A study examined students' reactions to a writing placement test. Subjects, 98 fall 1992 freshmen at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, completed a questionnaire. Results indicated that: (1) only 24% liked the assigned writing topic; (2) 97% found the statement of the topic clear and understandable; (3) 77% were comfortable with the one hour…

Teachers of college writing have a vested interest in the tremors of rhetoric surfacing from within the discipline of economics. In the past 15 years, some economists, philosophers of science, and humanists have challenged the positivist mantel of economics. They argue that economic methodology would be more ethical, more honest to the profession…

The collaborative student essay invites exploration of various points of view in multiple voices. The co-written essay brings out language's heteroglossic richness, as shown by the students' collaborative writing experiences in a college writing class. Students worked within the frames of two assignments: (1) an analysis of a text or trend; and…

A study examined faculty attitudes toward writing across the curriculum. In a pilot study, 80 full-time faculty at Elizabethtown College responded to the 35-question survey (for a response rate of 67%). Although Elizabethtown College had recently approved a new core curriculum that called for more writing across the curriculum, the administration…

A study determined how including significant amounts of writing in varied forms for different audiences throughout a four-year baccalaureate program in nursing affected professional practice. Subjects were graduating seniors and practicing nurses from a writing intensive baccalaureate program (College A) and graduating seniors and nurses from a…

This study examined the relationship between writing apprehension and academic achievement among undergraduate honors students at the University of Alabama. A total of 75 male honors students completed Daly and Miller's Writing Apprehension Test and self-reported their grade point averages (GPA). The test measured apprehension or anxiety and fear…

Discusses ways to bolster first-year student writers' confidence in themselves. Provides a needs-assessment tool for high school and college instructors. (RS)

Follows four female language-minority students through their last semester in high school and first semester in college. Focuses on these students' perceptions of reading and writing they encountered across the curriculum. Finds that what they found more challenging in college was not necessarily predicted from a developmental perspective but…

Examines faculty attitudes toward student writing. Finds a number of positive changes in faculty attitudes about writing after the implementation of an interdisciplinary program designed to improve students' communication skills. (RS)

States that teachers who view themselves as writers experience the same sort of mental changes that regular writers do. Explains that attitudes about writing change, and higher interest in all things relating to writing increases. Argues that keeping a portfolio of writings is beneficial in the development of writing skills, even in writing…

Describes a method by which teachers can introduce students to meaning and text through application of Mikhail Bakhtin's discourse theories. Explains that students are encouraged to reject common understandings of good writing. Identifies "daffy" definition exercises, newspaper editorial comparisons, and other activities that help…

Argues that faculty writing groups are the single most effective way to change faculty attitudes about writing and to build support for writing across the curriculum. Discusses challenges facing colleges or universities that decide to develop a writing program across the disciplines. (RS)

Investigates the relationships among self-confidence about writing, expected outcomes, writing apprehension, general self-confidence, and writing performance over one semester. Finds that students' beliefs about their own composition skills and the preperformance measure were the only significant predictors. (SR)

Discusses ways to introduce poetry to college students and to have high school students discuss quotes from famous individuals concerning reading and writing. (RS)

Describes the writing and business communication problems of college-educated workers in Silicon Valley. Discusses hidden illiterates in the universities and in the workplace. Offers solutions for professors and managers faced with the problem of hidden illiterates. (PRA)