Location:
- Home
- Writing Center
Faculty Resources
Faculty Resources
Overview
The Psychology Writing Center helps psychology undergraduates with their writing, and particularly with scientific writing. Our services include:
- over 20 on-line writing guides
- one-on-one consulting with students
- classroom lectures
- consulting with instructors on designing and evaluating assignments
We're not just the grammar police, and we don't just proofread and edit. We encourage critical analysis, help students to clearly organize their papers, and help them to use scientific writing. We see most of the writing assignments in psychology, so we have much experience with what types of assignments work well in different types of courses.
Writing Guides
Our writing guides are among the most popular resources for scientific writing on the Internet. Many are required or recommended in psychology courses. For example, the Citations guides are assigned in Psych 209 (Research Methods), and the Literature Review guide is popular in upper-level courses.
Most handouts can be downloaded as PDF files. We'll also provide hard copies on request.
- Writing Guides
- List of suggested Writing Guides by course number or type of course
Consulting With Students
Graduate writing assistants work
individually with psychology undergraduates. We're open at least 20 hours
a week. Students sign up for half-hour appointments online.
Most students come in on their own. Many discover that it's helpful to come in more than once, so it's a good idea to encourage your students to visit us as early in the writing process as possible.
Classroom Lectures
We offer lectures and workshops tailored to your class's writing needs. Past topics include organization of a scientific article, basics of scientific writing, writing lab reports and literature reviews, participating in peer review, how to cite appropriately, writing results sections, and formatting tables and figures.
Consulting With Instructors
We see lots of writing assignments for students at all levels, so we have first-hand experience with what assignments work well in different courses. Upon request, we'll work with you to:
- design effective writing assignments for your particular course
- specify assignment goals
- establish grading criteria
- anticipate and head off the risk of plagiarism
'W' (Writing) Courses
According to UW guidelines, "a W course must require 10-15 pages of graded,
out-of-class writing, in the form of two or more short papers OR a longer paper with a required revision." Faculty may also designate
their class as an optional W course.
Other On-line Teaching Resources at UW
UWired provides support for using technology in teaching. Programs include:
- Catalyst (teaching tools and services)
- UWired Workshop
Contact us:
- for copies of a handout explaining our services and office hours.
- to schedule a brief 'commercial' in which we publicize the writing center to your class. Specify the days, time, and location of your class, and suggest one or two preferred dates
- to discuss writing assignments in your course.
