What's the difference between a writing intensive course and a writing course?

The two courses reinforce each other, but each serves a very distinct purpose. A writing intensive course teaches content, and students demonstrate learning of that material via multiple and varied writing assignments. A writing course, on the other hand, teaches a skill, and students demonstrate the mastery of those skills by performing them. A writing-intensive course differs from a writing course in both goals and methods.

Who's got the time to grade all that writing?

Fortunately, it doesn't take all that long. Much of the writing assigned in a writing intensive course need not be graded (some need not even be read), and some of the grading can be a matter of assessing completion, not evaluating analytical content. See the link above, "Time Management."

What writing assignments are possible in math and the sciences?

Consider lab reports, summaries of relevant portions of the texts, proposals for experiments, narratives concerning proofs, and explanations of word problems.

Go here for additional examples of writing assignments for WI courses.

What are the easiest ways to incorporate more writing into the class?

1. Require brief written (ungraded) response to questions you raise in class.
2. Invite students to write questions on index cards and select a few for class discussion.
3. Ask students to write "one minute essays" at the close of class, reflecting on what they learned or did not understand during the lecture. Grading would be counterproductive here.
4. Allow time for students to summarize and analyze the main points of the lecture.
5. Divide students into small groups and have them respond in writing to each other's questions. These assignments could be graded or counted into a portfolio of pages.
6. Ask students to paraphrase or summarize passages from the primary or secondary sources.
7. Ask students to list, at the beginning of new content sections, what they hope to learn from that section or what questions they have about it.
8. At the beginning of class, pass around a sheet of paper on which students add one or two sentences to summarize what they learned in the last class period.
9. Provide copies of paragraphs from their texts and ask them to annotate in the margins.