About the Effective Writing Practices Tutorial

How to use the tutorial

This tutorial is designed to work in Java-enabled web browser. For the tutorial to work properly, pop-up blockers must be disabled and any other software running on the local computer should not interfere with the tutorial. 

This tutorial is intended for self-paced learning by students in all disciplines and is not meant to be a comprehensive resource on writing practices. Students can view the sections (Grammar, Punctuation, Organization, and Style) in any order but it is recommended that they take the brief self-test for each section first, identify the topics they need to refresh, and review the content in that section. After reviewing each section fully, students can take the comprehensive quiz for that section. The tutorial site does not collect any data on users and their quiz scores.

The content and activities of this tutorial have been designed to be accessible to users with disabilities. Students with particular disabilities that prevent them from reviewing the tutorial or completing the self-test or quizzes are encouraged to contact their instructors for reasonable accommodations.

Instructors can use the tutorial as part of their classroom discussions on effective writing practices and encourage students to review the content and complete the quizzes as part of a course activity. But instructors are recommended to review the tutorial fully and complete the quizzes before assigning the tutorial as a course activity to students so that instructors can make sure the tutorial works properly on local computers and browsers.

It should be emphasized here that the tutorial is not intended to cover discipline-specific writing practices. Faculty members are recommended to cover such practices in the classroom and refer students to appropriate resources on campus and on the web for more information.

Acknowledgments

The project team would like to express its sincere gratitude to the Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education at Northern Illinois University for its partial funding of this effort through the Project for Improvement of Undergraduate Education grant awarded in 2007 to Murali Krishnamurthi, associate professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Substantial additional funding was contributed to this project by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Northern Illinois University.

The project team would like to acknowledge the contributions of the staff of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Writing Center, and Department of English at Northern Illinois University for this effort. 

Developers

The information presented in this tutorial was organized and edited by the following individuals at Northern Illinois University:

  • Murali Krishnamurthi, associate professor, Department of Industrial Engineering; director, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
  • Doris Macdonald, associate professor, Department of English
  • Olga Urban, online technologies coordinator, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

The following Northern Illinois University graduate students contributed to the content of the tutorial:

  • Rhonda Abraham
  • Anthony DiSanto
  • Terry Donohoo
  • Michele Duffy
  • Jeremy Dziedzic
  • Angela Grimaldi
  • Rachel Holtz
  • Eric Jurgens
  • Amy Leckinger
  • Michaela McDaid
  • Susan Oertle
  • Diego Pascual y Cabo
  • Gail Anne Rover
  • Alisa Smith-Riel
  • Kathleen Turner
  • Michael Yetter

The following graduate assistants at the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center contributed to the web design, development and implementation of the tutorial:

  • Muhammad Hamid
  • Rajendar Kondam

Reviewers

This collaborative effort benefited from the generosity of the following faculty and staff at Northern Illinois University who volunteered their time to review the draft content and activities and offer their feedback on the module. This effort would not have been possible without their support.

  • Daniel Cabrera, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
  • Amanda Durik, Psychology
  • Judith Hertz, School of Nursing
  • Brenda Hodges, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
  • Lichuan Liu, Electrical Engineering
  • Jason Rhode, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

Disclaimer

The developers of this web site acknowledge that the information presented in this tutorial was compiled from several sources including existing literature, online resources and contributions of faculty, staff, and students at Northern Illinois University. The developers do not claim the content presented in the tutorial as their own, but have included adequate links and references wherever possible. If appropriate credit has not been assigned to any information presented in the tutorial, please inform the developers at citl@niu.edu so that the necessary corrections can be made and appropriate credit can be given where necessary.

This tutorial is not intended to advocate any particular viewpoint and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning or Northern Illinois University. Users are requested to use the tutorial for educational purposes only.