Writing Program Principles

Writing is a way of thinking and an essential tool for learning—both in general education and in the development of disciplinary literacy. NDSU’s vertical writing curriculum–consisting of first-year and upper-division writing courses–prepares students not only for academic success but also for careers and community-building. Our writing program cultivates students' ability to analyze problems, evaluate multiple perspectives, and develop well-reasoned arguments. Students learn to use writing as a means of both discovery and action in academic, professional, and public spheres.

To develop and support successful students, as well as the current and emerging workforce, the NDSU writing program emphasizes 6 guiding principles:

1. Rhetorical Awareness

Writers must understand how genre, audience, purpose, and situation shape effective communication strategies. Using emerging digital technologies, the NDSU writing program fosters rhetorical adaptability, teaching students to craft useful and persuasive communications for diverse audiences.

In first-year writing classes, students learn to “read like a writer” by studying the moves and strategies that other writers use to communicate effectively with their audiences across a variety of personal, public, and academic genres. Students practice adapting and applying those strategies to a wide variety of genres, including profiles, literacy narratives, rhetorical analyses, commentaries, syntheses, and proposals.

In upper-division writing classes, students study the characteristics of discipline-specific and workplace genres. They then practice creating common workplace documents such as job application materials, business correspondence, instructions or technical descriptions, reports, proposals, oral presentations, and multimedia projects.

2. Information Literacy

Strong writing depends on the ability to engage with complex digital information and media. The NDSU writing program teaches students to critically evaluate the credibility, relevance, accuracy, and authority, and purpose of information created for different audiences and contexts. By engaging with multiple perspectives, students learn to assess bias, synthesize complex ideas, and construct well-supported arguments. These skills ensure they can use information and digital tools appropriately, ethically, and strategically.

In first-year writing classes, students learn to locate, evaluate, and integrate sources from library databases, websites, and other media. They practice summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing, and citing information to support their own ideas, while also learning to recognize bias and misinformation. Research-based projects such as annotated bibliographies, syntheses, and commentaries help students build a foundation in critical information use.

In upper-division writing classes, students refine their research strategies to meet the expectations of their academic disciplines and future professions. They learn to assess the credibility and relevance of field-specific sources, including scholarly journals, technical documents, and industry publications. Projects such as feasibility reports, workplace recommendations, grant or project proposals, and literature reviews require students to analyze and integrate information ethically and persuasively for professional contexts.

3. Process-Based Writing

Strong writing develops through a recursive process of invention, researching, drafting, feedback, revision, and editing. The NDSU writing program helps students use digital tools and multi-stage feedback from peers and instructors to refine their ideas and strengthen their work.

In first-year and upper-division writing classes, students explore a range of invention, research, and revision strategies—such as refining research questions, note-taking, outlining, mind mapping, conferencing, iterative drafting, peer review, user testing, and editing—and reflect on which methods are most effective for their goals. They use digital tools to support an ethical, productive writing process. Assignments emphasize the development of process knowledge that transfers across disciplines and professions, helping students experiment with a variety of writing processes.

4. Metacognition and Reflection

Writing is a process that requires intentional reflection, self-awareness, and agency. The NDSU writing program encourages students to analyze their own writing choices, learning habits, and growth as communicators to become more adaptable, self-directed writers.

In first-year and upper-division writing classes, students regularly reflect on their writing processes, rhetorical decisions, responses to feedback, what challenges they encountered, and what they learned during the process. They complete author’s notes, self-assessments, reflective memos, and portfolios with reflective cover letters that help them articulate how they demonstrated the course learning outcomes, what strategies worked best for them and why. Through these reflective practices, students gain insight into how they write, how they learn, and how to transfer that knowledge to new writing situations.

5. Learning Communities

Writing is a collaborative and social process that benefits from dialogue and sharing perspectives. The NDSU writing program creates interactive learning communities where students engage in discussion, collaborative writing, peer review, and knowledge-building to develop ideas and better understand how readers respond to writing.

In first-year writing classes, students build classroom communities through active discussions, small-group workshops, collaborative projects, and peer feedback sessions. These interactions help students learn from one another and develop confidence in sharing and responding to ideas.

In upper-division writing classes, students participate in more professionally oriented learning communities. Students often collaborate on group projects such as reports, proposals, presentations, and service learning projects and practice peer response. Through these activities, students learn how to contribute to and benefit from professional dialogue and writing practices in their fields.

6. Disciplinary Writing

Writing extends beyond the classroom and responds to public- and career-specific objectives. The NDSU writing program prepares students to analyze and apply writing conventions within their disciplines, ensuring they can communicate in specialized fields. Additionally, students learn to write in a range of other contexts for various audiences, crafting persuasive and purpose-driven documents.

In first-year writing classes, students explore an assortment of academic and public writing tasks. They analyze how language choices, tone, style, evidence, and structure vary depending on the audience, purpose, and conventions for that context.

In upper-division writing classes, students engage more specifically with genres and document design relevant to their academic disciplines and future careers. These experiences prepare students to meet the expectations for their specialized field and contribute effectively to workplace writing tasks.