You can also use “low stakes” writing in your courses: writing activities, often brief and informal, that help your students to process information and you to assess their learning. 

Try, for instance, a One Minute Paper at the end of class, in which you ask students general questions like:

One Minute Papers have a lot of flexibility.  Some faculty offer a brief comment and return the One Minute Papers the next class meeting, as a way to establish and continue dialogue with the students.  Some faculty will read excerpts aloud at the beginning of the next class, as a transition.  And, some faculty verbally summarize the writing in place of individual comments.  (Because the writing is informal, unedited, and emphasizes content, you don’t need to mark grammar.) 

Frank Gersich uses a variation of the One Minute Paper in ACCT 214, where he combines specific content questions with the open-ended writing questions.  Frank states that, "My normal practice is to provide comments back to students on the open ended items, and I will address points in the next period if similar comments are received from several students."  To view the sample, click here.

(Adapted from John Bean, Engaging Ideas, Jossey-Bass, 2001, 105.)