One reason many teachers encourage students to write is because the activity promotes deeper, more rigorous learning.  With writing assignments, students often must grapple with their own ideas, connect them to the ideas of others, and forge associative links across different pools of knowledge. As such, well-designed writing assignments can promote student engagement and student growth.  On April 8, in a lunch discussion organized by the Belmont Teaching Center, a multi-disciplinary panel consisting of Dr. Jennifer Thomas (Biology), Dr. Eric Hobson (Pharmacy), Dr. Beverly Schneller (Associate Provost/Honors), and Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse (English) shared ideas about using writing in the classroom to support student learning.  Connected to this theme is the March 2015 edition of The Art of Teaching newsletter.