Explores how a portfolio assessment project in the University of Cape Town's Chemistry Department developed (within staff) new understandings of the role of writing as a vehicle for learning, which resulted in a reexamination of the relationship of the written assignments to the existing curriculum. Discusses challenges of designing assessment…

Describes a report-writing assignment that uses business letters to bridge the gap between letters and reports. Notes that in the letter writing unit, students learn to apply the principles of good business writing to various types of letters; and in the report-writing unit, students learn the reporting process (planning, data gathering, analysis,…

Presents a case study for use in business communication classes to help students understand and learn both the context and the strategies for communication with business and management. Deals with a situation in which an executive wants to close down the company's fitness center but is open to arguments by one of its avid users. Includes two…

Sixty-three college students worked with a computer simulation in which gradually increasing model complexity (model progression), model progression plus small assignments, or a control condition without either were used. Definition knowledge increased for all three conditions, but intuitive knowledge gain was greater for the two experimental…

Argues that college writing instructors have an ethical obligation to help students to critically examine the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of writing in school so that the students understand how they have come to view writing and revision as punishment. (TB)

Presents a method to make precalculus college freshmen accountable to the class for doing at least some of their assigned homework problems by making each student an expert on one or more of the assignments. (ASK)

Challenges (assignments, activities, tests) incorporated into agriculture classes were evaluated using Bloom's Taxonomy. The cognitive level varied by course and type of activity. Effectiveness depended on selecting challenges appropriate for the material, requiring higher-order thinking, and rewarding students for work at higher cognitive levels.…

Describes three assignments the author uses when teaching Chaucer (suitable for college or college prep high school classes) in which students learn what iambic pentameter is by writing two rhyming couplets, a ten-line conversation in rhyming couplets, and a creative project of at least 25 rhyming couplets, all in iambic pentameter. (SR)

Shares some responses from those involved in an ongoing oral history and writing project that connects members from a senior center writing group with children 9 to 12 years old from a self-contained special education program. Hopes that these comments and insights will serve as a parting testimony to the value of such intergenerational efforts.…

Describes an assignment designed to assist senior English students in rediscovering their genuine selves. Invites students to create an imaginative piece that involves experimentation and intellectual risk. Encourages students to mix genres, devise new structures, collaborate, and incorporate other art forms in which they have some expertise.…

Explains how to use checklists as a tool for developing, implementing, and evaluating business writing assignments. Gives an example of their use with memoranda, short reports, and analytical field reports. (SK)

Suggests that having students read and analyze scientific articles gives them an understanding of scientific information as presented in the literature. Describes how after studying classic and recent research articles, students can answer homework questions individually and in groups that stress higher-order thinking. (Author/MM)

To think like a historian, students must select and assess evidence that supports interpretations of the meaning of the past. Three historians focus on aspects of this task and pursue different approaches to teach their students to use evidence. (Contains 2 figures.)

The high school students who spent five weeks studying the style and craft of Ernest Hemingway experienced the power and plus points of apprenticeships. Several assignments that helped the high school juniors to analyze Hemingway's work on short stories and learn from this master craftsman are presented.

The debate about what constitutes plagiarism and how it should be dealt with in the academy continues to gain momentum. The response from many higher education institutions is to channel ever-increasing amounts of resources into plagiarism detection technologies, rather than trying to ascertain why plagiarism might be occurring in the first place.…