Why write in my course?
Writing is part and parcel of the everyday life of engineers in research and practice – just as it is for studies leading to a written thesis. However, in many courses of engineering studies, little is written and thus little is prepared for the writing requirements in study and work. In doing so, students can be supported in the development of writing skills through specific writing didactic exercises in teaching. Writing is also an essential part of the learning process. When students write texts, they have to reflect on their knowledge, deal critically with content and establish connections. This leads to a better understanding of the technical content.
What are Writing Fellows?
Writing Fellows at the TUHH are student tutors trained by the Centre for Teaching and Learning (ZLL) in writing didactics, who support lecturers in conducting their courses by giving students individual feedback on their academic texts. The Writing Fellows belong to the ZLL and work closely with lecturers and students of a course. They provide students with written feedback on their texts and discuss revision options in a subsequent personal interview. Based on the jointly prepared revision plan, students revise their texts independently and finally submit a final version to the teacher together with a short reflection for revision.
Since the Writing Fellows are also students and they do not evaluate the texts, a pressure-free atmosphere among equals is created, which enables optimal learning. Difficulties in the writing process as well as with academic conventions are thus often communicated more freely and can be overcome together.
What added value does the programme have for me?
The added value for you is that
- They are relieved of the burden of providing students with constructive feedback on the resulting writing products.
- the quality of the texts submitted by students increases.
- the students already deal with the subject content in writing during the semester and deal intensively with subject concepts and problems.
- students develop their academic writing and writing skills and are thus better prepared for the final thesis.
The support offered by ZLL Writing Fellows amounts to one semester. Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to have your own student assistants from the Institute trained and further educated in writing didactics with us. This means that in future you will be able to continue working with tutors who are not only well-versed in the subject matter, but who are also specialised in the didactic support of fellow students’ writing processes.
What requirements must I meet?
Sie erfüllen die Voraussetzungen für das Writing Fellows-Programm, wenn
- You are planning a course in which scientific texts must be written as proof of academic achievement (e.g. term papers, reports, essays, protocols, excerpts).
- your course has no more than 120 participants. For larger events, please contact us in advance so that we can clarify conditions and capacities. Courses in the Bachelor’s programme are particularly welcome.
- You integrate writing assignments into your course, which are planned in such a way that a Writing Fellow can give students written feedback and an individual feedback session on each assignment during the semester and that students have time for revision.
- die Sprache der entstehenden Texte ist Deutsch. For the first time this semester, you can also apply for a Bachelor’s course if it is held in English. In the case of master’s courses, you are welcome to ask our capacities in advance whether feedback on English-language texts is possible.
In addition, you or a member of staff involved in the course will be given an introductory talk on the programme and continuous support by the programme coordinator.
What are the tasks of the Student Writing Fellows?
The tasks of the Student Writing Fellows are
- to work with you and discuss the joint approach.
- give you feedback in advance on your planned writing assignment(s) from a student perspective (provided that the start of the planned writing assignments allows for this in terms of time)
- provide all participating students with sound written feedback on the texts for the pre-agreed assignments (one feedback per assignment)
- to offer all participating students individual writing counselling before handing in the final writing assignment, in which aspects such as different writing strategies, coherent argumentation and requirements of the respective text type can be discussed
- Since the Writing Fellows are only “loaned” to the respective institute for the purpose of writing didactic cooperation, it is not possible to use the Writing Fellows for other activities and tasks.
contact person:
Dr. Nadine Stahlberg
Subject specialist for writing in teaching
Centre for teaching and learning
Building E-4.031
Phone: 040 428 78 46 77
nadine.stahlberg(at)tuhh.de
