Workshops and Events

The end of the semester always means long nights and late night food cravings. Come join us on at the end of the semester for focused time to finish up your writing and communication projects with consultants and pizza on hand to help.

KLNAP is an event where students can come to the center to work, write, and get feedback in a productive studio atmosphere. We do not have scheduled appointments during that time. Rather, students walk in and start working, and our writing consultants walk around the room having conversations with writers as needed. Students are welcome to bring in work for any of their classes.

Join us in October to celebrate the National Day on Writing. This day was founded by the National Council of Teachers of English on the premise that writing is critical to literacy but needs greater attention and celebration. People tend to think of writing in terms of pencil-and-paper assignments, but no matter who you are, writing is part of your life. It’s part of how you work, how you learn, how you remember, and how you communicate. It gives voice to who you are and enables you to give voice to the things that matter to you.

The WCC has created its own podcast to explore what it takes to succeed as a writer in academia and beyond titled, "The Writer's Edge."

"The Writer's Edge" podcast features the following:

• Interviews with NSU faculty highlighting writing in their discipline
• Topical episodes on writing issues (coming up with ideas, dealing with writer's block, etc.)
• Interviews with NSU authors discussing their writing process and product
• Podcasts and other audio projects by NSU students and faculty
• Discussions of writing-related events and projects on campus

TWE is hosted on Spotify and other platforms. We record out of Shark Tank #2, one of the multimedia collaboration rooms in the WCC, which students and faculty can reserve for recording, presentation practice, and collaborative work. We plan on posting 2 interviews per month, as well as additional episodes highlighting events and student podcasting projects. 

We're always looking for ways to collaborate with faculty and students. Here are a few ways you can get involved:

• Faculty Presentations: Do you have a research area or teaching experience you'd like to share with students? We'd love to host you for a presentation or workshop!
• Student Podcast Highlights: Are you working on a student podcast project related to writing or communication? We'd be happy to feature it on our platform.
• Suggest Workshop Topics: Is there a specific writing skill or topic you think would be beneficial for students? Let us know and we'll consider incorporating it into our workshops.

Contact us at wcc@nova.edu if you have an idea or question about how you can get involved.

These "core four" workshops cover the core skills needed by instructors when developing, responding to, and assessing student writing assignments.

• Writing in the Disciplines: Where to Start - Discover how both short, low-stakes writing and longer, high-stakes writing assignments can be used in any course to facilitate and monitor student learning.
• Developing and Sequencing Writing Assignments - Learn how to create engaging and useful writing assignments that target course goals and simplify assessment.
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Commenters - Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the feedback you give to students on written projects without doing the work for them.
• Creating a Peer Review Process That Really Works - Discover best practices for having students read and respond to their peers’ written work.

• Managing Your Time - Learn best practices for setting goals, managing time, starting writing projects, and dealing with roadblocks (like procrastination and writer’s block).
• The ABCs of APA: Learning the Basics of APA Citations - Format your research with ease with the WCC and Alvin Sherman librarians by learning the basics of APA style and finding resources to answer your biggest APA questions.
• Let's Get it Started: Beginning and Sustaining the Writing Process - Start the semester off strong by learning best practices for setting goals, starting writing projects, & dealing with roadblocks (like procrastination and writer’s block).
• Tying Up Loose Ends: Organizing and Keeping Track of your Research - Keep track of your research with the WCC and Alvin Sherman librarians by learning about high and low-tech resources and tips for organizing your sources.
• Build your Brand: Creating Digital Portfolios that Stand Out - Leave this workshop with an online portfolio that highlights your accomplishments and strategies for marketing yourself when seeking jobs and internships.
• From Salutations to Signatures: Perfecting Email & Professional Communication - Stand out in the workplace by perfecting your professional communication, including e-mail writing (& signatures), and verbal and non-verbal communication techniques.
• Crafting a Solid Review of Literature - Learn about the importance of your literature review and tips for reading, summarizing, and synthesizing sources to use in your work.
• Just When You Think You’re Done… Editing & Proofreading (for Yourself & Others) - Improve your writing by giving feedback to others and learn editing and proofreading tips to ensure your work is clear and error free.
• Leveraging Self-Reflection for Professional Development & Productivity - Enhance your resume by incorporating reflective writing to better showcase your skills to current and future employers (please bring a current resume with you to the workshop).
• Hard Work Preys Off: Recognizing & Avoiding Predatory Publishing - Protect your scholarship from predatory publishers with the WCC and Alvin Sherman librarians and learn to recognize the signs of predatory publishing and strategies for securing your work.
• Visualizing Research: Designing & Delivering Poster Presentations - Perfect your poster presentations by learning about the purpose behind posters, effective poster design tips, and the importance of a strong elevator pitch.
• Beyond Powerpoint: Digital Storytelling with Adobe Spark - Take your presentations to the next level with Adobe Spark. BYOD to this hands-on workshop where you’ll leave with a Spark post or page that showcases your creativity.
• Academic Writing for Multilingual Writers - Develop a greater understanding of standard academic American English writing conventions by learning some of the basics and where to find resources and support for multilingual writers.

These workshops introduce faculty to innovative pedagogies and technologies designed to enhance student learning and engagement.

• Assigning and Assessing Oral Presentations: Powerpoint and Beyond - Discover how to assign oral presentations that allow for innovative formats for how students present their work in and out of class.
• Creating Multimodal Assignments - Learn how to design assignments that encourage students to go beyond the written word (through images, audio, and other media).
• Plotting a Course for Student Writing through Canvas - Learn how to create individual and group assets in Canvas that cover the entire writing and review process.
• Flipping the Script on the Flipped Classroom - Find ways to use writing to help flip your classroom and to support independent student learning.
• More than Words on a Page: Composing with Audio - Explore approaches to assigning, assessing, and developing students’ ability to compose audio-based projects.
• PowerPointless: Rethinking the Oral Presentation - Break out of lecture-style presentations with innovative formats and approaches to how students present their work in and out of class.
• The Power of Play: Gamifying the Learning Process - Explore how to engage students with play-based scenarios that challenge them to learn through creativity and collaboration.
• Harnessing the Educational Potential of Social Media - Find out how social media can benefit your students’ engagement with and understanding of course content.
• ExEL-ing in the Real World: Facilitating Writing-Based Experiential Learning - Learn best practices for experiential learning projects where students produce texts for and in collaboration with community partners.
• Designing Wickedly Awesome Group Assignments - Attempt creating assignments that encourage self-directed learning and challenge students to solve complex problems.
• Drawn to Scale: Strategies for Incorporating Writing into Large Classes - Explore how best practices in writing and communication instruction can be adapted to meet the needs of teachers working with a large number of students.