An Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum

This guide offers information about WAC—writing across the curriculum. To learn more about WAC, choose any of the items below:

Getting Started

• Why include writing in my courses?
• What is writing to learn?
• What is writing to engage?
• What is writing in the disciplines?

Useful Knowledge

• What should I know about rhetorical situations?
• Do I have to be an expert in grammar to assign writing?
• What should I know about genre and design?
• What should I know about second-language writing?
• What teaching resources are available?
• What should I know about WAC and graduate education?

Assigning Writing

• What makes a good writing assignment?
• How can I avoid getting lousy student writing?
• What benefits might reflective writing have for my students?

Using Peer Review

• Why consider collaborative writing assignments?
• Do writing and peer review take up too much class time?
• How can I get the most out of peer review?

Responding to Writing

• How can I handle responding to student writing?
• How can writing centers support writing in my courses?
• What writing resources are available for my students?

Using Technology

• How can computer technologies support writing in my classes?

Designing and Assessing WAC Programs

• What is a WAC program?
• What designs are typical for WAC programs?
• How can WAC programs be assessed?

More on WAC

• Where can I learn more about WAC?

Credits: This guide was first developed by Kate Kiefer, who founded the WAC program at Colorado State University in 1979, in 2003. It was updated by Kiefer in 2014 and by Mike Palmquist in 2014, 2017, and 2018. In 2018, Nick Carbone, Michelle Cox, and Dan Melzer added new materials to the guide. Many of the pages in this guide contain links to resources elsewhere on the Clearinghouse. We thank the many colleagues who have contributed materials from their courses. Copyright © 2000 by Kate Kiefer. Copyright © 2014-2018 Mike Palmquist. Additional copyrights by Nick Carbone (2018), Michelle Cox (2018), and Dan Melzer (2018). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 United States License.

Citation: Kate Kiefer, Mike Palmquist, Nick Carbone, Michelle Cox, & Dan Melzer. (2000-2021). An Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum. The WAC Clearinghouse. https://wac.colostate.edu/resources/wac/intro.