Innis College
In-course Workshops from the Innis College Writing Centre

In 2011-12 the Innis College Writing Centre will once again offer course instructors at the College the opportunity to schedule a workshop from the Writing Centre on an aspect of writing related to course material. These writing workshops were conceived with the following goals in mind:

• to give students the benefit of writing instruction in a group setting
• to offer writing instruction that addresses the requirements of writing assignments in Innis College courses
• to encourage students to begin work on their assignments early in each term
• to increase cooperation between the Writing Centre and the programs

Writing Centre staff will consult with interested course instructors and/or TAs to develop workshop content. Workshops may range from 30 to 90 minutes and will cover topics chosen by the course instructor and writing centre instructor.

Scheduling
We can deliver an in-course workshop at any time during the fall and spring terms. Scheduling is to be determined by course instructors in consultation with writing instructors. Workshops normally run during class time, but can be arranged for outside of the course schedule. Full-year courses could have two workshops, one in each term, with each workshop addressing a different assignment.

Possible workshop topics (some more general than others):

• understanding an assignment sheet
• proposal writing
• organizing an essay or report
• constructing an opening paragraph/thesis
• using and documenting sources
• researching

Workshops could also concentrate on basic writing issues at the sentence level, if instructors wish.

Here’s what we would like to have from you (ideally):

1. a copy of the assignment sheet
2. a copy of an A assignment from a past year
3. samples of writing from a few of your current students, or comments from you about any writing problems you have observed

We shouldn’t need more than a half hour of your time to discuss what you would like the workshop to cover.

The number of workshops the Writing Centre can mount each year is limited. If you would like to have the Centre offer a workshop in your course, please contact Cynthia Messenger, Interim Director, Innis College Writing Centre, by email: cynthia.messenger@utoronto.ca