Writing with Integrity

Abstract

Writing is not merely a form of sharing what we have learned; the writing process actually helps us learn. It also helps us better understand what we know. Writing is really about thinking, not about production. Language skills support good thinking as well as good writing, as it is difficult to think deeply if you have no words with which to express thoughts. This is why advancing in learning is inevitably accompanied by an advance in vocabulary. Weak language skills provide a weak foundation for thinking, and tend to produce learning that is overly dependent on facts or limited sources. Small grammatical errors do not make writing weak; writing that lacks original thought, organization, and critical reasoning is weak, and it may be accompanied by grammatical errors, or not. Professors of all disciplines need to require wide reading, and careful thinking and writing of their students; if not, they are suggesting that these skills are not important. Suggestions are given for helping students learn to write with integrity, as well as a means of detecting work that is not original to the student.