Letters of recommendation for students are never easy to write. All faculty feel charged with telling the truth, but they also feel compelled to go over the top far enough that the student won't seem damned with faint praise. And, as with grade point averages, the top gets higher every year. Is it possible to write too positive a letter anymore?…

Writing meaningful conclusions, drawing accurate inferences, and making relevant predictions are essential skills that many adolescents lack. The differences among conclusions, inferences, and predictions, although subtle, must be recognized to accurately analyze and interpret lab data. During one of the authors' 14 years as a physics and…

This paper critically evaluates the pilot of a Thesis Writers' Circles program offered to Education PhD and DEd students at the University of Melbourne in semester 2, 2005. The analysis focuses on the needs of those students that were felt to be well-met by this model of support. Broadly, the paper identifies two distinct but inter-related themes:…

In a study conducted to see which method of error treatment was more effective in EFL writing classes, 288 Iranian EFL learners took the TOEFL test to be grouped in two homogeneous classes. Each student in each group wrote a paragraph on a general topic which was proofread for mistakes/errors by three experienced EFL writing teachers (i.e.,…

Problem Statement: While gender as a variable is a significant research and discussion area in foreign language learning, computers are not only common tools in EFL writing classes but also a research subject in foreign language learning. Previous research indicates that female learners have negative attitudes on writing on computers and there…

Showcasing assessment practices that can help teachers plan effective instruction, this book addresses the real-world complexities of teaching literacy in grades K-8. Leading contributors present trustworthy approaches that examine learning processes as well as learning products, that yield information on how the learning environment can be…

In an effort to assess student writing in a way that reflects current views of writing (i.e., as a social process supported by the interaction of a number of cognitive sub-processes), and yet still seeks to determine what students can do independently, it has become a common practice to include timed essays in student portfolios. However, this…

Presented here is an overview of Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)--a standardized process of obtaining data regarding a student's acquisition of skills in reading, writing, math, and spelling. A review of research that has utilized CBM in its efforts to define effective teaching strategies also is offered. Overall, the goal of this discussion is…

Studies in Spanish heritage language writing have recently uncovered two opposing tendencies: "backwards biliteracy" where writing conforms to rhetorical traditions in the dominant language and "forward biliteracy" where writing breaks away from canonical rhetorical traditions and where writers carve out their own, transcultural paths of…

How do writing teachers use technology to help students learn about lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) issues? What is the nature of writing students' learning about LGB sexual orientations and academic writing when the Internet is used as a learning tool? Participants completed a questionnaire in which they reflected on a writing assignment…

Many state and federal governments have mandated in such documents as the National Science Education Standards that inquiry strategies should be the focus of the teaching of science within school classrooms. The difficult part for success is changing teacher practices from perceived traditional ways of teaching to more inquiry-based approaches.…

Students in a large undergraduate biology course were expected to write a scientific report as a key part of their course design. This study investigates the quality of learning arising from the writing experience and how it relates to the quality of students' preconceptions of learning through writing and their perceptions of their writing…

In this article, the author relates the big role of computers in his life as a writer. The author narrates that he has been using a computer for nearly twenty years now. He relates that computers has set his writing free. When he started writing, he was just using an electric typewriter. He also relates that his romance with computers is also a…

This article discusses how poetry can be used for teaching geography. The rational for using and writing poetry, its relationship to the National Standards for Geography, grade levels, pedagogical concerns associated with poetry writing, and subject integration are discussed. There are also classroom activities, sample discussion questions, lesson…

This qualitative investigation explores the perceptions of four women compositionists regarding mothers, teaching, and scholarship in the field of composition. I examine narrative case studies about four women who have PhDs in composition from the same doctoral program. Findings indicate that each of these four women perceives her mother as a…