Written Communication Toolkit

Writing skills

Effective writing is clear, concise and economical.

Students' writing skills improve if they are provided with opportunities to:

• understand the role of writing in the professions;
• write often in a variety of formats;
• share ideas of what makes good writing;
• self-evaluate their writing in a structured manner; and
• receive comprehensive feedback on their writing prior to submitting assignments.

Writing tasks

To ensure maximum benefit from written tasks, ensure that:

• there is a wide variety of writing styles expected, not just essays;
• assignments are relevant to students' potential professions; and
• students have access to methods of structuring the writing task.

Writing guidelines

Effective writing is a complex task. Make sure that students:

• understand where to go for help with their writing;
• take advantage of on-line writing courses such as http://www.cit.griffith.edu.au/~mf/wrsk/wrsk.html ;
• understand how to write for the reader;
• are well acquainted with referencing rules; and
• have access to assistance for grammar, spelling and layout.

Assessing students' written communication

When designing a writing assignment:

• ensure that students understand the terminology you have used in creating the assignment;
• consider which element of the writing is important in the assessment. Is it, for example, the generation of ideas, the ability to write a logical report?
• give students the assessment criteria in advance;
• make assignment deadlines work for you by expecting bibliographies, drafts, etc., prior to the final assignment date;
• incorporate peer review into the process to improve the standard of writing;
• design the task to make plagiarism difficult.

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