"

V. High-Stakes, Formal Writing Assignments

What is “high-stakes” writing?

“High-stakes” writing, also called formal writing, involves assignments that have a significant impact on a student’s course grade. High-stakes writing:

  • Asks students to demonstrate what they have learned
  • Encourages synthesis across a unit or entire course
  • Invites students to demonstrate mastery or competency in a topic(s), method(s), or theory(ies)
  • Requires a specific genre (e.g., research paper, scientific report)
  • Involves “high” stakes because the writing bears directly on the course grade (often graded on content and quality)
  • Usually takes place outside of a class session (though, may take place in class, such as in-class essay exams)
  • Must be designed and implemented with care and intention to be “high-impact” with regard to student learning

High-stakes writing assignments can take many forms. Some examples of high-stakes writing assignments include:

  • A multimodal project incorporating visual or aural elements (podcast, video, brochure, map, website, blog, Instagram account)
  • A creative writing project
  • A mixed-methods research paper (incorporating primary and secondary research)
  • A lab report
  • A profile or ethnography on someone or some group in the field
  • An autobiography or autoethnography (e.g., carbon footprint autobiography, literacy autobiography)

Red banner with Words "Want to learn more?"

Check out: