The results of interviews conducted with 48 freshman writing/composition teachers in 11 two-year colleges in California are summarized in this report. After brief descriptive comments introducing each interview topic, responses are summarized by college to the following questions: (1) What placement procedures are used to assign students to…

Designed as a looseleaf resource, a supplement to established teaching plans, and an aid to meeting individual needs, this compilation of writing exercises represents the responses of 157 teachers from 87 two-year colleges to the request, "Describe a successful writing task -- what it is, how you teach it, and why." The compilation includes tasks…

This digest draws upon the thirteen published volumes of "Inside English" to offer a summary of practitioners' advice on techniques to improve two-year college students' writing skills. First, the paper summarizes underlying principles of writing instruction, indicating that: (1) usage, formal grammar, phonics, and spelling are best…

This course of study presents a competency-based approach to teaching effective writing. It is intended to give the adult educator a tool that can be used for any level of student at any point in writing instruction. The first section contains 48 competencies that address 5 domains of writing--planning, organizing, writing, evaluating, and…

This collection of essays by college and high school faculty represents a variety of practical approaches that can be used in composition classes. The essays and their authors are as follows (1) "Undercover Preparation" (Judy Anderson); (2) "Paragraph Development from Visualization: 'a paragraph ain't nothing but a sandwich!'"…

A program designed to provide physical fitness, assessment, prescription, and training was developed in a university setting. In addition, health education was provided to participants concerning nutrition and stress management. A study sought to determine whether the health of professionals enrolled in the program could be significantly improved.…

Noting that teachers must devise writing situations that help students see possibilities for revision beyond mechanics and usage, this paper describes several exercises that will help students use the computer or word processor as a tool for assisting them when they write. The exercises, which can be done with or without a microcomputer, with a…

A study was conducted to see if the use of word processing programs during composition instruction for basic writers would result in a larger quantity of writing and more global revision while writing. Subjects were 18 fifth, sixth, or seventh grade students who had been referred for remedial reading and writing instruction. They were assigned to…

Intended for teachers, this monograph argues that, unlike the structured, formulaic "school" essay, personal essays in the manner of Michel de Montaigne lead students to explore their connections with ideas and texts. The monograph describes several strategies which use writing as a tool for critical thinking. The monograph contains the…

A study examined the attitudes of pre-service secondary teachers toward "writing-to-learn" before and after a compulsory course on language across the curriculum. Subjects, 90 graduates of arts, sciences, social studies, music, business, and physical education programs, recorded their attitudes and understanding of writing to learn at…

Community college students tend to perceive a gap between their current writing ability and the level of writing skill they expect to need as employees in the future. Unfortunately, college composition classes generally do a poor job of capitalizing on the true value of writing to career development, and fail to have students practice the kind of…

This booklet summarizes results of research and literature reviews that had been collected in a source book titled "Physical Activity & Well-Being" and published in 1986 by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. The evidence presented suggests that exercise can reduce or delay the undesirable effects of many degenerative…

This compilation lists research completed in the areas of health, physical education, recreation, dance, and allied areas during 1984. The document is arranged in two parts. In the index, references are arranged under the subject headings in alphabetical order. Abstracts of master's and doctor's theses from institutions offering graduate programs…

Using technical writing in the regular freshman composition course stimulates student interest by having the appeal of novelty and expands the horizons of students in the humanities and the pure and applied sciences. To begin the unit, one might stimulate interest in the content and style of technical writing of the past by using Robert M.…

The brain-flow writing technique, which might also be called the "fast flow" technique, offers a particularly useful means of helping adults overcome writer's block. It also offers some bonuses in the form of enhanced creativity, improved thought-flow, and much faster writing output. There are six steps to brain-flow writing. In the…