Offers five tips from writing teachers on writing activities that work well in their classrooms. (SR)

Describes a collaborative writing assignment devised for a first-year composition class. Outlines how the assignment was undertaken and carried out by the students. Provides background on the theoretical literature concerning collaborative writing. (HB)

Provides the responses of 10 practicing English teachers to the questions, "What is your most successful writing assignment? Or, what is your favorite stimulus for writing?" (HB)

Describes how a writing teacher has his students write about one object in the four modes (description, narration, argumentation, and exposition) as a means of learning about writing and writing to learn. Suggests that students learn about their topics when they write about them in the four modes. (SR)

Describes a number of techniques used in a developmental English class. Notes that listening to colleagues in other disciplines and using writing-to-learn strategies are two ways to make a classroom successful. Suggests that these techniques can help developmental students become active listeners and readers. (SR)

Describes an assignment for a sophomore-level technical-writing course which teaches students to respond to different audiences with different needs by having them analyze and then respond to actual complaint letters (on the same topic but from two very different people). Includes successful and unsuccessful responses generated by the students.…

Discusses the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in distance education, focusing on continuous assessment. Reviews an exploratory study of the use of collaborative assignments and assesses CMC contributions in an undergraduate course and discusses pacing, feedback, and group work. (Author/LRW)

Describes the Writing Center at Washtenaw Community College (Michigan). Asserts that a writing center staffed by English/writing faculty offers advantages in comparison to a tutorial facility in a separate learning center. (5 references.) (SL)

Writing an environmental autobiography is an opportunity for students to reflect on the ways that their relationship to nature is constructed through experiences with such things as food, music, particular places, the outdoors, or acts of creativity. A collection of passages is presented that led to environmental autobiographies in an…

Evaluated different types of statistical assignments in a research methods course for graduate students in public affairs administration. Found student learning could be improved through appropriate readings, hand calculation, and the use of computers. Hand calculation was particularly effective in improving student confidence in using statistical…

Describes a writing assignment (useful for junior high through college age students) that seeks to improve students' descriptive writing through a set of class writing assignments using visual and concrete objects. Allows students to gain awareness, gain knowledge and discuss it, and ask questions as a body of learners rather than in isolation.…

Describes an assignment in which students read a travelogue excerpt and then must determine specified aspects of the writer's character based on evidence from the text. Notes how this exercise shapes students' awareness of how character influences writing, and how biases and assumptions influence reading. (SR)

Discusses the failure of students with learning disabilities to complete their homework assignments, lists criteria for planning assignments to motivate secondary students, and offers suggestions on procedures and outcomes for inviting students to participate in the assignment completion process. An Assignment Idea Chart is provided. (CR)

Describes how short assignments such as peer critiques, progress memos, and practice documents can be fairly assessed by incorporating them in a performance review at the middle and end of the business writing course. Notes that such a review also helps prepare students for the evaluation process they will face and use in the workplace. (SR)

Presents of set of questions developed for use as heuristics when students decide whether and how to develop a Web page for a client. Notes that these questions help students design a communication strategy considering audience, purpose, and informational content before they design the Web site. (SR)