Spring Workshop Week: March 21-24, 2016
Along with the ongoing writing support offered by The Learning Commons, the Writing Staff
will host Workshop Week as a way of offering more intensive writing support for writers during
the mid-semester time when students are preparing to undertake final papers and research
projects.
The content offered in these workshops will support students throughout the writing process.
Topics for workshops will focus on research, pre-writing, content, and revision. They will be
geared toward freshmen and early college writers and will strengthen skills learned in previous
writing classes.
To learn more, please see the following descriptions of the Spring Workshop Week sessions.
Researching for Discovery
Prewriting Strategies
Writing Critically
Synthesis
Logical Fallacies
Grammar
MLA
APA
Expanding Sources
Incorporating Feedback
Strategies for Revision
Drafting
Researching for Discovery
Too often we approach papers or research projects with the intent to study something we already
think we know a lot about. This presentation will express the benefit of researching to learn
about new topics and new things about old topics. Hosted by research expert and First Year
Experience Coordinator, Rob Snyder, this interactive workshop will explain what to look for in a
research project and how to get started as well as the topic of expediency in rhetoric.
Prewriting Strategies
This is about one of the most difficult parts of the writing process for many writers: getting
started. Prewriting strategies are an excellent tool for any writer. This workshop addresses the
most popular strategies for prewriting and what the purpose of using these strategies is. This can
help the writer to come up with information and organizational structure for their work and can
make the entire process easier and smoother. Students will practice using each of the prewriting
strategies discussed in the presentation to find which strategy feels most comfortable for them.
Writing Critically
This presentation will focus on honing critical writing skills which are useful for students who
wish to improve their writing as they approach the second part of the semester and are looking to
do well on research and academic papers. It will discuss evaluating materials, thinking critically,
formulating effective arguments, presenting the argument to readers, and constructing
meaningful counter-arguments.
Synthesis
One of the most important skills that college students must develop is the ability to synthesize.
Taking information from a variety of sources and combining it into one coherent argument not
only makes the argument seamless and strong but also provides the reader with a more complete
picture of the issue at hand. It also helps the writer to learn more about the topic as well. This
workshop is designed to strengthen synthesis skills and practice it through fun examples and
activities.
Logical Fallacies
The logical fallacies workshop will help students recognize and avoid some of the most common
issues that undermine their arguments. Logical fallacies are sometimes difficult to recognize but
can severely damage the argument’s credibility. Students will exercise their knowledge of logical
fallacies in the activities.
Grammar
In an informal office survey, a group of peers stated that the one thing they wished they learned
better in high school (related to writing) was grammar. This workshop is designed to provide a
brush up on some of those pesky grammar and punctuation rules that still plague us as adult
writers. Also interactive, this workshop will provide students the opportunity to learn about, ask
about, and practice grammar and punctuation rules that are common among early college writers.
MLA
This workshop features MLA basics and activities to help solidify the knowledge of key MLA
concepts.
APA
This workshop features APA basics and activities to help solidify the knowledge of key APA
concepts.
Expanding Sources (Digging Deeper)
Utilizing the many resources available to students is often a difficult task for college students to
fully take advantage of. This presentation briefly reviews the basic resources for finding credible
information on the Internet and then discusses strategies for finding even more sources on a topic
and how to use what the student has already located to expand their resources using other similar
references. Students will utilize technology to practice their research skills and finding credible
sources and expanding on an initial set of sources.
Incorporating Feedback
This presentation focuses on helping writers to incorporate peer and teacher feedback to improve
their paper. It addresses issues like considering each piece of advice and determining how the
subsequent revision might fit in with the goal of their paper (critical evaluation of feedback). It
also tries to help students understand how to successfully incorporate that feedback and what
issues they should be aware of when doing so (including the new revisions’ impact on ideas such
as clarity and organization). Students will have the opportunity to practice their feedback
incorporation skills.
Strategies for Revision
This workshop is about the entire revision process, including proofreading and editing. It teaches
students how to be their own critics, and it can help students figure out how to approach the
tedious practice of revising papers. Too often, we focus solely on grammatical revisions because
they tend to be the simplest. This presentation suggests a much wider approach that ensures the
paper has a strong argument/purpose and is presented clearly before moving on to those “lower
order concerns.” Students will practice revising and discuss the process with the presenter.
Drafting
This workshop is designed to give writers a chance to bring a draft and get feedback in an
environment which provides help from experienced writing consultants. Working in a small
group, writers will discuss their currently drafted work and receive input from peers and a
writing consultant on how to proceed. This process allows writers to practice the skills learned in
the classroom and earlier workshops while simultaneously learning from each other.
Spring Workshop Week: March 21-24, 2016
Monday
9:30 AM
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
12:00 PM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
4:00 PM
4:30 PM
5:00 PM
5:30 PM
6:00 PM
6:30 PM
7:00 PM
7:30 PM
Incorporating
Feedback
Room 142
Tuesday
APA
Room 142
Synthesis
Room 142
Wednesday
Incorporating
Feedback
Room 210B
APA
Room 142
Strategies for
Revision
Room 142
MLA
Room 142
Writing Critically
Room 142
Logical Fallacies
Room 142
Using Sources
in Revision
Room 142
MLA
Room 210B
Drafting Workshop
Room 210B
MLA
Room 142
Grammar
Room 142
Thursday
Researching for
Discovery
Room 142
Grammar
Room 142
Logical Fallacies
Room 142
Strategies for
Revision
Room 142
Using Sources
in Revision
Room 142
Incorporating
Feedback
Room 142
Writing Critically
Room 142
Synthesis
Room 142
APA
Room 210B
Synthesis
Room 210B
Grammar
Room 210B
Strategies for
Revision
Room 210B
Writing Critically
Room 142
MLA
Room 142
Prewriting
Strategies
Room 142
Using Sources
in Revision
Room 210B
Drafting Workshop
Room 210B
Grammar
Room 142
Incorporating
Feedback
Room 142
Test-taking Strategies
Room 142
Prewriting Strategies
Room 142
Drafting Workshop
Room 142
Using Sources
in Revision
Room 142
Synthesis
Room 142