Writing Intensive

Writing Intensive Courses

Writing Intensive courses at UMKC are undergraduate courses of at least 3 credit hours, at the junior or senior level, generally designated by WI or WL following the course number. 

At the end of a Writing Intensive course at UMKC, students should be able to:

  • Write in genres, participate in activities, and perform assignments that are appropriate to the respective discipline. 
  • Demonstrate their ability through writing to read closely and analyze critically the texts of their disciplines.
  • Produce writing through the recursive process of brainstorming, research, drafting, peer review, and revising.
  • Articulate and support a coherent thesis or purpose in their writing and develop it according to the conventions of a given discipline or audience.
  • Use research methods and documentation that meet the standards of the discipline.
  • Articulate and discuss their work with peers or the instructor.

For example, to achieve these goals Writing Intensive course design emphasizes and teaches writing as a recursive process, some class time is devoted to helping students complete writing assignments, writing assignments are distributed throughout the semester, and differ in length and purpose, the course requires 5,000-10,000 words (approximately 20-40 double-spaced pages) of revised, final-draft quality writing, and writing assignments account for at least 40 percent of the course grade. Complete guidelines and mandatory requirements for the design of and best practices for teaching a Writing Intensive course at UMKC appear on the University Writing and Reading Board (UWRB) website, http://www.umkc.edu/uwrb/, or can be obtained by contacting the UWRB at uwrb@umkc.edu.