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Thirteen departments joined using varied strategies, and a successful pilot in first-year biological anthropology (n=255, 7 teaching assistants) introduced defined objectives for TAs and increased TA-student contact hours. Intensive TA training, instructor monitoring of grading, and consistent criterion-based assessment reduced grading disputes and improved writing proficiency.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-writing-development-initiative-a-pilot-project-to-help-students-become-proficient-writers/598603/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-writing-development-initiative-a-pilot-project-to-help-students-become-proficient-writers/598603.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"awa","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem led to starting the writing development initiative in 2005?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Undergraduate feedback showed that writing proficiency was the biggest weakness across disciplines, and students found writing tasks intimidating and unclear without effective guidance and feedback.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What model improved writing skills in the biological anthropology pilot course?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The course used defined teaching assistant objectives and additional contact hours between TAs and students, combined with intensive TA training and instructor/director monitoring of grading.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How were assignments evaluated to ensure consistent feedback and fair grading?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"An assignment package with research and writing instructions, a plagiarism-avoidance handout, and criterion-based assessment sheets provided a clear grading breakdown and a consistent evaluation process across TAs and students.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},598603,1793107050,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","22  \nThe Writing Development Initiative: A Pilot Project to Help Students Become Proficient Writers  \nSherry Fukuzawa & Cleo Boyd  \nUniversity of Toronto Mississauga  \nIn 2005, the undergraduate advisory committee at the University of Toronto Mississauga found that across all disciplines, writing proficiency was the skill weakness that generated the greatest concern. Students reported that they often found writing tasks intimidating, and suggested that effective feedback and guidance would improve their writing. In response to these findings, the Dean’s office created the writing development initiative. Thirteen departments participated with a wide range of strategies to improve student writing. One successful participant was a first-year undergraduate course in biological anthropology (n=255 students and 7 teaching assistants). We created a writing improvement model that involved defined objectives for teaching assistants and additional contact hours between teaching assistants and students. These measures significantly improved the students’writing skills. In addition, the intensive training and monitoring of teaching assistants’ grading by the instructor and director of the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre contributed to a reduction in grading disputes. The success of the pilot project led to an extension of the writing development initiative for the 2006-2007 academic year.  \nI nToarn intontoerdMiisscisipslsinauagrya, sualrlvedy at tisciplihneesUnagivereresditythoaft  \nwriting proficiency was a crucial skill for undergraduate and graduate success. The widely ranging writing abilities of first-year students were a common departmental concern. Writing assignments took various forms depending on the disciplines, and the goals of the assignments often differed (e.g. technical skills,  \ncommunication skills, demonstrating logical thinking, developing an argument, etc.) . Many students also reported that they found written assignments to be daunting, and they often did not understand what writing a successful paper required of them. In response to these concerns, the Dean’s office implemented a writing development initiative. The goal of the pilot project was to provide additional resources  \nto improve student writing skills, while allowing the departments to implement different programs to meet the unique writing objectives of their disciplines.  \nThe following is a summary of the writing initiative that was implemented for the first-year undergraduate course in biological anthropology and archaeology. We decided to execute the writing initiative as part ofa holistic approach to curriculum development for the department. In this forum, the curriculum of individual courses was integrated toward the development of key learning skills for the entire undergraduate program (Shapiro, 2003) . In first year, the objective was to develop basic writing and research skills in preparation for the critical thinking and analytical skills that would be required in higher years of post-secondary education (Cukras, 2006) .  \nObjectives  \nIn Anthropology, we came up with three essential skills that we wanted to develop for first-year students. The first skill was for the students to be able to support a thesis (which was provided by the instructor) with a logical argument. The second skill was for the students to organize the argument in a proper format (i.e. introduction, body, and conclusion), and the third objective was to teach the students how to properly research an academic subject (especially in regard to appropriate online resources) . The objectives were achieved through a number of avenues.  \nAssignment Format  \nTwo short tutorial assignments were assigned to the students (5-7 pages) . The assignments were designed to address the goals of the writing initiative. The assignments were kept short so that the students could put together a cohesive paper and the teaching assistants could effectively grade all of the assignments. Th","cbCaidpkQCXLTfYo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidpkQCXLTfYo","pdf",330775,"English","# The Writing Development Initiative\n## Pilot motivation and departmental strategies\n## Writing improvement model and outcomes\n## Integrated curriculum approach\n## Objectives for first-year students\n## Assignment format and topic choice\n## Criterion-based evaluations\n## Additional teaching assistant hours","[{\"question\":\"What problem led to starting the writing development initiative in 2005?\",\"answer\":\"Undergraduate feedback showed that writing proficiency was the biggest weakness across disciplines, and students found writing tasks intimidating and unclear without effective guidance and feedback.\"},{\"question\":\"What model improved writing skills in the biological anthropology pilot course?\",\"answer\":\"The course used defined teaching assistant objectives and additional contact hours between TAs and students, combined with intensive TA training and instructor/director monitoring of grading.\"},{\"question\":\"How were assignments evaluated to ensure consistent feedback and fair grading?\",\"answer\":\"An assignment package with research and writing instructions, a plagiarism-avoidance handout, and criterion-based assessment sheets provided a clear grading breakdown and a consistent evaluation process across TAs and students.\"}]","The Writing Development Initiative: A Pilot Project to Help Students Become Proficient Writers | PDF",1792087236]