The First Year Writing Program offers several courses that meet students' core curriculum writing requirement. Students generally meet the requirement by taking one or two courses in the first year. Entering students complete the Writing Course Finder, a survey which asks them to reflect on their writing experiences and their goals and then choose among the program's course options. 

For the latest course information and course descriptions please consult the UMass Lowell Undergraduate online Catalog. See course purpose and objectives below for the following courses:

College Writing I 

Course Purpose and Objectives:

In College Writing I, we study and practice academic writing that will prepare students for their future writing lives.

Students will extend and develop their rhetorical knowledge, and apply that knowledge through regular informal and formal writing.

Students will generate writing that aims to respond, explain, analyze, critique, interpret, and synthesize. At least one major project is an academic paper that synthesizes multiple sources provided by the instructor. Students will learn to engage audiences for a variety of purposes in a range of contexts and to explain their writing choices in relation to their understanding of their audience and purpose.

Approaching writing as a process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, students will enhance the clarity and expression of their ideas, and the depth of their analysis.

Students will exit with an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses as writers; successful completion of this course will prepare students for the research writing they will begin to practice in CWII.

All students completing College Writing I will produce three to four major academic writing projects during the semester, working toward the following learning outcomes:

  • Use accurate vocabulary to discuss rhetorical strategies, the writing process, and the features of academic writing
  • Compose purposeful, well-organized pieces that pursue complex theses in sophisticated ways
  • Choose rhetorical strategies appropriate to purpose and audience
  • Use the writing process, including feedback from others, to build substantial content
  • Demonstrate awareness of diction, grammar, mechanics, and style in relation to audience and purpose
  • Practice academic integrity and demonstrate understanding of the relation between integrity and citation practice
  • Read, incorporate, and cite both primary and secondary sources provided by the instructor
  • Use quantitative evidence
  • Practice and use a citation style appropriate for their major (MLA, APA, or Chicago)

College Writing II

Course Purpose and Objectives:

In College Writing II, we study and practice academic research writing that will prepare students for their future writing lives.

Students will apply their rhetorical knowledge in the context of academic research through regular informal and formal writing.

Students will generate and pursue complex theses through purpose-driven, process-based writing that engages audiences and integrates research, including peer-reviewed academic sources.

In this workshop course, writers will develop effective research habits and become familiar with the practices of academic research writing.

Students will exit with an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses as writers and researchers; successful completion of this course will prepare students to meet the writing challenges they will encounter throughout their academic careers and beyond.

Students completing College Writing II will produce three to four researched academic writing projects during the course of the semester, working toward the following learning outcomes:

  • Generate research topics, ideas, questions, and problems
  • Locate, evaluate, and analyze primary and secondary sources of information. Use and demonstrate understanding of internet searching, misinformation, UMass Lowell’s databases, search terms, authors, abstracts, and journals
  • Use the writing process, including feedback from others, to compose substantive researched writing
  • Integrate and synthesize their own thoughts meaningfully with the words and ideas of others while foregrounding their position in the academic conversation
  • Recognize different citation styles, based on discipline, and employ appropriate systems of documentation accurately
  • Practice academic integrity. Explain the relationship between source use, citation practice, and academic practices of integrity

College Writing I Studio

Course Purpose and Objectives:

A workshop course that thoroughly explores the writing process from pre-writing to revision, with an emphasis on critical reading, essay structure, mechanics, and academic integrity. Students will read, conduct rhetorical analyses, and practice the skills required for participation in academic discourse. Students will write expository essays throughout the semester, producing four formal essays. This four-credit version of the course provides extra time and guidance each week for critical reading, sentence-level work, and revision.

Course Purpose and Objectives:

The learning objectives for this course include the following:

  • Students will practice writing as a multi-stage process, including drafting, revising, and editing.
  • Students will improve their ability to control their language and ideas to produce clear, effective writing in English.
  • Students will practice developing their ideas logically and completely in well-organized and coherently structured paragraphs.
  • Students will write consistently in various forms, scaffolding their skills from extensive paragraph writing to write no fewer than two complete essays.
  • Students will review relevant principles of grammar, mechanics, and style relevant to ESL writers in, including: 
    • diction and word choice
    • idiomatic expression
    • linear logical progression
    • thesis-driven argument
    • presence and control in the writer’s voice
    • academic citation and reference
    • and practice identifying and editing these issues in their own writing.
  • Students will develop their reading comprehension skills, by learning how to actively read and annotate texts.
  • Students will explore their roles as participants in an academic community of writers, including the rhetorical and ethical conventions that govern American academic writing.
  • Students will take an active role in their learning, and will identify and use campus resources—including faculty office hours and tutoring services—that will support their ongoing growth as writers in English.
  • Students will exit with an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses as writers, and the self- assessment tools necessary to continue on successfully in their writing careers.

Learn more about the First-Year Writing Program.