Here in the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum-Program, we work with many instructors who ask for advice about designing syllabi and assignments and responding to student writing. But even with an experienced instructor's best efforts, students sometimes still don't turn in the kind of writing we might expect.

We have all been there before: a well-designed syllabus, creative and carefully written assignments, a sequence of varying writing tasks that help get students to learn the material. But then, after students turn in the first two papers we start to realize that they aren't engaging with the material as well as we would like.

Without restructuring a syllabus or changing grades, what are some things that instructors can do to help students improve? Below are some suggestions and strategies for addressing some common challenges that may pop up in your class, some small things that you can do to help help students succeed with the assignments, activities, and readings.

1. If your whole class seems to be having trouble with the writing component of your course, consider asking for student feedback on your writing instruction.

As much as we may fear what our students think about our teaching, those of us who solicit feedback from our student rarely find it a useless endeavor. Students are smart: they know what's working for them and what isn't. Students generally appreciate being given the opportunity to put their evaluation of the course into words. It also helps them understand that you are working hard to help them learn.

You may already solicit feedback from students regularly throughout the semester, but do you ever share that feedback once it's gathered and recorded? In other words, do you continue the conversation? Students are much more likely to be honest and specific with their answers to your questions about the course if they feel like they are being heard. Take the time to summarize the evaluations and report back on your findings. What was most surprising to you? What was most encouraging? Disappointing? Inspiring? Motivating? Put these things into writing and distribute them to the class, making sure you allow time for discussion. You'll likely find that students are more willing to give your class the extra effort if they are convinced that you care.

History professor Florencia Mallon regularly offers students the chance to evaluate the writing insturciton they receive. Two or three times a semester, for five minutes at the end of lecture, she asks students to write answers to these questions: "What have you liked best so far about the course, and/or what are the things that are working best for you? What are you confused about, what would you like to change, and do you have suggestions for how to make things better?" She then takes the answers home, reads through them carefully, sets up categories of comments (both positive and negative) and suggestions, and then takes a few minutes at the beginning of a couple of lectures to reflect on what goes on in the course, what can be changed, what can't, and why. "I always find that people engage really well with this exercise," she says. "Students like being consulted and having their answers taken seriously."

For some examples of questions to ask students about the writing component of your course, visit the "Integrating Writing Into Your Course" section of the WAC website. Click on "Assessing Your Course."

2. If your students seem to be asking a lot of questions about your expectations, consider sharing some examples of student writing.

Showing students some sample responses to assignments you've given is usually appreciated by students because it answers the proverbial question: "What do you want?" It also helps students to be more sophisticated readers of each other's material, thus allowing them to make better judgments about where they stand in relation to the rest of the class. At the same time, students get the chance to see alternative approaches to completing the assignments you give while learning from concrete, successful examples and not just from general advice. Most of all, it helps them understand what their audience (you, usually) expects from their writing.

If the logistics of the course allow it, consider sharing a few examples of different successful attempts at completing the same assignment. It doesn't have to be a whole paper--it could just be a paragraph, an introduction or conclusion, or some thesis statements or citation examples, depending on the point you want to make. A handout with several sample thesis statements and your commentary on them can be one of the most useful tools your students have. It's also a good idea to schedule some time in-class for discussing the examples so that students can ask specific questions about your expectations.

For a good example of a handout like the one described above, see Tisha Turk's "From Topic to Thesis" handout on the WAC website. Go to http://mendota.english.wisc.edu/~WAC. Click on "Integrating Writing Into Your Course" and then on "Incorporating and Using Models Effectively."

3. If you are fearful that some students just aren't grasping the core concepts of your course, offer them the opportunity to revise an earlier piece of writing in lieu of a later assignment or essay exam question.

If your course's activities build on each other and course content is cumulative, offer students the opportunity to revise an earlier piece of writing and resubmit it for credit. Sure your standards might be higher this time around, and you may have to communicate that fact to students. But giving students the option to revise an unsuccessful response paper, an incomplete literature review, or a portion of a longer paper might help them at later stages in the semester. If your course is designed so that students need to build on knowledge of course material covered early on in the semester, it might be useful for them to use their revision work to re-think the items they read or examined during the course's first few weeks. It is likely that their comprehension and analytical skills will be heightened as a result of returning to materials a second time.

4. If your students seem to be having trouble communicating critical engagement with texts and materials, re-evaluate what the assignment asks them to do.

Research shows that as thinking gets more complicated, so does writing. So it's important to think about what you are asking students to do in an assignment. A response paper that asks students to engage critically with several texts actually involves several "hidden" steps. Students might first need to read for understanding and comprehension and be able to summarize the author's arguments before they can critically engage with the ideas presented in a text. In a critical response paper, asking students first to write summaries of complicated readings might help them move beyond just restating ideas.

Once you have determined what you want students to do with the assignment, it becomes important to think also about the kinds of questions you are asking your students and how those questions will guide the answers you're looking for. For example, a bluebook exam question might ask, "What are Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on citizenship as it relates to schooling?" This question signals to students that you want them to describe, restate, or summarize a text they read for class. In an in-class exam format where students have limited time and no opportunity to revise their work, this may be a familiar and appropriate question to ask in order to evaluate students' knowledge and familiarity with the course readings.

On the other hand, if you want to gauge your students' ability to engage more critically or analytically, you might ask them a different question that prompts them to apply their knowledge of course readings. So the question might change to "What elements of Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on citizenship and schooling inform John Dewey's philosophy?" This question asks students to use what they know about one text and apply it to another--a much more complicated task. Preparing students for this kind of exam question ahead of time might help them perform better on the exam. This kind of exam activity might not be familiar to them, so it's a good idea to make expectations known before test time.