Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, research on writing instruction shifted from a focus on analysis of texts to investigation of actual writers' (both professional and student) practices, thus initiating an emphasis on "process." As the field of writing instruction has developed as an academic discipline, the research base has grown from its origins in linguistics and applied linguistics and been informed by a variety of theories and research in other disciplines. From this research and theoretical base has emerged the model of the writing classroom that includes peer group activities, teacher-student conferencing, and portfolio assessment, which allows for revising. Many writing teachers have welcomed opportunities to teach in computer environments because these environments facilitate writing pedagogy as it has evolved since the 1960s.

The writing course that is outlined in this document, incorporating both computer technology and new pedagogy, will look dramatically different from the freshman writing course that most of us took. We assume that at least some of the instruction will be occurring in a computer lab, with most of us dividing our class meeting time between the computer environment and the traditional classroom.

This course also incorporates a writing-and-reading-across-the-disciplines orientation, in order to serve the goals of the General Education curriculum.

We begin with a list of goals and objectives for the course, followed by descriptions of course content and pedagogy. We describe assessment procedures and alternate means for meeting course requirements. Then we illustrate these descriptions with a sample syllabus, with sample assignments. A short list of materials which may be required for updating the course concludes this section. The appendices include activities gleaned from a variety of sources and a list of print and online resources available to faculty planning to teach this course.