UTM helps students develop the write stuff
When Malisa Zhou enrolled at U of T Mississauga this past fall, it was to study forensic science and anthropology—not writing. So she wasn’t pleased to discover she would have to take ISP100: Writing for University and Beyond in addition to her five other courses.
“I was thinking, oh gosh, another writing course—it’s going to be dry and dull,” says Zhou, a native English speaker from Ottawa. “I’ve always received good feedback on my writing assignments, so I wondered if I would take away anything useful.”
But to her surprise, the half-credit seminar course turned out to be beneficial and, she says, even enjoyable. Over 12 weeks—which took place online, due to COVID-19—she and her 29 other classmates learned how to structure sentences to be more clear and concise; write papers that flow and engage the reader; and use grammar appropriately. The pace of work was reasonable, she says, and the interactive format helped her absorb lessons.
“The course taught me that I’m not a bad writer, but there are areas that could use strengthening… and everything I learned, I actively incorporated into my other courses,” Zhou says, adding, “This was the only course where I got to know all my classmates and instructor, and engage with them on a regular basis.”
First-year composition or writing courses are common at higher education institutions in the U.S. Now, UTM has become the first university to offer a course of this kind in Canada. ISP100 was introduced this fall as a mandatory course in all major and specialty programs offered by the departments of Visual Studies, Anthropology, and Chemical and Physical Sciences. The course focuses on the core principles and practices of writing so students can attain university-level writing- and reading-related skills.
Instructor Sarah Seeley says the course helps address “the notoriously problematic gap that exists between what is expected of high school and university writers,” noting this is an issue that affects both international and domestic students.
Seeley says an important feature of the course is its iterative, portfolio format with “stress-free assignments.” Students can build on the feedback they receive on initial drafts to polish their work and improve their marks. This helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses as writers, and target areas that need work with guidance from their instructor.
Another noteworthy aspect is that ISP 100 is taught by writing experts—recently hired full-time instructors who have significant experience in and passion for teaching and writing pedagogy. Seeley previously taught writing and linguistic anthropology at several universities in the U.S.
“The fact that we are full faculty members—and not sessional instructors or grad students—creates a better course because we are more invested and institutionally supported,” Seeley says.
UTM began deeply examining this matter in 2017 in response to that year’s academic plan, which encouraged an enhanced focus on “developing communication skills from foundational to advanced levels.” The resulting Foundational Writing Skills Working Group recommended the creation of the course, and that it be a requirement for first-year undergraduates in all programs.
That goal will be achieved in stages over the next five years under the oversight of the Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy, which was created this past summer to promote research on teaching and learning at UTM, particularly in relation to undergraduate education. The institute’s faculty and staff support the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (RGSAC), the Teaching & Learning Collaboration, utmONE and Foundational Skills courses.
Admittance to the course is based on the results of a Writing Check-In—an online assessment of students’ writing skills; some may be directed to first take the foundational course ISP010: Basics of Writing in English.
“There has been a lot of demand over the years for more rigorous and prolong writing support,” says
Tyler Evans-Tokaryk, director of the RGSAC and associate director of ISUP. “Students in this course develop skills they can easily transfer to their programs of study, and then later, to their professional lives.”
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