Snapshot from Human and Consumer Sciences 428 Advanced Nutrition – A Writing-Enriched Course
By: Dr. David Holben

I have three writing-enriched courses. I will use HCFN 428 as my example of how I utilize writing. In this senior course, students write a review article. Students are required to do an outline with introduction, a draft of the entire manuscript, and a final manuscript. I only “count” the final manuscript toward the page requirements for the writing-enriched guidelines. All three assignments are reviewed by me, and the draft is also reviewed by a classmate. My philosophy basically is that if I expect much, students will rise to the occasion. Here is an excerpt from my most recent syllabus.

“Using the J Am Diet Assoc. guidelines, write your first draft of a REVIEW article. Your final project will include a 200-word conventional abstract, 2500-4500-word text (not including references), and appropriate references. We will discuss this further in class. Use the example that I provided to you as an example of an excellent paper (Grade: A). Web-sites should be used sparingly—see guidelines. Your draft 1 should include an introduction with a purpose, the first section of your paper, and a minimum of a very detailed outline of the remainder. I encourage you to have others read your paper for clarity.”

As you can see, at a minimum, all students will do an eleven-page paper (Abstract = 1 page, Text = 10-18 pages), not including references, tables, and figures. 

Assuming an average paper of 15 pages, my additional pages come from in-class exercises and essay exams. Most students find these assignments to be a lot of work, but also find them very rewarding…especially in post-graduate internships, when other interns have not had the opportunity to write as much. I also require an abstract summary as a precursor to the paper. That also adds a page to the 20 page requirements.