Guides & Tips
Teaching the Literacy Narrative
There’s a lot going on at the beginning of the term, and we appreciate WR instructors carving out a little time to assign the Writing Program’s common literacy narrative assignment, which is a key part of all students’ cumulative portfolios. One goal of the assignment is to get students thinking flexibly about literacy and language […]
Teaching Writing for Critical Language Awareness
The resources on this page, inspired by a critical language awareness (CLA) framework, teach students to examine language as a social practice and to reflect on the ideologies and power dynamics embedded within language use. Thank you to the Writing Program’s Curriculum Committee, who worked intensively on these resources in 2022-2024.
Teaching Writing with Generative AI
BU writing instructors brainstormed this list of teaching ideas in the spirit of exploration and experimentation. We will continue to refine and update. You’ll notice that almost all of the suggestions end with a recommendation that students reflect on, debrief, compare, or discuss the AI-generated text—a step crucial to developing their critical AI literacy. Learn […]
Generative AI & Writing Assignment Design
The availability of generative AI requires writing instructors to be more deliberate about assignment design. Yet many principles we have always valued remain the same: Prompts should provide opportunities for students to use writing as a means to practice critical thinking and reflection; to engage deeply with texts, using sources to help them generate interesting […]
Teaching About AI-Mediated Writing
Artificial intelligence (AI) is shifting how we experience reading and writing. Students and instructors alike need some understanding of the main limits and affordances of AI-generated writing. This page offers some basic information for writing instructors and some guidance on how to talk with students about generative AI. Large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, use […]
Writing Instruction in the Age of Generative AI
“Writing is thinking” asserts compositionist John Warner in a 2023 column on AI in Inside Higher Ed. “If text is produced without thinking, that’s not writing. That’s something else.” If you agree with Warner, it follows that the best way to respond to the rise of generative AI may be to continue or expand the […]
Syllabus Checklist
This checklist includes important reminders, deadlines, links, and tips for preparing your WR syllabus. Please review this checklist before submitting your draft syllabus to ensure that your syllabus aligns with the latest Writing Program requirements. Note that this checklist is for your use only and should NOT be submitted along with your syllabus. Consult the […]
Using Swivl to Record Your Classes
General Information What is Swivl? Swivl is a tool that can be used by faculty to create visual teaching portfolios by recording their in-class lectures. It can also be used to record and disseminate student presentations or discussions. The Swivl kit includes a small robot and a tablet that can be mounted on the robot. […]
Creating and Updating WR Portfolios
These videos will help students create WR portfolios using Digication. Be sure to check out the FAQs that follow, too! Video 1 Video 2 Video 3 FAQs What is Digication and why are we using it? Boston University licenses digital portfolio software through Digication (http://bu.digication.com). Digication is free (and ad-free) for BU students, it protects […]
Suggested Texts for WR 112
In general, WR 112 instructors should feel free to use as many of the following texts as they would like to build up their course, supplementing as they see fit with other texts (“texts” is broadly construed, including advertisements, videos, podcasts, TED talks, etc.). Please share any additional texts you are using beyond this list […]