About This Guide

  1. Department Directory
  2. Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
  3. Writing Board
  4. Writing in the Disciplines
  5. Teaching Writing in the Disciplines: A Course Size Guide
  6. About This Guide

This guide was developed by the Writing Board to support faculty who teach Writing in the Disciplines (WID) courses across a range of class sizes.

The Goal of this Guide

The guidance presented here is informed by faculty conversations and consultations related to WID courses, Writing Board check-ins with departments and programs, and the collective teaching experience of faculty who regularly design and teach writing-intensive courses.

Rather than proposing a single model of a “good” WID course, this guide reflects patterns that many instructors recognize from practice — particularly how course size shapes what kinds of writing tasks, feedback practices, and instructional supports are feasible over a semester.

Enrollment size matters, but it is not the only factor shaping WID pedagogy. Disciplinary expectations, course level, instructor preparation, student experience, and institutional context all influence course design. The goal is not to reduce WID to enrollment numbers, but to acknowledge that assignments and feedback function differently at different scales.

Across all course sizes, effective WID courses tend to:

  • make writing central to learning, not just assessment
  • use a mix of low-, medium-, and high-stakes writing
  • support students as they work through writing
  • align expectations with what instructors can realistically sustain

This guide offers a shared framework and vocabulary for thinking about WID course design. It is intended as a resource for reflection, planning, and conversation — not as a set of requirements or standards.