New media, new knowledge practices, and concepts point to the need for greater understanding of cognitive processes underlying knowledge acquisition and generation in open informational worlds. The authors of the articles in this special issue address cognitive and instructional challenges surrounding multiple document comprehension--a…

Maja Wilson and Michael Niemczyk advocate turning away from mandated writing toward learning environments that honor the messy, inner life of the writer. They explain the importance of disorientation in that it unsettles but nurtures the emerging intention of student writers, and they stress the need to return our attention to the heart and center…

Reflects on a number of topics relating to science fiction, including the power of good science fiction to spark imaginations and provoke serious thought, the role of women in science fiction, childhood experiences that stimulated the author's thought processes, and the author's experiences as a science fiction writer. (ET)

The diversity of students in today's classrooms has highlighted the need for teachers to recognize differences in the way students learn to write, as well as in the cultural and social experiences they bring to the learning situation. This article profiles three students and demonstrates how they constructed and revised their writing in different…