Dr. William C. Snyder, professor of English at Saint Vincent College, has turned the tables on the students in his Intermediate Writing class.

This upper-level course, which usually enrolls students from the Education and Psychology Departments in addition to the English Department, makes students devise their own composition assignments – and receive grades on the quality of their ideas and approaches.

From 1978-2002, the course was a traditional text-based writing course with assignments given by the teacher. Now students are required to come up with their own assignments based on subjects that interest them – and have relevance to their career plans for the future.

In recent years as more academic departments at the College began to require their majors to enroll in Intermediate Writing, Dr. Snyder says he began to think how he could restructure the class to better serve the growing number of students who included not only English majors and future graduate students but students planning careers in law, teaching, journalism and other fields. "One reader (text) was not going to cover all the needs of the variety of students," he says.

That was when he decided that these students who needed to develop special writing and analytical skills would benefit from devising their own assignments and being graded on how to come up with a topic and strategy rather than simply react to one.

Through the semester, students are carefully guided through the process of developing thought-provoking articles that address personal and career interests. They begin with a plan for their articles, searching for solid source materials and crafting topic sentences, before methodically developing the body of their articles.

"The ultimate goal is to put together an essay magazine that is supposed to represent what’s interesting and important to them," Dr. Snyder says about his students’ work. "They (students) get points for creativity and professionalism in putting together a project that approaches the feel of a real magazine. It should look like something that could be found in the library."

The students also get points for the degree of difficulty of the assignments, Dr. Snyder says. "If they (students) tackle moral dilemmas, ethical issues without apparent solutions, they will get more credit than something easier. They won’t get ‘insight points’ if the topic is too easy."

Another twist is that the "text" required in the course is also self-determined, Dr. Snyder points out. Instead of a one-size-fits-all reader, the course requires that each student build his or her own reader, called a "critical miscellany." When students turn in their detailed essay plans, they must also submit the miscellany and show how portions of the sources connect to their topic sentences.

In the attractively designed essay magazines produced during fall semester, students focused on a number of educational topics such as the issues of home schooling, inclusion, diversity in school, gender bias in the classroom, the "corruption" of public schools and full-day kindergarten. Other topics varied widely and included issues such as general anxiety disorder, the price of smoking, tourism in Bedford County, animal treatment, the building blocks of life and Americans in Rome (during an anti-war, anti-American demonstration).

The class also requires students to do other projects including producing a professional packet – a cover letter, resume and personal statement. Grammar, logic and the six principles of good writing are stressed, and students are tested on their mastery of grammar and writing technique through several quizzes. The course takes advantage of the College Blackboard web site where students can conveniently find all the required information including the syllabus, calendar and many other resources. At any point in the semester, students can freely use e-mail to pose questions or to get advice on thesis statements and paragraphing approaches.

What do students think about the turnabout in this class where they are graded on making their own assignments? "I really liked this class; I got a lot out of it," says English major Rachelle Gaebel who is happy to show off her essay magazine, a colorful, eye-pleasing effort that offered involved essays on the death penalty, same sex marriage and spam versus the first amendment. (But, yes, she admits, the class has a reputation for being challenging among her classmates.)

For Dr. Snyder, the class is a welcome change. "When I judge the quality of the assignments it puts me in the position of serving as an editor and a coach in helping the students develop a sense of craft."

And the class is fulfilling the standard goal of producing students who can write, he believes. "I know it’s working," he says, citing a recent note of thanks that came from a graduate who just published in a law review and credited the rigors of the class in helping her learn to write.