Spring Institute

Since 2010, WPI’s Spring Institute on Teaching with Writing (SITWW) has brought together small groups of faculty from across campus for a series of intensive workshops, discussion, and course planning over a two-week period.

The workshops introduce principles and best practices for writing in and across the disciplines, and they help faculty develop tools for assigning, teaching, and responding to student writing in their courses.

SITWW Objectives

By the close of the Institute, participating faculty will:

  • identify types of writing that can be used to promote learning objectives in a course they are teaching or plan to teach
  • identify forms of writing (lab reports, critiques, proposals, etc.) that majors in their field need to master, specifying the structure, purposes and strategies required of that writing
  • develop effective assignments and classroom-based teaching materials to support student communication and learning
  • demonstrate efficient and effective strategies for responding to and evaluating writing

Other Institute Elements

Between workshops, faculty are encouraged to peruse recommended readings, share ideas with colleagues, schedule individual consultation appointments with writing faculty, and apply workshop strategies as they plan or revise their own syllabi and assignments. Over the ensuing year, SITWW faculty are invited to follow-up events, poster presentations, and conferences to share their work with colleagues.

Professional Development Stipend

Faculty who attend the Institute’s four workshops and revise course materials to develop writing-intensive courses in their departments within the next two years will receive an $800 professional development stipend from the Morgan Center for Teaching and Learning. 

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