Center for Excellence in Writing

Three-Semester Commissioned-Assignment Pilot Project with the Public Issues Forums of Centre County Steering Committee

This document outlines the structure for the Penn State Public Writing Initiative (PWI) pilot project that uses a commissioned assignment from the Public Issues Forums (PIF) of Centre County Steering Committee. It is a CEW public scholarship project endorsed by the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy and relies on the support of Jeremy Cohen, Associate Vice President and Senior Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education.

Beginning in summer session 2006 and working through spring semester 2007, the PWI, coordinated through the Center for Excellence in Writing, will work with professional writing instructors in the English Department and students taking classes in the English 202 series to provide one complete report for the PIF Steering Committee. This report will be in the form of an Issue Book.

The PWI, formerly the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative, has a twelve-year history of producing professional-quality documents for local organizations through its “commissioned assignment” program. Previously, commissioned assignments have been limited to one semester. That is, a class has completed the commissioned document within the semester during which the class took place. For example, during the Spring 2004 semester, one class produced a number of brochures on agricultural pests for the Penn State Agricultural Extension; all the documents were completed within the fifteen weeks allotted for the course. Due to course time limitations and the relative complexity of PIF documents, however, the PIF commissioned assignment will span three semesters, with one class each semester (or multiple sections of one class taught by the same instructor) completing a sub-section of the overall document.

This approach has several advantages. First, it allows the class to attend to the wide range of course content required by the English Department's Composition Office for the 202 courses. The commissioned assignment will be one assignment among many, and will benefit from its inclusion in a comprehensive course in professional communication. Second, the three-stage approach provides students with a concrete view of the process of professional writing. Each class will work on one stage in the process (topic invention, research, and content production; drafting the report; revising and finalizing, including document design), with an awareness of previous and subsequent stages. We believe this process accurately reflects real document production in professional settings, thereby better preparing students for workplace writing. Finally, the approach will provide each class with a terminal assignment – an assignment that can be graded according to specific criteria. The three-stage approach thus provides three important features: it fits in with the existing structure of the professional writing courses, it provides students with both a real project and a common model of workplace writing, and it provides instructors with terminal assignments for assessment purposes.

Stage 1 (Summer 2006) – Research and Content Production

In the first stage, students will work with the PIF Steering Committee in generating the general topic for the report, research that topic, begin framing the topic, and provide a series of research memoranda that will then be utilized by students in the Fall semester course. Students in this stage will operate in groups of four, each of which will be responsible for researching one dimension of the topic. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. As the final assignment for the course, each group will produce a memorandum detailing its research results and appropriately citing sources and content. The audience for these memos will be the students in Stage 2, who will then use the content provided in the Stage 1 memos to produce a draft of the full report.

This assignment will provide students with a number of skills:

• Students will solidify their research skills. They will acquire a facility with different kinds of source materials (government publications, popular press material, academic articles); they will strengthen their skills in source assessment; they will classify source content and draw important points from their source materials; they will work with university databases and understand the range of research materials available to them; they will strengthen their professional citation skills.

• Students will synthesize professional writing techniques. They will exercise rhetorical invention in order to propose a topic; they will present a complete professional document for a concrete audience and purpose; they will edit their document for clarity and conciseness; they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand the writing process and sub-tasks within that process.

The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching these skills, and a document for student assessment. In the past, commissioned assignments have also included a group assessment memorandum, in which each group member assesses the group project and performance. Such a memorandum could be included in the terminal assignment. Moreover, the instructor could use the commissioned assignment as an opportunity for teaching the progress report, another standard assignment in the professional writing courses. As envisioned here, the group research project would constitute the major assignment for the course. As such, it would be introduced early and would last for the entire session. The instructor could thus assign a progress report to assess each group halfway through the session. Like the group assessment memo, these progress reports could be individual and thereby provide another document for individual assessment.

Stage 1 Assignment Summary

Research Memo

(Optional) Progress Report

(Optional) Group Assessment Memo

Stage 2 (Fall 2006) – Drafting and Initial Document Design

In the second stage, students will use the research memoranda provided by the Summer session course to produce a draft of the final report. Like the first stage, students would operate in groups of four, with each group responsible for drafting a section of the complete report. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. As one assignment for the course, each group will provide its completed section, in a format appropriate for combination with the other sections. At this stage, the audience for the draft will be the general audience for PIF reports, and students will be required to adjust the language for such an audience. Students at this stage will also be responsible for selecting visual material for reports. To these ends, students will study past reports for organization, content, language/style, and use of visuals.

• Students will strengthen their professional writing skills. They will transform the “raw material” of the research memoranda into writing appropriate for a concrete audience; they will learn research skills by supplementing the research provided in Stage 1; they will select appropriate visuals and learn citation practices for visual material; they will learn basic document design principles by examining completed professional documents and reproducing features (such as outtake boxes, etc.); they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand their role in relation to a larger writing project.

The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching a number of skills already required for professional writing courses, such as visual rhetoric and document design. Instructors and students will examine previous reports and decide on design features to streamline the work of different groups. The assignment will also provide a document for student assessment. Like Stage 1, the Stage 2 assignment could include a group assessment memorandum and a progress report for further individual assessment.

Stage 2 Assignment Summary

Drafted section of formal report

(Optional) Progress Report

(Optional) Group Assessment Memo

Stage 3 (Spring 2006) – Editing and Finalizing

In the third stage, students will use the drafted sections from Stage 2 to produce a finalized report. Students would again operate in groups of four, each of which will be responsible for reviewing the sections produced in Stage 2, editing those sections carefully, making any changes in tone or content that they deem necessary, and adjusting the document design. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. The terminal assignment for this stage would include three sub-tasks: the finalized section itself, a memorandum discussing the changes made and the reasoning behind those changes, and a presentation to the class on the group's section of the report. The presentations, taken together, will provide the students a forum for debating the shape and appearance of the completed report. The presentation could also serve as an opportunity for assignment commissioners, as well as students in the previously involved classes, to examine the finalized report and provide input.

• Students in this stage will strengthen their professional writing techniques. They will learn editing techniques for a concrete audience; they will assess information content and supplement the existing document with further research and writing; they will learn document design techniques and produce information hierarchies; they will learn visual rhetoric techniques; they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand their role in relation to a larger writing project; they will learn presentation skills.

The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching a number of skills already required for professional writing courses, such as editing, visual rhetoric and document design. Instructors and students will examine previous reports and decide on design features to streamline the work of different groups. The assignment will also provide two documents and a verbal presentation for student assessment.

Stage 3 Assignment Summary

Finalized section of formal report

Explanatory memorandum on report section

In-class presentation on report section

(Optional) Progress Report

(Optional) Group Assessment Memo

Role of Public Writing Initiative

The members of the Penn State Public Writing Initiative provide the following support for the Public Issues Forums of Centre County Steering Committee commissioned assignment pilot:

• Produce assignment sheets for each assignment, and clear these assignments through the Composition Office

• Recruit instructors for participation in the pilot program

• Coordinate with instructors to develop pedagogical strategies and exercises for each assignment

• Meet with instructors frequently to discuss the progress of each assignment and the overall progress of the project

• Assess the results of each Stage with the Director of the Center for Excellence in Writing

• Maintain a web presence that would allow all students involved and the commissioners to follow the progress of the project

• Modify assignments based on the result of Stage assessments

• Assess and modify the commissioned assignment based on the results of the pilot project as a whole

• Deliver a document to the PIF Steering Committee by the Monday following spring graduation ceremonies

• Expand the commissioned assignment program (including other courses and disciplines) based on the progress and results of the pilot program

The Public Writing Initiative would like to see this project expand in the future, with several classes each semester (in a variety of disciplines) working on a number of PIF reports. This pilot program is designed to test the feasibility of such a large-scale undertaking.

Special thanks to Antonio Ceraso, the 2005-2006 Director of the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative, for writing the proposals that secured new sponsorship by the Center for Excellence in Writing and for effecting a smooth transition from the LCTWI to the Public Writing Initiative with its focus on civic engagement through public scholarship.

E-mail Me | Last modified: Saturday, 23-Feb-2008 09:49:36 EST | Jon Olson

skip to: page content \| links on this page \| site navigation \| footer (site information) Main \| UWC \| GWC \| WAC \| PWI

Three-Semester Commissioned-Assignment Pilot Project with the Public Issues Forums of Centre County Steering Committee This document outlines the structure for the Penn State Public Writing Initiative (PWI) pilot project that uses a commissioned assignment from the Public Issues Forums (PIF) of Centre County Steering Committee. It is a CEW public scholarship project endorsed by the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy and relies on the support of Jeremy Cohen, Associate Vice President and Senior Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education. Beginning in summer session 2006 and working through spring semester 2007, the PWI, coordinated through the Center for Excellence in Writing, will work with professional writing instructors in the English Department and students taking classes in the English 202 series to provide one complete report for the PIF Steering Committee. This report will be in the form of an Issue Book. The PWI, formerly the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative, has a twelve-year history of producing professional-quality documents for local organizations through its “commissioned assignment” program. Previously, commissioned assignments have been limited to one semester. That is, a class has completed the commissioned document within the semester during which the class took place. For example, during the Spring 2004 semester, one class produced a number of brochures on agricultural pests for the Penn State Agricultural Extension; all the documents were completed within the fifteen weeks allotted for the course. Due to course time limitations and the relative complexity of PIF documents, however, the PIF commissioned assignment will span three semesters, with one class each semester (or multiple sections of one class taught by the same instructor) completing a sub-section of the overall document. This approach has several advantages. First, it allows the class to attend to the wide range of course content required by the English Department's Composition Office for the 202 courses. The commissioned assignment will be one assignment among many, and will benefit from its inclusion in a comprehensive course in professional communication. Second, the three-stage approach provides students with a concrete view of the process of professional writing. Each class will work on one stage in the process (topic invention, research, and content production; drafting the report; revising and finalizing, including document design), with an awareness of previous and subsequent stages. We believe this process accurately reflects real document production in professional settings, thereby better preparing students for workplace writing. Finally, the approach will provide each class with a terminal assignment – an assignment that can be graded according to specific criteria. The three-stage approach thus provides three important features: it fits in with the existing structure of the professional writing courses, it provides students with both a real project and a common model of workplace writing, and it provides instructors with terminal assignments for assessment purposes. Stage 1 (Summer 2006) – Research and Content Production In the first stage, students will work with the PIF Steering Committee in generating the general topic for the report, research that topic, begin framing the topic, and provide a series of research memoranda that will then be utilized by students in the Fall semester course. Students in this stage will operate in groups of four, each of which will be responsible for researching one dimension of the topic. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. As the final assignment for the course, each group will produce a memorandum detailing its research results and appropriately citing sources and content. The audience for these memos will be the students in Stage 2, who will then use the content provided in the Stage 1 memos to produce a draft of the full report. This assignment will provide students with a number of skills: • Students will solidify their research skills. They will acquire a facility with different kinds of source materials (government publications, popular press material, academic articles); they will strengthen their skills in source assessment; they will classify source content and draw important points from their source materials; they will work with university databases and understand the range of research materials available to them; they will strengthen their professional citation skills. • Students will synthesize professional writing techniques. They will exercise rhetorical invention in order to propose a topic; they will present a complete professional document for a concrete audience and purpose; they will edit their document for clarity and conciseness; they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand the writing process and sub-tasks within that process. The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching these skills, and a document for student assessment. In the past, commissioned assignments have also included a group assessment memorandum, in which each group member assesses the group project and performance. Such a memorandum could be included in the terminal assignment. Moreover, the instructor could use the commissioned assignment as an opportunity for teaching the progress report, another standard assignment in the professional writing courses. As envisioned here, the group research project would constitute the major assignment for the course. As such, it would be introduced early and would last for the entire session. The instructor could thus assign a progress report to assess each group halfway through the session. Like the group assessment memo, these progress reports could be individual and thereby provide another document for individual assessment. Stage 1 Assignment Summary Research Memo (Optional) Progress Report (Optional) Group Assessment Memo Stage 2 (Fall 2006) – Drafting and Initial Document Design In the second stage, students will use the research memoranda provided by the Summer session course to produce a draft of the final report. Like the first stage, students would operate in groups of four, with each group responsible for drafting a section of the complete report. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. As one assignment for the course, each group will provide its completed section, in a format appropriate for combination with the other sections. At this stage, the audience for the draft will be the general audience for PIF reports, and students will be required to adjust the language for such an audience. Students at this stage will also be responsible for selecting visual material for reports. To these ends, students will study past reports for organization, content, language/style, and use of visuals. • Students will strengthen their professional writing skills. They will transform the “raw material” of the research memoranda into writing appropriate for a concrete audience; they will learn research skills by supplementing the research provided in Stage 1; they will select appropriate visuals and learn citation practices for visual material; they will learn basic document design principles by examining completed professional documents and reproducing features (such as outtake boxes, etc.); they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand their role in relation to a larger writing project. The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching a number of skills already required for professional writing courses, such as visual rhetoric and document design. Instructors and students will examine previous reports and decide on design features to streamline the work of different groups. The assignment will also provide a document for student assessment. Like Stage 1, the Stage 2 assignment could include a group assessment memorandum and a progress report for further individual assessment. Stage 2 Assignment Summary Drafted section of formal report (Optional) Progress Report (Optional) Group Assessment Memo Stage 3 (Spring 2006) – Editing and Finalizing In the third stage, students will use the drafted sections from Stage 2 to produce a finalized report. Students would again operate in groups of four, each of which will be responsible for reviewing the sections produced in Stage 2, editing those sections carefully, making any changes in tone or content that they deem necessary, and adjusting the document design. Peer tutors from the Undergraduate Writing Center will be available to work with groups as well as individuals. The terminal assignment for this stage would include three sub-tasks: the finalized section itself, a memorandum discussing the changes made and the reasoning behind those changes, and a presentation to the class on the group's section of the report. The presentations, taken together, will provide the students a forum for debating the shape and appearance of the completed report. The presentation could also serve as an opportunity for assignment commissioners, as well as students in the previously involved classes, to examine the finalized report and provide input. • Students in this stage will strengthen their professional writing techniques. They will learn editing techniques for a concrete audience; they will assess information content and supplement the existing document with further research and writing; they will learn document design techniques and produce information hierarchies; they will learn visual rhetoric techniques; they will learn strategies for successful collaborative writing; they will acquire team skills of collaborative learning; they will understand their role in relation to a larger writing project; they will learn presentation skills. The assignment will provide instructors with an opportunity for teaching a number of skills already required for professional writing courses, such as editing, visual rhetoric and document design. Instructors and students will examine previous reports and decide on design features to streamline the work of different groups. The assignment will also provide two documents and a verbal presentation for student assessment. Stage 3 Assignment Summary Finalized section of formal report Explanatory memorandum on report section In-class presentation on report section (Optional) Progress Report (Optional) Group Assessment Memo Role of Public Writing Initiative The members of the Penn State Public Writing Initiative provide the following support for the Public Issues Forums of Centre County Steering Committee commissioned assignment pilot: • Produce assignment sheets for each assignment, and clear these assignments through the Composition Office • Recruit instructors for participation in the pilot program • Coordinate with instructors to develop pedagogical strategies and exercises for each assignment • Meet with instructors frequently to discuss the progress of each assignment and the overall progress of the project • Assess the results of each Stage with the Director of the Center for Excellence in Writing • Maintain a web presence that would allow all students involved and the commissioners to follow the progress of the project • Modify assignments based on the result of Stage assessments • Assess and modify the commissioned assignment based on the results of the pilot project as a whole • Deliver a document to the PIF Steering Committee by the Monday following spring graduation ceremonies • Expand the commissioned assignment program (including other courses and disciplines) based on the progress and results of the pilot program The Public Writing Initiative would like to see this project expand in the future, with several classes each semester (in a variety of disciplines) working on a number of PIF reports. This pilot program is designed to test the feasibility of such a large-scale undertaking. Special thanks to Antonio Ceraso, the 2005-2006 Director of the Leonhard Center Technical Writing Initiative, for writing the proposals that secured new sponsorship by the Center for Excellence in Writing and for effecting a smooth transition from the LCTWI to the Public Writing Initiative with its focus on civic engagement through public scholarship. E-mail Me \| Last modified: Saturday, 23-Feb-2008 09:49:36 EST \| Jon Olson	Summer 2006 Fall 2006 Spring 2007 2006-2007 Final Report Fall 2007 PWI Contacts Jon Olson, Director Michelle Smith, Coordinator, PWI Jessica Raley, PIF Liaison