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Dr. David S. Hogsette
Old Westbury Campus Coordinator
Program Goals
The writing curriculum has been designed with the interests
and needs of the student in mind. The various courses offered attempt to prepare students for various academic writing challenges and to train students to be effective communicators and thinkers in their
personal lives and professional careers. It is important that students begin to understand writing as a skill that can be learned and a craft that can be improved through practice. However, it is equally
crucial for students to examine the ways in which writing is itself a technology that is shaped by history, society, and politics and, therefore, inexorably tied to power. By "learning how to
write," students also learn how to think critically about language and its uses, and as a result, they become better prepared to use language effectively and responsibly in their lives.
Pedagogical Interests
We encourage our writing teachers to be as creative as
possible in the classroom to achieve the goals stated above. Although the various courses are taught in different ways, our teachers share certain instructional practices and approaches:
- Instruction: Our teachers realize that there is no single "correct" way to write. Instead of proclaiming from on high the ten writing commandments, we try to emphasize that there are multiple writing styles and practices and that it is up to the student to learn how to identify the requirements of a writing context and to shape her writing accordingly. In other words, we emphasize that writing involves decision making, and we encourage our students to take responsibility for their writing choices. Emphasizing the processes of writing is a key strategy for such a pedagogy. By relinquishing the pen, teachers try to empower their students to experience the authority that should accompany authorship.
- Process-Oriented Instruction: One key goal of our curriculum is to help students view themselves as writers and to begin analyzing their writing practices and processes. Process-oriented instruction is, of course, nothing new; but too often students are made to feel that they have no accepted writing practice (because it doesn't appear in a text book) or that there is only one correct or best writing process. Invention, planning, drafting, and revision occur in a number of ways, and we try to introduce students to some possibilities. But mainly, our goal is to encourage students to become self-reflexive writers, to analyze their writing processes, and to develop more effective writing habits.
- Real-Life Application: It is crucial for any technical institute to make academics as applicable to the "real world" as possible; therefore, our writing teachers strive to prepare students for classroom writing (essay exams, term papers, lab reports, critical analysis) and professional writing (resumes, business letters, inter-office communication, creative writing, journalism). And now in the supposed end of the age of print, it is crucial that our students become familiar with electronic discourses and literacy. For this reason, our composition and professional writing (business, technical, and report writing) courses are taught in computer-linked classrooms.
Writing Courses
- Basic Writing and Reading
- Basic Writing and Reading for International Students
- College Composition I: First-Year Writing
- College Composition I: First-Year Writing for International Students
- College Composition II: Writing about Literature
- College Composition II: Writing about Literature for International Students
- Business Writing
- Technical Writing
- Report Writing
- Writing for Arts and Architecture
- Writing for Communication Arts
- Advanced Scientific and Technical Writing
- Advanced Writing and Editing Techniques
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