Capstone Writing Assignment (CWA)

The Capstone Writing Assignment (CWA) is a senior-level writing and information literacy assignment that reinforces first year, WIC, and WID student learning objectives and facilitates mastery of all Writing Program SLOs. The minimal required elements are the same as for the WID courses.

The Capstone Writing Assignments must include the following minimal elements, with the capstone writing assignment focusing on mastery:

A. Continuing to build on the vertical writing program SLOs, the SLOs for the Capstone Writing Assignment are to:

1. Use the language, media, resources, formats, styles, and techniques of a discipline effectively and persuasively.
2. Demonstrate fundamental best practices of writing in a discipline.
3. Critically read discipline-specific scholarly and professional texts in order to describe ways of thinking, writing, and researching specific to a discipline.
4. Use discipline-specific scholarly and professional texts as models for writing projects.
5. Successfully prepare a substantial writing project in the discipline(s), the length, scope, and genre of which is typical of writing in the discipline(s) and determined by faculty in the discipline.

B. The Capstone Writing Assignment will include the following pedagogical elements:

1. Convey to students the purpose and best practices of writing in the discipline
2. Require every student to complete at least one formal, graded writing assignment that requires multiple drafts with instructor feedback on a preliminary draft
3. Introduce students to disciplinary databases and resources such as journals and other oral, written, and visual sources
4. Model use of essential writing technologies employed by disciplinary scholars and writers
5. Address any unique elements (form, vocabulary, etc.) of writing in the discipline
6. Provide substantial practice for students at both writing and reviewing writing in the discipline
7. Convey to students the need for, and value of, being able to write for both a specialized audience in a field and a general audience beyond that field.

Assessment of student success at achieving these SLOs will be done at the program level as determined by the disciplinary faculty and at the university level by submission of sample student writing to the University Director of Writing (at present students are asked to post a sample to the Blackboard Writing Portfolio.)