Teaching undergraduate students to write required essays for academic courses is the focus of this paper. In a preparatory lecture the instructor explains essay standards and provides instructions for writing essays. An model essay is presented to each class member to be used as a guide for class compositions. The appendix includes an essay of…

Some behavior modification textbooks encourage students to apply behavioral modification techniques in their own lives. This descriptive study using undergraduate students examined the usefulness of giving students in behavior modification courses the assignment to apply behavior modification techniques in their own lives. Subjects (N=50) were…

Intended for college students, this book of readings, exercises, and advice focuses on issues of special relevance to college students and the general tasks of writing in college. The book is divided into eight sections, each of which contains a "classic" essay, a student essay, and a how-to essay, as well as 8 to 10 other essays on the…

An atypical and challenging writing assignment for courses in general or abnormal psychology is to ask the students to write a poem about the experience of mental illness. The format, length, and topic are left entirely up to the student. While shocked at first, students rose to the challenge after being told they would be judged on content and…

The addition of an interpersonal element to the rhetorical devices offered students as they learn how to construct persuasive messages can enhance their writing by helping students discover why they produce the writing they do. To do so, teachers must help students to become more sensitive to the audience and involve them more in the…

Variety in homework is one way to achieve educational excellence in social studies. The twin social studies goals of teaching basic knowledge and teaching reasoning/critical thinking skills are accomplished by providing variety. In accordance with Lee and Pratt's homework taxonomy, homework can be placed under one of the following: preparation,…

More librarians are finding ways to integrate library instruction into existing courses in a manner that makes library resources and the methodology for finding them an essential and basic component of the courses. Course-integrated instruction requires close cooperation between the librarian and the instructor and subject expertise on the part of…

The keeping of journals by students in the basic speech course is the focus of this paper, which is divided into three parts. Part 1 examines the benefits of journal use to students and teachers and points out that three types of learning can thus be encouraged: the development of thinking skills, personal growth, and content learning. It also…

Helping first graders develop writing skills is the focus of this paper. The first part of the paper discusses 11 ideas likely to be crucial to any first grade writing program, such as the similarities between learning to talk and writing, and the teacher as the model writer. The second part of the paper outlines creative writing activities…

Prepared for use by graduate students who are teaching their first courses in freshman composition, this guide offers principles, strategies, and activities that are adaptable to a variety of composition programs. The 44 daily lesson plans are arranged in 16 week-long units and cover such topics as sentence combining, participles, absolutes,…

Students who use drama assess their work through using a science fiction essay to help them look for and make connections between times, places, people, and situations. The students then use assessment guidelines to focus their ideas, stimulate their creativity, and demonstrate minimum standards of excellence. Finally, students have access to…