Using Writing as a Means for Encouraging Student’s to Participate in Public Discourse and Community Engagement

East Carolina University made a major commitment to improve student literacy through the establishment of the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program. The Program requires completion of 12 hours in writing intensive courses with at least one upper division course in a student’s major. The Department of Construction Management assigned a senior level course, Managing Construction Quality, to fill this requirement according to WAC Model 4: Emphasizing a Combination of Writing Approaches. The course’s writing assignments aim to prepare students to understand the audience and purpose of professional documents and to give them practice in writing techniques to accomplish that goal. Current course instructors implemented a new topical format to better educate students about the construction industry’s need for public discourse and community engagement. The format chosen the use of opinion papers and journal article critiques provides a forum for students to express their viewpoints in a structured manner. Assignments ask that students relate to a pertinent subject and use clear and logically argued premises to support their conclusion. This article also includes sample assignments, the grading rubric, and qualitative feedback from students.