in
which the activity has been tried, what the results have been, and how
the activity has been modified accordingly. An important aspect of the
descriptions is the contributors' reflections on the value of the
activity and their recommendations for applying it for best results in
the same and different types of contexts, such as for different types of
institutions and audiences of students. Those who incorporate the
practices of The College Writing Toolkit in their own teaching can
therefore benefit from another practitioner's understanding and
experience gained from refining an activity over time to enhance its
effectiveness.
College and university writing teachers can use and creatively adapt
these activities to help their students improve their writing process,
use writing as a mode of thought and reflection, master writing genres,
and write effectively in their course assignments. The College Writing
Toolkit is a resource for both novice and experienced writing teachers
looking to try something different or new in their classes with a
knowledge of a previous context in which it has been successful. By
using the practical tools in The College Writing Toolkit,
college/university writing teachers can expand their repertoire while
gaining experience that connects them to the practices of others in the
field in the ongoing expansion and refinement of the tools of the
writing trade.
