Example of Strategy for Incorporating Speaking, Visual, and Writing Requirement into a Degree Program's Undergraduate Curriculum

The following two pieces describe the strategy used to incorporate writing within the landscape architecture curriculum. The undergraduate curriculum committee will use a similar strategy to incorporate development and demonstration of speaking and visualization skills as well.

A. Description of writing instruction in the Bachelors of Landscape Architecture program.

(Excerpted from the 2002 Self-Evaluation Report prepared for the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Review Board. This board reviews the undergraduate program (BLA) every five years.)

Writing Intensive Courses

Recognizing the importance of communication skills to success in general education and in the practice of landscape architecture the department faculty devised a strategy to proactively utilize writing to improve reading and discussion skills, and enable students to put language onto paper in properly convincing ways within the context of the five-year undergraduate design curriculum. This strategy addresses writing focus, form and forum in increasing degrees of complexity throughout the five-year program. By the time students have completed their degree requirements, they will have used writing in a number of ways critical to the practice of landscape architecture. They will have used such exercises as ‘free writing’ to think about and develop responses to issues, and to develop their critical thinking skills. All will have used more formal writing exercises to do case study analysis and interpretation; to conduct scholarly research; to discuss, synthesize and analyze course readings and other course material; to present positional arguments; to develop their critical thinking processes; to draft reports and other documents; and to continue to explore issues related to landscape architecture. They typical audience for their writing will have included themselves, their classmates and faculty, as well as landscape architects and allied professionals. While it is improbable that all students will achieve mastery in writing as it includes reading, discussion, and putting language onto paper, the faculty believes that students will be better able to express themselves through writing in a wide variety of public, professional and personal forums.

Incorporating writing as a mode of learning through out the design curriculum also addresses a requirement of the University Core Curriculum (UCC) to formally incorporate significant writing experiences into each degree program’s course of study. While writing is an expected component of many of our courses, it is formally recognized by the UCC in six of our courses. These are designated as either “Writing Intensive” or as part of a five-course sequence of “Writing across the Major.”

B. Framework used to develop writing within the BLA curriculum.

Strategy for incorporating writing across the coursework of the landscape architecture curriculum. Includes studio and landscape architecture technology courses, as well as theory and methods courses.

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