I. An Introduction to Writing as a High-Impact Practice

In this section

This section considers the ways writing has been shown to be a “high-impact” practice for students. Writing (and other forms of communication) are crucial skills for students to develop in any major field of study. We hope that, in teaching with writing, you will discover that incorporating writing activities and assignments can be a powerful way to make your course more inclusive and accessible for students in all your courses. Research makes it clear that opportunities to engage with well-designed, carefully scaffolded, and equitably assessed writing assignments can empower all students in a course to succeed. This section provides a preview of the evidence-based strategies for incorporating writing in effective and inclusive ways discussed throughout the rest of this Pressbook. In this section, you will find:

• An explanation of what we mean by “writing”
• An exploration of the research indicating writing can be a “high-impact” practice (in other words, why should we teach with writing?)
• An overview of best practices for making writing high-impact for students