Planning an SWC Course

Special Issues

Here we have collected some general information and links on teaching issues that may need special attention in the SWC classroom. We will be adding more resources; if there are particular topics you would like to see addressed here, or if you know of additional resources we could include, please contact us.

Non-Native and ESL Speakers

The Division of Rhetoric and Composition offers a special section of the required Rhetoric and Composition course for non-native speakers. RHE306Q. If you require RHE306 as a pre-requisite for your SWC course, you can be certain that even your ESL students have the basic writing skills taught in this course. UT's International Office also maintains a web page for their ESL Services for students. Lastly, the Undergraduate Writing Center has highly-skilled consultants available to work with ESL students. There are resources for ESL students and their teachers on the UWC website.

Plagiarism

Preventing Plagiarism (PDF, 80K)
Good assignment design will go a long way toward stopping plagiarism before it starts.

Detecting Plagiarism (PDF, 78K)
If you suspect plagiarism, there are a number of specific steps you should take to verify and report it.

Using Plagiarism-Detecting Software (PDF, 80K)
A growing number of companies offer software that is designed to detect replicated text in student work. The effectiveness of these systems varies widely, and none is an adequate substitute for careful reading of student work. We offer advice on whether and how to integrate such systems in your writing class.

Students with Disabilities

Because writing as a learning task often takes place over a longer time frame than other classroom activities, such as test-taking, it may actually present fewer obstacles to students with disabilities. Adaptive strategies, when needed, are usually fairly simple. The most common learning disability challenges encountered in writing classrooms center on providing feedback. Visually impaired students may need your evaluation of their writing in a special format, such as tape-recorded comments or an electronic draft with comments that can be read with adaptive technology. Students with Attention Deficit Disorder, for example, may benefit from more individual consultation with their instructor to help them process feedback on their writing. Services for Students with Disabilities at UT offers a Faculty and Staff Information Page. If you and a student with a documented disability cannot work out a satisfactory adaptive strategy for an assignment, you should contact SSD. We welcome your questions about, or descriptions of, other ways in which SWC course work may be best adapted for students with disabilities.