A program evaluation was undertaken at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) to assess the broad, measurable effects of using computers to teach introductory college composition. Twenty-four classes were studied--twelve control classes and twelve experimental--with the experimental computer classes meeting in the lab for half of their…

Updates earlier studies on the characteristics of authorship of articles published in "College & Research Libraries", focusing on gender, institutional affiliation, and extent of collaboration. Results show representation by academic librarians and authors affiliated with library schools increased, collaboration predominated, and…

Describes a study in which collaborative writing among 40 mothers and their second grade children was observed, and maternal beliefs on spelling were extracted from interviews. Finds low socioeconomic status children had more spelling errors and discussed spelling with their mothers more frequently than high socioeconomic status children. Finds…

Examines the differences between peer response groups and writing tutorials. Gives a brief history of each, and discusses them in terms of determining goals, setting the agenda for collaboration, and methods. Offers some cautionary reminders. (SR)

Describes a classroom study which found that mixed-sex collaborative writing pairs can be used effectively in the classroom to help students bridge the gender gap in their own writing. (SR)

Reports results of a research study of how student groups organize a collaborative writing task. Finds that students use two patterns like those of the workplace (dividing and allocating the tasks or drafting together), produce better documents using a variety of organizing patterns, and do not perceive equal performance on the basis of…

Purpose--In 1997, the University of British Columbia (UBC) adopted a sustainable development policy stating that the campus should adhere to sustainable practices in all of its actions and mandates and that all students who attend UBC will be educated about sustainability. The purpose of the paper is to consider how far UBC has moved in the last…

Observes collaborative activities in three writing classes. Offers two ethnographic reports: one illustrating the tension felt by the instructors as a result of stalled collaboration; the other demonstrating a more successful collaborative sequence. Concludes that once the instructors learned to think collaboratively, they began wholly to redesign…

Offers a Burkean framework for study of collaborative business writing. Reviews the research on collaborative writing, explains a Burkean framework that identifies key areas for future investigation, and provides categories for conducting research. Argues for a research agenda that emphasizes qualitative studies first, to be followed by…

Brings primary and elementary school teachers together to develop a package of exemplary assessment tasks, rich in potential, to provide data on students' mathematical understandings and knowledge while relating to a new assessment framework. Reports on the teachers' reactions to the collaborative writing process and evaluates the effectiveness of…

Investigates effects of a structured procedure for collaborative writing (in 2 formats) on the quality of creative writing and attitudes to writing in 8-year-old children. Finds that both formats of collaborative creative writing could be effective; however, ensuring short term gains for the more able helpers in cross-ability pairs could be…

A case study examined the collaborative experiences of students in an online business writing classroom. The purpose was to examine the same groups of students working on collaborative writing assignments in both a synchronous (real-time) and an asynchronous (non-real-time) discussion forum. This study focused on examining the amount, pattern, and…

The nature of written and oral peer feedback will be described as it occurred in seven writing courses, each with a different design of peer assessment. In all courses, peer feedback was focused on evaluation, which is one of the four feedback functions. Feedback on structure was hardly provided. Relating feedback to design features, we suggest…

This article describes a task-based writing project. High-school students in Zambia wrote a proposal to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in their community. By writing on a topic related to their lives, students were motivated and empowered to use their English skills for positive change. The project was an interactive workshop that invited a community…

The research exploring children's perspectives on interactive writing versus independent writing was examined. Studies were analyzed to determine the perspectives of students toward writing when they experienced an interactive writing event and when they did not share this experience. Since interactive writing is a collaborative group writing…