In order to better understand how to use assessment productively in the basic writing classroom, I asked the question "How do basic writers perceive the assessment process?" The research reported on in this dissertation led to the conclusion that basic writers at Dona Ana Community College perceive and value each part of the assessment…

More than eight in ten Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 read a book in the past year, and six in ten used their local public library. At the youngest end of the spectrum, high schoolers in their late teens (ages 16-17) and college-aged young adults (ages 18-24) are especially likely to have read a book or used the library in the past 12…

This paper presents a CAD (classroom assessment design) of an entry-level undergraduate computer programming course "Computer Programming I". CAD has been the product of a long experience in teaching computer programming courses including teaching "Computer Programming I" 22 times. Each semester, CAD is evaluated and modified…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not the use of net-book technology in the classroom altered the writing process for elementary students. The impetus for this study stemmed from the fact that more research needs to be conducted utilizing observations and interviews to examine the relationship between one-to-one technology use…

This article describes a project conducted with Year 12 English students. It was based on the model of "Teaching as Inquiry" (Ministry of Education, 2007) and aimed to develop students' self-efficacy in relation to their literature-response essay writing. Self-efficacy was measured using Bandura's (2006) self-efficacy scale and an…

Faculty in higher education may find themselves reading student work or hearing students' voices in class or in online course discussion boards that reveal a lot of personal information, information that they think might be better kept private, information that may be concerning or even threatening. In their attempts to create richer learning…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether differences in academic attainment between university students could be correlated with their use of English for academic purposes. Using the diagnostic language assessment procedure known as Measuring the Academic Skills of University Students (MASUS), as well as informal analysis of assignment…

In this essay, I examine the problems I now see with the sample curriculum I proposed in "College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for Writing Instruction" in 2007. There are numerous factors that must be considered in designing a writing course: choice of subject matter, choice of genres to assign, sequencing of writing assignments, number of…

This paper reports the findings of a study of undergraduate student use of, and attitudes toward, textbooks and other assigned reading. More than 1200 students of various subjects at three Swedish universities were surveyed. Most students said reading played an important role in learning generally and attributed positive characteristics to their…

During what might have in the distant past been called "quiet time" in Arlene Anderson's fourth-grade classroom, many of her students are glued to their netbooks. The intense, enthusiastic focus and the hushed chatter amongst the students are all about high scores and strategy. Students are revising and editing their writing assignments within a…

Within personal leadership education courses, leadership educators should include experiences which help students develop themselves as leaders. In this article, the authors discuss results from a qualitative research study involving the analysis of Personal Growth Project (PGP) assignments in a personal leadership education collegiate course. The…

Educational theorists have argued that effective instruction in quantitative reasoning (QR) should extend across the curriculum. While a noble goal, it is not immediately evident that this is even possible. To assess the feasibility of this approach to QR instruction, I examine papers written by undergraduates for submission to a sophomore writing…

Previous research supports the positive educational effects for students when briefer, easier problems are interspersed into independent mathematics worksheets (Skinner, 2002). A concern with the previous research is whether the positive effects would generalize when implemented with large classroom groups over a prolonged period of time. The…

Motivation, one of the leading problems in education, is an ongoing issue for teachers. Motivation is important because it highly contributes to achievement. Teachers have to be certain that their students are being motivated in order to develop a positive outcome. This article suggests some strategies to sustain students' classroom motivation.

Recent research in second language acquisition has focused on the effects of group work on learning by examining various factors (i.e., motivation, age, task, gender differences, etc.). One particular factor that has not been heavily investigated is interlocutor familiarity, which is at the forefront of the present study. Two separate classes (in…