Academic writing is a unique type of writing and can vary across disciplines. Use these materials to better understand the elements of academic writing, such as voice, disciplinary writing, and college-level writing. Reading academic sources is an important part of learning how to write in your discipline. For tips on how to engage with reading these sources, see our section on Reading Difficult Materials 

Materials designed by Colby Axelberd, Christopher Basgier, Katharine Brown, Amy Cicchino, Clare Hancock, Megan Haskins, James Truman, and Livi Welch

This worksheet is designed to help incoming first-year college students learn a bit about writing at the college level. There are also scenarios where students can consider what they would do in difficult writing situations 

• An Introduction to College Writing Worksheet Word Document  

• An Introduction to College Writing Worksheet PDF 

The handout breaks down some implicit expectations related to academic voice, such as when and how to use first-person writing, jargon, style, and sentence variation 

• Key Terms for Academic Voice Handout Word Document  

• Key Terms for Academic Voice Handout PDF 

This worksheet invites you to revise a piece of writing by paying attention to its voice within a sample paragraph 

• Revising Academic Voice Worksheet Word Document 

• Revising Academic Voice Worksheet PDF  

This brief handout provides some examples of academic voice from various disciplines 

• Academic Voice Practice Examples Word Document 

• Academic Voice Practice Examples PDF 

This worksheet provides excerpts from disciplinary writing and asks participants to guess the disciplinary context for the writing. By doing this, we hope you will begin to see how different disciplines structure and style their writing 

• Guess the Discipline Activity Word Document   

• Guess the Discipline Activity PDF 

This worksheet invites writers to consider the rhetorical situation of a genre and plan their writing within that genre

• Analyzing Genres of Writing Worksheet Word Document

• Analyzing Genres of Writing Worksheet PDF

 This worksheet helps you apply reading like a writer to your work by inviting you to examine written artifacts from a writerly perspective by paying attention to features like structure, key terms, signposting, and verb use

• Reading Like a Writer Worksheet Word Document

• Reading Like a Writer Worksheet PDF

This worksheet is meant to help graduate students approach writing their first manuscript by making explicit options for manuscript section organization and looking at examples 

• Academic Research Writing: Tips, Strategies, and Pitfalls for Developing Your First Manuscript Word Document 

• Academic Research Writing: Tips, Strategies, and Pitfalls for Developing Your First Manuscript PDF

This handout invites readers to compare an excerpt from a dissertation to an excerpt of the same material, rewritten for nonspecialist or "general" audiences

• Academic and General Audience Comparison Word Document

• Academic and General Audience Comparison PDF

This handout invites extension professionals to reflect on the kinds of academic and non-academic genres the produce in their positions.

• Forms of Writing in Extension Word Document

• Forms of Writing in Extension PDF

This worksheet invites writers to plan a piece of writing for a general audience by leading them through the elements of the rhetorical situation

• Plan for General Audiences Word Document

• Plan for General Audiences PDF

This worksheet guides you through developing an argument and countering opposing arguments with a focus on claims, reasoning, and impact

• All About Arguments Word Document

• All About Arguments PDF

This resource provides helpful information for students writing in a foreign language. Though writing in another language comes with its obstacles, it also yields many benefits that can lead to deeper learning and an elevated relationship with language

• Writing in Another Language as an English First Language Speaker Word Document

• Writing in Another Language as an English First Language Speaker PDF

Writing-to-learn activities are low-stakes writing prompts that help students engage with content knowledge, think critically, and practice applying their learning. Use the resources below to learn more about writing-to-learn and how it might play a role in your course.  

Materials designed by Christopher Basgier, Alyssa Pratt, and Djibo Zanzot 

This worksheet is designed to help you understand some of the features of an effective writing-to-learn (WTL) prompt. Remember that these features are not necessarily a checklist: some prompts will include and exclude different features depending on what is appropriate for your course and field 

• Features of Effective Writing-to-Learn Prompts Worksheet Word Document 

• Features of Effective Writing-to-Learn Prompts Worksheet PDF 

This handout includes a range of writing assignments and activities you can ask students to complete in your course in order to promote their learning. Many of these assignments can have high stakes or low stakes versions 

• 20 Writing Activities to Enhance Learning Handout Word Document 

• 20 Writing Activities to Enhance Learning Handout PDF 

This worksheet will help you identify and define a difficult concept, and then map different levels of understanding for that concept. You can use these definitions as a basis for crafting your writing-to-learn assignments 

• Difficult Concepts and Levels of Understanding Word Document 

• Difficult Concepts and Levels of Understanding PDF