Students need to learn to write well | Barbara J. Mayfield, Purdue Exponent

Mayfield concludes:

If most classes included writing assignments, students would have the opportunity to improve their writing. Faculty must write clear directions and expectations, grade consistently and promote both basic and discipline-specific skills. We can't expect students to become proficient writers if we never require them to write. We don't expect a surgeon to be skilled after just one surgery or an athletic team to win with only one practice.

I especially appreciated Mayfield's point in the article that English classes often "focus on discussions of literature or movies rather than composition. Although they have instructional merit, these topics do not teach writing."