Would you like grammar with that?

Abstract

Most Australian universities emphasise advanced communication skills, including writing, among their graduate attributes. However, explicit instruction in grammar and punctuation is patchy, and often framed as remedial. This paper recounts a collaboration between a discipline lecturer, an ALL adviser, and an education technology officer to include instruction in grammar and punctuation in a popular first year, first semester interdisciplinary subject. It discusses the challenges of conception, design, implementation and evaluation of an online resource, the “Writing Skills Assignment”, which we created and trialled for this purpose. Each member of the team contributed something essential, drawing upon knowledge or resources that the others lack; for this reason, “learning together” was indispensible to the project.