Learning to Write/Writing to Learn

When I tutor students in math and engineering specifically, but other STEM fields also, I find that even on a semantic and syntactic level I have a hard time understanding what's happening. If something seems unfamiliar, I'll ask the (grad) student "is this a phrase in your field?" and if it is, I just leave it alone completely. But these papers are especially hard because it's difficult to know what's not written well (that is, conveying meaning), and what is discipline-specific. Sometimes students don't know either.

Assignments in my Rhetoric class tend to be both learning to write and writing to learn. Especially my last project, which is a proposal, encourages them to pick something they care about (and they have to pick something local) so that they can see their projects as impactful. But of course the written and verbal presentation of the material is the majority of the grade. Sometimes when students visit the Writing Center, I can't tell what a teacher's objectives for the writing assignment are. Is it writing? Is it content? Is it busywork? Journals in dance, for example, seem to fall into the third category when they're only required to be a few sentences and graded for completion. Writing historical fiction-esque narratives in a history class. Is this just a fun way to access content? I find these different approaches to writing assignments interesting, even if I can't always see the professor's pedagogical goals.


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