Dan Melzer, UC Davis
Fall 2023 Institute
2025 Fall Institute for Teaching with Writing
Writing Across the Curriculum and Assignment Design in the Age of AI
Monday, Aug. 11 | University Capitol Centre 2520D
Session 1 - 10 a.m. to noon. Dan Melzer (UC Davis): Writing Across the Curriculum in the Age of AI
Session 2 - 1 to 3 p.m.: Transparent Assignment Design Retreat
Register here for one or both sessions. A boxed lunch will be provided from noon to 1 pm for those who register for both sessions.
This set of two workshops brings together national expertise and campus-based support for teaching with writing and assignment design. In session 1, Dan Melzer, UC Davis, author of Engaging Ideas, describes writing across the curriculum programs with a focus on how writing assignments can promote student learning in the age of AI. Session 2 led by the Center for Teaching provides an overview of evidence-based strategies to make assignments more engaging, meaningful and equitable. Co-hosted by the Center for Teaching and the Writing Center, these workshops will provide faculty with concrete tools and strategies to refine their assignments for the fall semester.
Session 1: Writing Across the Curriculum in the Age of AI
10 a.m. - noon
Presented by Dr. Daniel Melzer, associate director of first-year composition at UC Davis. This session introduces writing across the curriculum (WAC) as a concept, describes different structures for WAC programs, and explores how to design writing assignments that can promote critical thinking and creativity in the age of Generative AI.
Session 2: Transparent Assignment Design Retreat
1 - 3 p.m.
This casual retreat facilitated by the Center for Teaching will help instructors learn how to design assignments leveraging the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework, which a growing body of evidence indicates helps enhance student learning and create more equitable courses. There will also be optional support for instructors who would like to produce research on the efficacy of their assignments.
How it started
The first Institute for Teaching with Writing took place during the 2020-2021 winter break. A series of four virtual two-hour workshops, it brought together fourteen faculty and two graduate students from fields as diverse as nursing, education, philosophy, international relations, and sociology to talk about how to incorporate more writing into their courses. Motivated by a collective love of language and desire to support the development of student writing skills, participants designed and workshopped formal and informal writing assignments, engaged in discussions about multimodal writing assignments, and heard about successful writing assignments from a panel of faculty from History, the College of Business, and Psychology. The Institute included a keynote talk by Brad Hughes, emeritus Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Institute was supported by the Department of Rhetoric, the Obermann Center and the UI Center for Teaching.
Past events
The 2025 Winter Institute for Teaching with Writing
Session I, Monday, January 6, 10 am - 12 pm: Low-Stakes Writing Assignments, Brainstorming, and AI
Session II, Wednesday, January 8, 10 am - 12 pm: Drafting and Editing: Strategies to teach your students.
Session I: Monday, January 6.10:00 am Writing to Learn: Short informal writing assignments to promote student learning. 10:40 am Brainstorming and Idea Generation: Strategies to teach your students (including ethical use of AI). 11:20 am Student Attitudes to AI Writing Tools: Examples from Biology.
| Session II: Wednesday, January 8.10 am Writing First Drafts: Scaffolding the early stages of the writing process. 10:40 am Beyond the First Draft: Teaching students revision strategies which might occasionally involve AI. 11:20 am The Final Stages of the Writing Process: Teaching students to edit their work with and without help from AI. |
2024 Fall Institute for Teaching with Writing
Monday, August 5 & Wednesday August 7
10 am to 12 pm in the Hanson Center for Communication.
Session I: Monday, August 5, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Low-Stakes Writing Assignments and Writing Rubrics that Work
10:00 am: Low-Stakes Writing
Low-Stakes Writing: In-Class Writing to Generate Engagement.
Anne Sands, Department of Rhetoric
Using Targeted Writing to Build Student Skills and Confidence.
Justin Cosner, Department of Rhetoric
11 am: Writing Rubrics
Align and Refine: Designing Rubrics Aligned with Course and Assignment Goals. Tamar Bernfeld, Center for Teaching.
Customizing Your Rubrics: Options and Implications. Carol Severino, UI Writing Center.
Session II: Wednesday, August 7, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Teaching with Writing using Models, Examples and AI
10 am Using Models and Examples to Teach with Writing
Large- and Small-Group Workshopping Strategies for Teaching Writing.
Christine Blaumueller, Scientific Editing and Research Communication Core, College of Medicine.
Capitalizing on the Upside and Minimizing the Downside of Using Models to Teach Writing.
Dawn Anderson, College of Law
AI Roundtable, 11 am - 12 pm
Student Perceptions of AI Effectiveness in Drafting and Editing Business Communication Writing Assignments.
Pamela Bourjaily, Tippie College of Business.
Course Planning and Assignment Design with AI.
Carl Follmer, Tippie College of Business.
Using AI as a Writing Coach.
Deirdre Egan, UI Writing Center.
Sponsored by the Writing Center, the Hanson Center for Communication, the Frank Business Communication Center, the Center for Teaching, the Scientific Editing and Research Communication Core, the College of Law Writing Center, the Department of Rhetoric, and the Obermann Center.
2024 Winter Institute for Teaching with Writing
2023 Fall Institute for Teaching with Writing
2023 Winter Institute for Teaching with Writing
2022 Fall Institute for Teaching with Writing
2022 Winter Institute for Teaching with Writing
2021 Fall Winter Institute for Teaching with Writing