On major assignments, students working in pairs or in small groups review each others in-progress drafts. Students elect to come to PLU expecting to receive individualized attention from professors concerned about their development, and they are always pleased to discover that their introductory writing course meets this expectation. Whether or not they enjoy writing, they uniformly care about how they are progressing in their seminar because they see it as a marker of their capacity for success in college-level work. Writing seminar students receive feedback from professors prior to turning in a final version to be graded so that they have time to adjust their papers to better meet the terms of the assignment. This feedback can include both written and oral comments on drafts and should include conversations with students on how they might best respond to comments.
Scheduled conferences replace at least one class period during the weeks they are scheduled.
Conferences establish rapport, inform us about student connections with the course topic, allow us to confer about drafts, and produce feedback on student perceptions about their progress or the design of the course. Additional individual meetings are scheduled as student needs dictate. Students should learn how to identify and correct their most common errors and how to use grammar and usage handbooks as they proof-read. The majority of the Freshman Writing Seminars are taught in fall semester, so the likelihood is high that your students first encounter with the Freshman Experience Program is your seminar. We recommend that your syllabus include some material on the Freshman Experience Program and the Writing Seminar s role in it.