Example of a proposal to meet the writing-intensive requirement of the University Core Curriculum

Writing Across the Major in Wildlife Science: A proposal to meet the Writing-intensive requirement of the University Core Curriculum Proposed by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science, November 2003

I. Justification

Within the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences there are approximately 100 students who major in Wildlife Science. We anticipate that thiS number will increase to approximately 120, with about 40 students per graduating class. Within the curriculum, Wildlife Science majors currently have one Writing lntensive (WI) class, FOR 3364, "Survey of Forest Ecology and Management." At this time, no individual class taught within our curriculum has an enrollment of 20-25, which would allow efficient development of a second WI class. We believe that implementing a Writing Across the Major (WAM) option for the second WI class will allow us to efficiently and effectively meet the WI requirement.

The curriculum in Wildlife Science has evolved over the past 15 years under a pedagogical philosophy of integration and building. We have coordinated our efforts closely in developing our Sophomore, Junior, and Senior level classes so that each class builds upon the concepts and information developed in the previous, supporting courses. This requires students to synthesize information previously learned and to apply this new knowledge in new contexts. We have conducted several curriculum reviews since the inception of the current Wildlife Science curriculum in 1985 to ensure that we are coordinating our efforts to integrate material and build upon subject matter as our students pass through our curriculum.

All faculty involved in the Wildlife Science major view effective verbal and written communication as critical to the educational experience and intellectual growth of our students. All FIW courses within our curriculum require writing by students to some extent. The nature of writing assignments ranges from one page micro-themes to lab/research reports to formal research or term papers. Some assignments may require students to clearly and concisely provide their opinions on a particular topic, whereas others require students to collect, analyze, and interpret data, and synthesize results with existing literature.

Our goal for the WAM in Wildlife Science is to provide a structure that ensures that our students will acquire the skills and have the experience needed to write clearly in a variety of contexts. Students who are in our curriculum from beginning to end will acquire substantially more than the minimum requirements. Students completing one of their WI requirements through this WAM option will be better prepared for future employment or graduate studies. Our program is reviewed by an external advisory committee on an annual basis. Each year, the advisory panel emphasizes the importance of communication skills in the workplace and the need for our students to acquire experience in written communication. Implementing this WAM option will help us to be responsive to the guidance of our advisory committee.

We believe that this proposal meets the spirit and objectives of the WI requirements by taking advantage of the WAM approach. This will allow us to continue to coordinate and integrate material presented in our Department's classes required by the Wildlife Science curriculum. Students will write at least 50 pages of formal material, which is substantially above the required minimum of 15 pages. This proposal meets critical attributes of the WAM option. It builds flexibility into the ways Area 1 requirements can be met; it shifts ownership and commitment of Area 1 requirements to the department/program; and, it provides a context for continued and regular curriculum review within the Wildlife Science major, particularly with respect to the role of writing and other forms of communication across the curriculum.

II. Structure of the Writing Across the Major Option.

A. Selection of Courses

The faculty within the Wildlife Section of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences reviewed all classes taught within our curriculum and selected those deemed appropriate for inclusion in the WAM option. The courses selected require writing of students in a variety of formats, ranging from short essays for the general public to scientifically written research reports and proposals. Courses were selected to ensure that on completing the WAM option, students will have had experience with various writing and writing for diverse audiences. Faculty who teach higher level courses included in this option have coordinated their efforts to ensure that assignments build upon and synthesize what is learned in the lower level courses. Additionally, several of the writing assignments have been added or modified to accommodate the WAM proposal.

B. Courses Included in the Option

The proposed WAM option comprises five classes that all students are required to take within the Wildlife Science curriculum. The five required classes and a brief summary of the nature of the writing in each class follows:

C. Changing the list of courses in this option.

The courses listed within this option may change as other faculty members add new classes or drop existing courses. The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences shall have authority to suggest additions or deletions of courses to this option. Any change to this WAM proposal will be processed through the Core Curriculum Committee. Faculty who wish to have their courses included in this option must read the WAM proposal to understand the requirements and administration of a WAM course and provide a l-page description of their writing assignment and its educational objectives. Removal of a course from the list will require a l-year advance notice of the intent to remove the class. This will allow students time to adjust schedules to meet the WAM requirement.

III. Documentation that the Plan meets the requirements for this Writing Option.

A. Theory of integrating writing with the existing goals of the targeted courses

Early in their academic endeavors at Virginia Tech students within the Wildlife major gain experience in writing. In FiW 1114, typically taken the first semester on campus, they are required to prepare two "microthemes" that are edited and returned for revision. These short themes range from presenting factual essays to developing an argument based on opinions. In addition, freshmen within the Wildlife major are required to take the Principles of Biology Laboratory where they learn to write about biological topics in a scientific manner. The Principles of Biology Lab, BIOL1106 is included in the Biology Department's WAM proposal.

Every FIW class our students take after their freshman year has writing requirements. All faculty within the Wildlife Section view effective communication as being essential for students who intend to pursue a professional career or graduate school upon graduation from our program. Accordingly, students are required to write and communicate in a variety of formats. Writing requirements include species descriptions based on literature reviews, proposal preparation, research reports based on analysis of data collected in the field, field notebooks and journals, and opinion-based papers.

We on the faculty view writing and communication as an essential part of the educational process, and on an annual basis we review how writing is used in each of our classes. We stress making the writing assignments an integral component of the class, striving to connect writing with the topics being covered and discussed in class; writing assignments are not simply "add-on" types of assignments required in addition to the other class work. We currently are working on curriculum revisions and have determined to drop COMM 2004, Public Speaking, from our required classes because of the difficulty our students have enrolling in it. To replace the topics covered in COMM 2004, we have modified, and will continue to modify, existing classes to incorporate oral presentations by students. Our goal is to strive for integrated communication opportunities in all its forms across our curriculum. Approval of this WAM proposal will allow us to move forward in our efforts to improve communication across our curriculum.

Informal writing assignments are used in each of the classes in addition to formal writing to assess student progress and knowledge. Methods used in the various classes to informally evaluate student writing include exit interviews, short writings on assigned reading material, writing in field journals, and brief in-class essays on selected topics. As a faculty we will continue to explore means by which we can integrate additional forms of informal writing in to the WAM classes.

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