Writing in the disciplines, departments, and degree programs

If you are interested in incorporating more writing in your classes, these are some of the people and materials that can help you as you begin to change your teaching. Your colleagues listed below are active participants in the Writing Across the Curriculum initiative, and regularly teach WI courses at BMCC. You can contact them for advice and guidance.

These colleagues, and others, have developed many innovative materials for their classes. Below, organized by department and degree program, are some of the syllabi, informal and formal writing assignments, checklists and rubrics, as well as readings that your colleagues have used in their teaching. You should feel free to make use of these materials in your own classes. And we recommend that you explore materials from outside of your discipline as well—you might find inspiration in unexpected places.

We have also suggested links to WAC literature and other course materials that might help you address concerns that are specific to writing in your discipline. If you have any suggestions for any of these areas, or material you would like to post to this site, please contact Gay Brookes, the WAC co-coordinators.

See About WAC for more general information on WAC techniques and resources. Help and resources for designing your own WAC-based assignments and materials can be found in Designing Assignments.

• Business
• Developmental Skills
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Science
• Teacher Education

Business

Faculty	Ken ANDERSON Kay CONWAY Carmen MARTINEZ-LOPEZ Mahatapa PALIT
WI Courses Offered	BUS 104 Introduction to Business BUS 200 Business Management and Organization MAR 100 Introduction to Marketing
Sample Course Materials	Term Paper Evaluation Form for Business Management BUS 200, Syllabus, Prof. Carmen Martinez-Lopez BUS 200, Assignment: Research Project (Interviewing a Manager), Prof. Carmen Martinez-Lopez [includes rubric]

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Developmental Skills

Faculty	Ken LEVINSON, Developmental Skills
WI Courses Offered	CRT 100 Critical Thinking LIN 100 Language and Culture
Sample Course Materials	Critical Thinking, Take-Home Final, Prof. Sharona Levy Critical Thinking, Mid-Term Exam Grading Rubric Critical Thinking, Final Exam Grading Rubric
Readings and Other Resources	Bean, John C. "Chapter 2: How Writing is Related to Critical Thinking," in Engaging Ideas (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001)

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Mathematics

Faculty	Nkechi AGWU Sandra BOER Chokri CHERIF Barbara LAWRENCE Claire WLADIS
WI Courses Offered	MAT 010 Basic Mathematics I MAT 100 Fundamentals of Mathematics I MAT 150 Introduction Statistics MAT 200 Introduction to Discrete Mathematics MAT 302 Calculus I
Sample Course Materials	MAT 302, Ideas for Formal Writing Assignments, Prof. Barbara Lawrence MAT 150, Writing Assignment: Infinite Sets, Prof. Claire Wladis
Readings and Other Resources	Gopen, George D. and David A. Smith, "What's an Assignment Like You Doing in a Course Like This?: Writing to Learn Mathematics," The College Mathematics Journal 21:1 (Jan 1990): 2-19. Price, J.J. "Learning Mathematics Through Writing: Some Guidelines," The College Mathematics Journal 20:5 (Nov 1989): 393-401.

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Music and Art

Faculty	Howard MELTZER, Music Bethany REEVES, Music Judy RICHARDSON, Art
WI Courses Offered	MUS 103 Music and Western Civilzations ART 100 Art Survey I
Sample Course Materials	MUS 103, Concert Report: Live Performance, Prof. Howard Meltzer MUS 103, Concert Report: Traditions and Performance, Prof. Howard Meltzer

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Science

Faculty	Ling CHEN, Chemistry Brahmadeo DEWPRASHAD, Chemistry Lauren GOODWYN, Biology David KRAUSS, Biology Shanti RYWKIN, Chemistry Mike VOZICK, Biology
WI Courses Offered	BIO 425 Anatomy and Physiology I BIO 426 Anatomy and Physiology II CHE121 Fundamentals of General, Organic & Biological Chemistry I CHE 122 Fundamentals of General, Organic & Biological Chemistry II CHE 202 College Chemistry II CHE 230 Organic Chemistry
Sample Course Materials	CHE 230, Sample Assignment, Prof. Brahmadeo Dewprashad BIO 425, Anatomy and Physiology I: Article for WebMD, Prof. Lauren Goodwyn BIO 425, Anatomy and Physiology I: Writing about Writing (written when students submit the WebMD article assignment above; helps students reflect on the writing process and can help catch plagiarism), Prof. Lauren Goodwyn
Readings and Other Resources	Andrews, Roy. "Marine Biology: An Opportunistic Approach," Writing Across the Curriculum 3:1: 37-9. Bean, John C. in Engaging Ideas (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001): Writing in Science Subjects: pp. 87, 127-8, 129, 203, 205. Carpenter, J. Harrison and Margie Krest. "It’s About the Science: Students Writing and Thinking About Data in a Scientific Writing Course" Language and Learning Across the Disciplines 5:2 (Sep 2001). Coppola, Brian P. and Douglas S. Daniels. "The Role of Written and Verbal Expression in Improving Communication Skills for Students in an Undergraduate Chemistry Program," Language and Learning Across the Disciplines 1:3 (August).

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Social Science

Faculty	Matthew ALLY, Philosophy Sangeeta BISHOP, Economics Gerard CLOCK, History Jack ESTES, Sociology Roger FOSTER, Philosophy Maram HALLAK, Psychology Ron HAYDUK, Social Science Diana JUDD, Political Science Margaret KAPLAN, Psychology Hunter KIRKLAND, Social Science Penny LEWIS, Sociology Patricia MATHEWS-SALAZAR, Anthropology Peter MARCUS, Psychology Yuichiro ONISHI, Ethnic Studies Segundo PANTOJA, Ethnic Studies Charles POST, Sociology Michelle RIEF, Ethnic Studies Bill ROANE, Psychology Rifat SALAM, Sociology Betsy WISSINGER, Sociology
WI Courses Offered	Anthropology ANT 100 Introduction to Anthropology ANT 128 Black Women in the Americas and Caribbean (also AFN 128) ANT 125 Puerto Rican Folklore & Culture (also LAT 125) Economics ECO 201 Macroeconomics Ethnic Studies AFN 128 Black Women in the Americas and the Caribbean (also ANT 128) AFN 152 Modern Black Political Thought (also POL 152) LAT 125 Puerto Rican Folklore and Culture (also ANT 125) Geography GEO 100 Introduction to Human Geography History HIS 120 Early American History: Colonial Period to Civil War HIS 125 Modern American History: Civil War to the Present Political Science POL 100 American Government POL 152 Modern Black Political Thought (also AFN 152) POL 220 Politics and Government in New York City POL 230 Power in American Politics POL 260 Political Theory Philosophy PHI 100 Introduction to Philosophy Psychology PSY 100 General Psychology PSY 200 Social Psychology PSY 240 Developmental Psychology PSY 250 Child Psychology Sociology SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology SOC 200 Social Problems SOC 250 The Family
Sample Course Materials	PSY 100, Peer Review Checklist POL 100, Newspaper Article Analysis Assignment, Prof. Ron Hayduk
Readings and Other Resources	Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001). Sociology subjects: pp. 51, 95, 123, 127, 155; Psychology subjects: pp. 23, 80, 87, 88, 94, 156, 158; Political Science subjects: pp. 129, 130, 205.

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Teacher Education

Faculty	Louise AMMENTORP Karen GILBERT Rachel THIELHEIMER Ahmed ZAMAN
WI Courses Offered	ECE 102 Early Childhood Education I ECE 201The Exceptional Child ECE 202 Curriculum and Program Planning for Young Children I ECE 204 Infant Care Curriculum and Program Planning I ECE 403 Supervised Instructional Experience with Infants and Toddlers

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