This article investigates children's evaluation/selection of ideas in writing-related tasks. The critical dimension being considered was to what extent the communicative goal that defines argumentation establishes basic criteria with which children decide whether to include counterargument in a text. Data analysis focused on participants'…

In "Active Reading," Mark Panek details the dialogic model for discussing reading assignments in introductory composition courses he developed while teaching at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He then argues for the model's appropriateness and effectiveness for diverse student populations, situating his discussion in the conversation of…

The narrative concepts of the implied author and implied reader elucidate how business texts represent writers and readers. It is important, though, to distinguish carefully between writers' "implications" and readers' "inferences." Instructors should contrast implied versus inferred writers and readers, provide multiple ways to comprehend these…

Educational data indicate that the ability to write effectively is vital to the success of a scientist and is a skill that most science educators try to foster. Within the Grants-In-Aid (GIA) program, sponsored by the New Jersey Academy of Science (NJAS), 65 to 70 high school students are given guidelines on how to write a formal scientific…

In 2006-2007, we established a writing exercise in two large first-year biology courses. Overall, our exercise, which consisted of multiple drafts of a 500-word essay, offered students a good introduction to how editorial feedback can improve content and style in scientific writing. We discuss our goals, procedures, outcome, and students'…

Outlines letter writing exercises for fifth grade social studies units on the U.S. Revolutionary War period. Students write letters as fictional and nonfictional historical characters from trade books described in article. Objectives include understanding viewpoints and historical events, writing to persuade, and share or seek information.…

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…

This article reports on a challenging and effective assignment on thinking in a discipline that the author gave during fall 2006 in his sophomore-level "Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing" (CRTW) course at Winthrop University. Required of all students, the course follows Writing 101: Composition; and a multi-disciplinary course…

Writing assignments that focus on nonargumentative discourse can take many forms. Such assignments can prompt students to produce individually constructed writing, or they can be more collaborative in nature. They can focus on traditional formats, following MLA citation guidelines, using Times New Roman 12-point font, maintaining one-inch margins,…

This longitudinal study compared business faculty's use of information technology in distance education as well as their perception of the technology's impact on their productivity and technology preferences between 2000 and 2006. Data were collected from 81 professors in 2000 and 140 professors in 2006 at AACSB-accredited business colleges across…

Distance education as a stand-alone approach has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. The other form of distance education, often called hybrid, supplements traditional classroom instruction with online resources. The instructors deliver classroom lectures, but homework, assignments, and supplemental material may be retrieved online.…

A great deal of research on multiculturalism looks at different approaches to multicultural education and visions of multicultural teaching and learning. Though some research theorizes about how preservice teachers might learn about race or gender, there is very little work that helps teacher educators understand what learning about diversity more…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) experience difficulty in the educational environment at two levels: behaviorally and academically. Behavioral and academic problems in students with EBD are reciprocal in nature. Behavioral problems may cause a disruption in academic engagement, including a student's attending to instruction,…

This study describes one kindergarten classroom in which informational books and other nonfiction resources were used in the context of a long-term scientific study. Children became proficient in locating information and interpreting content-specific textual features in the process of making sense of their scientific observations and sharing them…

Writing activities are an essential part of quality literacy practices in early care and education settings. As children communicate through writing, they learn important concepts about books and other forms of print in the world around them, including writing and alphabet systems. Young children best understand and appreciate writing when it is…