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skills as tools to increase their competency in thinking critically even while improving their ability to both learn and retain new information. A further explanation of each of these two writing methods follows.

Writing in the Disciplines (WID)

Universities and institutions of higher learning have become increasingly aware that when particular disciplines become the narrow focus of study, the art of written expression can become lost. Educators believe that students, who can write well, have a greater probability of maximizing potential. Students who are unable to document what they have learned are at a definite disadvantage when it comes to retaining and applying knowledge.

A Doctoral level student, for example, is expected to be able to publish results of research and clinical outcomes. Without writing acumen, this is almost impossible. By writing in the disciplines a student is able to continue to improve written communication skills as he incorporates knowledge into journaling, writing research proposals, or even tackling a non-fiction work related to his discipline.

Writing to Learn (WTL)

Of equal concern to educators are the alarming numbers of college students who are incapable of writing logical thoughts down as a preliminary step in engaging in the kind of critical thinking that leads to problem solving. The theory is that students, who are the most successful at formulating deductions, often do so by thinking their way through processes and writing down the necessary steps needed to reach conclusions.

When a science student conducts an experiment and then records his preliminary findings, he often does not realize the full significance of his research results until he puts them in writing. As he writes, he thinks his way through the steps of his experiment and considers possible implications. This is a form of mental processing that occurs in conjunction with writing. Somewhere in his documented steps he begins to see the significance of what he has just discovered and has the "Ah Ha! Moment" that every scientist hungers to experience. We call the written portion of this process writing to learn. Other forms of writing to learn might include writing a research hypothesis, taking notes, preparing a case study, writing a thesis, creating a rough draft, or documenting observable behavior.

Now let's consider some examples of how you can write across the curriculum in the various disciplines.

Writing Across the Curriculum in Math

1. Encourage creativity

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