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CENTRE FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

Low‑Stakes Writing Assignments

As a learning tool, writing can help students achieve a number of learning goals. Critical thinking is
often supported with writing assignments, as writing converts students from passive to active learners
by encouraging them to take concepts learned in class and confront problems, gather and analyze data,
prepare hypotheses, and formulate arguments. Writing can also help students practice knowledge
translation, and as students work to make concepts clear and accessible to others, they often come to
understand those concepts better themselves. In addition, through writing, students can explore, refine,
and reflect on how they think and feel about course concepts and issues, and make abstract course
concepts more meaningful by connecting them to their own experience. Finally, writing is an excellent
tool for retaining course concepts: when asked to write about concepts discussed in class or described
in course readings, students retain the concepts better.
So what’s the difference between high-stakes and low-stakes writing? And why might an instructor
choose to include low-stakes writing activities in their courses?

The benefits of low‑stakes writing


High-stakes writing involves formal, structured writing where a formal grade is assigned, such as an
essay or report. This grade is usually worth a large portion of a student’s overall mark. High-stakes
writing encourages students to explore ideas outside of the course and to learn outside of class, helps
teachers to see if students can integrate course material with other sources, and improves students’
formal writing skills. However, high-stakes writing can create stress for students who are concerned
over how much it counts towards their final grade, as well as for faculty members and teaching
assistants who have to grade the assignments. In addition, high-stakes writing assignments are often
unfeasible for larger classes because of the amount of marking.
Low-stakes writing assignments and activities, on the other hand, involve informal writing and grading.
Low-stakes writing encourages student involvement in course ideas, helps students keep up with
readings and put content in their own words, helps instructors to see whether or not students are
understanding the material as a course progresses, and prepares students for high-stakes assignments.
Low-stakes writing also creates less stress for students and instructors, because it usually counts for a
small portion (if any) of the total grade and tends to be quicker to mark than essays, lab reports, and
writing portfolios. 

Assessing low‑stakes writing


Low-stakes writing assignments do not have to be labour intensive for instructors. To manage the time
involved in marking or giving feedback on these assignments, consider the following strategies:

Do not collect the low-stakes writing activity, but give a small participation mark for its
completion in class.
Collect the low-stakes writing activity and provide brief feedback.

Collect the low-stakes writing activity and give a small participation mark.


Collect five low-stakes writing activities at the end of the semester for marking.

Use the following rubric:

+ Your insights are strong and you developed a compelling argument and/or the
information is correct and detailed.
   You highlighted important issues but your argument could be more persuasive and/or
some information is incorrect or there is not enough detail.

-  You summarized the articles but did not answer the assigned question and/or all or
most of the information is incorrect.

Low‑stakes writing activities


Before implementing any of the activities below, consider your students and your course teaching
objectives. Just because a writing assignment idea looks like a fun or worthwhile activity does not mean
that it will help you reach your teaching goals. You might also find related CTE teaching tips on writing
helpful as you plan to integrate writing into your course: Responding to Writing Assignments:
Managing the Paper Load and Writing as a Learning Tool.

Abstract writing
Purpose: To focus thoughts and summarize ideas; to reinforce course readings; to develop critical
thinking skills
Procedure: Remove any identifying marks from a paper (e.g., title, author’s name, abstract, journal
reference, reference list) and have students read the paper and write an abstract.
Example: Read the following journal article and write an abstract for it, summarizing the main points
of the author(s) in your own words. Remember to identify the main thesis, the data collecting
procedure, the findings, and the conclusions in your abstract.

One‑sentence summaries
Purpose: To reinforce class concepts; to gauge students’ comprehension of the lecture; to involve
students in summarizing material; to highlight defining features of a concept
Procedure: At the end of class, identify a particular concept discussed in class and have students
summarize it in one sentence. Alternatively, do not give them a particular concept; simply ask them to
summarize the lecture in one sentence, picking the most salient points. Tell students that a one-
sentence summary should answer the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why).
Example: Write a one-sentence summary (using the 5 Ws) about Fink’s Model of Active Learning,
which we discussed in class today.

Headlines
Purpose: To retain and explain concepts; to summarize key concepts
Procedure: After discussing a concept or event, have students write newspaper-style headlines
summarizing it. This activity may be particularly appropriate in a discussion on research, controversial
issues, or historical developments.
Example: Write a headline that summarizes our class on high-stakes versus low-stakes writing.

Finish the list


Purpose: To explore ideas; to personalize ideas
Procedure: Students are asked to briefly respond to a prompt by writing 2-3 answers in bullet point
format.
Example: Based on your knowledge of the field, fill in the following bullet points.
In a first-year course in my discipline, the most common core concepts include:

 
 

Directed paraphrasing
Purpose: To personalize ideas; to explain concepts; to develop critical thinking
Procedure: Students are asked to write about a particular concept taught in class in their own words. A
variation of this would be to have students paraphrase as if they were explaining concepts to a
particular audience (e.g., an industry leader; an elected government official, etc.).
Example: In your own words, write what the difference is between high-stakes and low-stakes writing
as if you were explaining it to a first-year undergraduate student.

Application cards
Purpose: To develop critical thinking; to explain and apply concepts; to retain concepts
Procedure: Distribute 3x5 cards to your students. Have them write a real-world application for a
theory, principle or procedure they have learned about in class on the card and either submit them to
you or share them with one another. The small card is optional – using lined paper is fine too — but the
card indicates to the students that they should be concise.
Example: A colleague in your field is interested in learning more about using writing as an effective
learning tool. Explain to this colleague how to run a writing exercise that you plan to use in your
classroom.

Explain a concept
Purpose: To explain concepts; to retain concepts
Procedure: Have students explain a concept recently introduced by the reading or lecture. You can
change the audience to someone who would be more or less familiar with the field, depending on your
goals for student articulation of knowledge.
Example: Explain “Newtonian fluid” to a peer who was absent, or in a letter to your parents.

Online discussion groups


Purpose: To personalize ideas; to focus thoughts; to explore ideas
Procedure: Divide the class into small groups of 4-6 students. Set up an online discussion board and
have each group discuss course issues online. Each group then selects a member to summarize its
discussion. The summaries are posted to the main class list, where you and the entire class can read
them. You will want to monitor the group discussion, especially toward the beginning of term. See the
CTE teaching tip, Online Discussions: Tips for Instructors.
Example: On the course discussion board, discuss with your group experiences you have had with high-
and low-stakes writing assignments, and together identify the pros and cons about each. Have one
member of your group post the pros and cons to the course email list.

Personal response exercise


Purpose: To retain concepts; to personalize ideas; to explore concepts
Procedure: Students write about concepts taught in class through sharing personal opinions/
experiences that relate in some way to those concepts.
Example: Write about the most memorable or interesting experience you have had in an Engineering
course.

Journals
Purpose: To personalize ideas; to retain concepts; to explore concepts
Procedure: Students write in a journal on a regular basis about particular concepts learned in class. The
writing can be open-ended (write about a certain aspect of a course for a certain length of time) or
guided (students respond to content-specific questions developed by you).
Example: Identify and discuss your ideas on three significant concepts that stood out to you from this
week’s readings.

Email the author


Purpose: To clarify concepts; to retain concepts; to explore concepts; to personalize ideas
Procedure: Tell students to draft a short email asking the author for clarification or further information
on a concept in the article or essay. This will encourage students to think critically about which aspects
of the article or essay confuse them, and will personalize the material. You can encourage students to
actually send the email – they may actually receive a reply!
Example: Choose an article from this week’s readings and draft an email to the author with a brief,
specific question.

Memory matrix
Purpose: To retain concepts; to personalize ideas; to explain concepts.
Procedure: Students complete a two-dimensional diagram for which the instructor has provided labels.
Having information laid out visually can help students to prepare for a test or see how different
concepts fit together.
Example: Based on the readings for today, fill in the following matrix:
Course concept  

Description  

Examples from the  
readings

Course concept  

Description  

Examples from the  
readings

Resources
CTE teaching tips
Responding to Writing Assignments: Managing the Paper Load
Writing as a Learning Tool

Promoting and Assessing Critical Thinking


Online Discussions: Tips for Instructors

Other resources
Angelo, T. A. and Cross, P. K. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.
Anson, C. (2015). Crossing thresholds: What’s to know about writing across the curriculum.
Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Eds. Adler-Kassner, V. and
Wardle, E. 203-219. Utah State University Press.

Bean, J. (2001). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking,
and active learning in the classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Dyment, J., and O’Connell, T. (2010). The quality of reflection in student journals: A review of
limiting and enabling factors. Innovative Higher Education, 35(4), 233-244.
Enns, C., Cho, M., & Karimidorabati, S. (2014). Using writing as a learning tool in engineering
courses. Teaching Innovation Projects, 4(2).
Herteis, E. M. and Wright, W. A., Eds. (1992). Learning through writing: A compendium of
assignments and techniques. Halifax: Office of Instructional Development and Learning.
Hudd, S. S., Smart, R. A., and Delohery, A. W. (2011). My understanding has grown, my
perspective has switched: Linking informal writing to learning goals. Teaching Sociology, 39(2),
179-189.
Reynolds, J. A., Thaiss, C., Katkin, W., & Thompson, R. J. (2012). Writing-to-learn in
undergraduate science education: A community-based, conceptually driven approach. CBE - Life
Sciences Education, 11(1), 17-25.
Sorcinelli, M. D. and Elbow, P., Eds. (1997). Writing to learn: Strategies for assigning and
responding to writing across the disciplines. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.

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