Investigates how word processing experience influences tenth grade student performance on a writing assessment. Examines factors influencing a student's decision about using word processors for writing; relationship between experience with the technology and scores on word processed essays; and differences in length, neatness, mechanical…

Students in four eighth grade communications arts classes wrote two stories--one using a word processor and one written manually. Participants' attitudes toward writing and editing were assessed. Stories were graded for overall competence, organization, support of ideas, and mechanics; a subsample received detailed analysis. Word processed stories…

Presents teacher and student responses that show a privileging of girls' writing over boys' writing. Finds that girls' writing was viewed as more detailed, descriptive, and showing greater conformity to writing conventions. Indicates a need for conversations that question an emphasis on conformity in writing and that explore ways to nurture…

Finds that the writing of the typical student enrolled in the community college composition class is qualitatively different from the writing of their four-year counterparts but that two-year college transfer students achieve the same level of writing competence as their nontransfer peers. Presents reactions of a two-year college instructor…

Path analysis was used to test the influence of writing self-efficacy, self-concept, apprehension, and aptitude on the essay-writing performance of 181 ninth-grade students in a public high school in the southwestern United States. A model that also included gender accounted for 53% of the variance in performance. As hypothesized, both aptitude…

The relationship between scores on Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) scores and subtest scores and IQs from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) was studied for 28 children aged 6 to 11 years. Subjects had been referred to a university assessment center because they were believed to have exceptional learning…

Martin Seligman's psychology research on depression, published in 7 books and hundreds of articles, shows a correlation between attributional style and depression. "Explanatory style" is another term nearly synonymous with attributional style, a habitual way to explain, positively or negatively, external events. A "learned"…

This third annual survey investigated teachers' attitudes about writing and reading. Subjects, 507 K-5 teachers and middle, junior high, and senior high school teachers of math, science, social studies, and English teaching in public or private schools, were surveyed by telephone. Results indicated that: (1) a majority of teachers considered…

A study examined the difference in writing competency achievement between classes taught by full-time faculty and classes taught by adjunct faculty, and whether student ratings of the course and the quality of instruction differed. Subjects were 1,339 students in all 49 classes taught by 11 full-time and 23 adjuncts in the Fall semesters of 1991…

This summary report is the third of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of the 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of French Immersion schools. It contains a brief description of the study along with recommendations. The report notes that the 1988 Writing Assessment was the…

This final report is the second of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of the 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of French Immersion schools. It contains an overview of the purposes, procedures, and a detailed presentation of the findings and recommendations of the Writing…

This summary report is the third of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of the Franco-Manitoban schools. It contains a brief description of the study along with recommendations. The report notes that the 1988 Writing Assessment was the…

This final report is the second of three reports (Preliminary, Final, and Summary) of the findings of the 1988 Provincial Writing Assessment in Manitoba, Canada for grades 4, 8, and 11 of Franco-Manitoban schools. It contains an overview of the purposes, procedures, and a detailed presentation of the findings and recommendations of the Writing…

A study assessed the impact of word processing on the writing of junior high school students, experienced in working with computers, for a number of tasks, including writing. Subjects, 111 eighth grade students in four communications arts classes at a Canadian middle-class suburban school, who had been using computers for writing for a year and a…

An informal research project examined how college freshmen's performances and attitudes in writing were influenced by middle and high school writing experiences. Subjects, enrolled in a basic writing course, filled out questionnaires and were interviewed informally concerning their previous writing experiences. Over a period of years, several…