Loyola University Chicago

University Core

Core Knowledge Area: College Writing Seminar

Learning Outcome: Demonstrate effective written communication skills.

Communication is the process of expressing and exchanging ideas, values and feelings through a variety of media. Communication is the most powerful tool that humans possess to promote understanding, knowledge and justice in the world. The complexity of contemporary global society requires that individuals demonstrate effective written communication skills.

Competencies: By way of example, Loyola graduates should be able to:

  • Write clearly and effectively using standard written English.
  • Effectively use the writing process from brainstorming through peer review to revision and final editing.
  • Articulate, organize, and support positions clearly and persuasively in written form.
  • Use writing effectively as a method of inquiry (i.e., "writing to learn").
  • Read texts carefully and critically (e.g., ability to paraphrase, summarize, compare, and synthesize).
  • Recognize how various perspectives inform interpretations.
  • Tailor discourse to specific audiences and to specific rhetorical purposes.
  • Recognize the various tasks involved in research, including formulating and developing a thesis, locating sources and assessing their credibility, and incorporating sources as evidence to support or qualify claims.
  • Use and document source materials of all kinds appropriately and ethically.
  • Recognize the rhetorical dimensions of and requirements for writing in multiple media.
  • Reflect on one's own development as a writer and as a reader.

College Writing Seminar (1 course required)

UCWR 110:  Writing Responsibly
Writing Responsibly instructs students in the conventions of academic writing. Students will develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing their writing and will receive instruction in how to write clear, error free prose.
Outcome: Students will be able to produce college-level papers and demonstrate understanding of the composition process.  Students will learn responsibility to their readers, responsibility to their sources, and responsibility to themselves as writers.