Effective writing for UMUC graduates is the ability to communicate appropriately within the discourse conventions of disciplinary fields as well as within differing cultural contexts.

Grade of A
An A paper is characterized by outstanding informative writing marked by superior readability and competent handling of content. These traits are demonstrated in the following ways:

• The substance and organization follow a clear, logical sequence that makes the information easily accessible to the reader.
• The purpose is clearly expressed, and the selected details of the assignment reflect this purpose.
• The audience is accommodated throughout the assignment as reflected in effective communication and style.
• Words are chosen and sentences are constructed to make the information understandable.
• The grammar, mechanics, and format are flawless.

Grade of B
A B paper is characterized by distinguished writing that successfully fulfills the requirements but contains one of the following weaknesses:

• Although the writing is essentially well organized, the audience analysis, the statement of purpose, or the handling of the content is flawed.
• Although sentences are grammatically correct, their structure or length or both sometimes cause readers to work unnecessarily hard.
• Ambiguous or vague wording hinders precise communication.
• A small lapse in audience accommodation causes reader distraction.
• Grammar, mechanics, and format flaws interfere with reading and comprehension.

Grade of C
A C paper is characterized by satisfactory writing that is generally effective but contains any one of the following weaknesses:

• Although satisfactorily written, the body of the assignment is not clearly organized, or some material is not clearly explained; the audience and purpose are not clear.
• Sentences, although they are grammatically correct, often make information difficult to extract; editing key words or converting nouns to verbs could solve such problems.
• Wording interferes with readability, but the reader can still glean the meaning; rereading is often required.
• Repeated grammar, mechanics, or format errors mar the paper.

Grade of D
A D paper struggles to communicate information and contains weak writing. In a professional working environment, such writing would be considered incompetent because it suffers from any one of the following problems:

• Any two of the problems listed under a C paper.
• Minimal evidence of audience accommodation.
• Serious wording problems, such as garbled wording, gives the reader repeated and serious difficulties in understanding.
• Serious sentence problems, such as run-on sentences and comma splices, damage the readability.
• Grammar, spelling, or format problems create frequent obstacles to understanding.

These strategies assume, first, that one of the best ways to encourage students to learn the content of any discipline is to have them write about it; second, that the ability to write well must be learned by constantly engaging in the process of writing in courses across the college or university curriculum.

Two or three class periods before each exam in the course, have students bring in questions they have generated from the course material. If the exam uses essay topics, students must generate one such topic. If the exam uses objective-type questions (multiple-choice, true-false, etc.), students must generate three such questions. When the students arrive, they form small groups of three or four and exchange questions. Working their way through the questions, the students discuss possible answers (for essays) or try answering the objective questions and explain their answers to each other. The instructor chooses the best question or two from each group to include on the exam.