TOTAL INTEGRATED ACROSS CURRICULUM WRITING

INTRODUCTION

"Writing is a powerful tool of learning ... science teachers ... make their students write up their dis­coveries and thought processes and math teachers could make students explain how they had arrived at their answer."_____ This statement together with the following "Complaints about student writing, virtually from kindergarten through the professional schools emerge as frequently and mysteriously as the types of the flu..." (2), simply states the problem and solution for the dilemma of writing first across the curriculum and second of requiring writing in the construction management programs. It becomes immediately apparent that just teaching writing per se without the teaching of a subject matter concur­rently using writing as one of the basic tools of learning is nonproductive.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Since the basic problem and premise has been stated in the previous paragraph, this paper will explore the concept of cross-curriculum writing and how it might be applied in the various construction management academic courses of study. This paper will be equally applicable to the fields of construction science and construction engineering. Historically, construction management like other academic areas is suffering from the lack of a coordinated or integrated writing program. Today, the emphasis in all areas of undergraduate programs is to have the individual technically job ready as opposed to instilling thought processes with a broad understanding of problem solution whether it might be related to one's own narrow area of academic endeavor or to the larger general education problem. Sequentially, linear thought patterns are now being instilled by our educational system and this linear, mathematical process excludes to a large degree reasoning through writing. Technicians rather than thinkers are being produced!!!

THE WRITING DILEMMA

Accepting the hypothesis that writing is lacking or maybe even non-existent in many professional courses, periodically administrative attempts are made to reintroduce writing into the curriculum by generalized directives. This reimposing of writing may be either at the departmental, college or university level. Without specific objectives, administrative programs will be given lip service and any change that may occur will be small.

Another factor to be considered in the writing problem is the complaints heard and received from employers or potential employers that the graduates of various programs don't know how to or simply can't write when they enter the professional field after graduation. Construction management as an academic area is identical to other fields of study. These graduates have the same deficiencies and problems. Without a requirement to master writing skills, the graduate is initially handicapped in his/her chosen professional world. This handicap continues until these skills are acquired. They may never be acquired. The simple using or attempting to use writing as a communication means without ample opportunity to use and develop this skill before actually needed is counter productive and doomed to failure in most situations.

Background data and comments suggest that a serious problem continues to exist in the academic world and that this problem can be partially corrected by a coordinated, directed program of writing. This paper will present and develop the concept of total integrated across curriculum writing with a require­ment that this concept be implemented or required as a part of the construction management undergraduate experience. Continuous writing must be required at every level to force the individual to obtain the needed proficiency in their writing ability and to express their thoughts, ideas and solution proces­ses. In other words, the student must be able to communicate in writing.

BACKGROUND

Historically, the concept or inspiration for writing across the curriculum came from an educational movement that occurred in Great Britian in the 1960's. This concept formally published in the mid-1970's stated that the British system of education was pri­marily concerned with the idea of learning rather than formal writing techniques. The idea spread to this country; and in 1977, a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities set up a program to teach and encourage across-the-curriculum writing. This program from its onset uses the approach that every teacher, instructor or professor should become aware and should introduce into his respective classroom and curriculum, the requirement of student participation by writing. Keep in mind that the British system was considerably ahead of us because of their method of instruction. In effect, the British meth­od said that the student learns to write incidental to the course of instruction, whether it is the study of history or literature. Writing is considered a language skill and is inseparable from read­ing, and only the combined capacity to read and write constitutes true literacy. Along with these ideas, the British also said it is impossible to teach anyone to write decently if they don't also teach the individual to read with attentiveness and discrimination. This concept, carried to its logical conclusion, says that requiring writing without reading is not workable or even feasible.

Writing must have a content and an intention which when fused together gives it substance and form.  Therefore, writing skills should be embedded in the subject material. If we continue as educators to expect writing skills to be sharpened or developed only in English or other specific-type courses, we must then give such courses relevant content and set the context in the students' limited experience in language usage. This literacy without the necessary investment of time and effort will not develop. We will delude ourselves into believing that good writing - and other good things in life - can come easy and perhaps without work.

Reading is difficult. It requires concentration on sense and developing taste. Teaching can be made easier by simply making the students memorize lists, facts, formulas, processes for solving the problem, and then finally working the problem. It becomes difficult to read, understand and then make some degree a judgment or evaluation. Students early on learn how to spell words which the teachers assign. They also learn how to fill in the blanks in workbooks or to string words together into groups which have little, at the very best, relation to the material or subject which they have read or actually discussed.

The British experiment led eventually to the National Writing Project (NWP) in this country. Basic to the NWP is the concept that teachers at all levels, from elementary through university, should be en­couraged to become interested in cross-curriculum writing, and then have these encouraged teachers return to the classroom and require writing in some fashion and form of their individual students.

Expanding on these previous paragraphs, the basic idea is to teach the subject rather than to teach writing (4). In this process, proponents of the system stress that everything that the student writes should not be graded. But rather, the mater­ial should be written in "studentese" and should not be viewed as a way to produce or test a final pro­duct but rather a way to learn. The mere assigning and collection of_. short papers, essays or journals does not ensure that the student learns how to write and communicate ideas or thought processes. Allowing students to write their thoughts into a journal or a short paper, they know that the quality of grammar and proper English usage is not the foremost objective. This will serve as the foundation and bases for freer expression and improvement in the individual's writing skills. Once this approach of allowing the student freedom within the writing process has been implemented, the student will learn that he has become the central point of the classroom and not the teacher. With the concept of nongrading of papers, the student is hopefully encouraged to become freer in thoughts and to write or ex­press ideas without the overriding fear of criticism or of a grade.

Additionally, the student should be allowed or re­quired to present or read aloud his/her paper in the class. Very strict ground rules must be established saying that no criticism of either subject material, choice of words, or method of presentation will be allowed unless invited by the individual student. The concept here must be to have the student become very much at ease knowing that his/her ideas will be accepted for content rather than style or method of writing. Once the ease factor has been established, the individual hopefully will try new ways of ex­pressing their thoughts. At this point, written and variable communications merge into a single area.

On the other side of the coin is the problem of the instructor or professor who through the aggressive use of a writing program in their classroom ends up with piles of papers many feet thick either requiring reviewing or grading. Many instructors are leery and hesitate to assign writing projects primarily for the reason that large amounts of time for grading is required to evaluate writing. However, with the concept of non-graded papers, the preliminary papers can be used as steps to a final paper which then can be graded, criticized, and returned to the student. If this idea or concept is to work to its fullest, the student must be allowed to revise and rewrite his/her papers. By use of this rewrite procedure leading to a final product, the student is not only allowed but encouraged to improve their papers or writing projects. Before the critical phase, i.e. that of producing a final finished document, the student will have had a chance to take his/her paper, after a non-graded review, and rewrite it into a finished product which also has become a learning situation or learning tool. How many of us have assigned papers toward the end of the semester either as a term paper, class project or written exam, had the students turn in the paper, and spent considerable time grading and making many comments only to put the papers at our office door and have the student never pick up their work? The whole idea of spending time grading a paper seems very discouraging and the comments serve no purpose for the student who for some reason never picks up their papers. If they never see or read the comments and suggestions, how can they learn? The writing exercise has failed to be a learning situation. If a writing project is required, which it should be in all classes, the paper should be written with sufficient time for the instructor to review, and the student to rewrite. Then the student should submit the final or completed product. Hopefully by using this process, the paper will be written to the required or desired level, and the student will have learned both in the writing sense and in a subject sense.

Another important concept in student writing is to set and require reasonable levels of expectation. Being as guilty as other instructors, many times I have said write a paper two, three, five or ten pages long on a subject which is either assigned or is the free choice of the student. I, then, expect this paper to show up on a due date either in the classroom or at my office. At which time, I will grade the supposed finished product. More often than not, as we read through a large number of these papers, we find a great many levels of writing directions and skills making us wonder if we gave the same assignment to everyone in class. This different level of response can be somewhat alleviated by simply telling the student at what level or to whom they are expected to write, i.e. saying that this paper is to be written for presentation to your classmates at the freshman level, or the paper is to be written for presentation before a board of directors of a major corporation. With realistic expectations required of the students, the results obtained should be consistent with the assigned project and the individual will write to the required level. Without defined expectations, it is only fair to expect our students to write at many different levels. Some will be very elementary and non directed and will not prove that the particular student either comprehends the subject material or has the ability to communicate through writing.

Previously mentioned, as educators we cannot expect writing skills to be sharpened only in English courses. They must be refined in every class or educational experience. In order for writing to become relevant, course content, presentation, and use of the class subject material must be so structured as to use writing. Additionally, the level of writing expectation must be set in the context of the student's experience in the use of language.

Only if the above happens, can we attempt to broaden the student's understanding of the subject material and affect an improvement in their communication and writing skills. Earlier in this paper, the state­ment was made that reading and writing were both communication skills. One cannot exist without the other. If this statement is true, we can assume, maybe in error, that students who have a gift for verbal communication will read with the same skill. This assumed fact may or may not be true. It is without basis to use this as a measurement of a student's grasp of the material relating to a cer­tain subject, Reading not only the textbook, but other related material, will enhance the students' ability to understand a subject. In this process of critical reading, the student hopefully will learn reasoning. Critical reading at a reasonable expec­tation level coupled to writing should make it easier for the student to verbalize through writing compared to the student who speaks only and reads none

Expanding the concepts of forced writing to the use of essays as a portion of exams will force the individual to rethink the learning and studying process. Students who know that they will be examined by the use of essay-type questions will study in a different manner than if a short answer, fill in the blank or true-false format is used. True-false studying is good for short-time retention of facts which may be recalled without reference to the total picture. Essay or written questions based on broad concepts require the student to first learn and understand the subject and then to be able to express the re­sponse to the specific question. Obviously, the essay question requires a much greater commitment of time on the part of the individual professor or in­structor. However, the student is the requirement and reason we are in the position we are and the reason we expect a certain level of learning to occur.

CONCLUSION

Based on the acknowledged deficiencies in student writing skills, the solutions proposed and encouraged by the National Writing Program or one of the subsequent off-shoot programs, across curriculum and continuous writing programs must be implemented and required for all students in any institution of higher learning. These writing programs must begin at the introductory freshman level and carried through to the last senior course before graduation in all construction education curriculum. Hopefully, the minimum requirement of departmental writing can be extended to all departments and colleges within a university system. The core material within a particular academic area, i.e. construction management, must have an integrated writing requirement. This integrated total across-curriculum writing will enhance the student's mastery of the subject material, but also will allow this same individual the means to communicate non-verbally in their chosen professional endeavors. Once the student feels comfortable in the use of non.-verbal communication skills and writing, the shortfalls of the present education system should disappear.

Technical proficiency and job ready graduates are important to the success of any education program, but the final requirement of any undergraduate uni­versity program is to produce an individual who can think and reason. Linear education can make the graduate competent on the day of graduation but does little to prepare the student to reason and compre­hend what may happen five or ten years in the future. Writing fused with discrete reading will go a long way to prepare our graduates for a productive pro­fessional career.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To create or implement a successful program of total across-curriculum writing, the following recommendations are made:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Nebraska Writing Project Inter-College Faculty Seminar, Spring 1986, James McShane, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska.

REFERENCES

SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES