Wikipedia is a widely used resource by university students, but it is not necessarily regarded as being reliable and trustworthy by them, nor is it seen as a context in which to make content contributions. This paper presents a teaching and research project that consisted in having students edit or create Wikipedia articles and testing whether or…

Presents a practice report that profiles the use of collaborative writing techniques in a dual-diagnosis drug and alcohol treatment program. Provides examples of typical patient-generated collaborative poems. Concludes that collaborative group poetry, when effectively facilitated, can generate a meaningful process-discussion toward values…

Writing instructors who would like to move beyond the collaboration provided by workshops and peer-response groups might consider asking groups of students to write a collage together. According to Peter Elbow, a collage "consists not of a single perfectly connected train of explicit thinking or narrative but rather of fragments: arranged how…

Suggests that through the shared experience of producing a story, students can understand plot on a deeper level and remember it more vividly than simply having it explained to them. (MS)

Students can benefit from collaboration long before they are ready for draft feedback. By analyzing writing assignments, anticipating and diagnosing student problems, and introducing necessary skills through appropriate exercises, students can be provided with cognitive and social supports that help them address the challenges of academic writing.…

This book is in favor of the inclusion of co-authoring in writing instruction and provides theoretical and research background to support the value of this strategy, which involves more than just peer editing and small-group revision. According to the book, co-authoring builds naturally on the social emphasis of the writing process and…

Describes a collaborative writing activity, designed to promote free and creative writing, in which groups of students each write one section of a collective short story. (MM)

Describes an activity that develops student writers' individual voices, even when collaborating closely in a writing workshop. Notes that the writing workshop allows students access to each other's writing processes and encourages consensus on revision directions. (MM)

Developed for use with collaborative writing activities in conjunction with the Center for Educational Computing in English (CECE) Talk Program, this student guide provides sample activities for collaborative writing as well as detailed examples of the activities. The examples begin with a short exchange between people using the talk program to…

Describes a classroom activity in which a group of five students compose an essay together which meets the following academic objectives: (1) awareness of what constitutes a thesis; (2) understanding of evidence which can be used to support such a thesis; and (3) a conception of a conventionally developed five-paragraph essay. (RAE)

Describing a computer network communication tool which allows users to communicate concurrently across networked, advanced-function workstations, this guide presents information on how to use the Center for Educational Computing in English (CECE) Talk in the writing classroom. The guide focuses on three topics: (1) introducing CECE Talk to…

To explain the nature of the response process in journal writing, a simplified version of the theory of speech genres proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin is applied to excerpts from a journal by a college junior. Bakhtin's model of communication is continually interactive and dialogic, as though all voices from the speaker/writer's past are poised at the…

Describes one technical writing teacher's use of group writing projects in which students write and present a marketing report of a product they have invented. Points out that such projects teach students valuable skills in group dynamics, as well as technical writing skills. (ARH)

Using ethnographic research techniques, a study examined the nature of the process whereby a three-member collaborative writing group responded to literature and to each other through a local area network (LAN) and also generated a group composition. The three subjects--of varied educational backgrounds--discussed questions associated with a novel…

Proposes rejection of the traditional complex classification of correspondence (letter of inquiry, claim letter, adjustment letter) and the adoption of a simplified system of classification (direct versus indirect communication), addressing the genuine complexity of a specific rhetorical situations. Offers teaching suggestions involving…