As you think about ways to introduce or integrate writing to your course design, consider adding a few low-stakes or informal writing activities as a way to further promote learning and critical thinking. Often assigned in short windows of time (let’s say, 5-10 minutes or less), either in-class or out-of-class, these low-stakes writing activities offer the following benefits, among many:
- Help to build students’ confidence and comfort level with writing
- Encourage students to brainstorm and explore ideas
- Focus students on the topic or issue at hand
- Get students more self-motivated to write
- Help students to view writing as a process
- Promote critical thinking
- Help you assess students’ understanding of the material
A few examples of low-stakes writing are:
- Questions for in-class freewrites, followed by discussion
- Discussion boards, wikis, or blog entries
- Study or review questions
- Informal summaries or reading notes
- Concept or exploratory papers
- Reflective journals
- Research logs
- Very short (less than a page) microtheme assignments
Promoting writing that is not yet formalized into a finished product will not only help to combat last-minute and underdeveloped writing but also encourage students to think critically and more clearly, through their writing. These low-stakes critical-thinking tasks help to reinforce and deepen your students’ knowledge, enhance their preparation for class, encourage more direct and self-motivated engagement with the material, and ultimately improve the quality of their finished product.
Additional Resources
For a fuller definition of Writing to Learn and additional examples of writing activities, visit Colorado State University's WAC Clearinghouse and their page on Writing-to-Learn Activities.
The University of Kansas Center for Teaching Excellence provides valuable resources on ways to use low-stakes, also known as “write-to-learn” tasks, to create powerful homework, sample assignments, and grade low-stakes writing.
Engaging Ideas by John Bean (Chapter 1 is a great way to start)
The Elements of Teaching Writing – A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines by Katherine Gottschalk and Keith Hjortshoj (Chapter 5)