General Education and Writing @ WSU

The Statement of WAC Principles and Purposes notes, "Writing is a highly complex and situated activity that cannot be mastered in a single course but is learned over a lifetime." As such, WSU students receive writing instruction in at least five courses:

ONE Rhetoric and Inquiry in their first year
THREE Exploring Complex Issues courses at any time throughout their four years; these courses are writing- or speaking-infused.
ONE Exploring Writing in the Major (after their first Rhetoric and Inquiry course)

See the General Education Website for more details.

Rhetoric and

Inquiry

Students take this course in their first year at WSU. They are introduced to key concepts such as rhetorical situation (genre, audience and purpose), practice writing in a variety of genres (such as project proposals and annotated bibliographies) for a variety of audiences.

Exploring Complex Issues Courses

Students take three Exploring complex issues courses, one in each domain: Mathematics, Computing and Natural Sciences; Arts and Humanities; Social and Health Sciences. Writing- or Speaking-Infused: This course spreads writing or speaking assignments throughout the semester, providing students opportunities to practice writing or speaking regularly. Students produce both formal and low-stakes products for specific audiences. Students will be expected to incorporate regular in-process, strengths-based feedback on their writing/speaking from faculty and peers and to revise their work by implementing substantial and holistic changes, proofreading, and editing.

Exploring Writing in

the Major

Students are required to take either English 204 in their sophomore year or receive instruction on writing in their major by their department (credits determined by major). This course will build on the skills students learn in Rhetoric and Composition. Students will explore the most common genres of the major/field; how research is conducted in the discipline; expectations for writing in the discipline; and engage in critical analysis of disciplinary discourse by considering the perspectives and types of knowledge and communication that are included and excluded.This course spreads writing assignments throughout the semester, providing students opportunities to practice writing regularly. Students will produce both formal and low-stakes products. Students will be expected to incorporate regular in-process feedback on their writing from faculty and peers and to revise their work by implementing substantial and holistic changes, proofreading, and editing.

What is writing-infused?

The Writing Liaison Committee has developed the following guidelines for writing-infused (WI) courses. WI guidelines are fairly consistent across the nation in that they focus on ensuring that students have the opportunity to revise, perform both low and high-stakes writing, practice writing throughout the semester, and receive feedback on their writing from peers and instructors. We did diverge from the typical WI requirement in two major ways: we did not include a page or word count requirement, nor did we require that a certain percentage of the grade be determined by writing assignments. We chose to be more fluid so as to recognize disciplinary differences, recognize the value of short and/or multimodal writing assignments, and acknowledge that many faculty on our campus don’t use a traditional grading system. We encourage faculty to steer away from the traditional term paper to invite students to produce podcasts, videos, presentations that integrate sound and video, websites, posters, children's books, op-eds, lesson plans, and more; these options engage students, draw on the principles of universal design for learning, and minimize AI use. Check out the Student Voices page for examples.

Writing- Infused Expectations

Writing or Speaking Infused Practice Outcome: This course spreads writing or speaking assignments throughout the semester, providing students with opportunities to practice writing or speaking regularly. Students produce both formal and low-stakes products for specific audiences. Students will be expected to incorporate regular in-process, strengths-based feedback on their writing/speaking from faculty and peers and to revise their work by implementing substantial and holistic changes, proofreading, and editing.

Here's a checklist:

Writing assignments spread throughout the semester
Students produce low-stakes writing
Students produce formal writing
Students write for specific audiences
Students receive feedback from their professors and peers
Students revise their writing by implementing substantial changes, editing, and proofreading