L4 Q & A

SNL offers two academic writing classes: Writing Workshop and Academic Writing for Adults. SNL also offers creative writing, business writing and other writing classes every quarter. Here is a sample of these other writing courses:

Please check the schedule to see what classes are being offered this quarter. SNL is a writing-intensive school, so you will have opportunities to work on your writing in most of your classes.

SNL has only one writing requirement that must be satisifed by all students -- the L4, academic writing, competence. Students can complete the L4 writing competence either by taking and passing the Academic Writing for Adults course or by passing the Writing Proficiency Portfolio Exam. Some students are required to take Writing Workshop before Academic Writing for Adults if their placement essay indicates the need for this additional class.

First, because SNL is such a writing-intensive program, we want to make sure that your academic writing skills are current and robust.

Second, because of SNL’s competence basis and focus on experiential learning, writing assignments at SNL often differ from the kind of writing you may have been prepared for at other schools.

However, you may be able to transfer a writing course from another school for a different competence. Please discuss this option with your faculty mentor.

Academic Writing for Adults prepares you for success in your writing at SNL as well as helping you become a generally stronger writer.

If you believe you that have already mastered academic writing, you have the option of taking the Writing Proficiency Portfolio Exam. The proficiency exam is designed to make sure that those who pass it are as prepared for SNL writing tasks as those who successfully complete Academic Writing for Adults.

To pass the proficiency exam, you will need to submit essays in which you demonstrate your understanding of different writing genres, mastery of grammar, the ability to write thesis-driven essays, and knowledge of current citation rules. For more information on the proficiency exam, see http://snl.depaul.edu/StudentResources/Proficiency_Exams/Academic_Writing.asp

We asked SNL student Joan Travers to share some thoughts about her choice to take the Academic Writing for Adults course over the L4 Proficiency Exam. Her reflection follows:

Click here to read Joan's skydiving ILP. Her essay, "My Skydiving Mishaps: A Quick Lesson in Physics," won a Writing Showcase award in 2010.

During Learning Assessment Seminar (LAS), you will learn about the two options, Writing Workshop and Academic Writing for Adults, and then complete a Writing Placement Essay in which you indicate which course you feel best suits you. An SNL Writing Instructor will respond to your essay and advise you on which course to take.

Many new SNL students have rusty essay writing skills. Most can work this rust out in Academic Writing for Adults. Students referred to the Writing Workshop usually have a history of struggling with writing.

Incoming students who take the Writing Workshop will still need to take Academic Writing for Adults and should do so in the following quarter.

Writing Workshop is a four-credit class in which no more than ten students receive intensive, individualized and expert guidance on how to become more confident, efficient and effective writers.

Students at any point in their studies at SNL can take the Workshop to improve their writing and their mastery of the writing process. Students have taken the Workshop to prepare for Academic Writing for Adults, as additional support when enrolled in a writing-intensive course, to finish an Incomplete, and to work on Independent Learning Pursuits (ILPs) and Advanced Projects (APs). In collaboration with their instructor, each student develops and implements a plan to improve his or her writing. Students can earn the H-3-J competence in this course. They are also encouraged to use the Workshop to work on papers for competence in other courses or through the ILP process.

Upon successfully completing Writing Workshop, the student will be able to do the following:

Academic Writing for Adults is a required, four-credit class in which students earn the L4 competence. This class prepares students to succeed in their writing at and beyond SNL.

Students learn strategies for managing the writing process, working effectively with sources, combining experience with analysis and reflection, building an argument and writing persuasively.

Students also practice using writing as a tool for exploring, playing with and developing as well as communicating their ideas.

To view the Academic Writing for Adults syllabi, click here. Here is the Academic Writing for Adults competence statement and criteria:

L-4: Can use writing for college-level learning, thinking and communicating. Course: Academic Writing for Adults

Academic Writing for Adults replaced College Writing as the course offered for the L4 competence as of January 1, 2008.

Writing is hard. Most writers will tell you that they have spent years perfecting their craft. Writer Thomas Mann said, “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” Therefore, it is not surprising that even students who have completed Academic Writing for Adults continue to struggle with writing.

Research on student writers has shown that as students move into new content areas or writing tasks (like you might experience in Research Seminar, Advanced Elective or Advanced Project as well as classes in areas new to you), the skills they thought they had mastered suddenly seem to desert them.

Briefly, Writing Workshop is more structured, more intensive and more expensive than the Writing Center. The table below summarizes the key differences between these two options

Writing Center	Writing Workshop
Tutors in the Writing Center are DePaul undergraduates or graduate students who have been nominated by teachers, interviewed by the Writing Center staff, and are or have taken an advanced class on Writing Center theory and pedagogy. In this class, tutors have a brief introduction to SNL and returning adult students. Some tutors are SNL students.	Writing Workshop Instructors are SNL faculty members who also teach Academic Writing for Adults.
Students can drop in to the Writing Center on an as-needed basis, or they can set up a standing appointment. Students who are self-directed and good at time management will do well with this option.	Students enroll in the four-credit Writing Workshop class. Students who need the structure of a class to keep on task will benefit from this option.
Tutors work with students one at a time.	Although a class, Writing Workshop is capped at ten students so that instructors can work with each student individually on his or her own writing needs.
Tutors work with students on whatever writing assignment or issue they bring to the Writing Center. Tutors are not editors and see their primary goal as helping students become better writers. This means they focus on helping students learn how to recognize and correct their own writing problems.	Students in Writing Workshop may also work on writing for other classes. Like the Writing Center, the primary goal of Writing Workshop is to help students become better writers. Because it is a class, Writing Workshop is more comprehensive than a tutor working with a drop in students can be. Writing Workshop begins with a detailed self-assessment of the student’s writing strengths and needs. The instructor guides the student through this assessment. Then, the instructor works collaboratively with the student to build a plan for the course that targets the most critical issues in the student’s writing and makes sure the student learns how to manage the writing process.
The Writing Center tutors are available online and on the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses. While the Writing Center continues to work on expanding availability for SNL students, location and time may be a barrier for some students.	Writing Workshops are offered at each campus. Most campuses offer the Writing Workshop every quarter; a few offer it every other quarter.
The Writing Center is free!	Writing Workshop is a four-credit course.
You cannot earn a competence from the Writing Center, but you can work on ILPs with the Writing Center tutors.	You can earn the H3J competence in Writing Workshop.

For tutoring help, see here.
For how to do specific SNL assignments, see here.
For help on specific writing problems or concerns, see here.
For how to work through the process of writing a paper, see here.
To understand what teachers are looking for, ask your teacher and see here.