Sample records for academic writing courses

  1. Assessing and Improving L2 Graduate Students' Popular Science and Academic Writing in an Academic Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rakedzon, Tzipora; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

    2017-01-01

    This paper reports a study using a quasi-experimental design to examine whether an academic writing course in English can improve graduate students' academic and popular science writing skills. To address this issue, we designed pre- and post-assessment tasks, an intervention assessment task and a scoring rubric. The pre- and post-assessment tasks…

  2. An online academic writing and publishing skills course: Help Syrians find their voice

    PubMed Central

    Sabouni, Ammar; Chaar, Abdelkader; Bdaiwi, Yamama; Masrani, Abdulrahman; Abolaban, Heba; Alahdab, Fares; Firwana, Belal; Al-Moujahed, Ahmad

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: A group of Arab-American physicians and researchers in the United States organized a blended online course in academic writing and publishing in medicine targeting medical students and physicians in war-torn Syria. This was an effort to address one of the reasons behind the poor quantity and quality of scientific research papers in Syria and the Arab region. In this paper, we report on the design, conduct, and outcome of this course and attempt to evaluate its effectiveness. Methods: The educational intervention was a 2-month blended online course. We administered a questionnaire to assess satisfaction and self-reported improvement in knowledge, confidence, and skills of academic writing and publishing. Results: The course succeeded in reaching more than 2588 physicians and medical students from the region; 159 of them completed most of the course. Eighty-three percent of the participants felt that they were confident enough to write an academic paper after the course and 95% felt the learning objectives were achieved with an average student satisfaction of 8.4 out of 10. Conclusion: Physicians in Syria and neighboring countries are in need of training to become an active part of the global scientific community and to document and communicate the crisis their countries are going through from a medical perspective. Low-cost online educational initiatives help respond, at least partially, to those needs. PMID:28791242

  3. A Model of Research Paper Writing Instructional Materials for Academic Writing Course: "Needs & Documents Analysis and Model Design"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghufron, M. Ali; Saleh, Mursid; Warsono; Sofwan, Ahmad

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed at designing a model of instructional materials for Academic Writing Course focusing on research paper writing. The model was designed based on the Curriculum at the English Education Study Program, Faculty of Language and Art Education of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia. This model was developed in order to improve…

  4. Impact of Self-Regulatory Influences on Writing Course Attainment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zimmerman, Barry J.; Bandura, Albert

    1994-01-01

    Using path analysis, studied the role of self-efficacy beliefs concerning academic attainment and regulation of writing, academic goals, and self-standards in writing-course attainment of 95 college freshmen. Different facets of perceived self-efficacy played a key role in writing-course attainment. (SLD)

  5. Approaches Reflected in Academic Writing MOOCs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kwak, Subeom

    2017-01-01

    Since it was first introduced in 2008, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been attracting a lot of interest. Since then, MOOCs have emerged as powerful platforms for teaching and learning academic writing. However, there has been no detailed investigation of academic writing MOOCs. As a result, much uncertainty still exists about the…

  6. Designing ICT-Enhanced Language Programmes: Academic Writing for Postgraduate Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stepanek, Libor; Hradilova, Alena

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a case study of a course on academic writing for postgraduate studies within a collaborative and interactive information and communication technologies (ICT) based language-learning setting. It describes the structure of an academic writing course for PhD students, focusing on three ICT-enhanced course activities: collaborative…

  7. Academic writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eremina, Svetlana V.

    2003-10-01

    The series of workshops on academic writing have been developed by academic writing instructors from Language Teaching Centre, Central European University and presented at the Samara Academic Writing Workshops in November 2001. This paper presents only the part dealing with strucutre of an argumentative essay.

  8. Writing by Academics: A Transactional and Systems Approach to Academic Writing Behaviours

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kempenaar, Larissa Elisabeth; Murray, Rowena

    2016-01-01

    The literature on academic writing in higher education contains a wealth of research and theory on students' writing, but much less on academics' writing. In performative higher education cultures, discussions of academics' writing mainly concern outputs, rather than the process of producing them. This key component of academic work remains…

  9. Translanguaging in English Academic Writing Preparation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adamson, John; Coulson, David

    2015-01-01

    We investigate translanguaging (i.e. the co-use of first and second languages) in a Content and Language Integrated Learning course, as a pragmatic means to promote the skill of young university students in extended critical academic writing. We aimed to prepare new undergraduate students (n = 180) for courses where partial English-medium…

  10. Writing for Television: Academic Potential Realized: From Course to Program to Major.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sedlak, Valerie F.

    The new Writing for Television Program at Morgan State University (suggested by Warner Brothers at a summer seminar) has added new courses each semester: (1) basic 200-level courses in the "Fundamentals of Writing for Television" and "Introductory Script Writing"; (2) more specialized 300-level courses in "Episodic…

  11. Working with Disciplinary Artifacts: An Introductory Writing Studies Course for Writing Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ostergaard, Lori

    2015-01-01

    WRT 329: Introduction to Writing Studies is a course in Oakland University's (OU) Writing and Rhetoric major program that provides students with a survey of composition studies as an academic discipline. It includes an examination of the history, theories, research, curricula, and pedagogies associated with composition studies in the university.…

  12. Integrating Academic Information into Developmental Writing Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Troiano, Edna M.; Draus, Julia

    In 1983, Charles County Community College (CCCC) initiated a project to infuse academic information from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences into developmental courses. The reorganization assignments related to 27 topics that promoted academic examination and cultural literacy while at the same time drawing from students' own…

  13. Mini-Thesis Writing Course for International Graduate Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wyatt-Brown, Anne M.

    An approach to teaching academic writing to foreign graduate students at the University of Florida is described. The course combines general and technical writing assignments to sharpen students' critical thinking skills while improving their organizational techniques and editing strategies. Assignments are designed to help students discover the…

  14. Undergraduate ESL Students' Engagement in Academic Reading and Writing in Learning to Write a Synthesis Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhao, Ruilan; Hirvela, Alan

    2015-01-01

    As an important and a challenging source-based writing task, synthesizing offers rich opportunities to explore the connections between reading and writing. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of two Chinese students' learning experiences with academic synthesis writing in a university ESL composition course. Specifically,…

  15. Using Criterion in an English for Academic Purposes Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cookson, Simon; Hunter, Simon; Jackson, Daniel; Sick, James

    2005-01-01

    English for Academic Purposes (EAP Writing) is a compulsory course for English literature and language students at Obirin University. The first semester focuses on expository writing, typical of the TOEFL[R] writing exam. The second semester focuses on writing about literature. To facilitate their writing all students are provided with a user…

  16. Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats.

    PubMed

    Tsingos-Lucas, Cherie; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia; Schneider, Carl R; Smith, Lorraine

    2017-02-25

    Objectives. To investigate whether reflective-writing skills are associated with academic success. Methods. Two hundred sixty-four students enrolled in a pharmacy practice course completed reflective statements. Regression procedures were conducted to determine whether reflective-writing skills were associated with academic success in different assessment formats: written, oral, and video tasks. Results. Reflective-writing skills were found to be a predictor of academic performance in some formats of assessment: written examination; oral assessment task and overall score for the Unit of Study (UoS). Reflective writing skills were not found to predict academic success in the video assessment task. Conclusions. Possessing good reflective-writing skills was associated with improved academic performance. Further research is recommended investigating the impact of reflective skill development on academic performance measures in other health education.

  17. Teaching Writing within the Disciplines: A Viable Approach for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Instructors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leopold, Lisa

    2011-01-01

    This case study of an adjunct-model English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing course linked to a policy-analysis course describes an effective approach for putting "specificity" into practice in EAP curriculum design. The rationale for interdisciplinary collaboration, the positive learning outcomes from the EAP writing course, the…

  18. Using gamification to develop academic writing skills in dental undergraduate students.

    PubMed

    El Tantawi, Maha; Sadaf, Shazia; AlHumaid, Jehan

    2018-02-01

    To assess the satisfaction of first-year dental students with gamification and its effect on perceived and actual improvement of academic writing. Two first-year classes of dental undergraduate students were recruited for the study which extended over 4 months and ended in January 2015. A pre-intervention assessment of students' academic writing skills was performed using criteria to evaluate writing. The same criteria were used to evaluate the final writing assignment after the intervention. Students' satisfaction with game aspects was assessed. The per cent change in writing score was regressed on scores of satisfaction with game aspects controlling for gender. Perceived improvement in writing was also assessed. Data from 87 (94.6%) students were available for analysis. Students' overall satisfaction with the gamified experience was modest [mean (SD) = 5.9 (2.1)] and so was their overall perception of improvement in writing [mean (SD) = 6.0 (2.2)]. The per cent score of the first assignment was 35.6 which improved to 80 in the last assignment. Satisfaction with playing the game was significantly associated with higher percentage of improvement in actual writing skills [regression coefficient (95% confidence interval) = 21.1 (1.9, 40.2)]. Using gamification in an obligatory course for first-year dental students was associated with an improvement in academic writing skills although students' satisfaction with game aspects was modest and their willingness to use gamification in future courses was minimal. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. The Impact of an EAP Course on Postgraduate Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storch, Neomy; Tapper, Joanna

    2009-01-01

    This study assessed the impact of completing an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course on the writing of postgraduate learners. We begin this paper by describing a course offered for credit to postgraduate international students at a university in Australia, and then report on a large-scale study (n = 69) which investigated the improvement (if…

  20. Determining the Effects of Using Different Writing Activities on the Academic Achievements Secondary School 7th Grade Students and Their Attitudes Towards the Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Uzoglu, Mustafa

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of using writing activities with different learning purposes by the secondary school 7th grade students on their academic achievement and attitudes towards the course. The study was carried out in a secondary school located in the centre of Erzurum in 2012-2013 academic year; the study is a…

  1. The Consequences of Integrating Faith into Academic Writing: Casuistic Stretching and Biblical Citation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ringer, Jeffrey M.

    2013-01-01

    This essay considers how a male evangelical Christian in a first-year writing (FYW) course at a state university negotiates his identity in his academic writing for a non-Christian audience. It focuses on how "Austin" casuistically stretches a biblical text to accommodate his audience's pluralistic perspective. Austin's writing thus provides a…

  2. Strategies for successful academic writing - institutional and non-institutional support for students.

    PubMed

    Gopee, Neil; Deane, Mary

    2013-12-01

    Students develop better academic writing skills as they progress through their higher education programme, but despite recent continuing monitoring of student satisfaction with their education in UK, there has been relatively little research into students' perceptions of the active support that they need and receive to succeed as academic writers. To examine the strategies that university students on health or social care courses utilise to develop as writers in the face of many pressures and demands from different sources. Qualitative research conducted at a British University into undergraduates' writing practices in the field of healthcare. Ten participants took part in semi-structured interviews, half of whom were international students. The data was analysed by the researchers from the field of writing development using thematic analysis. The main findings are that certain students struggle as academic writers if they do not receive tuition on appropriate and effective academic writing through institutional provisions, or through non-institutional strategies, that can promote success with the writing process. There is also uncertainty over the extent to which nurse educators are expected to teach academic writing skills, alongside their discipline-specific subject areas. Both institutional provisions for academic writing development, such as a dedicated writing support department, and non-institutional factors such as peer-collaboration should be fully recognised, supported and resourced in tertiary education at a time when students' satisfaction and performance are high on the agenda. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Teaching Scientific/Academic Writing in the Digital Age

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peretz, Arna

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes a graduate-level scientific/academic writing course for non-native speakers (NNS) of English at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel, which is taught in a technology-enhanced or blended learning environment. The use and integration of electronic discourses, such as email and Powerpoint, on-screen marking…

  4. Chinese University EFL Undergraduate Students' Perceptions towards EGAP Reading and Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Du, Ning; Chen, Jianhua; Liu, Meihua

    2016-01-01

    The present study examined how undergraduate students from a prestigious Chinese university perceived the teaching and learning of English for general academic purposes (EGAP) reading and writing courses. Analyses of 951 questionnaires revealed that most participants generally (strongly) believed that learning general academic English was closely…

  5. Collaborative Writing to Enhance Academic Writing Development through Project Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robayo Lun, Alma Milena; Hernandez Ortiz, Luz Stella

    2013-01-01

    Advanced students at university level struggle with many aspects of academic writing in English as a foreign language. The purpose of this article is to report on an investigation aimed at analyzing what collaborative writing through project work tells us about students' academic writing development at the tertiary level. The compositions written…

  6. Strategic English Writing for Academic Purposes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Grace Hui Chin

    2017-01-01

    Writing is one of the four abilities in English Learning. Many students need to write their theses and dissertations in English in order to achieve their academic degrees. English writing is in fact an access of international and intercultural communication with native-speakers and non-native speakers, in academic fields. After reading abundant…

  7. Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tardy, Christine M.

    2010-01-01

    As students move from writing personal essays to writing formal academic texts in English, they face several new challenges. Writing tasks in higher education often require students to draw upon outside sources and to adopt the styles and genres of academic discourse. They must conduct research, summarize and paraphrase, cite sources, adopt genre…

  8. The Variable-Credit College Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    VanderBilt, Deborah; Nicolay, Theresa

    The introductory writing course, English 101, at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, has gone through several stages in the last decade, changing from a course emphasizing writing in the rhetorical modes to an issue-oriented interdisciplinary course, to, at the present time, a course focusing on the writing process and on collaborative…

  9. Academic Writing: Theory and Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Street, Brian V.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper I attempt to locate the study of academic writing in the broader field of Literacies as Social Practice. I begin with a brief summary of recent theories of Literacies as Social Practice and then recount some of the ethnographic methods for studying these. I then discuss the application of these concepts to academic writing in Higher…

  10. Online Pedagogy: Designing Writing Courses for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wyatt, Christopher Scott

    2010-01-01

    As more universities offer academic composition and technical writing courses via virtual classrooms, our institutions are also being asked to accommodate an increasingly diverse student population. The success of disability accommodations in elementary and secondary schools is expanding the number of students with special needs academically…

  11. Open and Anonymous Peer Review in a Digital Online Environment Compared in Academic Writing Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Razi, Salim

    2016-01-01

    This study compares the impact of "open" and "anonymous" peer feedback as an adjunct to teacher-mediated feedback in a digital online environment utilising data gathered on an academic writing course at a Turkish university. Students were divided into two groups with similar writing proficiencies. Students peer reviewed papers…

  12. Using Systemic Functional Linguistics in Academic Writing Development: An Example from Film Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donohue, James P.

    2012-01-01

    On film studies courses, students are asked to treat as objects of study the same films which they may more commonly experience as entertainment. To explore the role of academic writing in this, an action research project was carried out on a university film studies course using a systemic functional linguistics approach. This paper presents a key…

  13. Academic Writing Practices in Spanish Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Castello, Montserrat; Mateos, Mar; Castells, Nuria; Inesta, Anna; Cuevas, Isabel; Sole, Isabel

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: This article aims at describing the use of written genres at university and how they are used to teach and learn. Method: We carried out a descriptive study focusing on teachers' perceptions regarding the importance of academic writing in promoting learning, the degree of competence they attribute to academic writing in comparison…

  14. Student-Teachers across the Curriculum Learn to Write Feedback: Does It Reflect on Their Writing?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohen-sayag, Esther

    2016-01-01

    The study examined the connection between writing competency and writing feedback experiences through academic writing course for student-teachers across the curriculum. The aims of the course were to prepare student-teachers to their role as writing facilitators and to improve their writing. Experimental and control group differed in course plan…

  15. Facilitating Scholarly Writing in Academic Medicine

    PubMed Central

    Pololi, Linda; Knight, Sharon; Dunn, Kathleen

    2004-01-01

    Scholarly writing is a critical skill for faculty in academic medicine; however, few faculty receive instruction in the process. We describe the experience of 18 assistant professors who participated in a writing and faculty development program which consisted of 7 monthly 75-minute sessions embedded in a Collaborative Mentoring Program (CMP). Participants identified barriers to writing, developed personal writing strategies, had time to write, and completed monthly writing contracts. Participants provided written responses to open-ended questions about the learning experience, and at the end of the program, participants identified manuscripts submitted for publication, and completed an audiotaped interview. Analysis of qualitative data using data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification showed that this writing program facilitated the knowledge, skills, and support needed to foster writing productivity. All participants completed at least 1 scholarly manuscript by the end of the CMP. The impact on participants’ future academic productivity requires long-term follow-up. PMID:14748862

  16. Deconstructing Attitudes towards Plagiarism of Japanese Undergraduates in EFL Academic Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Teeter, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    In this study, a qualitative analysis of 276 first-year Japanese university science major responses to plagiarism to deconstruct prevailing generalizations regarding the incidence of plagiarism by Japanese university students. These students were enrolled in a compulsory yearlong English academic writing course. While utilizing a contextualized…

  17. The Write Stuff: Teaching the Introductory Public Relations Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Cynthia M.

    2001-01-01

    Outlines an introductory public relations writing course. Presents course topics and objectives, and assignments designed to meet them. Provides a sample grading rubric and evaluates major public relations writing textbooks. Discusses learning and assessment strategies. (SR)

  18. Teaching Google Search Techniques in an L2 Academic Writing Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Han, Sumi; Shin, Jeong-Ah

    2017-01-01

    This mixed-method study examines the effectiveness of teaching Google search techniques (GSTs) to Korean EFL college students in an intermediate-level academic English writing course. 18 students participated in a 4-day GST workshop consisting of an overview session of the web as corpus and Google as a concordancer, and three training sessions…

  19. Laying the Foundation for Successful Non-Academic Writing: Professional Communication Principles in the K-5 Curricula of the McKinney Independent School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trevino, Marlea

    2009-01-01

    Traditionally, K-5 students' writing has had a primarily academic aim--to help students master concepts and express themselves. Even if students take a professional writing course later, they typically do not have the opportunity to practice--over the long period of time mastery requires--the non-academic writing skills they will be required to…

  20. Changing Academic Identities in Changing Academic Workplaces: Learning from Academics' Everyday Professional Writing Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lea, Mary R.; Stierer, Barry

    2011-01-01

    In this article we examine issues of academic identity through the lens of academics' everyday workplace writing, offering a complementary perspective to those already evident in the higher education research literature. Motivated by an interest in the relationship between routine writing and aspects of professional practice, we draw on data from…

  1. Academic Writing at the Graduate Level: Improving the Curriculum through Faculty Collaboration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bair, Mary A.; Mader, Cynthia E.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes a collaborative self-study undertaken to identify the source of academic writing difficulties among graduate students and find ways to address them. Ten faculty members in a college of education came together to define the problem and to analyze data gleaned from faculty and student surveys, course documents, course…

  2. Does Completing an Enriched Writing Course Improve Writing Self-Efficacy of Talented Secondary Students?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frank Webb, Anne; Vandiver, Beverly J.; Jeung, Stevie

    2016-01-01

    This study examined whether writing self-efficacy would change and have an effect on final course grade in 267 talented middle and high school students in the course of taking enriched 6-week writing classes. Confidence in writing increased across time within three courses, whereas approach to writing did not. Differences were found between…

  3. Processfolio: Uniting Academic Literacies and Critical Emancipatory Action Research for Practitioner-Led Inquiry into EAP Writing Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pearson, Jayne

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on the design and implementation of an alternative form of writing assessment in a UK English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pre-sessional course. The assessment, termed processfolio, was a response to research inquiry into how writing assessment in a local context negated student agency and inculcated disempowering models of…

  4. Corpus-Supported Academic Writing: How Can Technology Help?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chitez, Madalina; Rapp, Christian; Kruse, Otto

    2015-01-01

    Phraseology has long been used in L2 teaching of academic writing, and corpus linguistics has played a major role in the compilation and assessment of academic phrases. However, there are only a few interactive academic writing tools in which corpus methodology is implemented in a real-time design to support formulation processes. In this paper,…

  5. Understanding Course Content through Letter Writing: Do Informal Writing Assignments Improve Grades?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bersamin, Melina; Zamboanga, Byron L.; Orsak-Neff, Natalie

    2013-01-01

    Using an experimental study design (N = 41), we examined whether participation in an informal writing assignment, specifically writing a letter to a friend about course content, improved exam scores in an undergraduate child development course. Findings indicated that participating in the writing assignment significantly improved scores on an exam…

  6. Convergent and Divergent Computer-Mediated Communication Tasks in an English for Academic Purposes Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, Daniel O.

    2011-01-01

    This article describes the implementation of technology-mediated tasks in an English for academic purposes (EAP) curriculum at a Japanese university. The course addressed the needs of English majors at the school by enabling more efficient completion of academic work, including essay writing. One way that technology supported this goal was through…

  7. English for Specific Purposes and Academic Literacies: Eclecticism in Academic Writing Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGrath, Lisa; Kaufhold, Kathrin

    2016-01-01

    Academic Literacies and English for Specific Purposes perspectives on the teaching of academic writing tend to be positioned as dichotomous and ideologically incompatible. Nonetheless, recent studies have called for the integration of these two perspectives in the design of writing programmes in order to meet the needs of students in the…

  8. Blended Learning and Student Satisfaction: An Investigation into an EAP Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abbas, Zainab Ibrahim

    2018-01-01

    This paper investigates students satisfaction in a blended English writing course for Academic Purposes in Iraq. Blended learning is a novel mode of approaching education and learning in Iraq so it is very relevant to attempt to determine what factors can help it its success. Its novelty comes not from its use of online platforms such as Moodle…

  9. Using Academic Literacies and Genre-Based Models for Academic Writing Instruction: A "Literacy" Journey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wingate, Ursula

    2012-01-01

    Three writing development initiatives carried out at King's College London UK are discussed in this article to illustrate the need to draw on different theoretical models to create effective methods of teaching academic writing. The sequence of initiatives resembles a journey: the destination is to develop academic writing programmes suitable for…

  10. Potential of Mobile Learning in Teaching of ESL Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zaki, Arlina Ahmad; Yunus, Melor Md

    2015-01-01

    The potentials of mobile learning in teaching academic writing skills for ESL students are explored in this paper. Although there have been studies on MALL to improve writing skills, academic writing was never really touched. Few aspects are covered like the changes in educational technology, defining MALL, identifying issues in academic writing…

  11. Assurance of Learning in a Writing-Intensive Business Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carnes, Lana; Awang, Faridah; Smith, Halie

    2015-01-01

    Writing intensive courses provide a means of addressing declining student writing proficiency. Programmatic learning goals accomplished through a writing-intensive course can be used to develop students' writing skills. For business communication faculty members to maximize the value of their courses to business programs, they should demonstrate…

  12. Fostering Academic Vocabulary Use in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brun-Mercer, Nicole; Zimmerman, Cheryl Boyd

    2015-01-01

    Though research has established a relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic success and identified features to guide the L2 word learner through academic tasks (see Nation, 2013), less is known regarding student perceptions of academic vocabulary and the conscious decision-making process of these learners while they are writing. In…

  13. Designing a Website to Support Students' Academic Writing Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Åberg, Eva Svärdemo; Ståhle, Ylva; Engdahl, Ingrid; Knutes-Nyqvist, Helen

    2016-01-01

    Academic writing skills are crucial when students, e.g., in teacher education programs, write their undergraduate theses. A multi-modal web-based and self-regulated learning resource on academic writing was developed, using texts, hypertext, moving images, podcasts and templates. A study, using surveys and a focus group, showed that students used…

  14. Developing Academic Identities: Persuasive Writing as a Tool to Strengthen Emergent Academic Identities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carbone, Paula M.; Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines how writing samples produced by middle school students reveal their emerging academic identities through their rhetorical choices in writing. Analyses of two texts produced by each student revealed students' implicit understandings of the requirements of academic voice. Through comparisons of each student's texts, strategies…

  15. "I Just Started Writing": Toward Addressing Invisibility, Silence, and Mortality among Academically High-Achieving Black Male Secondary Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Everett, Sakeena

    2016-01-01

    Many Black male students in our nation's schools feel like teachers do not see them for who they are or who they hope to become. In an academic enrichment writing course, high-achieving Black male secondary students utilized metaphor to imagine new realities for themselves. This article examines a Black male student's narrative writing to capture…

  16. Fostering Topic Knowledge: Essential for Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Proske, Antje; Kapp, Felix

    2013-01-01

    Several researchers emphasize the role of the writer's topic knowledge for writing. In academic writing topic knowledge is often constructed by studying source texts. One possibility to support that essential phase of the writing process is to provide interactive learning questions which facilitate the construction of an adequate situation…

  17. Peer-Formativity: A Framework for Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Rowena; Thow, Morag

    2014-01-01

    The system currently deployed to assess research outputs in higher education can influence what, how and for whom academics write; for some it may determine whether or not they write at all. This article offers a framework for negotiating this performative context--the writing meeting. This framework uses the established theoretical underpinning…

  18. Writing an academic essay: a practical guide for nurses.

    PubMed

    Booth, Y

    Writing academic essays can be a major hurdle and source of anxiety for many students. Fears and misconceptions relating to this kind of writing can be dispelled if the task is approached in a logical and systematic manner. This article outlines the key steps involved in successfully completing an essay and provides some practical tips to facilitate critical and analytical writing. These steps are: analysing the task; exploring the subject; planning the essay; writing the account; and revising the drafts. Although this process is challenging, academic writing is a means of developing both personally and professionally.

  19. Challenging the Productivity Mantra: Academic Writing with Spirit in Place

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Laurel; Roitman, Sonia; Morgan, Ann; MacLeod, Jason

    2017-01-01

    Academic writing groups aim to improve the quality and/or the rate of academic publications. In this article, the authors reflect on a writing group with academic and non-academic members that evolved over two years to uphold a deeper and arguably spiritual purpose. The group commenced with the aim of increasing its members' publication rates, but…

  20. Feminism and Cultural Studies in Composition: Locating Women and Men in College Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perry, Merry G.

    2006-01-01

    Merry Perry teaches English courses (both writing and literature) where the majority of the students are white, middle class, and conservative. Perry begins the article by saying that in such an academic environment, her most challenging task is not teaching grammar, punctuation, or editing skills, but challenging these students to think about and…

  1. Using Non-Finites in English Academic Writing by Chinese EFL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Bingjun

    2014-01-01

    Frequent use of non-finites is an important feature of English academic writing (Chafe & Danielewicz, 1987), but teachers and students in the Chinese environment are not aware of it. To investigate the problems that can be found in academic writings by Chinese students is significant in two aspects: academic writing by Chinese EFL students…

  2. Displaying Critical Thinking in EFL Academic Writing: A Discussion of Japanese to English Contrastive Rhetoric

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKinley, Jim

    2013-01-01

    This article provides an examination of the literature on issues surrounding the problems Japanese university students face in learning critical argument in their English academic writing courses. Japanese students' critical thinking skills are criticized as not fostered in their university education, perhaps due to Confucian education ideals,…

  3. Transitional and Transformational Spaces: Mentoring Young Academics through Writing Centres

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Archer, Arlene; Parker, Shabnam

    2016-01-01

    The effectiveness of writing centre interventions on student writing in higher education has been well-documented in academic literacies studies. This paper changes the focus of investigation from student to consultant and, consequently, explores the way in which an academic writing centre can function as a mentoring environment for young…

  4. Supporting the Development of Students' Academic Writing through Collaborative Process Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mutwarasibo, Faustin

    2013-01-01

    The study examines how undergraduate university students in Rwanda experience collaborative process writing as an instruction method capable of helping them improve their academic writing abilities in English. It involved 34 second-year students, divided into 12 small working groups. The data were collected by means of group interviews carried out…

  5. Research-Based Integrated Reading and Writing Course Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pierce, Calisa A.

    2017-01-01

    With the continuing national emphases on acceleration and completion, an integrated reading and writing course (a combined developmental reading and developmental writing course, with all levels compressed into a single course) is one way to move students more quickly and efficiently through the developmental sequence while still maintaining…

  6. A Writing Course Designed for Developmental College Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Malinowski, Patricia A.; Huard, Susan D.

    This description of "Introduction to College Composition," a credit-bearing developmental writing course offered by the Community College of the Finger Lakes, provides an overview of the writing, grammar skills, and reading components of the course. Introductory information indicates that the course adopts a process-oriented approach to…

  7. Effects of Blackboard on EFL Academic Writing and Attitudes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fageeh, Abdulaziz; Mekheimer, Mohamed Amin A.

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed to recognize the pedagogical effects of Blackboard as a computer-mediated communication (CMC) environment for teaching academic writing and improving students' attitudes toward academic writing. Learners' interactions in the CMC environment of Blackboard were analyzed via a controlled descriptive design to examine how students…

  8. The Role of Networked Learning in Academics' Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCulloch, Sharon; Tusting, Karin; Hamilton, Mary

    2017-01-01

    This article explores academics' writing practices, focusing on the ways in which they use digital platforms in their processes of collaborative learning. It draws on interview data from a research project that has involved working closely with academics across different disciplines and institutions to explore their writing practices,…

  9. Cultivating Advanced Technical Writing Skills through a Graduate-Level Course on Writing Research Proposals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCarthy, Brian D.; Dempsey, Jillian L.

    2017-01-01

    A graduate-level course focused on original research proposals is introduced to address the uneven preparation in technical writing of new chemistry graduate students. This course focuses on writing original research proposals. The general course structure features extensive group discussions, small-group activities, and regular in-class…

  10. Embedding the Teaching of Academic Writing into Anthropology Lectures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mostert, Linda Ann; Townsend, Rodwell

    2018-01-01

    This paper lends support to the argument that students require a variety of teaching strategies to help them improve their academic writing. The study described here took place in 2014 in the context of embedding the teaching of academic writing into anthropology modules. The strategies implemented were microthemes, peer feedback, annotated…

  11. Improving Academic Writing in Nursing Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mattsson, Janet

    2016-01-01

    Background: At a specialist nursing education in intensive care, located at a University college in Sweden, there was a desire among the faculty to develop their ability to support specialist nursing students in their academic development, as well as in their academic writing, to improve the overall quality of the master theses. A quality…

  12. Reading-Writing Relationships in First and Second Language Academic Literacy Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grabe, William; Zhang, Cui

    2016-01-01

    Reading and writing relations, as this concept applies to academic learning contexts, whether as a major way to learn language or academic content, is a pervasive issue in English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts. In many cases, this major link between reading/writing and academic learning is true even though explicit discussions of this…

  13. Stories Are Like Water: An Academic Writing Workshop for Nurses.

    PubMed

    Walker, Madeline; Tschanz, Coby

    2018-04-01

    Traditionally, there is very little formal instruction in academic writing for nurses in graduate programs. We, the writing scholar and a nurse educator and PhD student at a major Canadian university, describe how we collaborated on developing and delivering a 1-day academic writing workshop for incoming master of nursing students. By sharing this description, we hope to motivate nursing faculty to offer similar workshops to address the dearth of writing instruction for graduate students in nursing and to improve scholarship outcomes.

  14. Learning to Write Like a Scientist: A Writing-Intensive Course for Microbiology/Health Science Students †

    PubMed Central

    Grzyb, Kimi; Snyder, Wesley; Field, Katharine G.

    2018-01-01

    Learning the tools and conventions of expert communication in the sciences provides multiple benefits to bioscience students, yet often these skills are not formally taught. To address this need, we designed a writing-intensive microbiology course on emerging infectious diseases to provide upper-division students with science-specific writing skills along with disciplinary course content. The course followed the guidelines of our university’s Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) program. Students wrote a press release, a case study, a controversy/position paper, and a grant prospectus, and revised drafts after feedback. To assess the course, in 2015 and 2016 we administered pre-post surveys and collected writing samples for analysis. Students reported on their experience, training, skills, and knowledge before taking the course. They then rated the extent to which the assignments, lectures, in-class activities, and writing activities contributed to their attainment of the learning outcomes of the course. Students entering the class were inexperienced in tools of science writing and the specific genres covered by the class. Their confidence levels rose in both skills and knowledge. Feedback from instructors was cited as most helpful in the majority of the areas where students reported the most gains. The survey provided evidence that discipline-specific knowledge had been acquired through writing activities. Teaching science writing by allowing the students to write “fiction” (e.g., a case report about a fictional patient) was effective in maintaining a high level of interest, both in learning the conventions of the genre and in seeking out detailed information about emerging infectious diseases. Both the course structure and the specific assignments would be useful at other institutions to teach science writing. PMID:29904515

  15. Student Progress in a Social Work Writing Course: Self-Efficacy, Course Objectives, and Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woody, Jane D.; Zeleny, Mary G.; D'Souza, Henry J.; Harder, Jeanette; Reiser, Jacqueline; Szto, Peter

    2014-01-01

    Although instructors express concerns about social work students' writing skills, little research has been conducted. One remedy is a social work-focused writing course. This study assessed a required writing course with a sample of 49 baccalaureate students. From online pre- and posttest surveys, 2 student outcomes improved significantly:…

  16. Teaching Writing and Communication in a Mathematical Modeling Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Linhart, Jean Marie

    2014-01-01

    Writing and communication are essential skills for success in the workplace or in graduate school, yet writing and communication are often the last thing that instructors think about incorporating into a mathematics course. A mathematical modeling course provides a natural environment for writing assignments. This article is an analysis of the…

  17. Writing in Neuroscience”: A Course Designed for Neuroscience Undergraduate Students

    PubMed Central

    Adams, Joyce

    2011-01-01

    Although neuroscience students may learn to write in a generic fashion through university writing courses, they receive little training in writing in their field. Here I describe a course that was created at the request of a Neuroscience Department with the intent to teach neuroscience students how to write well in their discipline. I explain the purpose for creating the “Writing in Neuroscience” course and offer a brief overview of the course curriculum, including pertinent pedagogical outcomes for such a course. I describe in depth the major assignment for the course, the literature review, and provide examples of paper titles that students wrote to fulfill the assignment. I briefly describe other relevant course assignments. I evaluate the course and include an overview of who should teach such a course, what support might be helpful, and what can be learned from formative assessment of the course. Using these insights can help others determine whether such a course is a good fit for them. PMID:23626493

  18. Writing It Right: A Writing Course for Police Officers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gravely, Mary Liles

    Developed by educators from the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, this teacher's guide presents an 8-hour course in writing for police officers. The course is designed to help officers improve the accuracy and appearances of their reports and to help them take responsibility for becoming more independent writers. Each of the four lessons in the…

  19. Examining Academic Writing Motivation of Prospective Indonesian Language Teachers Using Exploratory Factor Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Surastina; Dedi, Fransisca S. O.

    2018-01-01

    Motivation determines students' success in academic writing. The current study adopted 28 items of the academic writing motivation questionnaire by Payne (2012) translated into Indonesian language to explore students' motivation in academic writing. This study involved 120 prospective Indonesian language teachers at STKIP PGRI Bandar Lampung that…

  20. The Adult Learner in the Online Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoy, Cheryl A.

    2010-01-01

    Because a gap in scholarly literature exists concerning the adult learner in the online writing course, I researched the effects of the online learning environment on adult learners in an online intermediate writing course offered through the Adult Learner Services Program at Bowling Green State University. This dissertation argues that online…

  1. An academic writing needs assessment of English-as-a-second-language clinical investigators.

    PubMed

    Wang, Min-Fen; Bakken, Lori L

    2004-01-01

    Academic writing for publication is competitive and demanding for researchers. For the novice English-as-a-second-language (ESL) researcher, the pressure to publish compounds the difficulties of mastering the English language. Very few studies have used ESL graduate and post-graduate students as academic writing research subjects. The purpose of this project was to assess the learning needs of ESL clinical investigators regarding academic writing for English scholarly publication. A qualitative evaluation approach was used to examine the gap between the current and desired proficiency level for the academic writing of ESL clinical investigators. We considered the perspectives of seven ESL clinical investigators plus three mentors and three writing instructors. Semi-structured questions were asked. Field notes were organized using a field-work recording system. They were analyzed using the constant comparative method. ESL clinical investigators do not accurately perceive their writing deficiencies. They have little knowledge of criteria for academic writing and they are influenced by their prior English learning experiences in their home culture, which engender passive attitudes toward seeking appropriate writing resources. Adequate time is especially needed to develop successful writing skills. Four basic steps are recommended to guide program planners in developing ESL writing activities for professional learning: (1) recognize discrepancies, (2) establish clear standards and performance criteria for scholarly writing, (3) develop individual plans, and (4) organize long-term writing assistance.

  2. Identifying Gaps in Academic Writing of ESL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giridharan, Beena

    2012-01-01

    There is growing evidence that the lack of competence of university ESL (English as a second language) students in academic writing affects their overall academic performance. Olivas and Li (2006) connected low second-language proficiency levels in English to poor academic performance of international students studying at both university and…

  3. Nurturing Interdisciplinary Competence in Academic Writing Classes: Two Taiwanese TESOL Professionals' Shared Journey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Cheryl Wei-yu; Wang, Hung-chun

    2016-01-01

    This study delineates two Taiwanese TESOL teachers' efforts of combining English writing with entrepreneurship education to cultivate English majors' interdisciplinary competence in academic writing classes. An integrated business-and-writing approach was proposed to foster English majors' academic writing skills and entrepreneurial capacities. In…

  4. Digital Struggles: Fostering Student Interaction in Online Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Virtue, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Online pedagogical environments present a new set of challenges to instructors who teach them. One of those challenges, often present in online writing courses, is the lack of interaction between students with each other, the instructor, and the course itself. Instead, there is often a certain sense of isolation in online writing courses to the…

  5. Facilitating Metacognitive Processes of Academic Genre-Based Writing Using an Online Writing System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeh, Hui-Chin

    2015-01-01

    Few studies have investigated how metacognitive processes foster the application of genre knowledge to students' academic writing. This is largely due to its internal and unobservable characteristics. To bridge this gap, an online writing system based on metacognition, involving the stages of planning, monitoring, evaluating, and revising, was…

  6. Teaching the Proposal in the Professional Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wahlstrom, Ralph

    2002-01-01

    Outlines a professional writing course based on a proposal format that ties the classroom to the student's world. Suggests teaching document forms such as memos, letters, and reports in the context of a comprehensive proposal format. Argues that the proposal can serve as the basis and motivation for an introductory professional writing course. (SG)

  7. Teaching the Writing Methods Course: A Multiple Case Study of Teachers' Professional Journeys, Teaching Contexts, Theoretical Frames, and Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sovis, Kristin A. K.

    2014-01-01

    This study, situated within the fields of English education and writing teacher education, illustrates not only "what" is happening in writing methods courses but why in its examination of writing methods courses and instructor influences. The writing methods course is identified by English educators and writing teacher educators as…

  8. Writing I--A Senior High Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hermann, Bonita A.; Cameron, Dale

    Intended for use in teaching a senior high school writing course, this curriculum guide uses career related activities to help students clarify their career goals, practice some common adult writing experiences, and, in general, prepare for the future. Four areas from "real life" experiences are included and may be used separately as…

  9. How to incorporate academic writing pedagogy in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

    PubMed

    Kostenko, Viktoriia G; Solohor, Iryna M

    2018-01-01

    Introduction: Medical researchers, who are non-native English speakers, are facing now the growing need to publish their research results in international journals switching to an English-only policy, to apply for grants and scholarship, but at the same time this puts many authors whose native language is not English at a disadvantage compared to their English-speaking counterparts. The aim: This paper aims at analysing the existing parameters of academic writing proficiency of medical undergraduate and postgraduate students; elucidating current approaches to develop academic writing competency and to promote academic multi-literacy of junior researchers, and outlining the general recommendations to improve the quality and sophistication of their writing by incorporating the principles and achievements of academic writing pedagogy into the system of medical training. Materials and methods: This study is an empirical applied research of a qualitative type mainly based on data elicited from informants (n=120) of the Ukrainian Medical Stomatological Academy aged from 20 - 35. Results and conclusions: All participants were able to identify personal problem areas, and virtually all they note dissatisfaction with the use of English in their scholarly writing. They stated the obvious difficulties in sentence patterns and keeping tone of scientific narrative format. Writing in genres other than original research articles seems to be quite demanding and is often associated with the lack of self-confidence and language anxiety. Attention to developing academic writing skills should focus on the basic elements of academic writing, characteristics of written genres across the disciplines, providing a framework in which expert and practical knowledge is internally organized.

  10. Academic voice: On feminism, presence, and objectivity in writing.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Kim M

    2017-10-01

    Academic voice is an oft-discussed, yet variably defined concept, and confusion exists over its meaning, evaluation, and interpretation. This paper will explore perspectives on academic voice and counterarguments to the positivist origins of objectivity in academic writing. While many epistemological and methodological perspectives exist, the feminist literature on voice is explored here as the contrary position. From the feminist perspective, voice is a socially constructed concept that cannot be separated from the experiences, emotions, and identity of the writer and, thus, constitutes a reflection of an author's way of knowing. A case study of how author presence can enhance meaning in text is included. Subjective experience is imperative to a practice involving human interaction. Nursing practice, our intimate involvement in patient's lives, and the nature of our research are not value free. A view is presented that a visible presence of an author in academic writing is relevant to the nursing discipline. The continued valuing of an objective, colorless academic voice has consequences for student writers and the faculty who teach them. Thus, a strategically used multivoiced writing style is warranted. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. A writing intensive introductory course for RN to BSN students.

    PubMed

    Tesh, Anita S; Hyde, Yolanda M; Kautz, Donald D

    2014-01-01

    This article describes learning strategies used with RN to BSN students in their 1st nursing course to successfully learn how to write formal papers using the American Psychological Association (APA) format. This 1st nursing course, a writing intensive, requires 4 short papers with self, peer, and teacher critiques and opportunities to rewrite. Students learn the style of professional nursing discourse, mastery of APA format, and development of additional skills in following directions and in critiquing their own work. An additional benefit is to enhance learning about professional nursing topics. By mastering writing skills in this initial course, students are able to successfully complete writing assignments in future courses and, in some cases, move on to publication.

  12. Research and Teaching: The Pairing of a Science Communications and a Language Course to Enrich First-Year English Language Learners' Writing and Argumentation Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welsh, Ashley J.; Shaw, Amber; Fox, Joanne A.

    2017-01-01

    This article explores how English-language learners' writing evolved during a first-year seminar in science course aimed at developing students' argumentation skills. We highlight how a science communications course was paired with a weekly academic English course in the context of a highly coordinated and enriched first-year experience program…

  13. Basic English Writing: An Experimental Course Structure against Semantic Misinterpretation in Undergraduate Student Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    In, Fan-yu; Liao, Hui-Chuan

    2008-01-01

    Course designs for Basic English Writing classes vary from one course to another. The objective of this study was to investigate the semantic misinterpretation of English words found in the English compositions written by native-Chinese-speaking undergraduate students and to overcome if such a barrier occurred in the process of writing. First,…

  14. Increasing Student Interaction in Technical Writing Courses in Online Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Virtue, Drew

    2017-01-01

    This article examines how the levels of student interaction change through the use of small groups and moderators in online writing courses. The study examines three technical and professional online writing courses: one course that employs small groups and group moderators and two courses that have no small groups or moderators. The results of…

  15. Attitudes toward text recycling in academic writing across disciplines.

    PubMed

    Hall, Susanne; Moskovitz, Cary; Pemberton, Michael A

    2018-01-01

    Text recycling, the reuse of material from one's own previously published writing in a new text without attribution, is a common academic writing practice that is not yet well understood. While some studies of text recycling in academic writing have been published, no previous study has focused on scholars' attitudes toward text recycling. This article presents results from a survey of over 300 journal editors and editorial board members from 86 top English-language journals in 16 different academic fields regarding text recycling in scholarly articles. Responses indicate that a large majority of academic gatekeepers believe text recycling is allowable in some circumstances; however, there is a lack of clear consensus about when text recycling is or is not appropriate. Opinions varied according to the source of the recycled material, its structural location and rhetorical purpose, and conditions of authorship conditions-as well as by the level of experience as a journal editor. Our study suggests the need for further research on text recycling utilizing focus groups and interviews.

  16. Women and Writing: A New Course for the Creative Writing Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mallinger, Anita E.

    The promotion of sexual stereotypes that portray girls as passive, dependent, and nurturing appears to have resulted in the socialization of females into roles that run counter to the function of creative imagination; women have been socialized not to write. A college course for students majoring in creative writing is helping women students to…

  17. Collaborative Course Design in Scientific Writing: Experimentation and Productive Failure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Combs, D. Shane; Frost, Erin A.; Eble, Michelle F.

    2015-01-01

    English 3820: Scientific Writing, a writing-intensive (WI) course offered by the Department of English at East Carolina University (ECU), serves primarily science majors. According to the course catalog, it provides students with "practice in assimilation and written presentation of scientific information." The course asks students to…

  18. Designing Academic Writing Analytics for Civil Law Student Self-Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, Simon; Buckingham Shum, Simon; Ryan, Philippa; Sándor, Ágnes; Wang, Xiaolong

    2018-01-01

    Research into the teaching and assessment of student writing shows that many students find academic writing a challenge to learn, with legal writing no exception. Improving the availability and quality of timely formative feedback is an important aim. However, the time-consuming nature of assessing writing makes it impractical for instructors to…

  19. Technical writing practically unified through industry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Houston, L. S.

    1981-01-01

    General background details in the development of a university level technical writing program, based upon the writing tasks of the student's occupations, are summarized. Objectives and methods for unifying the courses of study with the needs of industry are discussed. Four academic course divisions, Industries Technologies, in which preparation and training are offered are: Animal, Horticulture, Agriculture, and Agricultural Business. Occupational competence is cited as the main goal for these programs in which technical writing is to be practically unified through industry. Course descriptions are also provided.

  20. The Relationship between Academic Writing Experience and Academic Publishing for Graduate Physics Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hess, Steven Timothy Michael

    2012-01-01

    Writing for scientific publication represents an opportunity to interact with colleagues and make a positive contribution to the academic community. However, there is a growing concern regarding the ability of graduate students' to transfer writing skill sets learned at the graduate and undergraduate levels into professional settings. The main…

  1. Teaching Process Writing in an Online Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carolan, Fergal; Kyppö, Anna

    2015-01-01

    This reflective practice paper offers some insights into teaching an interdisciplinary academic writing course aimed at promoting process writing. The study reflects on students' acquisition of writing skills and the teacher's support practices in a digital writing environment. It presents writers' experiences related to various stages of process…

  2. On Developing the Writing Skills Course for Accounting Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Firch, Tim; Campbell, Annhenrie; Lindsay, David H.; Garner, Don E.

    2010-01-01

    The CSU, Stanislaus, accounting program is providing a new course that meets the university-wide upper-division writing requirement and offers accounting students additional professional study. While a writing skills course is not unusual in a business program, few offer an alternative centered on the accounting body of knowledge. Undergraduate…

  3. Pairing Courses across the Disciplines: Effects on Writing Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watts, Julie; Burnett, Rebecca E.

    2012-01-01

    Writing performance of a complex recommendation report produced by student teams for an actual client during a 15-week semester was compared in a writing-intensive Agronomy 356 course and in paired Agronomy 356/English 309 courses. The longitudinal study investigated differences that existed between reports produced for each learning environment…

  4. "It's Not a Hobby": Reconceptualizing the Place of Writing in Academic Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Rowena

    2013-01-01

    The writing activities involved in research are not fully articulated in discussions of academic work. In this context, academics say they have to disengage from other tasks in order to write, which raises fundamental questions about the place of writing in academic work. A study designed to find out more about this disengagement showed that it…

  5. Gap between Self-Efficacy and College Students' Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lichtinger, Einat

    2018-01-01

    This study explores the disparity between college students' self-efficacy beliefs regarding their writing skills and their teachers' perceptions of the latter. It also examines ways to improve the academic writing instruction provided by the institution, and the impact of a first-year introductory academic-writing course. A total of 151 third-year…

  6. Mentoring disadvantaged nursing students through technical writing workshops.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Molly K; Symes, Lene; Bernard, Lillian; Landson, Margie J; Carroll, Theresa L

    2007-01-01

    Recent studies have identified a problematic gap for nursing students between terse clinical writing and formal academic writing. This gap can create a potential barrier to academic and workplace success, especially for disadvantaged nursing students who have not acquired the disciplinary conventions and sophisticated writing required in upper-level nursing courses. The authors demonstrate the need for writing-in-the-discipline activities to enhance the writing skills of nursing students, describe the technical writing workshops they developed to mentor minority and disadvantaged nursing students, and provide recommendations to stimulate educator dialogue across disciplines and institutions.

  7. Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant Proposals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Robert

    2007-01-01

    When they are new to the grant game, even scholars with fine publishing records can struggle with proposal writing. Many are surprised to find that the writing style that made them successful as academics is not well suited to crafting a winning proposal. To succeed at grant writing, most researchers need to learn a new set of writing skills. This…

  8. From Diagnosis to Prognosis: What Instructors Know about Their Students' Writing Apprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Apawu, David Dankwa; Anani, Gifty Edna

    2017-01-01

    Different students enter institutions of higher learning with varying degrees of writing apprehension. The apprehension ranges from anxiety from writing tasks to avoiding courses that involve a lot of writing. For many universities, the writing centers or academic writing courses are meant to equip students to be able to deal with the high writing…

  9. Dynamic Assessment, Tutor Mediation and Academic Writing Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shrestha, Prithvi; Coffin, Caroline

    2012-01-01

    Supporting undergraduate students with their academic literacies has recently been a major focus in higher education in the UK. This paper explores the value of tutor mediation in the context of academic writing development among undergraduate business studies students in open and distance learning, following the dynamic assessment (DA) approach…

  10. The Best of Both Worlds? Towards an English for Academic Purposes/Academic Literacies Writing Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wingate, Ursula; Tribble, Christopher

    2012-01-01

    This article is a review of two dominant approaches to academic writing instruction in higher education, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which is used internationally, and Academic Literacies, which has become an influential model in the UK. The review was driven by a concern that Academic Literacies has been mainly focused on the situations…

  11. Teaching Science Writing in an Introductory Lab Course

    PubMed Central

    Holstein, Sarah E.; Mickley Steinmetz, Katherine R.; Miles, John D.

    2015-01-01

    One challenge that many neuroscience instructors face is how to teach students to communicate within the field. The goal of this project was to improve students’ scientific writing in an introductory psychology laboratory course that serves as a feeder course into the neuroscience curriculum. This course included a scaffolded approach - breaking assignments into different sections that build upon each other to allow for more direction and feedback on each section. Students were also provided with examples of scientific writing, given direction on finding and reading journal articles, and were taught how to effectively peer review a paper. Research papers were assessed before (Year 1) and after (Year 2) this scaffolded approach was instituted. The assessment included measures of “Genre Knowledge” for each section of a research paper (abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion) as well as measures of “Writing Elements” (grammar, formatting, clarity, transitions, building to the hypothesis, using evidence). The results indicated that there was an improvement for Genre Knowledge scores when comparing Year 1 to Year 2. However, there was no systematic improvement in Writing Elements. This suggests that this teaching technique was most effective in improving students’ ability to write within the scientific genre. The logistics of implementing such an approach are discussed. PMID:25838801

  12. Empowering Catholic Communicators: A Trivium Heuristic for First-Year Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hurley, Gavin F.

    2017-01-01

    First-year writing courses at Catholic colleges and universities can provide students the communicative tools to intellectually engage with Catholic doctrines and beliefs in the public sphere. However, writing programs can neglect to balance grammar, logic, and rhetoric. This article provides a practical Catholic first-year writing course design…

  13. Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richards, Janet C.; Miller, Sharon K.

    2005-01-01

    This clear, reader-friendly book is carefully designed to help readers gain confidence and acquire competence in their academic writing abilities. It focuses on real people as they write and actively involves readers in the writing process. The authors' innovative approach encourages reflection on how professional writing initiatives connect to…

  14. Implementing a writing course in an online RN-BSN program.

    PubMed

    Stevens, Carol J; D'Angelo, Barbara; Rennell, Nathalie; Muzyka, Diann; Pannabecker, Virginia; Maid, Barry

    2014-01-01

    Scholarly writing is an essential skill for nurses to communicate new research and evidence. Written communication directly relates to patient safety and quality of care. However, few online RN-BSN programs integrate writing instruction into their curricula. Nurses traditionally learn how to write from instructor feedback and often not until midway into their baccalaureate education. Innovative strategies are needed to help nurses apply critical thinking skills to writing. The authors discuss a collaborative project between nursing faculty and technical communication faculty to develop and implement a writing course that is 1 of the 1st courses the students take in the online RN-BSN program.

  15. Improving English Language Learners' Academic Writing: A Multi-Strategy Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Challenge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marulanda Ángel, Nora Lucía; Martínez García, Juan Manuel

    2017-01-01

    The demands of the academic field and the constraints students have while learning how to write appropriately call for better approaches to teach academic writing. This research study examines the effect of a multifaceted academic writing module on pre-service teachers' composition skills in an English teacher preparation program at a medium sized…

  16. Students' Perceptions of Effective Teaching Strategies in a Developmental Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dorsey, Carrie S.

    2014-01-01

    This dissertation explores student perceptions of effective teaching strategies in a developmental writing course and their perspectives of how well the course prepared them for the freshman college composition course. Three research questions guided the study. Research Question 1 asked which teaching strategies developmental writing students…

  17. Articulate--Academic Writing, Refereeing Editing and Publishing Our Work in Learning, Teaching and Educational Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wisker, Gina

    2013-01-01

    Most work on writing and publication processes focuses on writing support for undergraduates or postgraduates writing in the disciplines, while work on academic identities frequently considers development as a university teacher. This essay consider the reviewing process for academics who write, whether doctoral students, researchers, teachers or…

  18. Affective and Social Factors in a Project-Based Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kathpalia, Sujata Surinder; Heah, Carmel

    2011-01-01

    Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social factors involving intrapersonal and interpersonal…

  19. A Community-Academic Partnered Grant Writing Series to Build Infrastructure for Partnered Research.

    PubMed

    King, Keyonna M; Pardo, Yvette-Janine; Norris, Keith C; Diaz-Romero, Maria; Morris, D'Ann; Vassar, Stefanie D; Brown, Arleen F

    2015-10-01

    Grant writing is an essential skill necessary to secure financial support for community programs and research projects. Increasingly, funding opportunities for translational biomedical research require studies to engage community partners, patients, or other stakeholders in the research process to address their concerns. However, there is little evidence on strategies to prepare teams of academic and community partners to collaborate on grants. This paper presents the description and formative evaluation of a two-part community-academic partnered grant writing series designed to help community organizations and academic institutions build infrastructure for collaborative research projects using a partnered approach. The first phase of the series was a half-day workshop on grant readiness, which was open to all interested community partners. The second phase, open only to community-academic teams that met eligibility criteria, was a 12-week session that covered partnered grant writing for foundation grants and National Institutes of Health grants. Participants in both phases reported an increase in knowledge and self-efficacy for writing partnered proposals. At 1-year follow-up, participants in Phase 2 had secured approximately $1.87 million in funding. This community-academic partnered grant writing series helped participants obtain proposal development skills and helped community-academic teams successfully compete for funding. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. A Community–Academic Partnered Grant Writing Series to Build Infrastructure for Partnered Research

    PubMed Central

    Pardo, Yvette‐Janine; Norris, Keith C.; Diaz‐Romero, Maria; Morris, D'Ann; Vassar, Stefanie D.; Brown, Arleen F.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Grant writing is an essential skill necessary to secure financial support for community programs and research projects. Increasingly, funding opportunities for translational biomedical research require studies to engage community partners, patients, or other stakeholders in the research process to address their concerns. However, there is little evidence on strategies to prepare teams of academic and community partners to collaborate on grants. This paper presents the description and formative evaluation of a two‐part community–academic partnered grant writing series designed to help community organizations and academic institutions build infrastructure for collaborative research projects using a partnered approach. The first phase of the series was a half‐day workshop on grant readiness, which was open to all interested community partners. The second phase, open only to community–academic teams that met eligibility criteria, was a 12‐week session that covered partnered grant writing for foundation grants and National Institutes of Health grants. Participants in both phases reported an increase in knowledge and self‐efficacy for writing partnered proposals. At 1‐year follow‐up, participants in Phase 2 had secured approximately $1.87 million in funding. This community–academic partnered grant writing series helped participants obtain proposal development skills and helped community–academic teams successfully compete for funding. PMID:26365589

  1. The writing retreat: a high-yield clinical faculty development opportunity in academic writing.

    PubMed

    Cable, Christian T; Boyer, Debra; Colbert, Colleen Y; Boyer, Edward W

    2013-06-01

    The need for consistent academic productivity challenges junior clinician-scholars, who often lack the aptitude to ensure efficient production of manuscripts. To solve this problem, an academic division of a major medical center developed an off-site writing retreat. The purpose of the retreat was not to teach writing skills, but to offer senior mentor assistance with a focus on the elements of manuscript writing. The retreat paired senior faculty members with junior staff. Senior faculty identified manuscript topics and provided real-time writing and editing supervision. Team-building exercises, midcourse corrections, and debriefing interviews were built into the retreat. The number of manuscripts and grant proposals generated during the 2008-2011 retreats was recorded, and the program was evaluated by using unstructured debriefing interviews. An average of 6 to 7 faculty members and fellows participated in each retreat. During the past 4 years, participants produced an average of 3 grant proposals and 7 manuscripts per retreat. After the writing retreat, each fellow and junior faculty member produced an average of 4 scholarly products per year, compared to fewer than 2 for prior years' retreats. Participant feedback indicated the success of the retreat resulted from protected time, direct mentorship by the scholars involved, and pairing of authors, which allows for rapid production of manuscripts and accelerated the editing process. More than 80% of mentors returned each year to participate. The writing retreat is a feasible, effective strategy to increase scholarship among faculty, acceptable to mentees and mentors, and sustainable over time.

  2. Why It Is so Hard for Academics to Write Textbooks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sternberg, Robert J.

    2017-01-01

    Although academics are accustomed to writing articles and books, they much less frequently write textbooks. When they do, they likely find it much harder to do well than they ever would have imagined. This difficulty is likely to surprise them, because they have considerable experience in writing research articles and in teaching. I argue in this…

  3. Angst about Academic Writing: Graduate Students at the Brink

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, Barbara; Waterbury, Theresa; Baltrinic, Eric; Davis, Arielle

    2018-01-01

    This paper offers some insights into the anxieties graduate students bring into the classroom about academic or technical writing. In this qualitative study, a focus group of graduate students was utilized to describe the specific negative feelings, attitudes and experiences held about writing. Findings suggest that students were able to identify…

  4. Linked Psychology and Writing Courses across the Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cargill, Kima; Kalikoff, Beth

    2007-01-01

    To enhance student performance, prevent attrition, and build a learning community, two courses were linked together by requiring concurrent enrollment. "Writing Effectively," an upper-division composition course, was linked with "Abnormal Psychology," an upper-division clinical psychology course, requiring concurrent enrollment in both. In short,…

  5. Reprint 2007: Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grants Proposals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Robert

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses the contrasting perspectives of academic prose versus grant writing, and lists strategies grant specialists can use to help researchers break old habits and replace them with techniques better suited to the world of competitive grant proposals. [This article is a reprint of "Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good…

  6. The Effectiveness of Adopting E-Readers to Facilitate EFL Students' Process-Based Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hung, Hui-Chun; Young, Shelley Shwu-Ching

    2015-01-01

    English as Foreign Language (EFL) students face additional difficulties for academic writing largely due to their level of language competency. An appropriate structural process of writing can help students develop their academic writing skills. This study explored the use of the e-readers to facilitate EFL students' process-based academic…

  7. Implementing and Evaluating a Writing Course for Psychology Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goddard, Perilou

    2003-01-01

    In this article, I describe Writing in Psychology, a semester-length 3-credit elective course designed to improve students' writing skills, familiarize them with psychology's writing conventions, and teach them American Psychological Association (APA) style. Students produced a case report, a report of an empirical study, a conference abstract,…

  8. Democratizing Academic Writing: A Revision of an Experience of Writing an Autoethnographic Dissertation in Color

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polanco, Marcela

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, I revise my experience of writing an autoethnographic (Ellis, 2004) dissertation in the field of family therapy as a Colombian mestiza. I discuss how I grappled with my writing, and, in the process, stumbled into matters of democratizing texts. I problematize male-dominant academic standards, telling of the tensions when maneuvering…

  9. Goal Orientations in an EFL Advanced Academic Writing Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dehghan, Farzaneh; Razmjoo, Seyyed Ayatollah

    2015-01-01

    Academic writing at advanced levels is the most important way of demonstrating one's expertise in a discipline. Developing this kind of competence is especially a challenging effort for students in foreign language contexts. Many factors may be involved in determining why some students are more and some are less motivated in writing successful,…

  10. Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills.

    PubMed

    Wischgoll, Anke

    2016-01-01

    Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader's view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed.

  11. Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills

    PubMed Central

    Wischgoll, Anke

    2016-01-01

    Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader’s view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed. PMID:26941671

  12. Saudi English-Major Undergraduates' Academic Writing Problems: A Taif University Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Khairy, Mohamed Ali

    2013-01-01

    This study attempted to investigate Saudi English-major undergraduates studying at Taif University to identify a) the types of academic writing Saudi English-major undergraduates carry out at English departments, b) Saudi English-major undergraduates' writing problems, c) the reasons behind Saudi English-major undergraduates' writing problems and…

  13. Writing Purposefully in Art and Design: Responding to Converging and Diverging New Academic Literacies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melles, Gavin; Lockheart, Julia

    2012-01-01

    In disciplines with long histories in higher education, academic literacies, including writing practices, are less contested than in newer academic fields such as art and design. The relatively recent incorporation of such fields and schools into the university sector has required these fields to create academic writing practices consistent with…

  14. The Research Paper: From Personal to Academic Writing (Instructional Note).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Malinowski, Patricia A.

    1990-01-01

    Describes a research project designed to take students from personal writing to academic writing requiring research and application of documentation skills. Explains that the project involves choosing a career, is divided into four parts, and is completed over a four- to five-week period. (MG)

  15. Using Collaborate Writing Groups in Undergraduate Courses to Improve Scientific Writing Skills and Confidence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maclachlan, J. C.; Feist, S.

    2016-12-01

    Communication of primary scientific research is an aspect of undergraduate teaching that rarely researches platforms outside of the classroom. One method to encourage the dissemination of scientific findings to an international audience is the implementation of Collaborative Writing Groups (CWG). This paper will discuss the development, implementation and successful results of two Collaborative Writing Group creating within two different senior undergraduate classes offered at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada through discussion of the implementation of the assignment coupled with challenges and opportunities the process provided. A key to the successful implementation of the CWG is a detailed timeline for the students to follow with achievable goals throughout the process. The eight-week process began with students creating groups and choosing a topic of interest. As groups form it became apparent the diversity of academic skills and interest within the classroom made selecting a research project all group members could agree on difficult. Throughout the course students were given time to not only review their colleagues writing but also have discussions on particularly challenging aspects of their research and help in providing solutions. While the timeline for this project was ambitious it was necessary to allow time for effective feedback on the scientific writing from both the students and the instructional team. Overall this process has produced 11 peer-reviewed undergraduate student written papers within two special editions of the journal Cartographica published by the University of Toronto Press (Maclachlan and Lee, 2015). The papers topics are quite diverse including: the modelling of glacier melt in Iceland; a look into the effects of urban sprawl; and an exploration of the spatial characteristics of dunes in southern Ontario. This encouragement of dissemination to an international audience will create an experience that promotes self

  16. Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading.

    PubMed

    Munoz-Luna, Rosa

    2015-01-01

    Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students' writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS and NVivo provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading.

  17. Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading

    PubMed Central

    Munoz-Luna, Rosa

    2015-01-01

    Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students’ writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS and NVivo provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading. PMID:26046836

  18. The Impact of Training Students How to Write Introductions for Academic Essays: An Exploratory, Longitudinal Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Gavin T. L.; Marshall, Jennifer C.

    2012-01-01

    Successful academic writing requires strong command of the rhetorical moves that orient the reader to the theme and substantive material of an academic essay. Effective control of the introduction leads to better overall writing. The goal of this study was to devise and evaluate a pedagogy for teaching the writing of academic essay introductions.…

  19. The Community Grant Writing Project: A Flexible Service-Learning Model for Writing-Intensive Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevens, Courtney

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the Community Grant Writing Project (CGWP), a flexible service-learning framework designed for use in writing-intensive courses. The CGWP incorporates best-practice recommendations from the service-learning literature and addresses recent challenges identified for successful service-learning partnerships. In the CGWP,…

  20. Implicit Theory of Writing Ability: Relationship to Metacognitive Strategy Knowledge and Strategy Use in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karlen, Yves; Compagnoni, Miriam

    2017-01-01

    Implicit theories about the nature of human attributes as either malleable or fixed influence how people perceive knowledge and approach different tasks. Two studies explored the relationship between implicit theory of writing ability, metacognitive strategy knowledge (MSK), and strategy use in the context of academic writing. The pre-study with N…

  1. Masters Level Graduate Student Writing Groups: Exploring Academic Identity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ruggles, Tosha M.

    2012-01-01

    This action research project explores masters level graduate student writing and academic identity during one semester in an interdisciplinary masters program. Informing this study is a two part theoretical framework including the Academic Literacy Model (Lea and Street) and Wenger's concept of identity. The purpose of this exploration was to…

  2. Assessing Second Language Writing in Academic Contexts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamp-Lyons, Liz, Ed.

    The articles contained in this volume on second language writing evaluation focus on the evaluation of academic English learned as a second language (ESL). Essays include: "Assessment by Misconception: Cultural Influences and Intellectual Traditions" (Brigid Ballard, John Clanchy); "Reading the World Differently: A Cross-Cultural Approach to…

  3. Facilitating Interactivity in an Online Business Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mabrito, Mark

    2001-01-01

    Suggests ways of developing an online business writing course that uses technology to simulate features of the face-to-face classroom and that achieves an interactive learning experience for students. Uses the author's online business writing class as an example of one which manages to simulate, through the judicious use of software, the…

  4. Summary Writing in Academic Contexts: Implicating Meaning in Processes of Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hood, Susan

    2008-01-01

    The practice of summary writing from source texts has long been a core activity in academic writing programs. When described as precis writing, textbooks focusing on teaching this skill date back to the second half of the nineteenth century. In current guidelines, students are typically asked to demonstrate an understanding of the key meanings…

  5. Placing Ourselves in Our Environment: Students' Perceptions of Their Writing and Role in Nature Following an Environmental Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rioux, Yasmin Marie

    2017-01-01

    In this dissertation, the author aims at gaining a better understanding of how taking an Environmental Literature and Writing course affects student writing while exploring how writing students view their own roles within their natural environments following the completion of the described course. Through the collecting and assessing of student…

  6. Teaching Adolescent ELs to Write Academic-Style Persuasive Essays

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramos, Kathleen

    2014-01-01

    The wide adoption of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the U.S. has increased expectations for all teachers to prepare all learners to read and write in academic ways. More knowledge is needed about instructional approaches that may lead adolescent English learners (ELs) to meet this goal. Developing academic literacy practices…

  7. Student Beliefs and Attitudes about Authorial Identity in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pittam, Gail; Elander, James; Lusher, Joanne; Fox, Pauline; Payne, Nicola

    2009-01-01

    Authorial identity is the sense a writer has of themselves as an author and the textual identity they construct in their writing. This article describes two studies exploring psychology students' authorial identity in academic writing. A qualitative focus group study with 19 students showed that authorial identity was largely unfamiliar to…

  8. An Examination of How a Cross-Section of Academics Use Computer Technology when Writing Academic Papers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wood, Eileen; Willoughby, Teena; Specht, Jacqueline; Porter, Lisa

    2002-01-01

    Describes a study conducted at two Canadian universities that surveyed a cross-section of 361 faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students to assess computer availability, experience, attitudes toward computers, and use of computers while engaged in academic writing. Compares advantages and disadvantages of writing on a computer versus written,…

  9. Academic reflective writing: a study to examine its usefulness.

    PubMed

    Bowman, Marion; Addyman, Berni

    Reflection is widely regarded as important for learning from practice in Nursing. Academic reflective writing (ARW) is increasingly being used to assess reflective practice. However, there is currently scant literature on ARW, which is extremely complex, requiring students to link their own experiences to published literature. There are also concerns in the literature about the validity of ARW as a medium of assessment. In this paper, an exploratory discussion on ARW is illustrated with reference to the views of 8 self-selected students on a course for post-registered nurses. These students found ARW extremely challenging, and highlighted a range of difficulties associated with it. In conclusion, it is argued that the student experience of ARW warrants further investigation. In addition, it is suggested that either scaffolding should be put in place to facilitate the production of successful ARW, or alternatives should be explored.

  10. Applying Cultural Project Based Learning to Develop Students' Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Irawati, Lulus

    2015-01-01

    Writing is considered to be the most demanding and difficult skill for many college students, since there are some steps to be followed such as prewriting, drafting, editing, revising and publishing. The interesting topic like culture including lifestyle, costume, and custom is necessary to be offered in Academic Writing class. Accordingly, this…

  11. Students' Perceptions of Academic Writing as a Mode of Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Majidi, Mojdeh

    2005-01-01

    Adopting the social theory of writing and new rhetorical genre studies (Bakhtin, 1986; Dias, Freedman, Medway, & Pare, 1999; Freedman & Medway, 1994; Miller, 1984/1994) as the theoretical framework in this study I made an attempt to explore graduate students' perceptions of academic writing as a mode of communication in academia. I interviewed…

  12. Exploring the Use of Focused Freewriting in Developing Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Linda Y.

    2007-01-01

    Focused freewriting, broadly defined as writing without stopping and editing about a specific topic, has been viewed and used as a powerful tool for developing student writing in a wide spectrum of educational contexts. This study aimed to further explore the use of focused freewriting in the context of promoting students' academic skills…

  13. Writing across the Curriculum: A Hermeneutic Study of Students' Experiences in Writing in Food Science Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dzurec, David J.; Dzurec, Laura Cox

    2005-01-01

    Writing can enhance learning by helping students put words to their thinking about course material. The purposes of this study were to assess the influence of a structured academic journal writing exercise on student learning in a food science class and to examine student responses to the experience. Hermeneutics, a philosophy of science and…

  14. Teaching Technical Writing in a Lab Course in Chemical Engineering

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lombardo, Stephen J.

    2010-01-01

    Techniques are presented for improving the technical writing of chemical engineering students enrolled in an undergraduate laboratory course. The principles of writing covered are adopted from the book, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. Williams: General examples of writing are taken from this book and then are recast into examples…

  15. Astronomy and Writing: A First-Year Cosmology Course for Nonmajors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin, A. M.

    2010-08-01

    Astro 1109 (Spring 2009) is a first-year writing seminar offered through Cornell University's Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines. Every first-year student takes two of these seminars, each with fewer than 17 students; students are assigned to a course by ballot, creating opportunities for students to interact with a discipline other than their own. In Astro 1109, a non-mathematical course based on readings, discussion, and formal and informal writing assignments, students engaged with various forms of expository and persuasive writing focused on the topic of cosmology. The coursework covered fundamental questions of space, time, and relativity, black holes, the expansion of the Universe, dark matter and dark energy, and the anthropic principle. Assignments were developed to introduce students to a wide range of scientific writing for the lay audience. Throughout the course, an emphasis was placed on the importance of physical and textual evidence and observation, and the differences between a conjecture, a hypothesis, and a theory. Work for the course culminated in a four week research project, exploring the merits of the anthropic principle and the relationship between physics and philosophy, through which each student developed their own paper topic. Astro 1109 was designed as an outreach tool to improve scientific literacy by linking it to the traditional concepts of literacy and exposition. The assignments could be easily adaptable to students at different levels or with various levels of background on the topic.

  16. Negotiated Course Design: Hybrid Applications of Pedagogy in Writing Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mayo, Wendell; Holt, Mara

    Two instructors with different approaches to writing collaborated in the preparation of a junior-level advanced college composition course. Both instructors were concerned about the applicability of the "workshop" in teaching composition, and about the question of how to address authority in the workshops. Students were asked to respond…

  17. Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Skalicky, Stephen; Berger, Cynthia M.; Crossley, Scott A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

    2016-01-01

    A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall "Humor" component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also…

  18. Write to the Top! How to Become a Prolific Academic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, W. Brad; Mullen, Carol A.

    2007-01-01

    This concise guide to writing is designed to help any academic become not only productive but truly prolific. It is a pithy, no-nonsense, no-excuses guide to maximizing the quality and quantity of scholarly output. The authors offer an accessible overview of the art of writing efficiently and effectively, provide a one-stop source for the nuts and…

  19. "Good" Academic Writing in Hebrew: The Perceptions of Pre-Service Teachers and Their Instructors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ezer, Hanna; Sivan, Tamar

    2005-01-01

    This study explores the perceptions of different groups of L1 and L2 Israeli pre-service teachers and their instructors regarding "good" academic writing. The study further investigates whether those perceptions accurately reflect their knowledge of academic writing. Eighty-one participants graded three different essays written by…

  20. The Effect of Letter-Writing Activities for Learning Purposes on the Students' Learning of the Science Course and Scientific Attitude

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dasdemir, Ikramettin

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine the impact of writing tasks on the 5th grade students' academic achievement and scientific attitude in science and technology course. The research is a quasi-experimental research including pre-test and post-test designs. These tests were administered as pre-test and post test to the groups. A total of sixty-two…

  1. Academic Writing: Supporting Faculty in a Critical Competency for Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dankoski, Mary E.; Palmer, Megan M.; Banks, Julianna; Brutkiewicz, Randy R.; Walvoord, Emily; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; Bogdewic, Stephen P.; Gopen, George D.

    2012-01-01

    All faculty regardless of discipline or school need to be highly competent at writing for an academic audience. The "publish or perish" pressure is alive and well for academic advancement, publications, and external grant funding. Yet few faculty, particularly in the health professions and sciences, receive formal training on the craft…

  2. A Writing-Intensive, Methods-Based Laboratory Course for Undergraduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colabroy, Keri L.

    2011-01-01

    Engaging undergraduate students in designing and executing original research should not only be accompanied by technique training but also intentional instruction in the critical analysis and writing of scientific literature. The course described here takes a rigorous approach to scientific reading and writing using primary literature as the model…

  3. Digital English: Me, Online, Writing & Academia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rolinska, Ania

    2015-01-01

    This case study reports on the Digital English project, an experimental course in academic writing piloted with international students on a year-long pre-sessional programme. Inspired by Ulmer's (2003) "Mystory" project and Gauntlett's (2007) "Lego" research, the course concerns itself with the students' exploration of self at…

  4. Writing in a History of Mathematics Capstone Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, John

    2014-01-01

    This article presents two approaches to using original sources in a capstone writing project for a History of Mathematics course. One approach involves searching local libraries and is best suited to schools in metropolitan areas. A second approach involves online resources available anywhere. Both projects were used in a course intended for…

  5. Reflective journal writing in nurse education: whose interests does it serve?

    PubMed

    Wellard, S J; Bethune, E

    1996-11-01

    The use of reflective journal writing has become popularized in the past decade. This paper uses the experience of two university lecturers to problematize this practice. The practice of journal writing in nursing courses is explored firstly through the lens of critical theory and secondly that of post-structuralism. This paper challenges nurse academics to confront the power relationships established by the adoption of journal writing uncritically into courses.

  6. Embedded academic writing support for nursing students with English as a second language.

    PubMed

    Salamonson, Yenna; Koch, Jane; Weaver, Roslyn; Everett, Bronwyn; Jackson, Debra

    2010-02-01

    This paper reports a study which evaluated a brief, embedded academic support workshop as a strategy for improving academic writing skills in first-year nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency. Nursing students who speak English as a second language have lower academic success compared with their native English-speaking counterparts. The development of academic writing skills is known to be most effective when embedded into discipline-specific curricula. Using a randomized controlled design, in 2008 106 students pre-enrolled in an introductory bioscience subject were randomized to receive either the intervention, a 4-day embedded academic learning support workshop facilitated by two bioscience (content) nursing academics and a writing and editing professional, or to act as the control group. The primary focus of the workshop was to support students to work through a mock assignment by providing progressive feedback and written suggestions on how to improve their answers. Of the 59 students randomized to the intervention, only 28 attended the workshop. Bioscience assignment results were analysed for those who attended (attendees), those randomized to the intervention but who did not attend (non-attendees), and the control group. Using anova, the results indicated that attendees achieved statistically significantly higher mean scores (70.8, sd: 6.1) compared to both control group (58.4, sd: 3.4, P = 0.002) and non-attendees (48.5, sd: 5.5, P = 0.001). A brief, intensive, embedded academic support workshop was effective in improving the academic writing ability of nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency, although reaching all students who are likely to benefit from this intervention remains a challenge.

  7. Action Research and Academic Writing: A Conversation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winter, Richard; Badley, Graham

    2007-01-01

    Here is a conversation between two former colleagues about action research and academic writing. Richard Winter opens the discussion with a series of reflections on his work as an action researcher. These reflections include the key argument that action research is a noble cause because it is relevant to working life, has a practical impact and…

  8. The Function of Text in a Dialogic Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Comprone, Joseph J.

    Focusing on recent composition theory, this paper offers suggestions for writing teachers in applying concepts of dialogic discourse directly to the pedagogy of the college writing course. The first section of the paper addresses the influence of the social constructionist work on interpretation theory by Richard Rorty, Clifford Geertz, and…

  9. Knowing, Learning, and Writing: Patterns in Students' Understanding of Academic Work.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kurfiss, Joanne Gainen

    The paper describes four major patterns that emerge in studies of college student intellectual development. Quotations from students' writing about their epistemological beliefs and quotations from professors' writing concerning their courses and students are related to the four patterns. Characteristics of student writing associated with each…

  10. Writing to Learn and Learning to Perform: Lessons from a Writing Intensive Course in Experimental Theatre Studio

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henry, Jim; Baker, Tammy Haili'opua

    2015-01-01

    This case study conducted by a writing specialist and a theatre specialist examines the ways in which writing to learn and learning to write took form in a course in which the ultimate goal was a staged production for a live audience. Using naturalistic methodology that deployed both ethnographic and autoethnographic approaches to analyze the…

  11. The New Computers and Writing Course at the University of Texas at Austin: Context and Theory.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rouzie, Albert

    The new "Computers and Writing" course implemented by the division of rhetoric and composition at the University of Texas at Austin is an elective second-year writing course that satisfies the university's requirement for writing component courses. In this course, instructors and students generate and apply rhetorical terminology and…

  12. Integrating Scientific Argumentation to Improve Undergraduate Writing and Learning in a Global Environmental Change Course

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Koffman, Bess G.; Kreutz, Karl J.; Trenbath, Kim

    We present a strategy for using scientific argumentation in an early undergraduate laboratory course to teach disciplinary writing practices and to promote critical thinking, knowledge transformation, and understanding of the scientific method. The approach combines targeted writing instruction; data analysis and interpretation; formulation of a hypothesis; and construction of an argument. Students submit and receive feedback on two drafts of two different argumentation essays, providing the opportunity for guided practice. Each written argument is intended to draw on several weeks' course material, including short lectures, discussions, readings, and problem sets. Thus our aim with these writing assignments is to helpmore » students synthesize content and concepts, deepening their learning. We have found that this inquiry-based approach to writing engages students in course material, and significantly improves both writing and learning. We observed the greatest improvement among students with the lowest initial scores, suggesting that lower-achieving students benefitted disproportionately from this approach. Students have responded positively to the use of writing in the course, many stating on course evaluations that this is the first time they have received instruction in scientific writing. They have also pointed to a greater 'big-picture' understanding of the course gained through writing. We describe the course and our curriculum, and provide suggestions for implementation as well as rubrics used to evaluate problem sets and student argumentation essays.« less

  13. Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Austin. Div. of Community and Technical Colleges.

    The Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM) is the official list of approved numbers for general academic transfer courses that may be offered by public community and technical colleges in Texas for state funding. This edition of the ACGM, effective September 1996, contains the latest information available for academic…

  14. Write on the Edge: Using a Chemistry Corpus to Develop Academic Writing Skills Resources for Undergraduate Chemists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bruce, M. L.; Coffer, P. K.; Rees, S.; Robson, J. M.

    2016-01-01

    Many undergraduate students find the production of an extended piece of academic writing challenging. This challenge is more acute in the sciences where production of extended texts is infrequent throughout undergraduate studies. This paper reports the development of a new English for Academic Purposes (EAP) workshop and associated resources for…

  15. Student Perceptions of Writing Projects in a University Differential-Equations Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Latulippe, Christine; Latulippe, Joe

    2014-01-01

    This qualitative study surveyed 102 differential-equations students in order to investigate how students participating in writing projects in university-level mathematics courses perceive the benefits of writing in the mathematics classroom. Based on previous literature on writing in mathematics, students were asked specifically about the benefits…

  16. Study Skills Course Impact on Academic Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wernersbach, Brenna M.; Crowley, Susan L.; Bates, Scott C.; Rosenthal, Carol

    2014-01-01

    Although study skills courses improve student retention, the impact of study skills courses on students' academic self-efficacy has not been investigated. The present study examined pre- and posttest levels of academic self-efficacy in college students enrolled in a study skills course (n = 126) compared to students enrolled in a general education…

  17. Environmental Change Science Literacy Through Writing: Successes in an Undergraduate Writing and Composition Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Small, J. D.

    2007-12-01

    Basic science literacy, especially with regards to environmental change science, is often lacking in traditional K- 12 and undergraduate education. This generally leads to broad misconceptions based on distorted presentations of science in the media. Current educational research suggests that the teaching and learning of science can happen in many ways, whether it is through lectures, labs, research, inquiry or informal learning activities. This study was motivated by the desire to investigate the ability to teach environmental change science content in the non-traditional mode of an undergraduate composition and writing course. This technique offers educators another option for the integration of climate and environmental change material into their curriculum. The study incorporates the assessment and evaluation of student writing, in-class participation and student self- evaluations from "Writing about Change: Global Environmental Change and Society" a writing course that fulfils a requirement to graduate from the University of California - Santa Cruz. The course was taught Winter Quarter 2007 with a total of 28 days of instruction and the participation of 20 undergraduate students. The overarching goals of this study can be broadly classified as attitudinal, skills development and content retention. This study was designed to address three broad questions related to the above broad goals: i) Did students leave the class more comfortable and confident with environmental change issues and content? ii) Did students develop skills that are useful for reading and writing about scientific material? iii) What did students learn (retain): more general concepts or specific facts regarding climate and environmental change? Preliminary analysis and coding of student work clearly show that students were successful in developing skills for understanding and utilizing scientific information via writing and making thoughtful judgments regarding the reliability of environmental

  18. Superordinate Precision: An Examination of Academic Writing Among Bilingual Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students.

    PubMed

    Scott, Jessica A; Hoffmeister, Robert J

    2018-04-01

    Academic English is an essential literacy skill area for success in post-secondary education and in many work environments. Despite its importance, academic English is understudied with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. Nascent research in this area suggests that academic English, alongside American Sign Language (ASL) fluency, may play an important role in the reading proficiency of DHH students in middle and high school. The current study expands this research to investigate academic English by examining student proficiency with a sub-skill of academic writing called superordinate precision, the taxonomical categorization of a term. Currently there is no research that examines DHH students' proficiency with superordinate precision. Middle and high school DHH students enrolled in bilingual schools for the deaf were assessed on their ASL proficiency, academic English proficiency, reading comprehension, and use of superordinate precision in definitions writing. Findings indicate that student use of superordinate precision in definitions writing was correlated with ASL proficiency, reading comprehension, and academic English proficiency. It is possible that degree of mastery of superordinate precision may indicate a higher overall level of proficiency with academic English. This may have important implications for assessment of and instruction in academic English literacy.

  19. "By-Products": The Added Value of Academic Writing Instruction for Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perpignan, Hadara; Rubin, Bella; Katznelson, Helen

    2007-01-01

    We previously defined the "by-products" of academic writing instruction as "affective and social changes perceived by students, "along with" changes in their writing, reflected in interpersonal and intrapersonal behaviors carried over into other spheres of their lives" [Katznelson, Perpignan, & Rubin, 2001. What…

  20. Engaging a "Pedagogy of Discomfort": Emotion as Critical Inquiry in Community-Based Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prebel, Julie

    2016-01-01

    This article revisits the scholarship on emotion in composition studies and extends this work through a consideration of emotion in community-based writing courses. With examples from student reflection essays from one such course, Writing With the Community, I explore emotion as a generative aspect of the students' semester writing projects for…

  1. Land-Use-Planning Writing Assignment for an Environmental-Geology Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carson, Robert James; Sadd, James Lester

    1991-01-01

    Describes writing environmental impact statement concerning land use as assignment in geology courses. Students select area, propose land-use project, analyze available literature, choose specific site within map area for project, and write report addressing site access, water supply, liquid and solid waste disposal, mitigation of environmental…

  2. Teaching Effectiveness, Course Evaluation, and Academic Performance: The Role of Academic Delay of Gratification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bembenutty, Hefer

    2009-01-01

    Academic delay of gratification is a significant and positive predictor of students' final course grades, even after controlling for the effect of their rating of the course, expected grade, and degree of interest, importance, and utility of the academic task. Students' expected course grades are by far the strongest predictor of their final…

  3. Calibrating Genre: Metacognitive Judgments and Rhetorical Effectiveness in Academic Writing by L2 Graduate Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Negretti, Raffaella

    2017-01-01

    Several strands of applied linguistic research have emphasized the importance of genre awareness for academic writing students. Although metacognitive behaviors have been linked to L2 writing proficiency and performance, there is still the need for an account of how and why different metacognitive behaviors can help L2 academic writers to apply…

  4. Diction and Expression in Error Analysis Can Enhance Academic Writing of L2 University Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sajid, Muhammad

    2016-01-01

    Without proper linguistic competence in English language, academic writing is one of the most challenging tasks, especially, in various genre specific disciplines by L2 novice writers. This paper examines the role of diction and expression through error analysis in English language of L2 novice writers' academic writing in interdisciplinary texts…

  5. International Graduate Students' Academic Writing Practices in Malaysia: Challenges and Solutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar

    2015-01-01

    This article focuses on the challenges faced by non-native English speaking international graduate students in their academic writing practices while they studied at a university in Malaysia as well as the solutions they employed when faced with the challenges. Academic Literacies Questionnaire was used to collect data. Based on 131 participants,…

  6. Critical Thinking and the Thematic Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilhoit, Stephen

    Composition instructors interested in fostering the development of their students' critical thinking skills can modify the thematic writing approach to that effect. Focusing an introductory composition course around one central theme, rather than on many, can offer students an explicit model of how knowledge, skills, and dispositions interact when…

  7. A Student-Led Feedback Protocol on Writing Assignments in a History of Mathematics Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Diana

    2014-01-01

    History of math courses are commonly offered in mathematics departments. Such courses naturally lend themselves to writing assignments, and a growing body of research supports writing as a means to learn mathematics. This article details two such assignments, providing an overview of the course in which they are situated, and a student-led…

  8. Academically Informed Creative Writing in LIS Programs and the Freedom to Be Creative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dali, Keren; Lau, Andrea; Risk, Kevin

    2015-01-01

    This article makes a case for the inclusion of creative writing in Library & Information Science (LIS) courses. Using an example of the course on reading practices and audiences, it shows how creative writing can contribute to the development of creativity, critical thinking, ability for self-direction and independent learning--all the…

  9. Mastering Academic Language: Organization and Stance in the Persuasive Writing of High School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Uccelli, Paola; Dobbs, Christina L.; Scott, Jessica

    2013-01-01

    Beyond mechanics and spelling conventions, academic writing requires progressive mastery of advanced language forms and functions. Pedagogically useful tools to assess such language features in adolescents' writing, however, are not yet available. This study examines language predictors of writing quality in 51 persuasive essays produced by high…

  10. Writing Strategy Instruction: Its Impact on Writing in a Second Language for Academic Purposes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Silva, Radhika

    2015-01-01

    Writing for academic purposes in a second/foreign language is a major challenge faced by many students at both secondary and tertiary levels. This suggests that displaying content knowledge and understanding of a subject through a second language is a very complex process. This article discusses the findings of a longitudinal intervention study…

  11. Ethnography as Method, Methodology, and "Deep Theorizing" Closing the Gap between Text and Context in Academic Writing Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lillis, Theresa

    2008-01-01

    This article critically explores the value of ethnography for enhancing context-sensitive approaches to the study of academic writing. Drawing on data from two longitudinal studies, student writing in the United Kingdom and professional academic writing in Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, and Portugal, the author illustrates the different contributions…

  12. Creating an Oasis: Some Insights into the Practice and Theory of a Successful Academic Writing Group

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wardale, D.; Hendrickson, T.; Jefferson, T.; Klass, D.; Lord, L.; Marinelli, M.

    2015-01-01

    Academic writing groups are acknowledged as a successful approach to increasing research publication output and quality. However, the possible links between the formation and ongoing utilisation of writing groups and improvements in scholarly written research outputs remain relatively undertheorised. In this article, we draw on academic writing…

  13. Mentor Texts and the Coding of Academic Writing Structures: A Functional Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Escobar Alméciga, Wilder Yesid; Evans, Reid

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the present pedagogical experience was to address the English language writing needs of university-level students pursuing a degree in bilingual education with an emphasis in the teaching of English. Using mentor texts and coding academic writing structures, an instructional design was developed to directly address the shortcomings…

  14. A Classification of Genre Families in University Student Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gardner, Sheena; Nesi, Hilary

    2013-01-01

    As demand for English-medium higher education continues to grow internationally and participation in higher education increases, the need for a better understanding of academic writing is pressing. Prior university wide taxonomies of student writing have relied on intuition, the opinions of faculty, or data from course documentation and task…

  15. Conceptual writing in college-level mathematics courses and its impact on performance and attitude

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Dyke, Frances; Malloy, Elizabeth J.; (Lyn) Stallings, Virginia

    2015-02-01

    This study looks at the impact of college students' writing on a regular basis about mathematical concepts. Specifically we examine the effect of this practice on performance and attitude while controlling for confounding factors. Two professors and a total of 97 students in four different classes participated in the study. Students in the writing groups were required to write a total of eight papers, each concentrating on an important concept in the course. All students were given a visual skills assessment at the beginning and end of the course. Students in the writing group were assessed to determine their attitude toward the writing assignments. Positive trends were associated with the writing group over the non-writing group in overall score and in all but one of six individual components. However, within the writing group, students' attitude toward writing in mathematics class was negative.

  16. The Use and Misuse of Academic Words in Writing: Analyzing the Writing of Secondary English Learners and Redesignated Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cons, Andrea Marie

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the specific ways secondary English learners (ELs) and redesignated fluent English-proficient learners (RFEPs) use academic vocabulary that assesses interpretive reading and analytical writing ability. The research examines how ELs and RFEPs, formerly ELs, differ in use and misuse of academic words. The study extends…

  17. A Writing Intensive Course in "Natural Disasters: Geoethics and the Layman"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fryer, P.

    2011-12-01

    One course with a contemporary ethics focus is a graduation requirement under the University of Hawaii at Manoa's General Education rules. The goal of the University of Hawaii General Education Committee is to encourage faculty to design ethics-focus courses for each field of undergraduate concentration. Undergraduate students are also required to take 5 writing intensive courses. It is permitted to combine the ethics and writing intensive foci in a given course, as long as one third of the course is devoted to each focus. The course I designed uses current disasters as the subject matter, thus course content varies from year to year. The prerequisite for enrollment is one introductory course in geoscience, to ensure students are familiar with basic geologic processes. I bring in geo-professionals, active in the fields we study, to discuss with students the realities of dealing with civil authorities, elected officials, the media, and the public during a natural disaster. This is one of the aspects of the course the students most enjoy. Such a course could be designed for any locality. Learning outcomes by which the students' work is assessed are as follows. The best student: (1) clearly identifies the inherent ethical choices and implications involved in the professional geoscientist's role during contemporary natural hazard situations; (2) gives evidence of understanding the effects of perspective, context, personal views as pertains to natural hazards; (3) specifies the decision-makers and stakeholders involved in hazard situations; (4) integrates clear descriptions of relevant ethical ambiguities/dilemmas into the overall analysis of a given hazard situation; (5) draws upon frameworks, principles of ethics to develop pertinent arguments and/or positions; (6) develops and presents alternate arguments/positions; (7) discusses and/or debates ethical issues with sensitivity to others' perspectives and the context, while also defending own position with logic and

  18. Promoting Writing for Research: The "Writing Retreat" Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, R. J.

    2012-01-01

    Research papers take a long time to write and in an academic environment where the "publish or perish" clause applies, writing retreats are a way of creating time and space to write academic articles in a concentrated period of time. This article examines ways in which academics can write more articles for publication. In particular it…

  19. Multimodal Composing as Healing: Toward a New Model for Writing as Healing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Molloy, Cathryn

    2016-01-01

    The course the author describes here, WRTC 426: Rhetorical "Ethos" and Personal Disclosures: Explorations in Trauma Writing and Writing as Healing, asks students to explore the "writing as healing" movement in English studies and beyond in order to evaluate the efficacy of claims that writing personal narratives can heal…

  20. Attitudes of the Preparatory Class Students towards the Writing Course and Their Attitude-Success Relationship in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paker, Turan; Erarslan, Ali

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to explore the attitudes of Turkish EFL students towards the writing course at university and to investigate the relationship between students' attitudes and their overall proficiency in writing. The participants were 782 students from various departments in the pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate levels in a…

  1. Development and Effects of a Writing and Thinking Course in Psychology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, E. Jean; Tuskenis, Albert D.; Howell, Glenna L.; Jaroszewski, Kimberly

    2011-01-01

    The authors developed and assessed a new undergraduate psychology course: Thinking and Writing in Psychology. A description of how the course was developed using the APA learning goals as well as results from an analysis of the course's effectiveness are offered. The course demonstrated a positive impact on the overall grade point average and…

  2. Reading and Writing as Academic Literacy in EAP Program of Indonesian Leaners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Solikhah, Imroatus

    2015-01-01

    This study investigates academic literacy imposed in reading and writing for academic purposes in the EAP program. This study uses descriptive design elaborating data from curriculum documents and interviews. Involving 45 participants from IAIN Surakarta and Veteran University, data were analyzed using constant-comparison and inductive analysis…

  3. A Writing and Ethics Component for a Quantum Mechanics, Physical Chemistry Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reilly, John T.; Strickland, Michael

    2010-01-01

    A writing-across-the-curriculum and ethics component is presented for a second-semester, physical chemistry course. The activity involves introducing ethical issues pertinent to scientists. Students are asked to read additional material, participate in discussions, and write essays and a paper on an ethical issue. The writing and discussion…

  4. Leveraging the Potential of Peer Feedback in an Academic Writing Activity through Sense-Making Support

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wichmann, Astrid; Funk, Alexandra; Rummel, Nikol

    2018-01-01

    The act of revising is an important aspect of academic writing. Although revision is crucial for eliminating writing errors and producing high-quality texts, research on writing expertise shows that novices rarely engage in revision activities. Providing information on writing errors by means of peer feedback has become a popular method in writing…

  5. A Creative Approach to the Research Paper: Combining Creative Writing with Academic Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blue, Tim

    2006-01-01

    This article describes a combination of a research essay and a creative writing assignment that encourages rigorous academic research while allowing students to get "outside the box" of traditional academic research papers. This assignment has five steps. The first two steps offer the chance to introduce academic research along with summary and…

  6. British Students' Academic Writing: Can Academia Help Improve the Writing Skills of Tomorrow's Professionals?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sultan, Nabil

    2013-01-01

    The problem of poor academic writing among British university students is a major cause of concern for universities and their tutors; and it is also of concern to employers struggling to recruit individuals able to communicate clearly and accurately. This article reports on a study designed to highlight some of the reasons for the lack of writing…

  7. Self-Efficacy and Preparation of Scholarly Writing: Online Doctoral Coursework to Comprehensive Examination--a Mixed Method Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Sonya C.

    2013-01-01

    Writing is seldom explicitly taught, most specifically, in academic and scholarly writing. Therefore, this mixed methods correlational phenomenology research study explored the correlation between self-efficacy perception and course room preparation for the comprehensive examination, APA standards in the course room, APA standards evaluation for…

  8. A "Virtual Fieldtrip": Service Learning in Distance Education Technical Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soria, Krista M.; Weiner, Brad

    2013-01-01

    This mixed-methods experimental study examined the effect of service learning in a distance education technical writing course. Quantitative analysis of data found evidence for a positive relationship between participation in service learning and technical writing learning outcomes. Additionally, qualitative analysis suggests that service learning…

  9. Washback to Learning Outcomes: A Comparative Study of IELTS Preparation and University Pre-Sessional Language Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Anthony

    2007-01-01

    This study investigated whether dedicated test preparation classes gave learners an advantage in improving their writing test scores. Score gains following instruction on a measure of academic writing skills--the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic writing test--were compared across language courses of three types; all…

  10. Academic Delay of Gratification and Self-Efficacy Enhance Academic Achievement among Minority College Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bembenutty, Hefer

    The direct and indirect effects of academic delay of gratification and self-efficacy on academic performance of minority college students (n=45) were evaluated. The students were enrolled in an introductory writing course as part of a summer immersion program at a Midwestern university. The results of this study support the notion that delay of…

  11. Reading and Writing Together: A Critical Component of English for Academic Purposes Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grabe, William; Zhang, Cui

    2013-01-01

    "As Kroll (1993), among others, has pointed out, reading has traditionally been seen as a skill to be taught separately from writing, as well as something students are somehow expected to already know about when they reach the writing course, Teaching reading in a writing course may seem like an odd idea, if not an entirely unnecessary one. It may…

  12. Missing: Electronic Feedback in Egyptian EFL Essay Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seliem, Soheir; Ahmed, Abdelhamid

    2009-01-01

    EFL essay writing is considered one of the most important academic courses in the teacher education programmes that should help develop students' skills to write cohesively and coherently. Teachers' feedback plays a crucial role in improving and enhancing the quality of students' written essays. The aim of the current study was to shed light on…

  13. Academic essay writing in the first person: a guide for undergraduates.

    PubMed

    Hamill, C

    In this article, Conal Hamill aims to contribute to the on-going debate about the appropriate use of first person writing in academic nursing assignments and provide guidance for nursing undergraduates.

  14. Supporting Academic Honesty in Online Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGee, Patricia

    2013-01-01

    Ensuring academic honesty is a challenge for traditional classrooms, but more so for online course where technology use is axiomatic to learning and instruction. With the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) requirement that online course providers reduce opportunities to cheat and verify student identity, all involved with course…

  15. Chemical Research Writing: A Preparatory Course for Student Capstone Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schepmann, Hala G.; Hughes, Laura A.

    2006-01-01

    A research writing course was developed to prepare chemistry majors to conduct and report on their capstone research projects. The course guides students through a multistep process of preparing a literature review and research proposal. Students learn how to identify and avoid plagiarism, critically read and summarize a scientific article,…

  16. Creative Writing and Learning in a Conceptual Astrophysics Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berenson, R.

    2012-08-01

    Creative writing assignments in a conceptual astrophysics course for liberal arts students can reduce student anxiety. This study demonstrates that such assignments also can aid learning as demonstrated by significantly improved performance on exams.

  17. Student perceptions of writing projects in a university differential-equations course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Latulippe, Christine; Latulippe, Joe

    2014-01-01

    This qualitative study surveyed 102 differential-equations students in order to investigate how students participating in writing projects in university-level mathematics courses perceive the benefits of writing in the mathematics classroom. Based on previous literature on writing in mathematics, students were asked specifically about the benefits of writing projects as a means to explore practical uses of mathematics, deepen content knowledge, and strengthen communication. Student responses indicated an awareness of these benefits, supporting justifications commonly cited by instructors assigning writing projects. Open-ended survey responses highlighted additional themes which students associated with writing in mathematics, including using software programs and technology, working in groups, and stimulating interest in mathematics. This study provides student feedback to support the use of writing projects in mathematics, as well as student input, which can be utilized to strengthen the impact of writing projects in mathematics.

  18. Caught between Two Stools? Academic Writing in "New" Vocational Disciplines in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strauss, Pat

    2017-01-01

    "New" vocational disciplines often struggle for acceptance in the academy. The marginalising of these disciplines impacts on their teaching and learning environment often to the detriment of staff and students. This study focuses both on the role academic writing plays in this marginalisation and how the teaching of such writing is…

  19. Deliberate False Provisions: The Use and Usefulness of Models in Learning Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macbeth, Karen P.

    2010-01-01

    Although models have been a mainstay of academic writing pedagogy for centuries, a recurrent critique has been that they control or limit student writing and misrepresent the affairs they claim to model. These insufficiencies notwithstanding, models are ubiquitous in the ordinary, practical world, and their usefulness to novices can easily go…

  20. Talking about Writing: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Adolescents' Socialization into Academic Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilliland, Elizabeth A.

    2012-01-01

    This dissertation describes and analyzes the academic language socialization of culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents through a multi-case ethnographic study of high school writing instruction in California. I argue that there is a significant gap between the norms for writing in English language development classes and those in the…

  1. The Space Between: Pedagogic Collaboration between a Writing Centre and an Academic Department

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mckay, Tracey Morton; Simpson, Zachary

    2013-01-01

    The expectations placed on students with respect to appropriate academic writing may hinder successful participation in Higher Education. Full participation is further complicated by the fact that each discipline within the University constitutes its own community of practice, with its own set of literacy practices. While Writing Centres aim to…

  2. The Use of Academic Words in the Analytical Writing of Secondary English Learners and Native English Speakers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cons, Andrea M.

    2013-01-01

    This study explores the following research question: How do secondary English learners (ELs) and Re-designated fluent English proficient students (RFEPs) use academic words in analytical writing in comparison to native English speakers (NESs)? It highlights previously overlooked differences in academic word use in the writing of students who are…

  3. Grant-Writing Courses in the United States: A Descriptive Review of Syllabi and Factors That Influence Instructor Choice of Course Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walsh, Bridget A.; Bonner, Dave; Springer, Victoria; Lalasz, Camille B.; Ives, Bob

    2013-01-01

    Little information exists about the structure and content of grant writing courses offered in the United States. To fill this gap, we used multiple data sources, including a content analysis of syllabi from 93 graduate-level grant writing courses in the United States, and an online survey that sought insight into (a) the ways in which textbooks…

  4. Thin Skin, Deep Damage: Addressing the Wounded Writer in the Basic Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boone, Stephanie D.

    2010-01-01

    How do institutions and their writing faculties see basic writers? What assumptions about these writers drive writing curricula, pedagogies and assessments? How do writing programs enable or frustrate these writers? How might course design facilitate the outcomes we envision? This article argues that, in order to teach basic writers to enter…

  5. Re-learning how to write: student successes and challenges in a targeted geoscience communication course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elwood Madden, M.; Miller-Deboer, C.; Eodice, M.; Miller, J.; Johnson, J.; Rifenburg, M.

    2013-12-01

    Students in OU's Geology and Geophysics (G&G) program must complete either English Technical Writing or a major-specific Geowriting class as sophomores or juniors. We asked students in Geowriting and students in a G&G colloquium course (required for G&G scholarship students and an elective for others) to complete surveys reporting their writing experiences and attitudes, as well as write an abstract for a Scientific American story to assess writing skills at the beginning and end of the semester. Geowriting students had stronger writing skills and more positive attitudes towards writing at the beginning of the semester than their colloquium peers, suggesting that students who were already interested and skilled in writing were self-selecting into the class. During the semester, Geowriting focused on improving the clarity, organization, efficiency, and mechanics of student writing and discussed how science writing is similar in some ways (argument, sentence structure, etc.), but also different in many aspects (concise, forthright, repetitive, etc) from writing tactics taught in high school and some college composition courses. Colloquium students attended the weekly scientific talks, but did not write in the class; however, some students were enrolled in freshman-level composition courses and Technical Writing. End-of-semester surveys showed Geowriting students had a more positive change in attitude and expectations towards writing than their colloquium peers. However, one significant difference in attitude towards writing was indicated by negative feelings towards in-class writing, which may be a result of 'writing fatigue' within the Geowriting group. This writing fatigue could be explained by student end-of -semester cognitive overload. Through other measures, colloquium students showed a greater improvement in writing skills (concise, clear, organized, etc) compared to Geowriting students; however, Geowriting students maintained higher skill levels than the

  6. Critical Argument and Writer Identity: Social Constructivism as a Theoretical Framework for EFL Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKinley, Jim

    2015-01-01

    This article makes the argument that we need to situate student's academic writing as socially constructed pieces of writing that embody a writer's cultural identity and critical argument. In support, I present and describe a comprehensive model of an original English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing analytical framework. This article explains…

  7. Placement of Students into First-Year Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliot, Norbert; Deess, Perry; Rudniy, Alex; Joshi, Kamal

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of the present study is to examine concurrent and predictive evidence used in the validation of ACCUPLACER, a purchased test used to place first-year students into writing courses at an urban, public research university devoted to science and technology education. Concurrent evidence was determined by correlations between ACCUPLACER…

  8. WikiTextbooks: Designing Your Course around a Collaborative Writing Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Katz, Brian P.; Thoren, Elizabeth

    2014-01-01

    We have used wiki technology to support large-scale, collaborative writing projects in which the students build reference texts (called WikiTextbooks). The goal of this paper is to prepare readers to adapt this idea for their own courses. We give examples of the implementation of WikiTextbooks in a variety of courses, including lecture and…

  9. The Intercultural Component in Textbooks for Teaching a Service Technical Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matveeva, Natalia

    2007-01-01

    This research article investigates new developments in the representation of the intercultural component in textbooks for a service technical writing course. Through textual analysis, using quantitative and qualitative techniques, I report discourse analysis of 15 technical writing textbooks published during 1993-2006. The theoretical and…

  10. The confounding factors leading to plagiarism in academic writing and some suggested remedies: A systematic review.

    PubMed

    Guraya, Salman Yousuf; Guraya, Shaista Salman

    2017-05-01

    There is a staggering upsurge in the incidence of plagiarism of scientific literature. Literature shows divergent views about the factors that make plagiarism reprehensible. This review explores the causes and remedies for the perennial academic problem of plagiarism. Data sources were searched for full text English language articles published from 2000 to 2015. Data selection was done using medical subject headline (MeSH) terms plagiarism, unethical writing, academic theft, retraction, medical field, and plagiarism detection software. Data extraction was undertaken by selecting titles from retrieved references and data synthesis identified key factors leading to plagiarism such as unawareness of research ethics, poor writing skills and pressure or publish mantra. Plagiarism can be managed by a balance among its prevention, detection by plagiarism detection software, and institutional sanctions against proven plagiarists. Educating researchers about ethical principles of academic writing and institutional support in training writers about academic integrity and ethical publications can curtail plagiarism.

  11. Introducing Past and Present Technical Writing into the Freshman Composition Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weaver, Laura H.

    Using technical writing in the regular freshman composition course stimulates student interest by having the appeal of novelty and expands the horizons of students in the humanities and the pure and applied sciences. To begin the unit, one might stimulate interest in the content and style of technical writing of the past by using Robert M.…

  12. From Photographs to Elegies: Engaging the Holocaust in a Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gamber, Cayo

    2010-01-01

    Teaching the Holocaust in a first-year writing course--using photographs of the Shoah as a primary resource--authorizes students to engage in research and writing that provides a place of empathetic, dignified witnessing for those who were denied the possibility of realizing the lives they were meant to live. The author believes that in engaging…

  13. On the Strategies of Graduation Thesis Writing Teaching of Translation Major Undergraduates Based on Eco-Translatology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Wang

    2017-01-01

    Graduation thesis is an indispensible procedure for each undergraduate, which is crucial for successful graduation, employment, further study and even further development. However, due to most undergraduates' ignorance of academic writing and the deficiency of current thesis writing course, thesis writing ability can hardly be enhanced and…

  14. The Impact of Peer Review on Writing in a Psychology Course: Lessons Learned

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bhullar, Naureen; Rose, Karen C.; Utell, Janine M.; Healey, Kathryn N.

    2014-01-01

    The authors assessed the impact of peer review on student writing in four sections of an undergraduate Developmental Psychology course. They hypothesized that peer review would result in better writing in the peer review group compared to the group with no peer review. Writing was rated independently by two instructors who were blind to the…

  15. Academic Writing in the Business School: The Genre of the Business Case Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nathan, Philip

    2013-01-01

    The writing of business case reports is a common requirement for students on academic business programmes and presents significant challenges for both native and non-native speaker students. In order to support the development of pedagogical practice in the teaching of case report writing, this paper reports a genre-based study of a corpus of 53…

  16. Writing Abilities Longitudinally Predict Academic Outcomes of Adolescents with ADHD

    PubMed Central

    Molitor, Stephen J.; Langberg, Joshuah M.; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D.; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Evans, Steven W.

    2016-01-01

    Students with ADHD often experience a host of negative academic outcomes and deficits in reading and mathematics abilities contribute to these academic impairments. Students with ADHD may also have difficulties with written expression but there has been minimal research in this area and it is not clear whether written expression abilities uniquely contribute to the academic functioning of students with ADHD. The current study included a sample of 104 middle school students diagnosed with ADHD (grades 6–8). Participants were followed longitudinally to evaluate whether written expression abilities at baseline predicted student GPA and parent ratings of academic impairment 18 months later, after controlling for reading ability and additional relevant covariates. Written expression abilities longitudinally predicted both academic outcomes above and beyond ADHD and ODD symptoms, medication use, reading ability, and baseline values of GPA and parent-rated academic impairment. Follow-up analyses revealed that no single aspect of written expression was demonstrably more impactful on academic outcomes than the others, suggesting that writing as an entire process should be the focus of intervention. PMID:26783650

  17. Difficulties in Academic Writing: From the Perspective of King Saud University Postgraduate Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Fadda, Hind

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine what difficulties King Saud University students encounter when learning to write academic English and to differentiate between students' learning needs and objectives. The sample consisted of 50 postgraduate students enrolled in King Saud University during the academic year 2009-2010. Analysis of the data…

  18. Effectiveness of Using Screencast Feedback on EFL Students' Writing and Perception

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ali, Amira Desouky

    2016-01-01

    This mixed-methods research was carried out to investigate the effect of screencast video feedback on the writing of freshmen, studying academic writing course at a university in Egypt, and explore their perception towards receiving screencast feedback. Two classes of 63 students were chosen to participate in this study and were assigned into two…

  19. Academic Boot Camp for the Writing of Psychology Research Reports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Skues, Jason L.; Wise, Lisa

    2014-01-01

    Herein, we describe the implementation of, and responses to, a structured writing workshop in the form of an academic boot camp. Participants were 42 undergraduate psychology students from a medium-sized Australian university who were completing their major assignment for the semester. A majority of the students expressed satisfaction with the…

  20. Team-Designed Improvement of Writing and Critical Thinking in Large Undergraduate Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernstein, Daniel; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer

    2014-01-01

    Helping students achieve advanced critical thinking and writing skills in large undergraduate classes is a challenge faced by many university faculty members. We addressed this challenge in a three-year project using team course design, built around a cognitive apprenticeship model, to enhance undergraduates' writing, critical thinking, and…

  1. Academic Writing for Graduate-Level English as a Second Language Students: Experiences in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sidman-Taveau, Rebekah; Karathanos-Aguilar, Katya

    2015-01-01

    Graduate-level ESL students in Education are future multicultural educators and promising role models for our diverse K-12 students. However, many of these students struggle with academic English and, in particular, writing. Yet little research or program development addresses the specific writing-support needs of this group. This article shares…

  2. Dynamic Development of Complexity and Accuracy: A Case Study in Second Language Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosmawati

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports on the development of complexity and accuracy in English as a Second Language (ESL) academic writing. Although research into complexity and accuracy development in second language (L2) writing has been well established, few studies have assumed the multidimensionality of these two constructs (Norris & Ortega, 2009) or…

  3. One-Credit Writing-Intensive Courses in the Disciplines: Results from a Study of Four Departments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deans, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    This study reports on learning outcomes of one-credit writing-intensive (W) courses in the disciplines at a large public university where three-credit W courses are the norm. An evaluation of 210 final papers from four departments--Allied Health, Animal Science, Economics, and Nutritional Sciences--revealed that writing outcomes, as defined and…

  4. Ethical and Unethical Methods of Plagiarism Prevention in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bakhtiyari, Kaveh; Salehi, Hadi; Embi, Mohamed Amin; Shakiba, Masoud; Zavvari, Azam; Shahbazi-Moghadam, Masoomeh; Ebrahim, Nader Ale; Mohammadjafari, Marjan

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses plagiarism origins, and the ethical solutions to prevent it. It also reviews some unethical approaches, which may be used to decrease the plagiarism rate in academic writings. We propose eight ethical techniques to avoid unconscious and accidental plagiarism in manuscripts without using online systems such as Turnitin and/or…

  5. Creative Writing Assignments in a Second Language Course: A Way to Engage Less Motivated Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arshavskaya, Ekaterina

    2015-01-01

    This article makes a case for using creative writing in a second language course. Creative writing increases students' enthusiasm for writing skills development and supports students' creativity, which is a fundamental aspect of education. In order to engage less motivated students, a series of creative writing assignments was implemented in a…

  6. Exploring Barriers and Solutions to Academic Writing: Perspectives from Students, Higher Education and Further Education Tutors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Itua, Imose; Coffey, Margaret; Merryweather, David; Norton, Lin; Foxcroft, Angela

    2014-01-01

    Staff and student perceptions of what constitutes good academic writing in both further and higher education often differ. This is reflected in written assignments which frequently fall below the expected standard. In seeking to develop the writing skills of students and propose potential solutions to writing difficulties, a study was conducted in…

  7. Implementation of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) learning approaches in social work and sociology gerontology courses.

    PubMed

    Kolb, Patricia

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the goals and methods of the international Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) movement in higher education, and WAC-enriched learning approaches that the author used in teaching a social work gerontology practice course and a sociological theories of aging course. The author's in-class, low-stakes, nongraded writing assignments facilitated students' development of knowledge about gerontological practice and sociological theories, as well as analytical thinking. The assignments are influenced by WAC's perspective that when students write their reactions to information, their understanding and retention of information improves; that writing can facilitate the application of new content to students' own lives and interests; and that increased frequency of writing increases writing comfort and maintenance and can result in the improvement of writing skills. The students' reactions to the assignments have been very positive.

  8. An analysis of reflective writing early in the medical curriculum: The relationship between reflective capacity and academic achievement.

    PubMed

    Ottenberg, Abigale L; Pasalic, Dario; Bui, Gloria T; Pawlina, Wojciech

    2016-07-01

    To examine the relationship between reflection, gender, residency choice, word count, and academic achievement among medical students. A modified version of the Reflection Evaluation for Learners' Enhanced Competencies Tool (REFLECT) was developed and used for this study (Cronbach's alpha of 0.86 with an intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] of 0.68). This was applied to writing samples about professionalism in gross anatomy from first-year medical students between 2005 and 2011. Four analysts reviewed and scored written reflections independently. Composite reflection scores were compared with gender, residency choice, length of written reflection, NBME® Gross Anatomy and Embryology Subject Examination scores, and final gross anatomy course. Total of 319 written reflections were evaluated. Female students who pursued medicine specialties had the highest composite reflection scores (87 [27.2%]). Word count frequently correlated with reflection score (p < 0.0001). Students who performed well on the NBME® Gross Anatomy and Embryology Subject Examination tended to achieve high anatomy course grades (p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant relationship between composite reflection scores and NBME® Gross Anatomy and Embryology Subject Examination scores (p = 0.16) or anatomy course grades (p = 0.90). This study suggests there are likely no correlations between reflective capacity and academic performance on tests of medical knowledge administered early in the medical curriculum.

  9. Exploring Students' Perceptions of Integrating Wiki Technology and Peer Feedback into English Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Wen-Chuan; Yang, Shu Ching

    2011-01-01

    This study applied Wiki technology and peer review to an English as a foreign language writing class. The objective was to investigate whether this system, as a collaborative platform, would improve students' writing skills. The study gauged students' perceptions about integrating a Wiki writing course and peer feedback. The participants were 32…

  10. Reviewing to Learn: Graduate Student Participation in the Professional Peer-Review Process to Improve Academic Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chittum, Jessica R.; Bryant, Lauren H.

    2014-01-01

    Although expectations for graduate students' writing abilities are high, their actual writing skills are often subpar (Cuthbert & Spark, 2008; Singleton-Jackson, Lumsden, & Newson, 2009), even though academic writing is considered integral to graduate education and necessary for career preparedness (e.g., Mullen, 2006; Stevens, 2005).…

  11. A mandatory course in scientific writing for undergraduate medical students.

    PubMed

    Roland, C G; Cox, B G

    1976-02-01

    All students at Mayo Medical School take a course in scientific writing during their sophomore and junior years. Early in the sophomore year they receive a self-instructional text designed to help them avoid 15 common writing faults. Comparison of pretest and posttest results for two classes, with a total of 89 students, indicates significant improvement (p less than .001). Later in his sophomore year, each student writes a minithesis; and during his junior year he reports on work done in a clinical or laboratory research project, preparing it as a paper submissible to a scientific journal. Professional editors work as preceptors with the students, critiquing their manuscripts, which are revised until they receive satisfactory ratings.

  12. Writing abilities longitudinally predict academic outcomes of adolescents with ADHD.

    PubMed

    Molitor, Stephen J; Langberg, Joshua M; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D; Dvorsky, Melissa R; Evans, Steven W

    2016-09-01

    Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience a host of negative academic outcomes, and deficits in reading and mathematics abilities contribute to these academic impairments. Students with ADHD may also have difficulties with written expression, but there has been minimal research in this area and it is not clear whether written expression abilities uniquely contribute to the academic functioning of students with ADHD. The current study included a sample of 104 middle school students diagnosed with ADHD (Grades 6-8). Participants were followed longitudinally to evaluate whether written expression abilities at baseline predicted student grade point average (GPA) and parent ratings of academic impairment 18 months later, after controlling for reading ability and additional relevant covariates. Written expression abilities longitudinally predicted both academic outcomes above and beyond ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms, medication use, reading ability, and baseline values of GPA and parent-rated academic impairment. Follow-up analyses revealed that no single aspect of written expression was demonstrably more impactful on academic outcomes than the others, suggesting that writing as an entire process should be the focus of intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. Toward a Student-Centered Understanding of Intensive Writing and Writing-to-Learn in the Spanish Major: An Examination of Advanced L2 Spanish Students' Learning in the Writing-Intensive Spanish Content Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strong, Robert Marvin

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to build upon our understanding of the place and value of writing in the advanced foreign language curriculum. Specifically, the study examines how students in writing-intensive Spanish-major courses are affected by the writing-intensive (WI) requirement at the University of Minnesota. Writing-Across-the-Curriculum…

  14. Automated Writing Evaluation for Non-Native Speaker English Academic Writing: The Case of IADE and Its Formative Feedback

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cotos, Elena

    2010-01-01

    This dissertation presents an innovative approach to the development and empirical evaluation of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) technology used for teaching and learning. It introduces IADE (Intelligent Academic Discourse Evaluator), a new web-based AWE program that analyzes research article Introduction sections and generates immediate,…

  15. An Elective Course to Foster Interest in Academic Pharmacy Career Opportunities.

    PubMed

    Spooner, Joshua J; Kennedy, Daniel R

    2017-02-25

    Objective. To create an elective course to foster student interest in pursuing a career in academic pharmacy. Design. The course met for two hours once weekly throughout the semester and required student attendance at the AACP Annual Meeting. The course included didactic instruction, a student-designed individual teaching seminar, design and implementation of a research project for presentation at a national meeting, and drafting of a manuscript suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Assessment. Student evaluations revealed strong agreement that the course met the stated objectives. Follow-up correspondence indicated that almost 70% were likely to pursue an academic career and felt the course gave them advantages over their peers in this regard. Conclusion. The outcomes from this elective course and follow-up surveys confirmed that the majority of participants were planning on pursuing an academic pharmacy career and felt the course increased their readiness to do so.

  16. Reconsiderations: We Got the Wrong Gal--Rethinking the "Bad" Academic Writing of Judith Butler

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birkenstein, Cathy

    2010-01-01

    It is hard to think of a writer whose work has been more prominently upheld as an example of bad academic writing than the philosopher and literary theorist Judith Butler. In 1998, Butler was awarded first prize in the annual Bad Writing Contest established by the journal "Philosophy and Literature," and early in 1999, was lampooned in an…

  17. The Effect of Journal Writing on Students' Cognitive Critical Thinking Skills: "A Quasi-Experimental Research on an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Undergraduate Classroom in Egypt"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaarawy, Hanaa Youssef

    2014-01-01

    Based on writing weekly academic journals and on Bloom's (1984) taxonomy of cognitive critical thinking skills, this article reports on a quasi-experiment where journal writing was an additional task to an academic writing course. The experiment was carried out with first year university students (semester two) in one of the Egyptian private…

  18. It's Not "Just the Facts, Ma'am": Writing for Success in Career Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Converse, Caren Wakerman

    2012-01-01

    Writing across the secondary curriculum has been viewed primarily through the lens of traditional academic courses taught in comprehensive high schools. In this paper the author draws on her past experience as a criminal justice teacher at a career and technical high school to describe writing that facilitates and demonstrates learning of subject…

  19. Strengthening Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bodnar, Julie R.; Petrucelli, Susan L.

    2016-01-01

    Underprepared students often need assistance building writing skills and maintaining confidence in their abilities and potential. The authors share the philosophy, pedagogy, and experience of freshman developmental education and the writing center at a four-year, private, not-for-profit urban college. They describe high-impact educational…

  20. Diagnosing University Students' Academic Writing in English: Is Cognitive Diagnostic Modelling the Way Forward?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xie, Qin

    2017-01-01

    The study utilised a fine-grained diagnostic checklist to assess first-year undergraduates in Hong Kong and evaluated its validity and usefulness for diagnosing academic writing in English. Ten English language instructors marked 472 academic essays with the checklist. They also agreed on a Q-matrix, which specified the relationships among the…

  1. Competence in Lexical Boosters and Nativeness in Academic Writing of English: The Possible Relation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Demir, Cüneyt

    2017-01-01

    Boosters are an important metadiscourse device for writers because it creates an emphatic impression in the reader. In addition, the competence of metadiscourse devices such as boosters is crucial in having native-fluency in academic writing. Therefore, this avoidance of using boosters may spawn foreignness in non-native writers' academic texts.…

  2. An Elective Course to Foster Interest in Academic Pharmacy Career Opportunities

    PubMed Central

    Spooner, Joshua J.

    2017-01-01

    Objective. To create an elective course to foster student interest in pursuing a career in academic pharmacy. Design. The course met for two hours once weekly throughout the semester and required student attendance at the AACP Annual Meeting. The course included didactic instruction, a student-designed individual teaching seminar, design and implementation of a research project for presentation at a national meeting, and drafting of a manuscript suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Assessment. Student evaluations revealed strong agreement that the course met the stated objectives. Follow-up correspondence indicated that almost 70% were likely to pursue an academic career and felt the course gave them advantages over their peers in this regard. Conclusion. The outcomes from this elective course and follow-up surveys confirmed that the majority of participants were planning on pursuing an academic pharmacy career and felt the course increased their readiness to do so. PMID:28289303

  3. Concordancers and Dictionaries as Problem-Solving Tools for ESL Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yoon, Choongil

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated how 6 Korean ESL graduate students in Canada used a suite of freely available reference resources, consisting of Web-based corpus tools, Google search engines, and dictionaries, for solving linguistic problems while completing an authentic academic writing assignment in English. Using a mixed methods design, the…

  4. Graduate Students' Needs and Preferences for Written Feedback on Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this research is to examine graduate students' needs and preferences for written feedback on academic writing from their lecturers and thesis supervisors. Quantitative method via survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 21 respondents. The data collection involved Master and Doctorate students at a tertiary level institution…

  5. "Daughter of Time": Outside Reading for a Research Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sosville, Jerri

    1987-01-01

    Presents an alternative to the usual selections taught in research paper writing courses. Suggests that Josephine Tey's novel is more relevant and enjoyable, as well as better suited for research projects, than, for example, "1984" or "The Sound and the Fury." (HTH)

  6. A Mandatory Course in Scientific Writing for Undergraduate Medical Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roland, Charles G.; Cox, Barbara G.

    1976-01-01

    Describes a course required for Mayo Medical School students that includes a self-instructional test on 15 common writing faults, a minithesis, and a clinical laboratory research project prepared as a paper submissible to a scientific journal and critiqued by professional editors. (JT)

  7. Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions on Game Based Learning Scenarios in Primary Reading and Writing Instruction Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karadag, Ruhan

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions on the use of game-based learning in a Primary Reading and Writing Instruction Course. A mixed method research was used in the study. Participants were composed of a total of 189 pre-service teachers taking the Primary Reading and Writing Instruction course during the fall term…

  8. Writing in the Professions: A Course Guide and Instructional Materials for an Advanced Composition Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goswami, Dixie; And Others

    Intended for teachers of an advanced undergraduate composition course for majors in any of the liberal arts, social sciences, humanities, or business, this manual offers an outline, instructional materials, and some suggested assignments. Emphasis is placed on the process of composing, particularly the ways students should write for different…

  9. Collaborative Writing among Second Language Learners in Academic Web-Based Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kessler, Greg; Bikowski, Dawn; Boggs, Jordan

    2012-01-01

    This study investigates Web-based, project oriented, many-to-many collaborative writing for academic purposes. Thirty-eight Fulbright scholars in an orientation program at a large Midwestern university used a Web-based word processing tool to collaboratively plan and report on a research project. The purpose of this study is to explore and…

  10. Stigma, Tensions, and Apprehension: The Academic Writing Experience of International Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maringe, Felix; Jenkins, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper examines the experiences of engaging with academic writing of international doctoral students in the schools of humanities and education at a UK university. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the real accounts of international students whose cultural and language backgrounds are often marginalised and considered, not as…

  11. Education the Way Ahead? An Evaluation of a Pilot Course on Scenario Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Viebahn, Peter; Hilton, Gillian

    2006-01-01

    Scenario writing is a method to promote creative thinking and a proactive approach to dealing with the future. ATEE's Research and Development Centre "Curricula in Teacher Education" has adapted this method for use in teacher education. A Comenius funded course on Scenario writing was run over five days with teachers, teacher--educators,…

  12. Writing in the Natural Sciences and Engineering: Implications for ESL Composition Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braine, George

    A study investigated the types of writing assignments commonly found in undergraduate natural sciences and engineering courses. The study was used as a basis for the development of composition courses for limited-English-speaking students in these fields, the most popular fields of study among foreign students. Eighty take-home assignments given…

  13. A Case Study into the Writing of Chinese Postgraduate Students in a UK Academic Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lan, Feng

    2015-01-01

    This case study explores the problematic issues in academic writing of three Chinese postgraduate students studying in UK academic environment. It aims to attempt to identify mismatches in lecturer and postgraduate student expectations and to understand the reasoning behind these mismatches from the students' perspective. This study was carried…

  14. Academic Rigor in General Education, Introductory Astronomy Courses for Nonscience Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brogt, Erik; Draeger, John D.

    2015-01-01

    We discuss a model of academic rigor and apply this to a general education introductory astronomy course. We argue that even without central tenets of professional astronomy-the use of mathematics--the course can still be considered academically rigorous when expectations, goals, assessments, and curriculum are properly aligned.

  15. Disciplinary Epistemologies, Generic Attributes and Undergraduate Academic Writing in Nursing and Midwifery

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gimenez, Julio

    2012-01-01

    Generic attributes such as "holding a critical stance", "using evidence to support claims", and "projecting an impersonal voice" are central to disciplinary academic writing in higher education. These attributes, also referred to as "skills", have for a long time been conceptualised as transferable in that…

  16. Writing Experiences and Expectations of African American Students: Two Year College Composition Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khan, Sakeena

    2017-01-01

    This dissertation study has sought to understand both the experiences and expectations provided to students participating in a single basic writing course at a two-year college. Analysis of student writing artifacts, with the goal of comparing 21st century student written purpose with the written purposes shown in 19th century African American…

  17. Introducing a Writing Coach into an MBA Course: Perspectives of Students and Coaches

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rice-Bailey, Tammy; Baker, Kimberly S.

    2017-01-01

    This article describes an interdisciplinary partnership that resulted in the introduction of a writing coach into an MBA class on critical and analytical thinking. By examining the response to this role by the writing coaches themselves and by the students enrolled in three sections of this new course, this exploratory study endeavors to answer…

  18. Report on WRITE; A Computer Assisted Instruction Course in Written English Usage.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunwell, Stephen; And Others

    A computer-assisted instructional (CAI) course, WRITE, was used at the Poughkeepsie, New York, Middle School to help 5th through 8th graders with spelling and word usage problems. The course used the Coursewriter III language and an IBM System/360 computer; students received self-paced instructional programs at typewriter terminals. All teaching…

  19. Lexical Bundles in the Academic Writing of Advanced Chinese EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wei, Yaoyu; Lei, Lei

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigated the use of lexical bundles in the academic writing of advanced Chinese EFL learners. A corpus of doctoral dissertations by the learners and a corpus of published journal articles by professional writers were collected for the study. Four-word lexical bundles in the two corpora were identified and analysed. Results…

  20. Repeatable Writing Assignments to Enhance Student Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiebold, W. J.; And Others

    1990-01-01

    Discussed is the use of two short writing assignments and a peer review system in an undergraduate agronomy course to improve writing skills and the learning of agronomic principles. Provided is a course description and procedures used in the course. Student evaluation in the course is reviewed. (CW)

  1. Writing Goes Back to School: Exploring the "Institutional Practice of Mystery" in a Graduate Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stooke, Rosamund K.; Hibbert, Kathryn

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on a qualitative case study of writing practices and pedagogies in one Canadian graduate Education program, this article discusses roles and responsibilities of course instructors for teaching and supporting academic writing at the master's level. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 14 graduate…

  2. An Interview Study of Learner Motivation and Learner Involvement in Mandatory College-Level Academic Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vanniarajan, Swathi M.

    2011-01-01

    Scholarship in applied linguistics has not sufficiently addressed learner motivation in mandatory writing classes in postsecondary settings. The data collected through short interviews from 20 students enrolled in a mandatory academic writing program at the junior/senior level in a California State University indicated that learner motivation in…

  3. Graduate Students as Academic Writers: Writing Anxiety, Self-Efficacy and Emotional Intelligence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huerta, Margarita; Goodson, Patricia; Beigi, Mina; Chlup, Dominique

    2017-01-01

    Researchers interested in psychological factors affecting writers in higher-education institutions, or academic writers, are concerned with internal variables affecting writing productivity; however few empirical studies explore these factors with samples of students who are in the process of earning master's or doctoral degrees (i.e., graduate…

  4. Transforming and Constructing Academic Knowledge through Online Peer Feedback in Summary Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yu-Fen

    2016-01-01

    Recognizing that graduate students seldom have the opportunity to participate collaboratively, either in providing or receiving feedback to improve their academic writing skills, this study reports on the design of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) system used to investigate how graduate students transform and construct their…

  5. Promoting critical thinking and academic writing skills in nurse education.

    PubMed

    Borglin, Gunilla

    2012-07-01

    Although academic skills, conceptualised as writing and critical thinking, are a vital part of university studies, research indicates that many students leave without having mastered these skills effectively. This research also reflects on nursing students. Nursing could also be said to be hampered by a number of complex educational challenges that are likely to impact on the academic socialisation process in general. These challenges include being a relatively 'young' academic discipline, the 'theory-practice' divide, a knowledge bed lying on a complex intersection of two 'antithetical sciences' and, at least in the Scandinavian countries, an increasing number of nurse educators with a PhD in nursing science but with limited time to develop their own teaching skills. In combination, these challenges have the potential to act as stumbling blocks, both from a teaching and learning perspective. I would suggest that a departure in teaching from theoretical educational models, such as Lea and Street's 'academic literacies model,' including skills, socialisation and academic literacy models simultaneously, could be one of several ways forward to create a learning environment that takes these issues into account. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Getting "Writing Ready" at the University of Washington: Developing Metacognition at a Time of Academic Transition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zinchuk, Jennifer Eidum

    2017-01-01

    Within the field of Writing Studies, metacognition is rapidly being recognized as essential for the effective transfer of knowledge across contexts. This program profile describes a pre-college writing course at the University of Washington that builds metacognition, confidence, and fluency in writing. Through program evaluations, student surveys,…

  7. Autobiographical Writing in the Technical Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gellis, Mark

    2011-01-01

    Professionals in the workplace are rarely asked to write autobiographical essays. Such essays, however, are an excellent tool for helping students explore their growth as professionals. This article explores the use of such essays in a technical writing class.

  8. Nursing students' understanding of critical thinking and appraisal and academic writing: a descriptive, qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Borglin, Gunilla; Fagerström, Cecilia

    2012-11-01

    In Sweden, regulations from the National Agency for Higher Education advocate an education that equips students with independence as well as critical, problem-based thinking, i.e. academic literacy skills. However, some research findings indicate that students may leave higher education without mastering these skills effectively. As part of quality-assuring a nursing programme at a university college in south-east Sweden we explored the nursing student's view of crucial academic literacy skills, such as critical thinking and appraisal and academic writing, by conducting a descriptive, qualitative study. Informants were recruited through an advertisement posted on the university's e-learning tool. Eight focused interviews were conducted during autumn 2010. The transcribed interviews were analysed - inspired by content analysis - and two categories became apparent: constantly questioning and formality before substance. The latter revealed a gap between the student's perception of academic writing and that of the educators, thus implying that nursing students might not be equipped with the tools they need to develop within academia. We suggest that students could benefit in their academic endeavours from theoretical educational models that integrate several academic skills simultaneously and which could be incorporated into the development of syllabuses and curriculums. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Writing to Learn: An Evaluation of the Calibrated Peer Review™ Program in Two Neuroscience Courses

    PubMed Central

    Prichard, J. Roxanne

    2005-01-01

    Although the majority of scientific information is communicated in written form, and peer review is the primary process by which it is validated, undergraduate students may receive little direct training in science writing or peer review. Here, I describe the use of Calibrated Peer Review™ (CPR), a free, web-based writing and peer review program designed to alleviate instructor workload, in two undergraduate neuroscience courses: an upper- level sensation and perception course (41 students, three assignments) and an introductory neuroscience course (50 students; two assignments). Using CPR online, students reviewed primary research articles on assigned ‘hot’ topics, wrote short essays in response to specific guiding questions, reviewed standard ‘calibration’ essays, and provided anonymous quantitative and qualitative peer reviews. An automated grading system calculated the final scores based on a student’s essay quality (as determined by the average of three peer reviews) and his or her accuracy in evaluating 1) three standard calibration essays, 2) three anonymous peer reviews, and 3) his or her self review. Thus, students were assessed not only on their skill at constructing logical, evidence-based arguments, but also on their ability to accurately evaluate their peers’ writing. According to both student self-reports and instructor observation, students’ writing and peer review skills improved over the course of the semester. Student evaluation of the CPR program was mixed; while some students felt like the peer review process enhanced their understanding of the material and improved their writing, others felt as though the process was biased and required too much time. Despite student critiques of the program, I still recommend the CPR program as an excellent and free resource for incorporating more writing, peer review, and critical thinking into an undergraduate neuroscience curriculum. PMID:23493247

  10. The Effect of Group Research and Cooperative Reading-Writing-Application Techniques in the Unit of "What Is the Earth's Crust Made Of?" on The Academic Achievements of the Students and the Permanent

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aksoy, Gokhan; Gurbuz, Fatih

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the group research technique and cooperative reading-writing application technique in the science and technology course in the unit of "what is the Earth's crust made of" on the academic achievement of the students and whether the change observed in the student achievement is permanent…

  11. Error Analysis in Academic Writing: A Case of International Postgraduate Students in Malaysia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amiri, Fatemeh; Puteh, Marlia

    2017-01-01

    This paper examines the different types of writing errors performed by 16 international postgraduate students undertaking an intensive English course at a public university in Malaysia. It was mandatory for international postgraduate students who obtained less than IELTS Band 6 to undertake an Intensive English Course (IEC) offered by the…

  12. Using Peer Review to Improve Student Writing in Business Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rieber, Lloyd J.

    2006-01-01

    Student peer review has proven an effective technique for improving student writing in both English and business communication classes, yet the technique is not widely used in business courses other than business communication. In this article, the author discusses using student peer review in business classes to improve students' final written…

  13. Action Research: Applying a Bilingual Parallel Corpus Collocational Concordancer to Taiwanese Medical School EFL Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reynolds, Barry Lee

    2016-01-01

    Lack of knowledge in the conventional usage of collocations in one's respective field of expertise cause Taiwanese students to produce academic writing that is markedly different than more competent writing. This is because Taiwanese students are first and foremost English as a Foreign language (EFL) readers and may have difficulties picking up on…

  14. Technology to Support Writing by Students with Learning and Academic Disabilities: Recent Research Trends and Findings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson-Karlan, George R.

    2011-01-01

    The trends and findings from a descriptive analysis of 25 years of research studies examining the effectiveness of technology to support the compositional writing of students with learning and academic disabilities are presented. A corpus of 85 applied research studies of writing technology effectiveness was identified from among 249 items in the…

  15. Prospective Science Teachers' Attitudes and Views of Using Journal Writing in the "Methods of Teaching Science" Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ambusaidi, Abdullah

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of prospective science teachers at Sultan Qaboos University towards and their views about using journal writing in the Methods of Teaching Science course. Twenty-six prospective science teachers were asked to write about each topic in the course in their journal to show their understanding of…

  16. Academic Writing in Korea: Its Dynamic Landscape and Implications for Intercultural Rhetoric

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Eun-Young Julia

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies on intercultural rhetoric have frequently drawn from examples from Asian writers, especially those of Chinese and Japanese origin, but relatively little information has surfaced in scholarly literature regarding L2 writers from Korea. To fill this gap, this article provides an overview of how academic writing is conceived and…

  17. An International Journal's Attempts to Address Inequalities in Academic Publishing: Developing a Writing for Publication Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lillis, Theresa; Magyar, Anna; Robinson-Pant, Anna

    2010-01-01

    Scholars around the world are under increasing pressure to publish in English, in Anglophone centre journals. At the same time, research on professional academic writing indicates that scholars from outside Anglophone centre contexts face considerable obstacles in getting their academic work published in such journals, relating to material and…

  18. A Comparison of Student Academic Motivations across Three Course Disciplines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maurer, Trent W.; Allen, Deborah; Gatch, Delena Bell; Shankar, Padmini; Sturges, Diana

    2013-01-01

    Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of undergraduate students enrolled in human anatomy and physiology, physics, and nutrition courses were explored with course discipline-specific adapted versions of the Academic Motivation Scale. Information on students' study habits and efforts, and final course grades were also collected. Results revealed the…

  19. An Analysis of Writing Activities in the Student Workbooks of a Secondary-Level Turkish Language Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Çerçi, Arif

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to analyze writing activities in the student workbooks of a secondary-level Turkish language course (grades 5 to 8) according to the principles of progressive writing. The study is descriptive and employs content analysis as a qualitative research paradigm. The writing activities of the books in this study all…

  20. Perspectives of EFL Doctoral Students on Challenges of Citations in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jomaa, Nayef Jomaa; Bidin, Siti Jamilah

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Citation is vital in academic writing but particularly challenging for novice writers who use English as a second or foreign language. While much is known about citations types and functions, scarce knowledge is available about what makes citing a complicated procedure. Hence, this study explores the difficulties in citing and integrating…

  1. Linking Adverbials in Academic Writing on Applied Linguistics by Chinese Doctoral Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lei, Lei

    2012-01-01

    The present paper reports an investigation into the use of linking adverbials in the academic writing of Chinese doctoral students. The learner corpus used in the present study is composed of 20 applied linguistics doctoral dissertations. We also compiled a control corpus of 120 published articles in six international journals of applied…

  2. Lexical Bundles and the Construction of an Academic Voice in Business Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mhedhbi, Malek

    2014-01-01

    Most previous studies on disciplinary academic writing focused on the structures in research articles or linguistic realizations of each move (Lau, 2004; Hyland, 2000). Few have been conducted to address the interpersonal aspect of disciplinary discourse texts. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of lexical bundles' (LBs) awareness…

  3. Integrating Scientific Argumentation to Improve Undergraduate Writing and Learning in a Global Environmental Change Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koffman, Bess G.; Kreutz,Karl J.; Trenbath, Kim

    2017-01-01

    We present a strategy for using scientific argumentation in an early undergraduate laboratory course to teach disciplinary writing practices and to promote critical thinking, knowledge transformation, and understanding of the scientific method. The approach combines targeted writing instruction; data analysis and interpretation; formulation of a…

  4. Gender Differences in Academic Achievement: Is Writing an Exception to the Gender Similarities Hypothesis?

    PubMed

    Reynolds, Matthew R; Scheiber, Caroline; Hajovsky, Daniel B; Schwartz, Bryanna; Kaufman, Alan S

    2015-01-01

    The gender similarities hypothesis by J. S. Hyde ( 2005 ), based on large-scale reviews of studies, concludes that boys and girls are more alike than different on most psychological variables, including academic skills such as reading and math (J. S. Hyde, 2005 ). Writing is an academic skill that may be an exception. The authors investigated gender differences in academic achievement using a large, nationally stratified sample of children and adolescents ranging from ages 7-19 years (N = 2,027). Achievement data were from the conormed sample for the Kaufman intelligence and achievement tests. Multiple-indicator, multiple-cause, and multigroup mean and covariance structure models were used to test for mean differences. Girls had higher latent reading ability and higher scores on a test of math computation, but the effect sizes were consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis. Conversely, girls scored higher on spelling and written expression, with effect sizes inconsistent with the gender similarities hypothesis. The findings remained the same after controlling for cognitive ability. Girls outperform boys on tasks of writing.

  5. Examining the Academic Counseling Courses as a Support Service in Distance Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cekerol, Kamil; Bozkaya, Mujgan

    2010-01-01

    Academic counseling courses, in which learner support is provided in a face-to-face environment, maintain their importance and continuity since the beginning of the distance education system in Anadolu University. Academic counseling courses, which are carried out by getting support from various universities, are conducted by bringing the…

  6. Student Perception of Academic Writing Skills Activities in a Traditional Programming Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cilliers, Charmain B.

    2012-01-01

    Employers of computing graduates have high expectations of graduates in terms of soft skills, the most desirable of these being communication skills. Not only must the graduates exhibit writing skills, but they are expected to be highly proficient therein. The consequence of this expectation is not only performance pressure exerted on the…

  7. [Graduate Students in Medicine Course: Motivation, Socialization and Academic Recognition].

    PubMed

    Magalhães-Alves, Cristina; Barbosa, Joselina; Ribeiro, Laura; Ferreira, Maria Amélia

    2017-04-28

    Students with a previous degree have personal and professional experiences that can contribute to a different academic path during the medical course. This study aims to: 1) analyze both satisfaction and impact of academic recognition; 2) investigate whether motivations and expectations at entrance are maintained along the course; 3) to evaluate socialization after regress to higher education. To accomplish the first objective a questionnaire was administered to 82 students who entered the medical school from 2011/2012 to 2013/2014. For the second and third goals a focus group was run (three groups with five students each, representing the three academic years). Students felt satisfied with the recognition, and 50% of them believe that accreditations replace knowledge acquired with the curricular units, and 47% preferred to obtain accreditation. Academic achievement was negatively associated with the satisfaction of recognition and positively with age, background and registration cycle. Socialization of these students is distinct from the younger ones, their motivations at entrance are intrinsic and, contrary to expectations, are maintained along the course. Students prefer recognition instead of attending the curricular units. The most satisfied with the recognition accomplish less credits and the younger ones, from health area and enrolled in the clinical cycle, accomplish more. Along the course, motivations become more solid, expectations change and socialization is carried out with greater responsibility.

  8. Voices of Chinese Post-­80s Students in English Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Que, Hua; Li, Xuemei

    2015-01-01

    This study looks into the changing voice of Chinese Post-80s' students in English academic writing. Data were collected qualitatively through interviews with four Chinese Post-80s overseas graduate students and through an examination of their English essays with a focus on discursive features. Findings indicate that Chinese Post-80s' voice is…

  9. Tutor Feedback on Draft Essays: Developing Students' Academic Writing and Subject Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Court, Krista

    2014-01-01

    Providing feedback on draft essays is an accepted means of enacting a social-constructivist approach to assessment, aligning with current views on the value of formative feedback and assessment for learning (AFL). However, the use of this process as a means of improving not only content but also students' academic writing skills has not been…

  10. EFL Students' Attitudes towards Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abadikhah, Shirin; Aliyan, Zahra; Talebi, Seyed Hassan

    2018-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate EFL university students' attitude towards self-regulated learning strategies in writing academic papers. A further aim of the study was to compare the attitudes of two groups of university students (third and fourth years) in the employment of self-regulated learning strategies to find out whether…

  11. Applying Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model to develop an online English writing course for nursing students.

    PubMed

    Tai, Hung-Cheng; Pan, Mei-Yu; Lee, Bih-O

    2015-06-01

    Learning English as foreign language and computer technology are two crucial skills for nursing students not only for the use in the medical institutions but also for the communication needs following the trend of globalization. Among language skills, writing has long been ignored in the curriculums although it is a core element of language learning. To apply the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) model to design an online English writing course for nursing students, and to explore the effects of the course to the students' learning progress as well as their satisfactions and perceptions. A single-group experimental study, utilizing the CEEC (College Entrance Examination Center) writing grading criteria and a self-designed course satisfaction questionnaire, is used. Fifty one nursing students who were in their first/four semesters of the two year vocational pre-registration nursing course in a Taiwan university were selected using convenience sampling. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated measure MANOVA. Qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. Students' writing competence had been improved significantly in every dimension after the instruction. Only half of the learners preferred online writing compared to the traditional way of writing by hand. Additionally, participants reported that they would prefer to receive feedback from the teacher than peers, yet they did not like the indirect feedback. The teacher perceived the course as meaningful but demanding for both learning and teaching sides. To implement the peer review activities and give feedback on time were two major challenges during the cycles. The TPACK model suggests a comprehensive and effective teaching approach that can help enhance nursing students' English writing performance. Teachers are advised to consider its implementation when designing their syllabus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. The Professor-Librarian: Academic Librarians Teaching Credit-Bearing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sobel, Karen; Ramsey, Peter; Jones, Galin

    2018-01-01

    Many academic librarians have ideas or opportunities for teaching information literacy courses for the library, outside the scope of their regular positions. Some additional librarians are asked to consider teaching credit-bearing courses for other departments at their institutions, based on graduate degrees they hold in fields besides library…

  13. Facts, Artifacts and Counterfacts: Theory and Method for a Reading and Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bartholomae, David; Petrosky, Anthony R.

    The product of a course at the University of Pittsburgh, this book offers educators the opportunity to see how the acts of reading, writing, and thinking that characterize work in academia appear to those students who lack adequate preparation for such work--namely, basic writers. The introduction to the book presents an overview of the course and…

  14. Making Sense of Power Relations in a Malaysian English-as-a-Second-Language Academic Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abraham, Alison

    2014-01-01

    The role of power in an English-as-a-second-language classroom has yet to be fully explored by an action research practitioner, especially in a Malaysian higher education setting. This study aims to contribute to this gap by working within an academic literacies perspective to teaching academic writing, which propagates the understanding of…

  15. 'So I forgot to use 1.5 line spacing! It doesn't make me a bad nurse!' The attitudes to and experiences of a group of Norwegian postgraduate nurses to academic writing.

    PubMed

    Johansen, Edda; Harding, Thomas

    2013-09-01

    To describe the experience of a group of postgraduate Norwegian nurses with academic writing and its impact on their engagement with continuing education. Nurses are required to be lifelong learners and increasing numbers are seeking further knowledge and skills for clinical practice through courses in institutions of higher education. In higher education they are often being assessed on their ability to produce an academic essay not on the development of their clinical competence. A descriptive design was used, where participants were asked to complete in writing two open-ended statements. The data was then subject to inductive content analysis to extract categories and themes to describe the phenomenon. Participants had little experience and were challenged by academic writing. It was perceived as difficult, time consuming and of little relevance to their clinical practice. There is disconnection between the assessment of learning in higher education and increased workplace competency. Rather than promoting a deep approach to learning educators may be creating barriers to engagement with lifelong learning through using traditional assessment practices. There is an imperative to develop assessments which allow demonstration of understanding, ability to use current evidence and the development of critical analytic skills for reflection on problems encountered in participants' work lives. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. The Journalism Writing Course: Evaluation of Hybrid versus Online Grammar Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Jensen; Jones, Khristen

    2015-01-01

    This study examined introductory journalism writing courses and compared hybrid (part online/part classroom) versus online grammar instruction. The hybrid structure allowed for grammar topics to be taught online, with a pretest following, and then reviewing missed/difficult pretest concepts in class prior to a posttest. The quasi-experimental…

  17. Investigating students' academic numeracy in 1st level university courses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Galligan, Linda; Hobohm, Carola

    2015-06-01

    This paper investigates how an online test (`Self-Test' developed at the University of Southern Queensland) can enrich students' understanding of their academic numeracy, through a purpose-built, self-assessment tool aligned with online modules. Since its creation and evaluation, the tool has been developed and tailored to suit other first year courses based around an academic numeracy framework of competence, confidence and critical awareness (Galligan 2013a). This paper will highlight how the new Self-Test is underpinned by this framework and how students' levels of numeracy can be better understood by the lecturer through Self-Test in a first year nursing for numeracy course and a maths for teachers course. It particularly addresses over- and under-confidence, error analysis and students' reflective comments, and how this understanding can better inform course development and teaching.

  18. A Success Course for Freshmen on Academic Probation: Persistence and Graduation Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGrath, Shelley M.; Burd, Gail D.

    2012-01-01

    Administrators at a large, public university launched a mandatory success course for freshmen placed on academic probation at the end of their first semester. We compared the rates of course participant and nonparticipant return to good academic standing; persistence to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years; and graduation (within 4 to 5 years). The…

  19. The Relationship among Strategic Writing Behavior, Writing Motivation, and Writing Performance with Young, Developing Writers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Steve; Harris, Karen R.; Kiuhara, Sharlene A.; Fishman, Evan J.

    2017-01-01

    Our study tested whether learning is shaped by fundamental cognitive and motivational forces in the academic domain of writing. We examined whether strategic writing behavior and motivation (attitudes toward writing and self-efficacy) made a statistically significant and unique contribution to the prediction of writing quality and number of words…

  20. Information Design: A New Approach to Teaching Technical Writing Service Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKee, Candie DeLane

    2012-01-01

    This study used a needs assessment, process analysis, process design, and textbook design to develop a new process and new textbook, based on Cargile-Cook's layered literacies, Quesenbery's five qualities of usability, and Carliner's information design theories, for use in technical writing service learning courses. The needs assessment was based…

  1. Using Wikipedia and Conceptual Graph Structures to Generate Questions for Academic Writing Support

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Ming; Calvo, R. A.; Aditomo, A.; Pizzato, L. A.

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel approach for semiautomatic question generation to support academic writing. Our system first extracts key phrases from students' literature review papers. Each key phrase is matched with a Wikipedia article and classified into one of five abstract concept categories: Research Field, Technology, System, Term, and…

  2. Self-Regulated Strategic Writing for Academic Studies in an English-Medium-Instruction Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hu, Jingjing; Gao, Xuesong

    2018-01-01

    This study explored the processes of utilization of resources in secondary students' self-regulated strategic writing for academic studies in an English as medium of instruction context in Hong Kong. Drawing on multiple data sources collected through the observation of lessons, stimulated recall and semi-structured interviews, the study examined…

  3. Animal Diversity Web as a Teaching & Learning Tool to Improve Research & Writing Skills in College Biology Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yahnke, Christopher J.; Dewey, Tanya; Myers, Phil

    2013-01-01

    Most teachers agree that writing is an important skill for students to master, yet not all teachers incorporate writing assignments in their courses. Employers agree that written communication is important for college graduates, yet in a survey, less than 10% of employers thought that colleges did a good job preparing students for work. Writing an…

  4. Enhancing the research and publication efforts of health sciences librarians via an academic writing retreat.

    PubMed

    Bullion, John W; Brower, Stewart M

    2017-10-01

    This case study describes the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCC/MLA) initiative to develop an academic writing retreat for members who sought the necessary time and support to advance their research projects toward publication. SCC/MLA staged a dedicated writing retreat to coincide with the organization's 2012, 2013, and 2014 annual meetings. Each cohort met over two days to write and to workshop their peers' manuscripts. Organizers distributed an online survey one month after each retreat to evaluate attendees' perceptions. Three years' worth of writing retreats yielded fourteen peer-reviewed articles and one book chapter. Participants indicated that the retreat helped them meet or exceed their writing goals by offering protected time and a setting conducive to productivity. The format of the retreat is cost effective and easily adaptable for fellow professionals who wish to organize a formal event as a conference offering or simply support a writing group at their home institutions. In SCC/MLA, the retreat revitalized interest in writing and demystified the scholarly publication process.

  5. Addendum to the Evaluation of the Expository Reading and Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fong, Anthony B.; Finkelstein, Neal D.

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, Fong, Finkelstein, Jaeger, Diaz, and Broek reported the findings from an independent evaluation of the Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC). The evaluation found positive and statistically significant effects of the ERWC on student achievement. Due to some concerns that the previously reported results in Fong et al. (2015) did not…

  6. The Effect of Online Peer Feedback on the Academic Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moradi, Mohammad Reza; Karimpour, Zahra

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports an exploratory study of 60 English as a foreign language (EFL) student's experiences of online peer feedback in an essay writing course at Islamic Azad University, Dezful Branch. They were required to comment on their peers' writing essays using the checklist to whom had been made available, but in different ways. The groups…

  7. Learner Characteristics and Writing Performance in a Community College English as a Second Language Course: Some Unexpected Findings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lambert, Olga D.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigates the relationships between individual learner characteristics and gain in writing performance as measured by a standardized writing assessment in a sample of community college academic English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the United States. The ethnically and linguistically diverse convenience sample included 76…

  8. Integrating scientific argumentation to improve undergraduate writing and learning in a global environmental change course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kreutz, K. J.; Koffman, B. G.; Trenbath, K. L.

    2013-12-01

    What makes a good scientific argument? We began ERS201: Global Environmental Change by asking students to reflect on the mechanics of a strong scientific argument. At the same time, we asked them to evaluate global CO2 and sea level data from different time periods in Earth's history to answer the question, 'Is there a relationship between atmospheric CO2 and sea level, and if so, why?' This question formed the theme for the course, a mid-level, inquiry-based class of about 20 students. Each week, students target specific aspects of the climate system through problem sets, which include experimental and laboratory work, basic statistical analyses of paleoclimate datasets, and the development of simple systems models using STELLA software. Every 2-4 weeks, we challenge students to write short (1500 word) data-driven scientific arguments, which require a synthesis of information from their problem sets and from the scientific literature. Students have to develop a clear, testable hypothesis related to each writing prompt, and then make their case using figures they have generated during the weekly problem sets. We evaluate student writing using a rubric that focuses on the structure and clarity of the argument, relevance of the data included, and integration and quality of the graphics, with a lesser emphasis placed on voice and style. In 2013, student scores improved from a median value of 86 × 9% to 94 × 8% over the course of the semester. More importantly, we found that incorporation of scientific argumentation served to increase student understanding of important and sometimes abstract scientific concepts. For example, on pre- and post-course assessments we asked the question, 'What would happen if a significant portion of the sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean were to melt?' On the pre-assessment, 80% of students said that it would lead to more coastal flooding, while only 20% correctly stated that a decrease in the reflection of solar energy would lead to

  9. Writing for Chemists: Satisfying the CSU Upper-Division Writing Requirement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paulson, Donald R.

    2001-08-01

    This paper describes Chemistry 360, Writing for Chemists, which is a junior-level course required of all Chemistry and Biochemistry majors at California State University, Los Angeles. The course covers all of the sections for writing both primary and secondary papers in the chemical sciences as well as the process of literature searching in both computer databases and the printed Chemical Abstracts. The course is team taught by several chemistry faculty members and an English faculty member. The core of the course is a review paper on an individually assigned topic in chemistry or biochemistry. The students are given daily writing assignments that teach them how to write the various sections of the paper. They also learn how to write both Experimental and Results sections, which are not part of a review paper. In addition the course deals with ethics in science, how to give an oral presentation, and how to prepare a poster presentation.

  10. Learning Science through Writing: Associations with Prior Conceptions of Writing and Perceptions of a Writing Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Robert A.; Taylor, Charlotte E.; Drury, Helen

    2007-01-01

    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…

  11. Wikis, Workshops and Writing: Strategies for Flipping a College Community Engagement Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maloy, Robert W.; Edwards, Sharon A.; Evans, Allison

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes utilizing wiki technology, small group workshops, and reflective writing assignments to "flip" a community engagement/service-learning course for college undergraduates who are tutoring culturally and linguistically diverse students in K-12 schools. Flipped classrooms are gaining popularity in the teaching of…

  12. The Story of Them: Outcomes of Practicing Autoethnography in Undergraduate Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hopkins, Justin B.

    2017-01-01

    This study is an examination of the outcomes of practicing autoethnography, specifically in the context of first-year undergraduate, writing-intensive courses. The researcher recounts his initial, inspiring encounter with autoethnography and explores the possibility of its pedagogical application in composition instruction. Autoethnography is a…

  13. Academic Essay Writing as Imitative Problem Solving: Examples from Distance Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robertson, Sydney Ian

    2014-01-01

    Students in tertiary education are often faced with the prospect of writing an essay on a topic they know nothing about in advance. In distance learning institutions, essays are a common method of assessment in the UK, and specified course texts remain the main sources of information the students have. How do students use a source text to…

  14. The Effects of Writing to Learn (WTL) on Academic Achievement and Attitude to Lesson in English Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Incirci, Ayhan; Parmaksiz, Ramazan Sükrü

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of applying the writing letter activity of writing to learn strategies on the English Language Academic Achievement and Attitude level of 11th grade students. The research was carried out with 84 students (43 male, 41 female) at one of the state schools in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Mixed…

  15. Generation 1.5 Preservice Teachers: The Evolution of Their Writing Confidence Levels and Self-Efficacy in Writing Intensive Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Katie D.

    2016-01-01

    This action research examines how Generation 1.5 preservice teachers develop as writers during writing intensive courses. Generation 1.5 reflects immigrants who have life experiences inclusive of two or more countries including diverse cultures and languages (Roberge, 2009). Understanding the factors impacting how Generation 1.5 students use…

  16. Investigating the Reading-to-Write Processes and Source Use of L2 Postgraduate Students in Real-Life Academic Tasks: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCulloch, Sharon

    2013-01-01

    Existing studies of source use in academic student writing tend to i), focus more on the writing than the reading end of the reading-to-write continuum and ii), involve the use of insufficiently "naturalistic" writing tasks. Thus, in order to explore the potential of an alternative approach, this paper describes an exploratory case study…

  17. Entering a Discourse Community: Writing as a Mode of Learning in a Content Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kelder, Richard

    Assigned to teach a freshman composition course with a history and reading co-requisite, a New York college instructor developed a course in which students would begin to see history--through their reading, writing, and thinking--as a series of events intricately connected with their own lives and ways of looking at the world, rather than…

  18. A Historical Writing Apprenticeship for Adolescents: Integrating Disciplinary Learning with Cognitive Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De La Paz, Susan; Monte-Sano, Chauncey; Felton, Mark; Croninger, Robert; Jackson, Cara; Piantedosi, Kelly Worland

    2017-01-01

    This study explored the extent to which an 18-day history and writing curriculum intervention, taught over the course of one year, helped culturally and academically diverse adolescents achieve important disciplinary literacy learning in history. Teachers used a cognitive apprenticeship form of instruction for the integration of historical reading…

  19. Wikis and Academic Writing: Changing the Writer-Reader Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuteeva, Maria

    2011-01-01

    The development of information and communication technologies has resulted in the emergence of new kinds of academic genres and literacies. The more recent social web applications empower learners to create online content in a collaborative way. This paper focuses on the use of wikis in the course of Effective Communication in English. It aims to…

  20. Investment and Return: Wiki Engagement in a "Remedial" ESL Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nakamaru, Sarah

    2012-01-01

    This study explores the extent to which students in a community college remedial English as a second language (ESL) course engaged with a class wiki and the relationship between their pattern of engagement over time and success in exiting remediation. Participants included 47 students in two sections of ESL writing during the spring 2009 semester.…

  1. Big Questions, Small Works, Lots of Layers: Documentary Video Production and the Teaching of Academic Research and Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halbritter, Bump; Blon, Noah; Creighton, Caron

    2011-01-01

    Documentary movie making is not academic writing. Nor is it traditional academic research. However, I have found it to be a remarkable vehicle for teaching both of these things...each semester I am amazed and humbled by the creativity and sincerity that my students bring to their work.

  2. A Model for Program-Wide Assessment of the Effectiveness of Writing Instruction in Science Laboratory Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saitta, Erin K.; Zemliansky, Pavel; Turner, Anna

    2015-01-01

    The authors present a model for program-wide assessment of the effectiveness of writing instruction in a chemistry laboratory course. This model, which involves collaboration between faculty from chemistry, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program, and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, is based on several theories and…

  3. Generational Change in the Argentine Academic Profession through the Analysis of "Life Courses"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marquina, Monica; Yuni, Jose; Ferreiro, Mariela

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this article is to analyze the effects of the socio-political processes on the academic profession in Argentina from the life course perspective. The analysis of differences in the individuals' life course was made by dividing them into three groups, representing different generations of academics: the novel, the intermediate, and the…

  4. Using the Science Writing Heuristic in the General Chemistry Laboratory to Improve Students' Academic Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poock, Jason R.; Burke, K. A.; Greenbowe, Thomas J.; Hand, Brian M.

    2007-01-01

    The analysis describes the effects of using the science writing heuristic (SWH) in the general chemistry laboratory on the students' academic performance. The technique has found to be extremely important factor in a student's learning process and achievement in science.

  5. Development and Usability Test of an e-Learning Tool for Engineering Graduates to Develop Academic Writing in English: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Chih-Chung; Liu, Gi-Zen; Wang, Tzong-I

    2017-01-01

    Many non-native English speaking (NNES) graduates are required to write academic papers in English; consequently, recent research in the past decade has been devoted to investigating the usefulness of genre-based Writing Instructions (GBWI) on learners' writing cultivation. There is little specific guidance, however, on how GBWI can be employed in…

  6. Applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to Explore the Effects of a Course Management System (CMS)-Assisted EFL Writing Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tsai, Yea-Ru

    2015-01-01

    This study illustrates a teaching model that utilizes a Blackboard (Bb) course management system (CMS) to support English writing instruction. It was implemented in a blended English research paper (RP) writing course, with specific learning resources and activities offered inside and outside the Bb CMS. A quasi-experimental study in which the…

  7. International EFL/ESL Master Students' Adaptation Strategies for Academic Writing Practices at Tertiary Level

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar

    2017-01-01

    The present research provides insights into the different forms of adaptation strategies employed by international graduate students to overcome the challenges faced in the academic writing practices and gain access to their disciplinary communities of practice at Master's level. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured in-depth…

  8. Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses: Considerations for Graduate Preparatory Programs in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tolman, Steven

    2017-01-01

    While there is a perception that violations of academic dishonesty occur more frequently in online courses, a review of the literature has shown this to be a fallacy. In fact, there is evidence that supports the rate is lower in online courses than in face-to-face. There are many factors that affect academic dishonesty, including the demographics…

  9. Perceptions and Writing Experiences of Nursing Students: A Mixed Methods Exploration of Writing Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sprenger, Lori

    2013-01-01

    The investigated research problem was the need to identify the facilitators and barriers to competent academic writing by examining writing self-efficacy and academic writing experiences of entry-level BSN students. The study's participants included entry-level bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) students in a Midwestern state. The mixed methods…

  10. Using Formative & Summative Assessment to Evaluate Library Instruction in an Online First Year Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haber, Natalie; Mitchell, Tiffany N.

    2017-01-01

    Ensuring quality library instruction in an online-exclusive First Year Writing (FYW) course is important and challenging. Assessing what the students learned and how is equally important. The authors collaborate and co-teach the information literacy portion of an online-exclusive second semester FYW course at the University of Tennessee at…

  11. Hidden Treasures in Theological Education: The Writing Tutor, the Spiritual Director, and Practices of Academic and Spiritual Mentoring

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yaghjian, Lucretia B.

    2013-01-01

    Mentoring is an important but often overlooked resource in theological education and students' academic and spiritual formation. This essay profiles the mentoring practices and postures of the writing tutor and the spiritual director as exemplars of academic and spiritual mentoring. An extended probe of this analogy affirms the integration of…

  12. Using Blogging and Laptop Computers to Improve Writing Skills on a Vocational Training Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marsden, Nick; Piggot-Irvine, Eileen

    2012-01-01

    The action research project described in this paper was part of an initiative to bring about change in the way courses are delivered in the vocational trades area at UNITEC New Zealand. We decided to focus on students' writing on a new Level 3 course--the Certificate in Automotive and Mechanical Engineering (C.A.M.E.) in which all participants had…

  13. Using Daedalus Interchange and New Daedalus Write To Teach Audience Awareness, Revision Techniques, and Textual Interpretation in a First-Year Writing Course on Contemporary Legal Issues.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Viti, Lynne Spigelmire

    Writing 125 is a 13-week course that all first-year students at Wellesley College (Massachusetts) are required to take. One instructor teaches a section of it called "Law in Contemporary Society" which centers writing and reading activities around legal issues, namely "Roe v. Wade" and "Webster v. Cruzan." As an…

  14. Linguistic Markers of Stance in Early and Advanced Academic Writing: A Corpus-Based Comparison

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aull, Laura L.; Lancaster, Zak

    2014-01-01

    This article uses corpus methods to examine linguistic expressions of stance in over 4,000 argumentative essays written by incoming first-year university students in comparison with the writing of upper-level undergraduate students and published academics. The findings reveal linguistic stance markers shared across the first-year essays despite…

  15. EFL Doctoral Students' Conceptions of Authorial Stance in Academic Research Writing: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chang, Peichin

    2016-01-01

    English as foreign language (EFL) writers are often found to have weaker control of their academic writing, among which presenting an effective authorial stance has been reported as particularly challenging (Hyland, 1998a; Schleppegrell, 2004). In particular, student writers tended to deploy a stronger stance and be less effective with tentative…

  16. On the Viable Linkages between Extroversion/Introversion and Academic Iranian EFL Learners' Writing Proficiency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alavinia, Parviz; Hassanlou, Adel

    2014-01-01

    The current study was aimed at investigating the relationship between academic Iranian EFL learners' extroversion/introversion and their writing performance. The participants of the study were some 52 BA learners majoring in English language literature in Urmia and Tabriz state universities. The chosen sample comprised of both males and females…

  17. The Write Stuff

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olson, Carol Booth; Scarcella, Robin; Matuchniak, Tina

    2016-01-01

    Expectations for high-level academic writing, especially in the Common Core era, have never been higher. Middle school and high school students are being asked to do close readings of complex texts and then respond in writing using academic discourse. This is a challenging task for many students, but perhaps none as great as for English language…

  18. Teaching Students to "Cook": Promoting Writing in the First Year Experience Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eberly, Charlene; Trand, Patsy A. Self

    2010-01-01

    This paper is a continuation of a previous article, "Teaching Students to "Cook": Promoting Reading in the First Year Experience Course," The Learning Assistance Review 14 (2), on the importance of teaching critical thinking through the foundational skills of analytical reading and writing within the First Year Experience (FYE)…

  19. Applying Rhetorical Genre Studies to a Stand-Alone Online Professional Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Heather Brook; Jenkins, Patricia

    2015-01-01

    This program profile explains and illustrates a pedagogical application of Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) to a one-semester, upper-division online Professional Writing course. We explain our use of a heuristic, which we liken to "night-vision goggles," that enables students to systematically analyze field data that they gather from a…

  20. Regulating the Writing Process in the Teacher Training Practicum Guided by Feedback at the University of Barcelona

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vidiella, Maria-Cinta Portillo; Garcia, Elena Cano

    2016-01-01

    This is a longitudinal study that focuses on blog-writing for the purpose of self-assessing competencies, and which was carried out within the practicum of a degree course in Primary Education Teaching at the University of Barcelona. Over the course of three academic years, students and a teacher have used a Platform 2.0 program, specially created…

  1. Librarians, Faculty, and the Writing Center Partnering to Build an Interdisciplinary Course: A Case Study at the University of Houston, USA

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simons, Alexandra C.

    2017-01-01

    This article covers how an interdisciplinary course was developed using the expertise and resources of a history professor, the history and psychology subject librarians, and the university's writing center. The course, supported by a grant, was aimed at helping students improve their research, information literacy, and writing skills across…

  2. Plagiarism across the Curriculum: How Academic Communities Can Meet the Challenge of the Undocumented Writer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Jonathan

    2005-01-01

    Student plagiarism occurs in all academic disciplines, and so, for those of us involved with Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing In the Disciplines programs, the first thing we have to admit is: yes, it is our problem. It's everybody's problem, at bottom, of course, but WAC/WID directors are ideally positioned to offer both new conceptual…

  3. Applied Physics. Course Materials: Physics 111, 112, 113. Seattle Tech Prep Applied Academics Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    South Seattle Community Coll., Washington.

    This publication contains materials for three courses in Applied Physics in the Applied Academics program at South Seattle Community College. It begins with the article, "Community College Applied Academics: The State of the Art?" (George B. Neff), which describes the characteristics, model, courses, and coordination activity that make…

  4. Applied Math. Course Materials: Math 111, 112, 113. Seattle Tech Prep Applied Academics Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    South Seattle Community Coll., Washington.

    This publication contains materials for three courses in Applied Math in the Applied Academics program at South Seattle Community College. It begins with the article, "Community College Applied Academics: The State of the Art?" (George B. Neff), which describes the characteristics, model, courses, and coordination activity that make up…

  5. The Effects of Using a Critical Thinking Graphic Organizer to Improve Connecticut Academic Performance Test Interdisciplinary Writing Assessment Scores

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Higgins, Patrick D.

    2012-01-01

    Effective communication skills are a vital component of student academic achievement and success, yet students often struggle with them. This study utilized an organizational writing graphic organizer based on a critical thinking model to determine the impact of its use on the persuasive writing scores of 9th-grade students. A sample of…

  6. Do Literature Review Skills Transfer from One Course to Another?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cook, Kathleen E.; Murowchick, Elise

    2014-01-01

    Creating literature reviews encompasses skills that are central to psychology students' academic and professional lives, yet writing them consistently challenges students. Research shows that instruction leads to improvement in students' literature reviews within courses (Boscolo, Arfé, & Quarisa, 2007; Granello, 2001), but little work…

  7. Designing Writing Assignments for Vocational-Technical Courses. A Guide for Teachers in the Two-Year College and Technical Institute.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Killingsworth, Jimmie, Ed.; And Others

    The 27 articles in this 6-part guide provide information on developing and implementing writing instruction as part of content-area courses in two-year vocational-technical colleges. Part One, General Concerns, includes "Making Writing Work for You in the Interactive Classroom" (Killingsworth, Rude); "Evaluating and Responding to Student Writing"…

  8. Writing and Communicating in the Geosciences: A 1-credit required course to prepare undergraduates for independent research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    St John, K. K.; Courtier, A. M.; Pyle, E. J.

    2013-12-01

    With increasing numbers of majors (currently 130) and an independent research requirement of all undergraduates in our program, the Department of Geology and Environmental Science at James Madison University sought a means to streamline and formalize instruction of research practices we deem fundamental to all sub-disciplines in the geosciences. Therefore, in Fall 2010, we developed a research preparation course called 'Writing and Communicating in the Geosciences,' which is now required for all Geology BS and Earth Science BA undergraduate students. This 1-credit course must be completed prior to students' senior year, and is a pre-requisite to a minimum of 2-credits of independent research required of all majors. 'Writing and Communicating in the Geosciences' is designed to prepare students for independent research by providing them with opportunities to develop, practice, and gain feedback on a variety of writing and communication skills. It is our goal that after taking this course, students are able to identify primary literature using the library data-based systems, critically discuss peer-reviewed papers, write abstracts, use accepted referencing styles in bibliographies, and effectively make scientific posters and give oral presentations. The class is offered every semester and is always co-taught by two faculty members from the department. Curriculum and instruction is designed to balance student workload, faculty workload, and strategies toward meeting the course learning objectives. Students informally report at the time of enrollment that this is a perceived as a rigorous 'rite-of-passage' course. Informal feedback from past students has been positive, suggesting that the greatest benefits manifest later, as former students apply the course-developed skills to projects in their upper-level courses, their independent research projects, and their graduate research. Faculty feedback has been similarly positive, with department colleagues commenting that

  9. Credit Quandaries: How Career and Technical Education Teachers Can Teach Courses That Include Academic Credit. Ask the Team

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacques, Catherine

    2014-01-01

    Many career and technical education (CTE) courses not only provide students with vocational and technical skills and knowledge, but engage them in academic content as well. Designed thoughtfully, these courses can address rigorous academic content standards and be as intellectually demanding as traditional academic courses (Southern Regional…

  10. Academic Writing in Context: Implications and Applications. Papers in Honour of Tony Dudley-Evans.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hewings, Martin, Ed.

    The papers in this volume were collected to honor T. Dudley-Evans on his retirement from the University of Birmingham. They explore a number of themes of current interest to those engaged in English language teaching and academic writing. The papers are: (1) Introduction (Martin Hewings); (2) Distance and Refined Selves: Educational Tensions in…

  11. Student Perceptions of the Use of Writing in a Differential Equations Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeDieu, Lauren; Lovric, Miroslav

    2018-01-01

    The use of writing to learn mathematics at the university-level is a pedagogical tool that has been gaining momentum. The setting of this study is a second-year differential equations class where written assignments have been incorporated into the course. By analyzing survey results and students' written work, we examine the extent to which…

  12. Teaching Intercultural Communication in a Basic Technical Writing Course: A Survey of Our Current Practices and Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matveeva, Natalia

    2008-01-01

    This research article reports the results of an online survey distributed among technical writing instructors in 2006. The survey aimed to examine how we teach intercultural communication in basic technical writing courses: our current practices and methods. The article discusses three major challenges that instructors may face when teaching about…

  13. A technical writing programme implemented in a first-year engineering course at KU Leuven

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heylen, Christel; Vander Sloten, Jos

    2013-12-01

    Technical communication and technical writing are important skills for the daily work-life of every engineer. In the first-year engineering programme at KU Leuven, a technical writing programme is implemented within the project-based course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design'. This paper describes a case study for implementing a writing programme based on active learning methods and situated learning in large classes. The programme consists of subsequent cycles of instructions, learning by doing and reflection on received feedback. In addition, a peer-review assignment, together with an interactive lecture using clicking devices, is incorporated within the assignments of the second semester. A checklist of desired writing abilities makes it easier to grade the large number of papers. Furthermore, this ensures that all staff involved in the evaluation process uses the same criteria to grade and for providing feedback.

  14. The Writing on the Wall: Activist Rhetorics, Public Writing, and Responsible Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sundvall, Scott; Fredlund, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    Drawing from their experiences teaching two different activism-focused writing courses, the authors consider the benefits, pitfalls, and potential dangers of activist writing pedagogy. Scott provides a retrospective on a rhetoric and writing course focused on the employment of digital rhetoric, while Katherine reflects on an activist-rhetoric…

  15. Sustained Silent Reading in University Courses in EFL for Academic Purposes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ducy-Perez, Ellen

    This paper summarizes a study conducted to determine whether sustained silent reading (SSR) can contribute to improvement in grammar and reading comprehension in university academic English as a foreign language (EFL) courses. A total of 186 beginning and intermediate students enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes program at the…

  16. Coffee, Black Holes, Editors, and Beer: The Science-Writing Life

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Francis, Matthew R.

    2016-01-01

    What does a science writer do all day? In a tough job market and the pressures of the publish-or-perish life, careers outside academia are enticing. But it's not just a matter of swapping research papers for news stories, or adapting course lectures to magazine articles. I am a former academic scientist (with a PhD in physics and astronomy, as well as six years of university teaching) who now works as a freelance science journalist. In this talk, I'll share my experiences, along with a brief guide to the science-writing life. Along the way, we'll touch on misconceptions ("I love teaching, so science writing should be easy!"), bad attitudes ("dumbing down" is a concept that should be nuked from orbit), and the joys of sharing science with others. There are some hard truths: don't choose science writing because you think it's an easy option compared with academic research. Nevertheless, it's a rewarding profession, and one that allows you to remember the love of science — and share that love with large numbers of other people.

  17. How Academic Libraries Provide Value through Course Readings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tabacaru, Simona; Hartnett, Eric

    2017-01-01

    Academic libraries are continually being asked to demonstrate their value. Showing benefits that provide financial value to the user community is one approach to meeting this challenge. With a focus on journal articles and monographs, the authors have analyzed course syllabi to determine the cost savings graduate students in psychology receive…

  18. Writing for Publication.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Bill

    1991-01-01

    Students at Hume-Fogg Academic High School in Nashville, Tennessee do every kind of writing, have won numerous writing awards, and have published everything from chapbooks to articles in national literary magazines. According to the creative writing teacher, students are first taught to write about things they know--to go back to their own…

  19. Teaching Writing in Economics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmeiser, Katherine

    2017-01-01

    In this article, the author provides motivation and a template for integrating and teaching writing in a variety of economics courses: core theory or introductory courses, topic courses, and economic writing/research courses. For each assignment, pedagogical reasoning and syllabus integration are discussed. Additionally, the author shows that…

  20. Student Perceptions of Online Course Quality: A Comparison by Academic Discipline

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilcox, Brian Riley

    2013-01-01

    The recent rapid proliferation of distance education necessitates the need for strong levels of academic accountability. An important factor found to influence and predict student success is students' perceptions of their online courses. Understanding how learners perceive their online learning environment is paramount to effective course design…

  1. Why Do You Write? Creative Writing and the Reflective Teacher

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hains-Wesson, Rachael

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the author asserts that whether we write creatively or academically (or both) it takes time to understand the reasons why we "want" to write, and the more we write, the more we fully begin to appreciate why we have to write in the ?rst place. From an early age, nearly every day, Rachel Hains-Wesson actively participated in…

  2. Academic Wholism: Bridging the Gap between High School and College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giuliano, Barbara; Sullivan, Judith

    2007-01-01

    Without adequate reading comprehension, writing proficiency, math competency, and critical thinking skills, students pursuing higher education are vulnerable to failure. An environmental Science course built around academic wholism is the focus of a summer program designed to bridge the gap between high school and college. Students self-reflect…

  3. Toward understanding writing to learn in physics: Investigating student writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Demaree, Dedra

    It is received wisdom that writing in a discipline helps students learn the discipline, and millions of dollars have been committed at many universities to supporting such writing. We show that evidence for effectiveness is anecdotal, and that little data-based material informs these prejudices. This thesis begins the process of scientific study of writing in the discipline, in specific, in physics, and creates means to judge whether such writing is effective. The studies culminating in this thesis are an aggressive start to addressing these complex questions. Writing is often promoted as an activity that, when put into classrooms in specific disciplines, not only helps students learn to write in the methods of that discipline but also helps students learn content knowledge. Students at the Ohio State University are being asked to write more in introductory courses, and the Engineering schools want their students to have more writing skills for the job market. Combined with the desire of many educators to have students be able to explain the course content knowledge clearly, it would seem that writing activities would be important and useful in physics courses. However, the question of whether writing helps learning or whether students learn writing within a non-English classroom helps learning in the discipline are open to debate, and data are needed before such claims can be made. This thesis presents several studies aimed at understanding the correlation of writing and content, and tracking and characterizing student writing behaviors to see how they are impacted by writing in physics courses. It consists of four parts: summer and autumn 2005 focus on writing in introductory physics labs with and without explicit instruction, while winter and spring 2006 focus on tracking and analyzing student writing and revising behavior in Physics by Inquiry (PbI). With these related projects, we establish three main results. First, there is a need for quantitative studies of

  4. Academic Achievements and Satisfaction of the Clicker-Aided Flipped Business English Writing Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhonggen, Yu; Guifang, Wang

    2016-01-01

    The flipped classroom has been achieving a great success in teaching innovation. This study, aiming to determine the effectiveness of the flipped model in business English writing course, combined the quantitative with the qualitative research methods. Participants were randomly selected from undergraduate students majoring in business English.…

  5. Pain and Pleasure in Short Essay Writing: Factors Predicting University Students' Writing Anxiety and Writing Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martinez, Christy Teranishi; Kock, Ned; Cass, Jeffrey

    2011-01-01

    Since the inception of the Writing Across the Curriculum movement more than 30 years ago, scholars have explored ways of enhancing students' writing performance. Faculty members across disciplines are often challenged by students' resistance to writing; resistance that may stem from anxiety, poor academic performance, and lack of recognition that…

  6. Adapting Levels 1 and 2 of Kirkpatrick's Model of Training Evaluation to Examine the Effectiveness of a Tertiary-Level Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aryadoust, Vahid

    2017-01-01

    This study adapts Levels 1 and 2 of Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation to evaluate learning outcomes of an English as a second language (ESL) paragraph writing course offered by a major Asian university. The study uses a combination of surveys and writing tests administered at the beginning and end of the course. The survey evaluated…

  7. Impact of a Constructivist Career Course on Academic Performance and Graduation Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grier-Reed, Tabitha; Chahla, Rose

    2015-01-01

    Career planning courses are one of the most effective ways to improve career development, and the benefits to career decision-making are well documented. The research base regarding whether career courses contribute to academic outcomes is less well-developed. Although recent findings suggest that career courses may improve retention in the first-…

  8. "Writing My First Academic Article Feels Like Dancing around Naked": Research Development for Higher Education Lecturers Working in Further Education Colleges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Rebecca; Brown, Tony; Edwards-Jones, Andrew

    2014-01-01

    Growing emphasis on research output has spawned initiatives to enhance writing practices, often targeted at groups less familiar with academic research practices. This paper discusses a collaborative writing group project for higher education lecturers working in further education colleges. Participants had previously undertaken funded pedagogic…

  9. Thinking Statistically in Writing: Journals and Discussion Boards in an Introductory Statistics Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Theoret, Julie M.; Luna, Andrea

    2009-01-01

    This action research combined qualitative and quantitative techniques to investigate two different types of writing assignments in an introductory undergraduate statistics course. The assignments were written in response to the same set of prompts but in two different ways: homework journal assignments or initial posts to a computer discussion…

  10. Impact of Writing Proficiency and Writing Center Participation on Academic Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bielinska-Kwapisz, Agnieszka

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: Given that there exists in the literature relatively little research into the effectiveness of writing centers at universities, the purpose of this paper is to show the impact of university writing centers on first-year business seminar student writing. Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative study involved 315 first-year…

  11. Creative Writing and Schiller's Aesthetic Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howarth, Peter

    2007-01-01

    For academics committed to the idea of an all-round aesthetic education, one of the great successes of the last thirty years has been the tremendous expansion of creative writing classes. Despite the dramatic expansion of creative writing as an academic discipline, the methods, ideals, and values of creative writing workshops have very often been…

  12. Going Out on a Limb: A Reading and Writing Course about the Fourth Dimension.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Putz, John F.

    2001-01-01

    Describes a reading and writing course about the fourth dimension that involves readings selected from both mathematical and non-mathematical literature, frequent class discussion, several invited speakers from disciplines other than mathematics, and some hands-on and group activities. (Author/ASK)

  13. Students' satisfaction and perceived impact on knowledge, attitudes and skills after a 2-day course in scientific writing: a prospective longitudinal study in Spain.

    PubMed

    Fernández, Esteve; García, Ana M; Serés, Elisabet; Bosch, Fèlix

    2018-01-27

    This study aimed to determine students' satisfaction with a 2-day course on scientific writing in health sciences and to assess their perceptions of the long-term impact on their knowledge, attitudes and skills. 27 iterations of a 2-day course on writing and publishing scientific articles in health sciences. 741 students attending the 27 courses. Prospective longitudinal study. Immediately after each course, students completed a first questionnaire, rating their satisfaction with different aspects of the classroom sessions on a Likert scale (0-5). Approximately 2 years after the course, students completed a follow-up questionnaire, using a Likert scale (0-4) to rate their knowledge, skills and attitudes in relation to scientific writing before and after attending the course. 741 students (70% women) participated in the 27 iterations of the course; 568 (76.8%) completed the first questionnaire and 182 (24.6%) completed the follow-up questionnaire. The first questionnaire reflected high overall satisfaction (mean score, 4.6). In the second questionnaire, students reported that the course had improved their knowledge (mean improvement: 1.6; 95% CI 1.6 to 1.7), attitudes (mean improvement: 1.3; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.4) and skills (mean improvement: 1.4; 95% CI 1.3 to 1.4) related to writing and publishing scientific papers. Most respondents (n=145, 79.7%) had participated in drafting a scientific paper after the course; in this subgroup, all the specific writing skills assessed in the second questionnaire significantly improved. Students were satisfied with the format and the contents of the course, and those who responded to the follow-up survey considered that the course had improved their knowledge, attitudes and skills in relation to scientific writing and publishing. Courses are particularly important in countries without strong traditions in scientific publication. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article

  14. The Keys to Success in Doctoral Studies: A Preimmersion Course.

    PubMed

    Salani, Deborah; Albuja, Laura Dean; Azaiza, Khitam

    2016-01-01

    This article will review an innovative on-line preimmersion course for a hybrid doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and a traditional face-to-face doctor of philosophy nursing program. The doctoral candidates include both postbaccalaureate and postmaster's students. The authors of the preimmersion course developed and initiated the course in order to address various issues that have surfaced in discussions between students and faculty. Examples of common themes identified include writing skills, statistics, life-work-school balance, and navigating instructional technology. Doctoral studies may pose challenges to students studying nursing, in regard to academic rigor and experiencing on-line education for the first time, especially for students who have been out of school for an extended amount of time or are not accustomed to a nontraditional classroom; thus, having a preimmersion course established may facilitate a smooth transition to rigorous academic studies in a hybrid program. The course, which was developed and delivered through Blackboard, a learning management system, includes the following 9 preimmersion modules: academic strategies (learning styles, creating an effective PowerPoint presentation), library support (introduction to the university library, literature review tutorial, and citation styles), mindfulness, wellness, statistics essentials, writing express, DNP capstone, netiquette, and DNP/doctor of philosophy mentorship. Each module consists of various tools that may promote student success in specific courses and the programs in general. The purpose of designing the preimmersion course is to decrease attrition rates and increase success of the students. While the majority of students have succeeded in their coursework and been graduated from the program, the authors of this article found that many students struggled with the work, life, and school balance. Future work will include the evaluation of results from graduate students enrolled in

  15. Bullshit in Academic Writing: A Protocol Analysis of a High School Senior's Process of Interpreting "Much Ado about Nothing"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smagorinsky, Peter; Daigle, Elizabeth Anne; O'Donnell-Allen, Cindy; Bynum, Susan

    2010-01-01

    This article reports a study of one high school senior's process of academic bullshitting as she wrote an analytic essay interpreting Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing." The construct of bullshit has received little scholarly attention; although it is known as a common phenomenon in academic speech and writing, it has rarely been the subject…

  16. Writing the Ties that Bind: Service-Learning in the Writing Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, David D.; Julier, Laura

    1995-01-01

    The Service Learning Writing Project at Michigan State University links service-learning and writing instruction. Students read and discuss American literary and historical texts, write academic analyses of ideas, and practice peer editing and revision in small workshops, while working in service placements in community and nonprofit…

  17. Do First-Year University Students Know What to Expect from Their First-Year Writing Intensive Course?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Brien-Moran, Michael; Soiferman, L. Karen

    2010-01-01

    This study involved a one-time survey of first-year undergraduate students at a Canadian University to determine their expectations when beginning a writing intensive course (i.e., the so-called "W" course, which is required of all first-year undergraduates at the University of Manitoba.) In this study, we focused on the University's…

  18. Parental academic involvement in adolescence, academic achievement over the life course and allostatic load in middle age: a prospective population-based cohort study.

    PubMed

    Westerlund, Hugo; Gustafsson, Per E; Theorell, Töres; Janlert, Urban; Hammarström, Anne

    2013-06-01

    Parental involvement in their children's studies, particularly in terms of academic socialisation, has been shown to predict academic achievement, and is thus a candidate modifiable factor influencing life course socioeconomic circumstances. Socioeconomic disadvantage is thought to impact on health over the life course partly by allostatic load, that is, cumulative biological risk. We sought to elucidate the role of parental involvement at age 16 on the life course development of allostatic load. In a population-based cohort (365 women and 352 men, 67% of the eligible participants), we examined the association between parental involvement in their offspring's studies, measured by teacher and pupil ratings at age 16 and an allostatic load index summarising 12 physiological risk markers at age 43. Mediation through life course academic and occupational achievement was assessed by entering school grades, adult educational achievement and socioeconomic position at age 43 in a linear regression analysis in a stepwise manner and testing for mediation. Parental interest in their offspring's studies during the last year of compulsory school-rather than the parent's social class or availability of practical academic support-was found to predict adult allostatic load (β=-0.12, 95% CI -0.20 to -0.05). Further adjustments indicated that academic achievement over the life course mediated a large part of the effect of parental interest on allostatic load. Parental interest in their offspring's studies may have protective effects by decreasing the likelihood of a chain of risk involving low academic achievement, low socioeconomic position and high accumulated physiological stress.

  19. Relationships between Learning Styles and Academic Achievement and Brain Hemispheric Dominance and Academic Performance in Business and Accounting Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carthey, Joseph H.

    A study determined if relationships exist between learning styles and academic achievement and brain hemispheric dominance and academic performance in the courses of principles of management, business law, intermediate accounting, and principles of economics. All second-year accounting students (64 students) at Northeast Iowa Community College…

  20. Writing Clinic for Business and Technical Writers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mercer County Community Coll., Trenton, NJ.

    This document offers brief lesson plans for four courses: (1) an 8-hour refresher course for employees who write memos, short reports, and letters; (2) an 8-hour refresher course on creating a short document; (3) a 16-hour course on technical manual writing; and (4) an 8-hour course on technical manual writing. The courses were part of a workplace…

  1. Collaborative Writing Support Tools on the Cloud

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calvo, R. A.; O'Rourke, S. T.; Jones, J.; Yacef, K.; Reimann, P.

    2011-01-01

    Academic writing, individual or collaborative, is an essential skill for today's graduates. Unfortunately, managing writing activities and providing feedback to students is very labor intensive and academics often opt out of including such learning experiences in their teaching. We describe the architecture for a new collaborative writing support…

  2. Metacognition in Student Academic Writing: A Longitudinal Study of Metacognitive Awareness and Its Relation to Task Perception, Self-Regulation, and Evaluation of Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Negretti, Raffaella

    2012-01-01

    This article proposes a novel approach to the investigation of student academic writing. It applies theories of metacognition and self-regulated learning to understand how beginning academic writers develop the ability to participate in the communicative practices of academic written communication and develop rhetorical consciousness. The study…

  3. Mutually Humble Collaboration in College Literacy Courses: Same Papers, Dialogical Responses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bouchard, Don D.

    2017-01-01

    Each fall, first-year college students enter required composition courses with the expectation that they will learn the necessary skills to write competently for their collegiate careers. Quickly, students who survive and thrive discover that complex factors such as experience, academic cultural etiquette, self-regulation, and relationships with…

  4. Reducing Unintentional Plagiarism amongst International Students in the Biological Sciences: An Embedded Academic Writing Development Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Divan, Aysha; Bowman, Marion; Seabourne, Anna

    2015-01-01

    There is general agreement in the literature that international students are more likely to plagiarise compared to their native speaker peers and, in many instances, plagiarism is unintentional. In this article we describe the effectiveness of an academic writing development programme embedded into a Biological Sciences Taught Masters course…

  5. Predictors of Academic Success in Web-Based Courses: Age, GPA, and Instruction Mode

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vella, Elizabeth J.; Turesky, Elizabeth F.; Hebert, Jenni

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use a heutagogical approach to determine whether students enrolled in blended courses achieve higher grades relative to those enrolled in completely online courses, in addition to identifying demographic predictors of academic success in college courses involving Web-based modes of instruction.…

  6. College Writing: A Personal Approach to Academic Writing. Third Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fulwiler, Toby

    The affirmation of individual creativity in writing is what sets this book apart from other process-oriented rhetorics. Conversational in tone, the book's third edition boasts a writer-to-writer perspective that will put students at ease. The book "walks" students through the main elements of writing from discovery and research to…

  7. "How They Really Talk": Two Students' Perspectives on Digital Literacies in the Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amicucci, Ann N.

    2014-01-01

    This article responds to the need for more student voices in digital literacies research by discussing the results of interviews with two college students concerning the roles that their non-academic digital literacy practices can play in first-year college writing courses. The author reviews recent literature that has indicated that value of…

  8. Research Leadership in Writing for Publication: A Theoretical Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Rowena; Steckley, Laura; MacLeod, Iain

    2012-01-01

    Academics experience difficulty in managing competing tasks, particularly in relation to writing for publication. In a study conducted on a writing retreat, analysis of data obtained from academic writers revealed that facilitative leadership provided at a writing retreat was central to managing task complexity and writing-related anxiety. The…

  9. Scaffolding Assignments: Analysis of Assignmentor as a Tool to Support First Year Students' Academic Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silva, Pedro

    2017-01-01

    There are several technological tools which aim to support first year students' challenges, especially when it comes to academic writing. This paper analyses one of these tools, Wiley's AssignMentor. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework was used to systematise this analysis. The paper showed an alignment between the tools'…

  10. Whose Job Is It? Exploring Subject Tutor Roles in Addressing Students' Academic Writing via Essay Feedback

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Court, Krista; Johnson, Helen

    2016-01-01

    Strong arguments have been forwarded for embedding academic writing development into the UK higher education curriculum and for subject tutors to facilitate this development (Hyland, 2000; Lea & Street, 2006; Monroe, 2003; Wingate, 2006). This small-scale case study explores subject tutors' practices and beliefs with regard to the provision of…

  11. Creating a Macrostructure in Academic Writing: Contributions of Tutor-Tutee Interaction When Performing a Text Revision

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horowitz, Rosalind; Wilburn, Marcy

    2017-01-01

    This article examines how students develop an effective macrostructure with supporting arguments in academic writing. We base the study on theory developed about macrostructures. The study focuses on components of macrostructure-building through tutor-tutee dialogic communication. We draw from work on the role of speech for and within written…

  12. Academic performance in a pharmacotherapeutics course sequence taught synchronously on two campuses using distance education technology.

    PubMed

    Steinberg, Michael; Morin, Anna K

    2011-10-10

    To compare the academic performance of campus-based students in a pharmacotherapeutics course with that of students at a distant campus taught via synchronous teleconferencing. Examination scores and final course grades for campus-based and distant students completing the case-based pharmacotherapeutics course sequence over a 5-year period were collected and analyzed. The mean examination scores and final course grades were not significantly different between students on the 2 campuses. The use of synchronous distance education technology to teach students does not affect students' academic performance when used in an active-learning, case-based pharmacotherapeutics course.

  13. Transformations in Graduate Education Majors' Relational Care in a Service-Learning Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richards, Janet C.

    2017-01-01

    In this semester-long, phenomenological case study the author investigated graduate education majors' development of relational care (i.e., dispositions of concern, sensitivity, attention, and commitment to students and their needs) as they engaged in service-learning tutoring connected to a required writing methods course. The author wanted to…

  14. Writing, Literacy and Technology: Toward a Cyborg Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olson, Gary A.

    1996-01-01

    Presents an interview with feminist social critic Donna Haraway about her call for "cyborg writing," writing that replaces the idea of an authoritative or dominant story with an acknowledgment of the wide range of narratives to be told in science, technology, and other areas. Also questions Haraway about activism for academics, particularly as it…

  15. Supporting the Thesis Writing Process of International Research Students through an Ongoing Writing Group

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Linda Y.; Vandermensbrugghe, Joelle

    2011-01-01

    Evidence from research suggests writing support is particularly needed for international research students who have to tackle the challenges of thesis writing in English as their second language in Western academic settings. This article reports the development of an ongoing writing group to support the thesis writing process of international…

  16. Demystifying Disciplinary Writing: A Case Study in the Writing of Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fredrica L. Stoller; Jones, James K.; Costanza-Robinson, Molly S.; Robinson, Marin S.

    2005-01-01

    This article describes steps taken to demystify the writing of chemistry as part of the development of a junior level writing course for chemistry majors at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Although the course is offered by the chemistry department, its conception, development, implementation, and assessment have been the result of an…

  17. Integrating Academic Integrity Education with the Business Law Course: Why and How?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGill, Shelley

    2008-01-01

    This article advocates integrating academic integrity education into the business law course. Many have suggested teaching business ethics this way but have ignored the natural overlap in legal content with the traditional business law course. This article focuses on why and how business law instructors should integrate the two. Rather than…

  18. Expressive/Exploratory Technical Writing (XTW) in Engineering: Shifting the Technical Writing Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warnock, Scott; Kahn, Michael

    2007-01-01

    While the importance of "expressive writing," or informal, self-directed writing, has been well established, teachers underutilize it, particularly in technical writing courses. We introduce the term expressive/exploratory technical writing (XTW), which is the use of informal, self-directed writing to problem-solve in technical fields. We describe…

  19. Matching Vocabulary Learning Process with Learning Outcome in L2 Academic Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ma, Qing

    2013-01-01

    This exploratory case study of two undergraduates links vocabulary learning approaches with lexical quality measured in academic writing. Employing an array of qualitative data, it is shown that in a "semi-language-rich" learning context, Chinese learners may dispense with rote learning and engage in a more natural learning approach in which…

  20. The Impact of Blended e-Learning on Undergraduate Academic Essay Writing in English (L2)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferriman, Nicholas

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a quasi-experimental study into the impact of a blended e-learning environment on academic writing assignments in English (L2) at a Thai international college. An experimental group of 15 students used an on-line bulletin board, as well as face-to-face (F2F) communication in class, to share information for essay topics they…

  1. Student Writing in a Talent Development Program: Sanctuary and Academic Site of the "Personally Humane"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paley, Karen Surman

    2008-01-01

    The author had the pleasure of being in an academic setting where students of color were in the majority. That was the summer of 2004 as she observed African-American Literature 1900-Present, a writing intensive class in the Special Program in Talent Development (SPTD) at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The author wants to tell the story of…

  2. Negotiating the Challenge of Collaborative Writing: Learning from One Writing Group's Mutiny

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nairn, Karen; Cameron, Jenny; Anakin, Megan; Juntrasook, Adisorn; Wass, Rob; Sligo, Judith; Morrison, Catherine

    2015-01-01

    With continuing pressure to publish or perish, interventions such as writing groups are increasingly part of the academic landscape. In this paper, we discuss our writing group's experiment with collaborative writing, which came unstuck as simmering concerns led to a mutiny within the group. The mutiny provided insights into tensions that are…

  3. The political and economic impacts of writing across the curriculum in chemistry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klein, William Dixon

    Writing Across the Curriculum at most institutions is a web of local knowledges and techniques "situated" within the historical and immediate contexts of academic departments, disciplines, and disciplinary cultures. Because of political and economic tensions existing within colleges and universities, and within academic disciplines themselves, WAC can become a "contact zone," where individuals and institutional structures struggle for power, influence, and in some cases, survival. This dissertation uses the work of Anthony Giddens and Pierre Bourdieu to examine such a struggle as it occurred at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the early 1980s. A WAC program was initiated there, but eventually failed as a result of political and economic influences. In the time since that failure, a growing emphasis on teaching and learning has helped create new potential for WAC at UMSL. Yet, to make it viable, WAC proponents there must recognize existing realities, attitudes, and conventions within each discipline or department, and develop new methods and approaches to writing and teaching that are relevant to that discipline or department. This examination then focuses on writing in chemistry to discover the realities, attitudes, and conventions used in teaching and learning writing at the undergraduate level. Standards for content acquisition are gathered from ACS accreditation requirements, and from a study of educators and practitioners from a variety of professions. A study of Chemistry students in an NSF-funded educational program suggests that science students may learn as much or more about disciplinary discourse from sources other than the traditional writing course. Interaction with the literature and with graduate students, professors, and professionals may teach students more about disciplinary discourse conventions than a composition-trained specialist might accomplish in a writing course. Still, the writing course can be useful. These findings suggest that

  4. Academic and non-academic predictors of success on the Nottingham undergraduate medical course 1970-1995.

    PubMed

    James, D; Chilvers, C

    2001-11-01

    To identify academic and non-academic predictors of success of entrants to the Nottingham medical course over the first 25 completed years of the course's existence. SETTING, DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retrospective study of academic and non-academic characteristics of 2270 entrants between 1970 and 1990, and their subsequent success. Analyses were undertaken of two cohorts (entrants between 1970 and 1985 and entrants between 1986 and 1990). Overall, 148 of 2270 (6.5%) entrants left the course, with the highest proportion being from the first 6 years (10.7%). Of the 148 leavers, 58 (39.2%) did so after obtaining their BMedSci degree. Concerning non-academic factors, in the 1970-85 cohort, applicants from the later years and those not taking a year out were more successful. However, these two factors had no influence on outcome in 1986-90. In contrast, ethnicity and gender were highly significant predictors of success in obtaining honours at BMBS in 1986-90 but at no other exam nor in the earlier years. Older, mature or graduate entrants were more successful at obtaining a first-class degree at BMedSci for the whole 21 years. However, they were less likely to be successful at passing the BMBS. With regard to academic factors, overall, A grades at Ordinary level/General Certificate of Secondary Education (O-Level/GCSE) were inconsistent independent predictors of success. However, for 1986-90, high grades at O-Level/GCSE chemistry and biology were strong independent predictors of success at BMedSci and BMBS. Very few Advanced level (A-Level) criteria were independent predictors of success for 1970-85. In contrast, for 1986-90 entrants, achieving a high grade at A-Level chemistry predicted success at obtaining a first-class degree at BMedSci, and a high grade at A-Level biology predicted success at BMBS. Over the 21 years, the majority of entrants achieved significantly lower grades at A-Level than predicted. General Studies A-Level was a poor predictor of

  5. Supporting Open Access to European Academic Courses: The ASK-CDM-ECTS Tool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sampson, Demetrios G.; Zervas, Panagiotis

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to present and evaluate a web-based tool, namely ASK-CDM-ECTS, which facilitates authoring and publishing on the web descriptions of (open) academic courses in machine-readable format using an application profile of the Course Description Metadata (CDM) specification, namely CDM-ECTS. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

  6. Effects of Academic Service Learning in Drug Misuse and Addiction on Students’ Learning Preferences and Attitudes Toward Harm Reduction

    PubMed Central

    Kabli, Noufissa; Liu, Ben; Seifert, Tricia

    2013-01-01

    Objective. To examine academic service-learning pedagogy on student learning and perceptions of drug misuse and addiction. Design. Third- and fourth-year pharmacology students were exposed to an academic service-learning pedagogy that integrated a community service experience with lectures, in-class discussions and debates, group projects, a final paper, and an examination. Reflective writing assignments throughout the course required students to assimilate and apply what they had learned in the classroom to what they learned in their community placement. Assessment. Changes in students’ responses on pre- and post-course survey instruments reflected shifts toward higher-order thinking. Also, subjective student-learning modalities shifted toward learning by writing. Students’ perspectives and attitudes allowed improved context of issues associated with drug misuse and harm reduction models. Conclusion. Academic service-learning pedagogy contributes to developing adaptable, well-rounded, engaged learners who become more compassionate and pragmatic in addressing scientific and social questions relating to drug addiction. PMID:23610481

  7. The Impact of Authentic Material Use on Development of the Reading Comprehension, Writing Skills and Motivation in Language Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Belet Boyaci, S. Dilek; Güner, Mediha

    2018-01-01

    The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of authentic task-based authentic material on reading comprehension, writing skills and writing motivation in the Turkish language course. The study was conducted with mixed design methodology. Quantitative data were collected with the quasi-experimental with pre-test post-test with…

  8. Variables Impacting an Academic Pharmacy Career Choice

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Bonnie K.; Byrd, Debbie C.; Gupchup, Gireesh V.; Mark, Scott M.; Mobley Smith, Miriam A.; Rospond, Raylene M.

    2008-01-01

    Objectives To identify the variables associated with an academic pharmacy career choice among the following groups: final professional-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students, pharmacy residents, pharmacy faculty members within the first 5 years of academic employment, and clinical pharmacy practitioners. Methods A cross-sectional design Web-based survey instrument was developed using the online tool SurveyMonkey. The survey link was distributed via e-mail and postcards, and data were collected anonymously. Quantitative analyses were used to describe the 2,494 survey respondents and compare their responses to 25 variables associated with an academic pharmacy career choice. Logistic regression models were used to predict the motivators/deterrents associated with an academic pharmacy career choice for each participant group. Results Across all participant groups, the potential need to generate one's salary was the primary deterrent and autonomy, flexibility, and the ability to shape the future of the profession were the primary motivators. Final-year pharmacy students who considered a career in academic pharmacy were significantly deterred by grant writing. The overall sample of participants who considered an academic pharmacy career was more likely to be motivated by the academic environment and opportunities to teach, conduct professional writing and reviews, and participate in course design and/or assessment. Conclusions This study demonstrates specific areas to consider for improved recruitment and retention of pharmacy faculty. For example, providing experiences related to pharmacy academia, such as allowing student participation in teaching and research, may stimulate those individuals' interest in pursuing an academic pharmacy career. PMID:18698388

  9. How Is Language Used to Craft Social Presence in Facebook? A Case Study of an Undergraduate Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gordon, Jessica

    2016-01-01

    This quantitative content analysis examines the way social presence was created through original posts and comments in a Facebook group for an undergraduate writing course. The author adapted a well-known coding template and examined how course members--one instructor, two undergraduate teaching assistants and twenty-two students--used language…

  10. Academic Efforts and Study Habits among Students in a Principles of Macroeconomics Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Okpala, Amon O.; Okpala, Comfort O.; Ellis, Richard

    2000-01-01

    Students in a macroeconomics course (n=132) were compared on grade point average, academic efficacy, credit hours accumulated, and study hours/habits. Academic efficacy and study habits significantly explained achievement. The amount of study time had no significant impact. Scholastic Assessment Test scores and credit hours explained achievement…

  11. Helping Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Express Their Thoughts and Knowledge in Writing: Tips and Exercises for Developing Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geither, Elise; Meeks, Lisa

    2014-01-01

    When it comes to academic work, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have the required knowledge but struggle to get their thoughts down in writing. This is a practical guide to teaching and improving writing skills in students with ASD to meet academic writing standards and prepare for the increased expectations of higher education.…

  12. A Writing-Intensive Course Improves Biology Undergraduates' Perception and Confidence of Their Abilities to Read Scientific Literature and Communicate Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brownell, Sara E.; Price, Jordan V.; Steinman, Lawrence

    2013-01-01

    Most scientists agree that comprehension of primary scientific papers and communication of scientific concepts are two of the most important skills that we can teach, but few undergraduate biology courses make these explicit course goals. We designed an undergraduate neuroimmunology course that uses a writing-intensive format. Using a mixture of…

  13. Writing Assignments with a Metacognitive Component Enhance Learning in a Large Introductory Biology Course

    PubMed Central

    Mynlieff, Michelle; Manogaran, Anita L.; St. Maurice, Martin

    2014-01-01

    Writing assignments, including note taking and written recall, should enhance retention of knowledge, whereas analytical writing tasks with metacognitive aspects should enhance higher-order thinking. In this study, we assessed how certain writing-intensive “interventions,” such as written exam corrections and peer-reviewed writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review and including a metacognitive component, improve student learning. We designed and tested the possible benefits of these approaches using control and experimental variables across and between our three-section introductory biology course. Based on assessment, students who corrected exam questions showed significant improvement on postexam assessment compared with their nonparticipating peers. Differences were also observed between students participating in written and discussion-based exercises. Students with low ACT scores benefited equally from written and discussion-based exam corrections, whereas students with midrange to high ACT scores benefited more from written than discussion-based exam corrections. Students scored higher on topics learned via peer-reviewed writing assignments relative to learning in an active classroom discussion or traditional lecture. However, students with low ACT scores (17–23) did not show the same benefit from peer-reviewed written essays as the other students. These changes offer significant student learning benefits with minimal additional effort by the instructors. PMID:26086661

  14. Design of Online Report Writing Based on Constructive and Cooperative Learning for a Course on Traditional General Physics Experiments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lo, Hao-Chang

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to develop an online report writing activity that was a constructive and cooperative learning process for a course on traditional general physics experiments. Wiki, a CMC authoring tool, was used to construct the writing platform. Fifty-eight undergraduate students (33 men and 25 women), working in randomly assigned…

  15. Chief Academic Officers and Gateway Courses: Keys to Institutional Retention and Persistence Agendas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Roberta S.; Newman, Scott

    2017-01-01

    Among persistence and retention agenda initiatives undertaken by colleges and universities, gateway-course improvement efforts are often overlooked. However, the engagement of diverse institutional stakeholders in the transformation of gateway courses can contribute significantly to student success. Chief academic officers are in a unique position…

  16. Thirdspace Explorations in Online Writing Studios: Writing Centers, Writing in the Disiplines and First Year Composition in the Corporate University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miley, Michelle L.

    2013-01-01

    This study explores the use of online writing studios housed in the University Writing Center and attached to a Writing in the Disciplines course in the College of Technology and a First Year Composition program. The original goal of the online writing studio, modified from Grego and Thompson's (2009) writing studio approach, was to create an…

  17. Applied Biology and Chemistry. Course Materials: Chemistry 111, 112, 113, 114. Seattle Tech Prep Applied Academics Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    South Seattle Community Coll., Washington.

    This publication contains materials for four courses in Applied Biology/Chemistry in the Applied Academics program at South Seattle Community College. It begins with the article, "Community College Applied Academics: The State of the Art?" (George B. Neff), which describes the characteristics, model, courses, and coordination activity…

  18. Blog-Integrated Writing with Blog-Buddies: EAP Learners' Writing Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Asoodar, Maryam; Atai, Mahmood Reza; Vaezi, Shahin

    2016-01-01

    This article reports a mixed-method research probing the effect of utilizing a blog-buddy system on English for academic purposes learners' writing performance. Sixty Iranian undergraduate engineering students at Iran University of Science and Technology Virtual Campus participated in this study. Our analysis of the students' writings indicated…

  19. Teaching Writing for Keeps

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alber-Morgan, Sheila R.; Hessler, Terri; Konrad, Moira

    2007-01-01

    Proficiency with written expression is critical for students' academic success. Unfortunately, writing presents a challenge for both students and teachers. Recent data suggest that many students in U.S. schools fail to meet even the most basic writing standards. And even when students receive effective (i.e., evidence-based) writing instruction,…

  20. Slaying the Writing Monsters: Scaffolding Reluctant Writers through a Writing Workshop Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gair, Marina

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on four years of anecdotal data and student feedback on course evaluations, this paper provides a retrospective account of the author's experience with teacher candidates in an elementary writing instruction course as first-time authors of children's books, in particular focusing on a writing workshop approach as an effective pedagogical…

  1. The College Writing Center: Best Practices, Best Technologies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moberg, Eric

    2010-01-01

    Lifelong learning is a must in our information age, especially in the worldwide recession that began in 2008. In order to gain the most from their education, adult learners in any subject, major, program, or school must master the basics of academic reading and academic writing. Towards this end, writing tutors and writing centers offer…

  2. The science writing tool

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schuhart, Arthur L.

    This is a two-part dissertation. The primary part is the text of a science-based composition rhetoric and reader called The Science Writing Tool. This textbook has seven chapters dealing with topics in Science Rhetoric. Each chapter includes a variety of examples of science writing, discussion questions, writing assignments, and instructional resources. The purpose of this text is to introduce lower-division college science majors to the role that rhetoric and communication plays in the conduct of Science, and how these skills contribute to a successful career in Science. The text is designed as a "tool kit," for use by an instructor constructing a science-based composition course or a writing-intensive Science course. The second part of this part of this dissertation reports on student reactions to draft portions of The Science Writing Tool text. In this report, students of English Composition II at Northern Virginia Community College-Annandale were surveyed about their attitudes toward course materials and topics included. The findings were used to revise and expand The Science Writing Tool.

  3. Drawing on Technical Writing Scholarship for the Teaching of Writing to Advanced ESL Students--A Writing Tutorial.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zielinska, Dorota

    2003-01-01

    Outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that precedes an advanced English as a second language (ESL) writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University, Poland. Finds a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the TWT. Indicates that technical writing books and journals…

  4. Motivating Students to Offer Their Best: Evidence Based Effective Course Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stearns, Susan A.

    2013-01-01

    Sometimes we question whether students are incapable or capable and/or willing or unwilling in regards to their academics. This study determined where students lie in regards to these concepts and showed one example of motivating students to do their best via course design, in this particular case by the use of a writing process model.

  5. Predicting Performance in Practical Writing: Factors That Influence Success in the Introductory Business Communication Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Gerald

    A study attempted to develop and test a questionnaire that could combine various sorts of demographic information to identify strong or weak students and forecast their course performance. The study determined if a significant relationship existed between students' personal and academic profiles and their final course grades in an introductory…

  6. The Functions of Writing in an Elementary Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Florio, Susan; Clark, Christopher M.

    1982-01-01

    Describes an ethnographic study of writing in one elementary classroom that identified four functions of writing: writing to participate in community, writing to know oneself and others, writing to occupy free time, and writing to demonstrate academic competence. (HOD)

  7. Team-Based Learning in a Community Health Nursing Course: Improving Academic Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Miles, Jane M; Larson, Kim L; Swanson, Melvin

    2017-07-01

    Population health concepts, such as upstream thinking, present challenging ideas to undergraduate nursing students grounded in an acute care orientation. The purpose of this study was to describe how team-based learning (TBL) influenced academic outcomes in a community health nursing course. A descriptive correlational design examined the relationship among student scores on individual readiness assurance tests (iRATs), team readiness assurance tests (tRATs), and the final examination. The sample included 221 nursing students who had completed the course. A large positive correlation was found between iRAT and final examination scores. For all students, the mean tRAT score was higher than the mean iRAT score. A moderate positive correlation existed between tRAT and final examination scores. The study contributes to understanding the effects of TBL pedagogy on student academic outcomes in nursing education. TBL is a valuable teaching method in a course requiring the application of challenging concepts. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):425-429.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  8. A quarter-long exercise that introduces general education students to neurophysiology and scientific writing.

    PubMed

    Krilowicz, B I; Henter, H; Kamhi-Stein, L

    1997-06-01

    Providing large numbers of general education students with an introduction to science is a challenge. To meet this challenge, a quarter-long neurophysiology project was developed for use in an introductory biology course. The primary goals of this multistep project were to introduce students to the scientific method, scientific writing, on-line scientific bibliographic databases, and the scientific literature, while improving their academic literacy skills. Students began by collecting data on their own circadian rhythms in autonomic, motor, and cognitive function, reliably demonstrating the predicted circadian changes in heart rate, eye-hand coordination, and adding speed. Students wrote a journal-style article using pooled class data. Students were prepared to write the paper by several methods that were designed to improve academic language skills, including a library training exercise, "modeling" of the writing assignment, and drafting of subsections of the paper. This multistep neurophysiology project represents a significant commitment of time by both students and instructors, but produces a valuable finished product and ideally gives introductory students a positive first experience with science.

  9. A case study of learning writing in service-learning through CMC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Yunxiang; Ren, LiLi; Liu, Xiaomian; Song, Yinjie; Wang, Jie; Li, Jiaxin

    2011-06-01

    Computer-mediated communication ( CMC ) through online has developed successfully with its adoption by educators. Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates community service with academic instruction and reflection to enrich students further understanding of course content, meet genuine community needs, develop career-related skills, and become responsible citizens. This study focuses on an EFL writing learning via CMC in an online virtual environment of service places by taking the case study of service Learning to probe into the scoring algorithm in CMC. The study combines the quantitative and qualitative research to probe into the practical feasibility and effectiveness of EFL writing learning via CMC in service learning in China.

  10. Teacher Scaffolding of Academic Language in an Advanced Placement U.S. History Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gritter, Kristine; Beers, Scott; Knaus, Robert W.

    2013-01-01

    This article examines teacher scaffolding of academic language in an Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) course throughout a school year for one student who received a perfect score on the end of year APUSH exam. Data includes four months of observation of teacher instructional strategies to scaffold student writing and vignettes of…

  11. Key Writing Challenges of Practice-Based Doctorates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    San Miguel, Caroline; Nelson, Cynthia D.

    2007-01-01

    Building on the increasing interest within English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in postgraduate literacy development, this article examines the complexities of writing research at the academic/professional interface. It analyses two literature reviews by professional doctorate students at an Australian university who were writing research in their…

  12. Writing as a Survival Skill: How Neuroscience Can Improve Writing in Organizations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Douglas, Yellowlees

    2012-01-01

    This article looks at the apparent paradox between the demand for strong writing skills and the lack of colleges of business that require their MBA students to complete writing courses. In the past, most approaches to teaching writing proved inadequate in producing graduates with the ability to write clearly, effectively, and efficiently. This…

  13. Impact of Personality on Academic Performance of MBA Students: Qualitative versus Quantitative Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whittingham, Keith L.

    2006-01-01

    The traditional core Masters in Business Administration (MBA) curriculum consists of a broad range of courses that can be considered as a whole, or divided into qualitative and quantitative courses. Regression models were developed with "QualGPA" and "QuantGPA" as response variables, and gender, pre-MBA academic indicators, and…

  14. Cocoa High School's Academic Courses as Viewed by Their Consumers: A Field Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Louwerse, F. H.

    A 16-item self-report instrument (included in an appendix) was developed to determine the views held by students (N=1,004) concerning aspects of courses in 5 academic areas: English, foreign languages, mathematics, science, and social studies. Individual items reflected views concerning: understanding course requirments (2 items), teacher/student…

  15. Queering College Writing: Writing Students' Learning of LGB Issues Using the Internet as an Instructional Tool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burnes, Theodore R.

    2007-01-01

    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…

  16. Class Size and Academic Achievement in Introductory Political Science Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Towner, Terri L.

    2016-01-01

    Research on the influence of class size on student academic achievement is important for university instructors, administrators, and students. The article examines the influence of class size--a small section versus a large section--in introductory political science courses on student grades in two comparable semesters. It is expected that…

  17. How IELTS Preparation Courses Support Students: IELTS and Academic Socialisation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yanxian; Badger, Richard

    2015-01-01

    IELTS scores are widely used in combination with academic results as a way of judging whether non-English background students should be admitted to degree-level courses in Anglophone contexts. However, successful study at university requires more than language competence and intellectual ability and international students often seem to start from…

  18. Closing the Gap. SREB Program Blends Academic Standards, Vocational Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bottoms, Gene

    1992-01-01

    Southern Regional Education Board's State Vocational Education Consortium developed a model for integrating vocational and academic education that includes at least three credits each in math and science; four English courses; and four credits in a vocational major and two in related fields. Eight sites implementing the model have narrowed gap…

  19. Writing Cover Letters That Address Instructor Feedback Improves Final Papers in a Research Methods Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniel, Frances; Gaze, Catherine M.; Braasch, Jason L. G.

    2015-01-01

    We examined how writing cover letters to the instructor influenced final papers in research methods courses. After receiving instructor feedback on drafts of each section of an American Psychological Association style research paper throughout the semester, students in two classes wrote cover letters to the instructor explaining how the instructor…

  20. Communication: Vary Writing Instruction with Group Writing Format.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holder, Birdie H.

    1979-01-01

    If the instructor carefully plans for formation of small groups and the writing sessions, group writing in a business communications course offers such advantages as rapid feedback, peer response, and a variety of evaluative comments. Small group sessions in composing, evaluating, and synthesizing are described. (MF)

  1. The relationship between competencies acquired through Swiss academic sports science courses and the job requirements.

    PubMed

    Schlesinger, T; Studer, F; Nagel, S

    2016-01-01

    In view of the changes in and growing variety of sports-related occupations, it is highly relevant for educational institutions to know how well the educational contents of their sport science courses meet the professional requirements. This study analyses the relationship between the competencies acquired through academic sports science courses and the requirements of the relevant jobs in Switzerland. The data for this empirical analysis were drawn from a sample of n = 1054 graduates of different academic sport science programmes at all eight Swiss universities. The results show that academic sport science courses primarily communicate sports-specific expertise and practical sports skills. On the other hand, most graduates consider that the acquisition of interdisciplinary competencies plays a comparatively minor role in sport science education, even though these competencies are felt to be an important requirement in a variety of work-related environments and challenges.

  2. Sharpening the Craft of Scientific Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koprowski, John L.

    1997-01-01

    Describes a writing-intensive ecology course designed to foster the development of writing and critiquing skills early in the semester and immerse students in the peer-review process toward the end of the course. By critiquing other scientific papers, students gain insight into the effectiveness of their own writing while also increasing their…

  3. Teaching and Assessing Academic Writing via the Portfolio: Benefits for Learners of English as an Additional Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Romova, Zina; Andrew, Martin

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the use of portfolios as pedagogical tools for developing academic writing. In particular, it considers the value of multi-drafting, where learners reflect on the learning of a text type as well as focusing on micro and macro aspects. The paper outlines a situated pedagogical approach, where students come to understand their…

  4. Academic Performance and Pass Rates: Comparison of Three First-Year Life Science Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Downs, C. T.

    2009-01-01

    First year students' academic performance in three Life Science courses (Botany, Zoology and Bioscience) was compared. Pass rates, as well as the means and distributions of final marks were analysed. Of the three components (coursework, practical and theory examinations) contributing to the final mark of each course, students performed best in the…

  5. Helping Vocational and Academic Teachers Collaborate To Improve Students' Reading and Writing Skills: An Over-Time Inservice Activity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmidt, B. June; Beeken, Lois A.

    Staff development was provided for academic and vocational teachers interested in improving their students' reading and writing skills. The first step was to examine the need. Survey data collected from students and vocational program completers from Southern Regional Education Board-Vocational Education Consortium pilot site schools revealed a…

  6. Homework, Motivation, and Academic Achievement in a College Genetics Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Planchard, Matthew; Daniel, Kristy L.; Maroo, Jill; Mishra, Chandrani; McLean, Tim

    2015-01-01

    We conducted a mixed methods study in an upper-level genetics course exploring the relationships between student motivation, homework completion, and academic achievement at the college level. We used data from an open-ended questionnaire, homework grades and completion reports, and exam scores. We used these data sources to measure self-perceived…

  7. The impact of a developmental science course on college success for underprepared health science students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Candace A.

    Developmental education for the academically underprepared college student has been aimed at helping students succeed in college. However, developmental education courses have traditionally focused on reading, writing and math. This quantitative study examined the relationship between a developmental science course for underprepared health science students on grades achieved in college level medical terminology courses. The effect was measured by analyzing student grades retrieved from a college database of official school records through the use of correlation research methodology during a previous 2-year academic period at a selected independent 4-year right-to-try college. The results yielded a weakly positive correlation, but not statistically significant coefficient of 0.325 between grades for students who successfully completed the developmental science course and their subsequent success in a college-level science course. The study added to the gap in knowledge in terms of the effect a developmental science course has on grades in college-level science courses.

  8. Writing on the board as students' preferred teaching modality in a physiology course.

    PubMed

    Armour, Chris; Schneid, Stephen D; Brandl, Katharina

    2016-06-01

    The introduction of PowerPoint presentation software has generated a paradigm shift in the delivery of lectures. PowerPoint has now almost entirely replaced chalkboard or whiteboard teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This study investigated whether undergraduate biology students preferred to have lectures delivered by PowerPoint or written on the board as well as the reasons behind their preference. Two upper-division physiology courses were surveyed over a period of 7 yr. A total of 1,905 students (86.7%) indicated they preferred lectures delivered by "writing on the board" compared to 291 students (13.3%) who preferred PowerPoint. Common themes drawn from explanations reported by students in favor of writing on the board included: 1) more appropriate pace, 2) facilitation of note taking, and 3) greater alertness and attention. Common themes in favor of PowerPoint included 1) increased convenience, 2) focus on listening, and 3) more accurate and readable notes. Based on the students' very strong preference for writing on the board and the themes supporting that preference, we recommend that instructors incorporate elements of the writing on the board delivery style into whatever teaching modality is used. If instructors plan to use PowerPoint, the presentation should be paced, constructed, and delivered to provide the benefits of lectures written on the board. The advantages of writing on the board can be also incorporated into instruction intended to occur outside the classroom, such as animated narrated videos as part of the flipped classroom approach. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

  9. English 308J: Organizational Report and Letter Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pytlik, Betty P.

    The organizational report and letter writing course at Ohio University (Athens) is an advanced composition course designed to help students who expect to do such writing in their future jobs, but for whom technical writing and business communication courses are either inappropriate or insufficient. Students work in groups of four, investigating a…

  10. The Infernal Business of Contract Cheating: Understanding the Business Processes and Models of Academic Custom Writing Sites

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Cath; Zucker, Ian Michael; Randall, David

    2018-01-01

    While there is growing awareness of the existence and activities of Academic Custom Writing websites, which form a small part of the contract cheating industry, how they work remains poorly understood. Very little research has been done on these sites, probably because it has been assumed that it is impossible to see behind their firewalls and…

  11. Student Experience and Academic Success: Comparing a Student-Centred and a Lecture-Based Course Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Severiens, Sabine; Meeuwisse, Marieke; Born, Marise

    2015-01-01

    Past research has shown that, under certain conditions, student-centred and small-scale course programmes result in more academic success. The present study investigates these conditions in further detail. It is examined whether, in comparison to a course programme that is relatively more lecture-based, a student-centred course programme promotes…

  12. Academic Courses for the Health Programs. Junior College Resource Review.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brawer, Florence M.

    The paucity of material dealing with academic programs for the health professions in two-year colleges is reflected in this review of studies and reports which show great variety in their primary focus and in the disciplines involved. Cited in this literature review are: syllabi for courses in anatomy, physiology, and chemistry; a report on…

  13. Stereotype Threat? Male and Female Students in Advanced High School Courses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Corra, Mamadi

    Propositions of stereotype threat theory imply that the social consequences of academic distinction in advanced quantitative areas (such as math and the physical sciences) for women may promote the under representation of female students in advanced quantitative academic courses. The hypothesis that female students will be underrepresented in advanced quantitative (honors and advanced placement math and physical science) courses is tested using academic performance and enrollment data for high school students in a "Student/Parent Informed Choice" (open registration) school district in North Carolina. Results show female students to be overrepresented in both advanced verbal/writing intensive (honors and advanced placement English, foreign language, and social science) and advanced quantitative (honors and advanced placement math and physical science) courses compared to their proportion of the student body. More surprisingly, results also indicate female students (compared to male students) to be overrepresented in advanced courses compared to their proportion of high-performing students. Furthermore, as with patterns observed at the district level, additional analysis of enrollment data for the entire state reveals similar results. Taken together, the findings call into question the prevailing presumption that female students continue to be underrepresented in math and physical science courses. Instead, the changing social context within which females and males experience schooling may provide an explanation for the findings.

  14. Write Now! Using Reflective Writing beyond the Humanities and Social Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cannady, Rachel E.; Gallo, Kasia Z.

    2016-01-01

    Writing is an important teaching and learning tool that fosters active and critical thinking. There are multiple pressures for disciplines outside the humanities and social sciences to integrate writing in their courses. The shift from teaching solely discipline-specific skills to including writing in a meaningful way can be a daunting process. An…

  15. MBA Students' Workplace Writing: Implications for Business Writing Pedagogy and Workplace Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lentz, Paula

    2013-01-01

    Employers frequently complain about the state of their employees' writing skills. Much of the current research on this subject explores workplace writing skills from the employer's perspective. However, this article examines workplace writing from the employees' perspective. Specifically, it analyzes MBA students' responses to a course assignment…

  16. Tensions between Textbook Pedagogy and the Literacy Practices of the Disciplinary Community: A Study of Writing in First Year Economics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paxton, Moragh

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes aspects of a research project which used linguistic and intertextual analysis of student writing to investigate the relationship between the academic curriculum and student voice in a first year economics course at a South African university. I argue that the discourses and practices of first year university economics…

  17. Conditions That Promote the Academic Performance of College Students in a Remedial Mathematics Course: Academic Competence, Academic Resilience, and the Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foshee, Cecile Mary

    2013-01-01

    Researchers have postulated that math academic achievement increases student success in college (Lee, 2012; Silverman & Seidman, 2011; Vigdor, 2013), yet 80% of universities and 98% of community colleges require many of their first-year students to be placed in remedial courses (Bettinger & Long, 2009). Many high school graduates are…

  18. Implementing a Grant Proposal Writing Exercise in Undergraduate Science Courses to Incorporate Real-World Applications and Critical Analysis of Current Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cole, Kathryn E.; Inada, Maki; Smith, Andrew M.; Haaf, Michael P.

    2013-01-01

    Writing is an essential part of a successful career in science. As such, many undergraduate science courses have begun to implement writing assignments that reflect "real-world" applications and focus on a critical analysis of current literature; these assignments are often in the form of a review or a research proposal. The…

  19. The Kitchen Is Your Laboratory: A Research-Based Term-Paper Assignment in a Science Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Clinton D.

    2011-01-01

    A term-paper assignment that encompasses the full scientific method has been developed and implemented in an undergraduate science writing and communication course with no laboratory component. Students are required to develop their own hypotheses, design experiments to test their hypotheses, and collect empirical data as independent scientists in…

  20. Assessment for Learning: Capturing the Interest of Diverse Students on an Academic Writing Module in Postgraduate Vocational Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strauss, P.; Mooney, S.

    2017-01-01

    This article discusses the complexities surrounding the teaching of a critical thinking and academic writing module on a vocational postgraduate programme. Students enrolled on this programme are strongly industry focused and often fail to see the relevance of such a module, despite the fact that most are international students with English as…

  1. Emotional Distress, Drinking, and Academic Achievement across the Adolescent Life Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Owens, Timothy J.; Shippee, Nathan D.; Hensel, Devon J.

    2008-01-01

    Our study of the adolescent life course proposes that substantial maturation occurs within three intertwined arenas of development: the social, the psychological, and the normative attainment. Further, each arena may be linked, respectively, to three youth problem dimensions: drinking, depressive affect, and academic achievement. We use latent…

  2. History of Not Completing Courses as Predictor of Academic Difficulty among First-Year Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, Evelyn W.; Dawson-Saunders, Beth

    1987-01-01

    A study found that variables significant in predicting minority students with academic difficulty include science grade-point average, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) reading subtest score, and number of course withdrawals. For majority students, they include MCAT biology subtest score and number of incompletes taken in courses. (MSE)

  3. Academic Literacies as Cornerstones in Course Design: A Partnership to Develop Programming for Faculty and Teaching Assistants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bury, Sophie; Sheese, Ron

    2016-01-01

    We discuss an educational development approach to embedding academic literacies instruction within disciplinary curricula. This developmental, embedded approach contrasts with the generic, extra-curricular, study-skills approach adopted in many universities. Learning Commons partners at York University, including librarians, writing instructors,…

  4. [Modeling the academic performance of medical students in basic sciences and pre-clinical courses: a longitudinal study].

    PubMed

    Zúñiga, Denisse; Mena, Beltrán; Oliva, Rose; Pedrals, Nuria; Padilla, Oslando; Bitran, Marcela

    2009-10-01

    The study of predictors of academic performance is relevant for medical education. Most studies of academic performance use global ratings as outcome measure, and do not evaluate the influence of the assessment methods. To model by multivariate analysis, the academic performance of medical considering, besides academic and demographic variables, the methods used to assess students' learning and their preferred modes of information processing. Two hundred seventy two students admitted to the medical school of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile from 2000 to 2003. Six groups of variables were studied to model the students' performance in five basic science courses (Anatomy, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry and Physics) and two pre-clinical courses (Integrated Medical Clinic I and IT). The assessment methods examined were multiple choice question tests, Objective Structured Clinical Examination and tutor appraisal. The results of the university admission tests (high school grades, mathematics and biology tests), the assessment methods used, the curricular year and previous application to medical school, were predictors of academic performance. The information processing modes influenced academic performance, but only in interaction with other variables. Perception (abstract or concrete) interacted with the assessment methods, and information use (active or reflexive), with sex. The correlation between the real and predicted grades was 0.7. In addition to the academic results obtained prior to university entrance, the methods of assessment used in the university and the information processing modes influence the academic performance of medical students in basic and preclinical courses.

  5. Some Thoughts on the Issue of Making the Liberal Science Courses More Appealing to Academics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khoon, Koh Aik; Jalal, Azman

    2008-01-01

    This paper traces the history of the Liberal Science courses and explores the mechanisms whereby the courses can be made more attractive to academics in the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). (Contains 1 table.)

  6. Community-Engaged Courses in a Conflict Zone: A Case Study of the Israeli Academic Corpus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golan, Daphna; Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera

    2014-01-01

    This article is based on an action-oriented study of 13 community-engaged courses at 11 institutions of higher education in Israel. These courses were not part of peace education programs but rather accredited academic courses in various disciplines, all of which included practice and theory. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how these…

  7. An Analysis of Errors Committed by Saudi Non-English Major Students in the English Paragraph Writing: A Study of Comparisons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nuruzzaman, Mohammed; Islam, A. B. M. Shafiqul; Shuchi, Israt Jahan

    2018-01-01

    The present study investigates the writing errors of ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three faculties, who studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages &Translation at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia in the academic year 2016-17.…

  8. Developing New Models of the COMP-LAB College Basic Writing Course for Other Settings. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Epes, Mary T.; And Others

    A course designed for college students with severe writing problems, especially those stemming from nonstandard speech patterns, was adapted to a variety of noncollege settings: two high schools, a labor union, a manpower training program, and the staff education department of a psychiatric hospital. Each setting attempted to integrate classroom…

  9. Designing Writing Programs in Business and Industry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freed, Richard C.

    Current training in writing for business and industry usually takes the form of short courses. However, the short course is an inappropriate way to teach writing because it is inefficient, represents writing behaviors or strategies inappropriate for some writers, rarely allows time for adequate criticism and revision, presents too much material in…

  10. A Web-Based EFL Writing Environment as a Bridge between Academic Advisers and Junior Researchers: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reynolds, Barry Lee

    2013-01-01

    In the age of "publish or perish," publishing academic journal articles is a must, not only for professors but also for graduate students in Taiwan. Increasingly, Taiwanese research universities are requiring masters and PhD students to write theses and dissertations in English, with an added caveat for PhD students to publish two or…

  11. The Reluctant Academic: Early-Career Academics in a Teaching-Orientated University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gale, Helen

    2011-01-01

    This paper is based on research into academic identities amongst early-career academics in a UK post-1992, teaching-orientated university. Literature around academic identity suggests five major academic roles: teaching, research, management, writing and networking. However, this appears to be a picture of an established mid-career academic in a…

  12. Integrating Academic Journal Review Assignments into a Graduate Business Leadership Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schultz, Jennifer L.; Agrimonti, Lisa M.; Higbee, Jeanne L.

    2016-01-01

    Graduate course assignments that are pragmatic, challenging, scaffold prior learning, and support academic career aspirations can be difficult to create and even more problematic to assess for even the most experienced faculty. This paper presents a class assignment that incorporated a real-world journal reviewing assignment into an elective…

  13. Linguistically Diverse Students' Attitudes towards Writing in English

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bustamante, Analynn; Eom, Minhee

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated attitudes of linguistically diverse students towards writing in English in four different domains: general academic writing, writing in humanities, writing in science-related subjects (STEM), and writing in electronic communication. A total of 77 Hispanic bilingual/ELL adult students at an alternative high school in…

  14. Effects of differences in problem-based learning course length on academic motivation and self-directed learning readiness in medical school students.

    PubMed

    Yune, So Jung; Im, Sun Ju; Lee, Sun Hee; Baek, Sun Yong; Lee, Sang Yeoup

    2010-03-01

    Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational approach in which complex authentic problems serve as the context and stimulus for learning. PBL is designed to encourage active participation during learning. The goal of this study was to study the effects of PBL on academic motivation and self-directed learning readiness in medical school students. The subjects of this study were 190 students in the 1st and 2nd grade of medical school. The period of the PBL course was two weeks for Year 1 and five weeks for Year 2 students. Students completed one module over one week. Academic motivation tests and self-directed learning readiness tests were performed before and after the PBL course. The differences between the two groups were analyzed using paired t-test and repeated measures MANCOVA. PBL had positive effects on academic self-efficacy (self-control efficacy, task-level preference) and academic failure tolerance (behavior, task-difficulty preference) as academic motivation. PBL had a mildly positive effect on self-directed learning readiness. In addition, the five-week PBL course had greater positive effects on academic motivation than the two-week course but not with regard to self-directed learning readiness. Medical students engage in academic motivation and self-directed learning readiness during PBL, suggesting that the five-week PBL course has greater positive effects than the two-week course. Future studies are needed to confirm the most effective periods of PBL.

  15. Tell a Good Story Well: Writing Tips

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Randolph A.

    2013-01-01

    This chapter gives reasons why writing is important, summarizes general writing guidelines common to many academic disciplines, and provides specific writing guidelines that authors should use to make their manuscripts stronger and more likely to be acceptable to editors.

  16. The Carleton University Writing Tutorial Service.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freedman, Aviva

    Carleton University's writing tutorial service is staffed by trained graduate students and provides free individual instruction for students having problems writing academic English. The students submit writing samples before the first session at which both student and tutor map out a strategy for improvement. Analysis of the tutors' perceptions…

  17. Transforming Future Teachers' Ideas about Writing Instruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Florio-Ruane, Susan; Lensmire, Timothy J.

    A course was developed which offers opportunities for prospective teachers to transform their prior experiences with teaching, writing, and children as they began to assume the role of the teacher. The course breaks with the ordinary understanding of beginning teachers in three ways: (1) instead of placing writing in genre boxes, writing is viewed…

  18. Healing Classrooms: Therapeutic Possibilities in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Batzer, Benjamin

    2016-01-01

    This article asks us to consider what the process of healing and composition pedagogy have to learn from each other. More specifically, it identifies how the therapeutic potential of writing, which has been largely neglected in the academy in recent years, can influence the ways we teach transferable writing skills. The article considers how…

  19. Writing in Chemistry: An Effective Learning Tool.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherwood, Donna W.; Kovac, Jeffrey

    1999-01-01

    Presents some general strategies for using writing in chemistry courses based on experiences in developing a systematic approach to using writing as an effective learning tool in chemistry courses, and testing this approach in high-enrollment general chemistry courses at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Contains 18 references. (WRM)

  20. Stereotyped: investigating gender in introductory science courses.

    PubMed

    Lauer, Shanda; Momsen, Jennifer; Offerdahl, Erika; Kryjevskaia, Mila; Christensen, Warren; Montplaisir, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    Research in science education has documented achievement gaps between men and women in math and physics that may reflect, in part, a response to perceived stereotype threat. Research efforts to reduce achievement gaps by mediating the impact of stereotype threat have found success with a short values-affirmation writing exercise. In biology and biochemistry, however, little attention has been paid to the performance of women in comparison with men or perceptions of stereotype threat, despite documentation of leaky pipelines into professional and academic careers. We used methodologies developed in physics education research and cognitive psychology to 1) investigate and compare the performance of women and men across three introductory science sequences (biology, biochemistry, physics), 2) document endorsement of stereotype threat in these science courses, and 3) investigate the utility of a values-affirmation writing task in reducing achievement gaps. In our study, analysis of final grades and normalized learning gains on content-specific concept inventories reveals no achievement gap in the courses sampled, little stereotype threat endorsement, and no impact of the values-affirmation writing task on student performance. These results underscore the context-dependent nature of achievement gaps and stereotype threat and highlight calls to replicate education research across a range of student populations.