Supporting Student Writing and Other Modes of Learning and Assessment. A Staff Guide

Abstract

This Guide promotes writing-to-learn. Academic writing is a contested area that is tricky to navigate and master especially for newcomers. However, this does not need to be the case. We show that if instructors ‘teach’ writing differently, it can foster students’ learning. Academic writing is a process: we write to become academic. It is an initiation into and participation in wider professional and academic discourses. This Guide is an invitation to move beyond the ‘mechanics’ of writing - to make it meaningful, engaging, interactive and fun. If writing is appreciated as developmental - and appropriately supported - it automatically spurs students on to write their ‘best’.