The Calderwood Institute for the Teaching of Writing
What can you do with
an English
major?
In addition to fostering a lifelong appreciation of literature and language, a degree in English provides a range of personal and professional opportunities. Surveys of employers
consistently stress
the value of the intellectual
skills we teach: the
ability to read carefully,
to think critically
and creatively, to
communicate effectively,
and to write with
clarity and purpose.
Keene State College
English majors have
gone on to graduate
and professional schools;
they are working in
the field of teaching;
they work as writers;
and they are employed
in publishing, journalism,
business, public relations,
library science, and
many other fields.
For more information
about careers for
English majors and
writing minors, visit
the Keene State College Career Resources
Library or click on the Alumni Page.
What can you do with a Writing
Minor?
A writing minor can
help to
develop an essential
skill in ways applicable
to any major, and
offers students
a means of pursuing
their own interests
in the field. Students
may choose to focus
primarily on fiction
and poetry, may
concentrate on nonfiction
writing, or may
combine these genres.
All students are
required in the
last year of their
program to complete
and submit a portfolio
of revised and selected
work. (Keene State
College Catalog
2006-07)
For more information on career planning, and for a list of useful resources, visit Keene State College's Academic and Career Advising Center, or go to their web site at http://www.keene.edu/aca/major_exploration.cfm
The Center
for Writing
The Center
for Writing is located
at 81 Blake Street,
is open to all Keene
State College students,
working in any discipline.
Students can visit
the center any stage
of the writing process
- from brainstorming
to revising for your
final draft. The Center
highly recommends
that students call
in advance for an
appointment to ensure
that a tutor will
be available.
For questions about the Center for Writing or to make an appointment, please call 358-2412l, or visit the Center's home page at http://www.keene.edu/wc/
The Writing
Task Force
For over ten years the Task
Force on Writing has sought to transform the culture of writing at Keene State College. The Task Force is an interdisciplinary group committed to facilitating a
conversation about
writing on campus; supporting and
advancing writing-across-the
curriculum projects; supporting faculty
development and
training that improves
the practice of
teaching writing; and collaborating
with the Writing
Center staff.
Given Keene State's mission as a public liberal arts college, the teaching and learning of effective writing is the primary mission of the Task Force on Writing. Students at Keene State should be able to use writing for a variety of purposes: to wrestle with complex ideas; to compose well-supported arguments; to express themselves creatively; to communicate effectively; to demonstrate learning; and to better understand what it means to write both as members of an academic discipline and as liberally educated people. In order for Keene State students to learn how to use writing for a variety of purposes, they must be provided with sustained writing instruction. Writing should permeate the curriculum rather than remain relegated to English 101 and the few discipline-specific writing courses now offered. Thus, enabling the entire college to be committed to the effective and consistent teaching of writing is the primary mission of the Task Force.
Each year the Task Force sponsors workshops to assist faculty around such issues as creating good writing assignments, preventing plagiarism, and solid techniques for commenting on students' papers. In addition, the Task Force has engaged in campus-wide research projects, newsletters, and two editions of the KSC Guide to Writing.
The Writing Task Force (2006-07): Phyllis Benay (Interdisciplinary Studies); Michael Cullinane (Mathematics); Renate Gabauer (Biology and Environmental Studies); Evie Gleckel (ESEC); Gregory Knouff (History); Robert Kostick (Graphic Design); Mark C. Long (English and American Studies); Linda Millard (Physical Education); Kirsti Sandy (English); Mark Timney (Communication and Journalism).
The Calderwood Institute for
the Teaching of Writing
Since 2003 the Institute
for the Teaching of Writing
has engaged faculty participants in the kind of reading,
reflection and dialogue
that can result in more
effective ways to teach,
assign, and evaluate student
writing. Institute participants begin their work with a week-long summer workshop that offers the time, space, and
information to consider more effective
ways to incorporate writing
into the classroom, even
if the course or discipline does not traditionally involve
a lot of writing . Participants examine the connection between writing and learning, and why teaching writing is important in all disciplines; and work closely with faculty in other disciplines to find ways to use writing as a tool for learning and not just a method of evaluation.
The Calderwood Institute continues through the fall and spring semesters with monthly meetings to help participants apply theory to pratice, to design and refine and reflect on the uses of writing in learning, to discover the opportunity to design new writing assignments, and to establish new criteria for evaluating student writing.
If you have questions about the Institute, please contact one of the Institute facilitators: Phyllis Benay (Interdisciplinary Studies), Mark C. Long (English), or Kirsti Sandy (English).
Program Assessment in English
The English department program
assessment plan for
2005 is continung work on a direct assessment ofstudents'
ability to do a close reading
of a literary text by drawing on writing produced in 200-level
English courses. In addition, we conducted a preliminary assessment of student enrollment patterns in the major. This data suggested a number of patterns we hope to follow in subsequent groups of students. In our limited sample, 2 out
of 30 students took the
British literature survey
in chronological sequence.
When we looked at our introduction the major course, English
209, there was some evidence
that taking English 209
earlier resulted in higher
cumulative GPAs and major
GPAs. And performance in 101 was
correlated with both a student's
final cumulative GPA and
a student's GPA within the
English major. However it
is unclear whether what
we teach in 101 causes this
correlation or whether it
is related to some other
factor (such as a student's
abilities and preparation
when entering college). Clearly,
writing matters. This
kind of grade distribution
is not automatic, although
common sense suggests that
students who do well overall
are more likely to do well
in individual classes. English
209, for instance, does
not show this pattern, although
this may be a fluke. Anlayzing
the same data by distribution
instead of average shows,
as expected, central peaks
surrounded by a few outliers,
better defined for the higher
grades than the lower. Most students take English
209 relatively early in
their major, as intended:
most students take 209 their
third or fourth semester.
Although the numbers are
too small to provide much
confidence, taking English
209 early in the major correlates
with higher cumulative GPAs
and major GPAs. Students
who take 209 earlier do
not consistently get better
grades in 209, suggesting
that the improvement in
cumulative GPA is not simply
because the better students
take it early. If these
data are confirmed, it would
suggest that taking 209
early in the major helps
students succeed in their
college careers.
Of the thirty majors in the sample, six took upper-level courses in the semesters before taking English 209, including a combined total of twenty 300-level and three 400-level courses. If one includes upper-level classes taken before or during English 209, the totals become eleven majors taking twenty-six 300-level and six 400-level classes. Of the 30 majors, 29 took at least one Shakespeare class, and 14 took two. They are not taking the traditional survey sequences, however. English majors are not taking the survey of English literature. Of the thirty majors, three took English 321 and four took English 322. Only two of those students took both. The American survey sequence, English 341, 342, and 343, fared only slightly better. Eight took English 341, four took English 342, and eight took English 343. Only two students took more than one of this sequence; they both took English 341 and 342, meaning that students who took twentieth-century American literature (English 343) never took the earlier surveys. The single-semester multicultural surveys got the highest enrollments, 18 in Black American (English 345) and 10 in Native American (English 347).
The English department Assessment Committee welcomes your questions and interest. Please contact Anne-Marie Mallon or Mark C. Long.