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COMMUNICATION 

Psychology is a “writing-in-the-major” undergraduate program (WIMP). Every psychology course requires that students write; however, the type of writing varies by instructor and course content.  By completing the Psychology major, students fulfill the “writing emphasis” component of the UW-L general education requirements. I

Strong communication skills including writing and oral presentation represent key hallmarks of a liberally educated person and comprise one of the American Psychological Associations' goals for the undergraduate major.  
H HEURISTICS
I IN THE
M MAJOR
P PROGRAM
 

UW-L's Psychology Department provides feedback to students regarding communication on several key elements:

I. Ideas II. Organization III. Conventions (Mechanics)

a.     Content accurate and relevant

b.      Use of sources/evidence

c.       Clarity

a.       Transitions

b.      Flow/Sequencing/logic building

c.       Format - audience appropriate

WRITING

a.       APA (as required)

b.      Spelling

c.       Syntax

ORAL PRESENTATION

a.       Eye contact

b.      Verbal skills

c.    Visuals Aids

When group projects are required, faculty may also provide feedback on the extent to which the project reflected equity and cohesion among group members.

Additional guidance on each of these elements is provided in the three primary documents below:

TYPES of Writing: Formal and Informal

FORMAL 

  • Academic writing reflects papers wherein students demonstrate their knowledge about a specific subject. Instructors provide prompts for students to describe, explain, discuss, analyze, evaluate (and so forth) and the results are papers written for instructors as the sole audience for the work. Many types of reports and papers fall into this category: essay exams, short answers on exams, research projects, book reports, papers that analyze or critique a specific topic, issue or problem, etc.

  • Scholarly writing includes all the types of writing a working scholar might do. The purpose of such writing is to communicate about the ideas, theories, inquiry methods, and research findings of the discipline in the style of the discipline.  Types of scholarly writing include journal articles, grant proposals, laboratory reports, field study reports, critical reviews, and scholarly essays.

  • Professional workplace writing includes the writing in which a working professional might engage. Some examples of workplace writing include program proposals, business letters, interoffice memos, reports to co-workers, feasibility studies, program assessments and evaluations, and many different types of writing for lay audiences, such as brochures, pamphlets, guides, instruction sheets, etc.

INFORMAL 

  • Writing-To-Learn. The term "writing-to-learn" refers to informal writing activities intended primarily to facilitate or develop students' understanding and thinking.  They can be graded or ungraded – very short or longer.  In addition, they are fundamental to helping students write/think in ways that contribute to good formal writing.  If, for instance, an instructor has you write your responses to a video, it is giving you a chance to think about the video and process its information in a way that is meaningful to you.