The Outstanding Writing Instruction Award from the Writing Across the Curriculum Program recognizes graduate students who have used writing assignments and activities to help their students overcome learning challenges in their courses. Applicants are reviewed by a team of Writing Across the Curriculum graduate student assistants on the instructor's ability to showcase how the writing assignment innovation helps students overcome learning challenges, demonstrates significant concepts of knowledge in their fields, and encourages assessment and feedback to make improvements in their teaching.

We are thrilled that SPPO Graduate Teaching Associate Lucía Aja López has been awarded the 2020 Outstanding Writing Instruction Award from the Writing Across the Curriculum Program. The awards committee noted that Lucía's application materials "showed incredible dedication to making [her] course [SPAN 3403] accessible and considering how students can take the skills they learn with them in their future endeavors." In terms of her teaching philosophy, the committee members praised her efforts to encourage students “to rethink how culture plays a role in their immediate worlds and also how it applies to a much larger picture.”  “Overall, the committee was taken with [her] thoughtful writing prompts and intentional trajectory to build strong writing foundations in Spanish that can carry over into other classes and beyond their time at the university." Congratulations, Lucía! 

To learn more about the Outstanding Writing Instruction Award from the Writing Across the Curriculum Program, please visit the Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing website.