Writing to Learn Matters
Columbia State Community College’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Writing to Learn Matters, is a campus-wide, cross-curriculum focus on writing as a means of improving academic achievement and success among first-year students.
The QEP includes the introduction of Writing to Learn instructional strategies and writing activities that help the student summarize, organize, analyze, and reflect on course material with the primary goal of improving student learning outcomes in academic performance and course completion.
Similar to the nationally recognized Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Writing to Learn is an instructional improvement strategy that focuses on helping students synthesize information they receive in or out of the classroom in short, informal writing assignments. Through the implementation of Writing to Learn strategies in key first-year courses, students will gain practice in identifying and articulating central concepts in academic course material by fostering critical thinking and analysis. With neither a focus on grammar nor spelling skills, the activities are designed for students to become active in writing and thinking about course material rather than passively observing it.
Quality Enhancement Plan