Early September, the first day of classes. I am in my Adolescent Psychology class, and they are writ-ing. Only for five minutes, and I have given them two starting points. First, I asked them to write about any incident from the memories they have of adoles-cence, and then to try to write a definition of “adoles-cence. ” They are writing and thinking and creating and analyzing. Much to their surprise, they are finding out that they have something to say about both topics. I am at the front of class, having one of those moments of insight. Here I am, with writing happening in my classroom, and I am dealing with a classic case of writer’s block about the book chapter I have agreed to do on using writing in the course on adolescence. Perhaps there is some logic to this. I suspect the writer’s block I developed along the way comes from my not doing enough writing in the past. Knowing I have writer’s block is one reason I am open to ideas that will help others do a better job writing and help me do a better job myself. Snodgrass (1985) noted that the traditional use of writing in psychology courses is to evaluate students. We ask them to produce papers and exams and give them a grade, treating the papers and exams as proof of how well they have mastered the particular content area. She asked that we consider writing as some-thing more, as a process that can be an important tool

In the section I teach of Technical Writing at Plymouth State College, students learn to handle the content, form, and style of scientific reports by writing about a snowpack (accumulated snow on the ground). In this context, snowpack study requires students to learn and apply only elementary concepts of snow physics, but it establishes common experiences in science for students with non-scientific backgrounds. During an initial field trip, students examine the layers in a snowpack and observe the various characteristics of snow. For two weeks after the first field trip, students study local weather history and learn basic concepts of snow science, snow stratigraphy, and snow metamorphism. Based on their new understanding of snow, they hypothesize changes that have occurred in the snowpack, and they learn to identify types of snow particles in the field. Then they return to the snowpack to make a second set of observations. During the second field trip, they reexamine the snowpack, compare their hypotheses with actual conditions they observe, and account for persistence and change in the snowpack. At each stage in the snowpack study unit, students write up their findings in a series of technical reports, then write essays in which they examine their personal experience in snowpack study and assess the snowpack

Writing teachers despise grading. They delay it. They avoid it. They strive to minimize its impact and importance, speaking to their students as if it didn’t matter (when, of course it does). But in the end they are faced with it and do it, usually alone, with trepi-dation and a lot of second guessing. Last semester, we decided not to grade our stu-dents ’ portfolios. We opted out of the whole dilemma and in the process, found a way to provide students with a more valid assessment of their work. What grew out of a simple frustration with our roles as evaluators, eventually revealed hidden complexities and subjectivities inherent in grading. We had long been aware of evaluation of writing as a process riddled with doubt. “Is this really an A, or am I too aware of the fact that this is her sixteenth draft, am I too sympathetic to her struggle? ” or conversely, “Is this really a D paper, or am I only reacting to his snide posturing, his bragging to class-mates about how quickly he can ‘slap something together ’ before class? ” No matter how objective we try to be, these uncertainties remain. Some writing teachers embrace this subjectivity.

Creating a Textbook Writing Across the Curriculum activities have been successful not only in improving the art of writing but in fostering a wide variety of other skills critical to collegiate learning, such as conceptual integration (Weiss & Walter, 1980) and interdisciplinary study (Hamilton, 1980). The creation of a collaborative textbook, documents in which student writing representing the bulk of course work is assembled, has been used extensively with young students (Weiss and Walter, 1980). Its use as the exclusive text in a college setting remains unreported in recent educational literature, although this does not mean it is untried. Each semester during the 1992-93 academic year, two sections of undergraduates at Plymouth State College studied introductory psychology without purchasing any text or reserve materials. Students in these sections instead used a Writing-Across-the-Curriculum approach, in which writing and research skills were developed through mutually supporting projects. The students wrote their own textbook after researching key topics, while other students edited their work for accuracy, concepts, and form. All students reviewed and critiqued professional journal research for their semester papers. The students even proposed and wrote the questions on their final examinations. By the end of their term, participants had found, read, and critiqued journal-level research with the familiarity of graduating seniors. They had written an average of two pages of critical essays each week. Three out

Many upper division business courses focus on applying the concepts and techniques studied throughout the undergraduate curriculum. The case method, which is often used to teach upper division business courses, exposes students to complex situations, aids in developing their analytical skills, and provides students with an opportunity to offer integrative solutions. An assortment of writing assignments for these case courses can enhance learning. Writing business memos and reports from a variety of organiza-tional perspectives and to a number of organizational audiences enables students to explore the realities of crafting business docu-ments meant to communicate and convince. The use of various perspectives and audiences challenges students to recognize the impact of organizational position in creating and maintaining a voice when writing. Assignments that Permit an Exploration of Voice By design, many of Plymouth State College’s upper division business courses are integrative. As an example, to enroll in Administrative Policy students need to have completed courses in (1994) 74 Writing Across the Curriculum