First-year seminars have been renovated to be more writing intensive starting this semester.
It is inevitable that each student coming to DePauw will have a different writing background, and in the past all first-year students were receiving different levels of writing instruction. Some students needed more preparatory courses while others did not need any pre-request for a W course.
In the new system, the first-year seminar is acting as the sole prerequisite for a W course to be taken in the student's sophomore year.
Faculty went though workshops to learn how to better incorporate writing into their schedule. Not all first-year seminar professors are W-certified, but all have been through the training during the spring semester and summer break.
Students taking English 110 or 115, a writing seminar for non-native English speakers, will take those classes along with their first-year seminar in their first semester. College Writing II, English 130, is still offered for students who would like to continue to work on their writing skills.
English 110 and 115 were for students struggling with English conversation and writing, and both of these courses are still offered for students who believe they need it.
The idea of setting up the first-year seminars with more writing instruction was to catch those students who tested out of English 130.
"It is important to realize that the first-year seminar does not replace English 130," Kelley Hall, associate dean of academic life, said. "Students can still take it."
English 110 and 115 will complement the first-year seminar. They will go hand in hand in the interest of building skills," Hall said.
Professor Mike Sinowitz is leading the transition from the old model of first-year seminars to the new. He realizes that students landing in English 110 and 115 might struggle with the writing intensive seminar but sees it as a challenge that would be faced with or without the writing element.
"One real benefit is the professors in 110 and 115 will know what situation their students are facing," Sinowitz said. "It is still a challenge, but all students in this position will have constant support."
The most major of adjustments is with the course outline by professors. Sinowitz is helping first-year seminar professors learn how to work with the new model.
"A lot [of my job] is logistical, working with faculty development, helping professors balance," Sinowitz said. "They are used to teaching content, and now we are thinking about teaching writing with the content."
Sinowitz is teaching a first-year seminar and did not need to change his plan very much.
"[I had planned] a fair amount of writing, I didn't have to change as much," Sinowitz said. "I did create more deliberate room for peer review. I cut down the reading, I dropped an entire novel."
Before arriving at DePauw, freshman Mallory Grayson did not know her first-year seminar would be writing intensive.
"I found out after I committed. I'm not a big fan of writing. I had the view of a first-year seminar as being laid back, just getting to know people and DePauw," Grayson said.
The process of developing writing intensive seminars still has kinks to be worked out.
Sinowtiz has made himself available to professors who need help crafting their syllabus or finding room for more writing in the course.
"I have met with a number of professors to go over syllabi one on one," Sinowitz said. "[We are also going to] set up teaching circles that focus on specific problems and teachers can raise questions."
