The overarching goal of The Black Ink Project is to increase the writing proficiency of students. As part of Morehouse College’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), The Black Ink Project will provide them with opportunities to immerse themselves in the writing process at every stage of their educational experience at the College—from English Composition 101 and 102, First Year Experience (FYE), the General Education Curriculum (Gen Ed), Black Life, History, and Culture (BLHAC), and to significant culminating senior –level writing assignments in the disciplines (WID). This goal, which is consistent with the tradition of articulate servant leadership for which Morehouse Men are known, will be informed and facilitated through students’ selection of writing topics related to Black Life, History, and Culture (BLHAC). Key to the success of this plan will be equipping faculty with the knowledge of culturally relevant pedagogy and strategies for teaching and assessing writing skills across the curriculum and within disciplines. The project emphasizes assessment and use of results to inform strategies for improving student writing over time. This focused assessment process over the five-year period of the QEP will also contribute to building and strengthening a culture of assessment at Morehouse College. The specific goals, anticipated Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), and Faculty Development Outcomes (FDEOs) are as follows:
Goal One: Provide students with numerous opportunities to engage in writing activities that improve their written communication skills throughout their matriculation at the College.
Students will be able to:
Goal Two: Facilitate student exploration and selection of writing topics related to Black Life, History, and Culture (BLHAC) in First Year Experience, General Education, and discipline-specific courses.
Students will write a document that:
Goal Three: Provide opportunities for faculty development in teaching and assessment strategies to facilitate improvements in student writing and use of BLHAC topics.
Through Faculty Development Workshops, faculty will:
Goal 4: Morehouse College will become known for producing research on the Black males’ writing and writing pedagogy, particularly on the use of culturally relevant topics in the writing process.
(FDEOs) are as follows:
The Black Ink Project aims to improve the writing skills of all Morehouse students by emphasizing high-level written communication in several fundamental places: (1) English Composition 101 and 102; (2) First Year Experience (FYE), the General Education Curriculum (Gen Ed), the BLHAC courses, and significant culminating writing assignments in the disciplines; (3) Faculty Workshops designed to teach faculty the techniques identified as the best practices to teach and assess writing; and (4) assigning students to the Writing Center for individualized tutoring to develop and improve language skills.
The goal of the Faculty Writing Workshops is to improve the quality of writing instruction across the campus. Upon completion of the workshops, faculty members will be able to use teaching techniques that are immediately transferable to their classrooms. Faculty members who participate in a workshop learn about (1) Pedagogy of writing, (2) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and designing effective writing assignments; (3) Writing in disciplines; (4) Strategies for responding to and evaluating student writing; (5) Designing writing assignments that motivate Critical Thinking/Reading; and (6) Function of student conferences. Faculty members who embrace the best practices for teaching and assessing writing will be invited as guest speakers or workshop facilitators in subsequent semesters and will be compensated for their participation.
Faculty Writing Workshops 2019-2022
Writing in the Discipline, or “learning to write” for specific disciplines, is a concept that is included in the Writing Across Curriculum pedagogy. The following describes best practices Morehouse College will use in structuring its emphasis on Writing in the Discipline: Writing intensive courses promote the following goals:
Student writing will be assessed for attainment of the student learning outcomes using the QEP Writing Rubric. The QEP will be considered to have improved students’ writing if students who have progressed through (1) English Composition 101 and 102; (2) First Year Experience (FYE); (3) the General Education Curriculum (Gen Ed); (4) the Black, Life, History, and Culture; and (5) the discipline-specific courses demonstrate the attainment of the five learning outcomes at a level higher than those students enrolled at Morehouse prior to the installation of the new writing paradigms. Research will also be encouraged on measuring the impact of the Faculty Writing workshops on the student learning outcomes. Achievement of the student learning outcomes will be demonstrated in written artifacts stored in e-portfolios. Results obtained from a variety of assessment instruments used to evaluate the success of the QEP’s implementation and adjust it as needed to modify activities and increase its effectiveness.
The Black Ink Project features a new institutional practice for Morehouse in assessing student writing. Electronic portfolios will both encourage process-based writing and reflection and generate authentic artifacts for assessment. In addition, The Black Ink Project increases faculty ownership of writing assessment, moving it from the margins to the center by opening regular conversations about how to improve teaching and learning. Artifacts will be collected from student electronic portfolios and will be evaluated using the Morehouse QEP Writing Rubric.
Morehouse College believes that The Black Ink Project can dramatically improve student learning outcomes through the combination of better preparing teachers and increasing the motivation of students through the culturally relevant topics. The desired outcomes for the students are as follows:
After the freshmen year, 80% of the randomly selected students will average a 2 on the rubric associated with the five Student Learning Outcomes.
The Morehouse QEP Writing Rubric promotes validity and reliability and also provides students with perspectives on precisely what is valued and expected in their writing. The Rubric assesses at four levels of writing proficiency: Novice (1), Development (2), Intermediate (3), and Proficient (4). See below:
Morehouse College’s Rubric for Effective Communication
President Dr. David A. Thomas has set an ambitious goal for the graduating class of 2022 to have at least a 70% graduation rate. The Black Ink Project is a critical component that will net great returns and allow us to enhance outcomes related to retention, persistence, and graduation rates. The Black Ink Project, with support of Morehouse’s Writing program and Writing Center, will help the College to meet the strategic goals of enhanced recruitment and admissions, increased persistence toward degree, and improved four and six-year graduation rates.
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The Black Ink Project. Dr. Nathaniel Norment, Jr., Director and Chair of the QEP Committee. nathaniel.norment@morehouse.edu