Written Communication

Written communication is a fundamental skill that shapes how we share ideas and information in everyday life. It involves using text to convey thoughts, emotions, and messages across various platforms—whether through emails, reports, chats, or social media. Written communication is especially important in environments where in-person or real-time conversation isn’t possible, making it essential for maintaining connection and collaboration.

Strong written communication is clear, intentional, and tailored to the audience. It goes beyond just writing well—it requires organizing information effectively, anticipating questions, and listening to others to respond thoughtfully to their ideas. In many fields such as marketing, journalism, business, and education, the ability to communicate ideas through writing is key to building trust, persuading others, and achieving shared goals.

Course-Based Approaches

Here are some ways to encourage written communication skills in your course:

Assign writing tasks that focus on distinct genres and target audiences. The DePaul University Career Center notes that students can strengthen their communication abilities through a variety of assignments, including reflections, persuasive essays, analytical pieces, and summaries.
Incorporate ePortfolios as a way to encourage students to reflect critically on their learning and progress throughout the course. The University of Arizona identifies ePortfolios as a valuable teaching tool that supports the development of communication skills, as well as metacognition and transfer skills across disciplines.
Include writing activities that are based on real-world written communication, such as reports, emails, social media posts, guides, or proposals. The Writing Program at Washington State University suggests that integrating writing tasks that are authentic to the field or vocation can be an effective and meaningful way for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
Partner with the Writing Center to discuss key writing assignments and how they can support student success in developing written communication skills. They can partner with you to review syllabi and assignment instructions, practice providing feedback on writing, attend a class session to offer a workshop on writing or their services, and more.

Programmatic Approaches

Go further by encouraging written communication at the program or department level with these ideas:

Professionalism Standards

Establish standards for professionalism within the program. Then identify explicit opportunities for learning and receiving feedback on professionalism for programs with internships, shadowing, clinicals, and other immersive learning experiences.

Writing-Enriched Curriculum

Integrate a writing-enriched curriculum into your program to embed writing skills into both instruction and learning outcomes. The College of St. Scholastica’s Department of Graduate Nursing implemented this approach, which resulted in more confident student writers and greater faculty satisfaction with the quality of student work.

Disciplinary Writing Support

Create opportunities for students to receive additional support for challenging writing projects, like capstones. This support might include peer revision groups, tutors, or workshops. The University of Minnesota’s dental hygiene program created opportunities for students to be mentored and attend writing workshops, which positively impacted students’ comfort and success as writers.

Resources

Addressing Undergraduate Skill Gaps in Higher Education: Revisiting Communication in the Major Course Outcomes — This article in the Journal of Education for Business explores changes in employer perceptions of graduates' communication skills.
Oral and Written Communication — This resource from the University of Minnesota includes videos about the importance of communication, which include insights from alumni.
Communication — This list of career readiness skills from NACE provides examples of what effective communication skills look like.
The Written Communication VALUE Rubric — This page from the American Association of Colleges and Universities includes a rubric to help evaluate whether assessments are meeting student learning outcome standards for written communication.
What Is Liberal Education? — This page from the American Association of Colleges and Universities highlights written communication as a key learning outcome essential for student success.
Top 5 Transferable Skills For Any Industry — This page from Macaulay Honors College at CUNY identifies written communication as a skill that serves students in the classroom and spaces beyond.
Promoting Communication Skills is Just as Vital as Course Content — This article from Times Higher Education offers practical strategies for enhancing communication in the classroom, highlights useful tools to support that goal, and explores ways to develop communication skills essential for effective teamwork.