Most people responsible for undergraduate teaching would accept that it is important for students to develop their writing skills. Despite this acceptance, guidance on effective writing and opportunities to practice and develop scholarly or business writing skills may be few and scattered. This is a pity since an ability to articulate one’s understandings and arguments is central to critical thinking and makes a student more employable.

Opportunities to help students become more skillful writers (and clearer thinkers) can easily be embedded in undergraduate teaching and learning without imposing an unsustainable burden on teachers.

This seminar explores ways in which students can be helped to develop their writing skills and practices. It will look at ideas for:

• Inducting students into scholarly writing practices;
• Modelling those practices for students; and
• Giving students feedback on their writing and how to improve it.

Examples of ways in which the development of student writing can be developed include:

• Research courseworks as part of assessment (taking part of the assessment burden out of the exam);
• Shorter writing assignments assessed on a pass / fail basis;
• Blogging (or podcasting) assignments;
• Creating new courses where all or most of the assessment involves student writing;
• Creating ‘extra-curricular’ opportunities to write about questions related to their studies.

The speakers will describe and comment on their experiences of implementing these approaches to developing students’ writing skills. The seminar is also a forum for participants to share their own ideas and experiences.

About the Speaker:
Prof. Mara Malagodi, Assistant Professor, CUHK LAW
Prof. Steven Gallagher, Professional Consultant, Professor of Practice in Law, CUHK LAW
Prof. Michael Lower, Professional Consultant, Associate Professor of Practice in Law, CUHK LAW