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Spring 2012 Writing Intensive Course Sections

Writing-Intensive Courses and the Graduation Requirements for Students

Beginning with the incoming class of fall 2007, students who enroll at PCCC and intend to obtain an A.A. degree are required to take-and pass with a "C" or better two writing-intensive courses prior to graduation. Beginning with the incoming class of fall 2009, students who enroll at PCCC and intend to obtain either an A.S. or A.A.S degree will be required to take-and pass with a "C" or better-two writing-intensive courses prior to graduation. Transfer students to PCCC may have waived one of the two IW courses required for graduation.

Definition:  A writing-intensive course incorporates discipline-specific writing extensively into the course, and the writing contributes significantly to each student's grade.  The instructor uses writing assignments to promote the learning of the course content, as well as to increase the students' critical thinking and information literacy skills.  Instructors use both formal and informal writing assignments.

Criteria: Courses designated as writing-intensive should:

1. Incorporate frequent informal, short-writing assignments to help students generate ideas and better engage with their learning;
2. Require students to do formal writing assignments, totaling up to no less than 2,500 words (approximately 8-10 typed pages) during the semester;
3. Incorporate research requirements that exercise information literacy competencies in at least one of the writing assignments;
4. Use the same assessment rubric for writing as is used for the CWE scoring;
5. Have a pre-requisite of EN 101;
6. Not be taken concurrently (that is, only one IW course may be taken by a student in any given semester);
7. Have enrollment limited to 25 students; and
8. Be approved by the Office for Academic Affairs.

Objectives:  Upon completion of a writing-intensive course, students should be able to:

• Use the process of writing, including pre-writing and revision strategies;
• Support their ideas in writing with specific details and evidence;
• Structure their ideas in an organized format;
• Edit their writing according to the rules of standard academic English;
• Evaluate their sources for credibility and academic appropriateness;
• Employ techniques for integrating information, such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting;
• Exhibit the ability to think critically;
• Demonstrate, through their writing, familiarity with the College's standard, evaluative writing rubric; and
• Cite sources using an appropriate documentation style.

The PCCC Writing Center and Writing Intensive Courses

The Writing Center at PCCC uses a number of online LibGuides to provide students 24/7 access to information on writing-related topics. The Writing Center guide is at  http://pccc.libguides.com/writingcenter   and includes information on making reservations to meet with writing tutors.

Each writing-intensive course also has a LibGuide with course links and materials.  For example, the Western Civilization I guide
is located at  http://pccc.libguides.com/hi101.

The Writing Center staff is also available at the Wanaque campus.

For help with using eTutoring, see  http://pccc.libguides.com/etutoring

For help with your online portfolio, see http://pccc.libguides.com/efolio

Information and help on preparing to take the College Writing Exam (CWE): You should take the exam when you have successfully completed Composition II and at least half of your department’s credit requirements for graduation (30-35 credits). Passing this exam is required to graduate PCCC. For exam information including registration and help preparing, go to http://pccc.libguides.com/cwe