Sample records for activities writing activities

  1. Essential Skills: Writing Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kentucky State Dept. of Education, Frankfort.

    This collection of practical writing activities was designed to give classroom teachers a variety of approaches, options, and techniques for teaching the essential skills in writing. The activities are organized into units according to grade level, one series of activities following each writing objective determined to be an indicator of whether a…

  2. Write! Write! Write! Ready-to-Use Writing Process Activities for Grades 4-8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Behrman, Carol H.

    This handbook contains over 265 reproducible writing process activities that help make writing fun for students in grades 4-8. The handbook provides stimulating activities to give students the directed practice they need to learn to write clearly and competently. Designed for minimal teacher input, activities are complete with directions geared to…

  3. Writing Activities for Developing Reading Comprehension.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karlin, Robert; Karlin, Andrea R.

    As both draw upon language and experience, and both deal with meaning, writing and reading can be learned concurrently. Writing activities having a positive effect on reading skills include notetaking and sentence combining exercises. A more productive way of improving reading comprehension through writing is to have students base their writing on…

  4. Cerebral activations related to writing and drawing with each hand.

    PubMed

    Potgieser, Adriaan R E; van der Hoorn, Anouk; de Jong, Bauke M

    2015-01-01

    Writing is a sequential motor action based on sensorimotor integration in visuospatial and linguistic functional domains. To test the hypothesis of lateralized circuitry concerning spatial and language components involved in such action, we employed an fMRI paradigm including writing and drawing with each hand. In this way, writing-related contributions of dorsal and ventral premotor regions in each hemisphere were assessed, together with effects in wider distributed circuitry. Given a right-hemisphere dominance for spatial action, right dorsal premotor cortex dominance was expected in left-hand writing while dominance of the left ventral premotor cortex was expected during right-hand writing. Sixteen healthy right-handed subjects were scanned during audition-guided writing of short sentences and simple figure drawing without visual feedback. Tapping with a pencil served as a basic control task for the two higher-order motor conditions. Activation differences were assessed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). Writing and drawing showed parietal-premotor and posterior inferior temporal activations in both hemispheres when compared to tapping. Drawing activations were rather symmetrical for each hand. Activations in left- and right-hand writing were left-hemisphere dominant, while right dorsal premotor activation only occurred in left-hand writing, supporting a spatial motor contribution of particularly the right hemisphere. Writing contrasted to drawing revealed left-sided activations in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, Broca's area, pre-Supplementary Motor Area and posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, without parietal activation. The audition-driven postero-inferior temporal activations indicated retrieval of virtual visual form characteristics in writing and drawing, with additional activation concerning word form in the left hemisphere. Similar parietal processing in writing and drawing pointed at a common mechanism by which such visually

  5. Cerebral Activations Related to Writing and Drawing with Each Hand

    PubMed Central

    Potgieser, Adriaan R. E.; van der Hoorn, Anouk; de Jong, Bauke M.

    2015-01-01

    Background Writing is a sequential motor action based on sensorimotor integration in visuospatial and linguistic functional domains. To test the hypothesis of lateralized circuitry concerning spatial and language components involved in such action, we employed an fMRI paradigm including writing and drawing with each hand. In this way, writing-related contributions of dorsal and ventral premotor regions in each hemisphere were assessed, together with effects in wider distributed circuitry. Given a right-hemisphere dominance for spatial action, right dorsal premotor cortex dominance was expected in left-hand writing while dominance of the left ventral premotor cortex was expected during right-hand writing. Methods Sixteen healthy right-handed subjects were scanned during audition-guided writing of short sentences and simple figure drawing without visual feedback. Tapping with a pencil served as a basic control task for the two higher-order motor conditions. Activation differences were assessed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). Results Writing and drawing showed parietal-premotor and posterior inferior temporal activations in both hemispheres when compared to tapping. Drawing activations were rather symmetrical for each hand. Activations in left- and right-hand writing were left-hemisphere dominant, while right dorsal premotor activation only occurred in left-hand writing, supporting a spatial motor contribution of particularly the right hemisphere. Writing contrasted to drawing revealed left-sided activations in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, Broca’s area, pre-Supplementary Motor Area and posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, without parietal activation. Discussion The audition-driven postero-inferior temporal activations indicated retrieval of virtual visual form characteristics in writing and drawing, with additional activation concerning word form in the left hemisphere. Similar parietal processing in writing and drawing pointed at a

  6. Writing Activities Embedded in Bioscience Laboratory Courses to Change Students' Attitudes and Enhance Their Scientific Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Susan E.; Woods, Kyra J.; Tonissen, Kathryn F.

    2011-01-01

    We introduced writing activities into a project style third year undergraduate biomolecular science laboratory to assist the students to produce a final report in the form of a journal article. To encourage writing while the experimental work was proceeding, the embedded writing activities required ongoing analysis of experimental data. After…

  7. Classroom Writing Activities to Support the Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Piper, Judy

    1990-01-01

    Offers writing activities related to the reading of E. B. White's "Charlotte's Web," including showing the movie, using HyperCard, showing a video about a webspinning spider as a prewriting activity, and using computer graphics and video cameras to create related visual projects. (SR)

  8. Writing-to-Learn Activities to Provoke Deeper Learning in Calculus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaafar, Reem

    2016-01-01

    For students with little experience in mathematical thinking and conceptualization, writing-to-learn activities (WTL) can be particularly effective in promoting discovery and understanding. For community college students embarking on a first calculus course in particular, writing activities can help facilitate the transition from an "apply…

  9. Analytical Essay Writing: A New Activity Introduced to a Traditional Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kommalage, Mahinda

    2012-01-01

    Medical students following a traditional curriculum get few opportunities to engage in activities such as a literature search, scientific writing, and active and collaborative learning. An analytical essay writing activity (AEWA) in physiology was introduced to first-year students. Each student prepared an essay incorporating new research findings…

  10. Writing through Modeling: Using Various Scholarship Enhancement Programs and Activities To Build Writing Interest and Skill.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Les M.

    This paper focuses on the efforts at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina to extend the writing efforts of a writing across the curriculum (WAC) retreat into a greater matrix of scholarly activity, not only in the classroom but outside as well. Noting that the initial idea was that an intensive year of emphasizing scholastic activity could…

  11. Drawing and writing: An ALE meta-analysis of sensorimotor activations.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Ye; Brown, Steven

    2015-08-01

    Drawing and writing are the two major means of creating what are referred to as "images", namely visual patterns on flat surfaces. They share many sensorimotor processes related to visual guidance of hand movement, resulting in the formation of visual shapes associated with pictures and words. However, while the human capacity to draw is tens of thousands of years old, the capacity for writing is only a few thousand years old, and widespread literacy is quite recent. In order to compare the neural activations for drawing and writing, we conducted two activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses for these two bodies of neuroimaging literature. The results showed strong overlap in the activation profiles, especially in motor areas (motor cortex, frontal eye fields, supplementary motor area, cerebellum, putamen) and several parts of the posterior parietal cortex. A distinction was found in the left posterior parietal cortex, with drawing showing a preference for a ventral region and writing a dorsal region. These results demonstrate that drawing and writing employ the same basic sensorimotor networks but that some differences exist in parietal areas involved in spatial processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Really Writing! Ready-To-Use Writing Process Activities for the Elementary Grades. 2nd Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sunflower, Cherlyn

    2005-01-01

    The second edition of "Really Writing!" provides 40 real-life writing activities designed to capture the attention of young authors (grades 2 through 6) who are just learning the composing process. This book is also a resource for teaching advanced writers who are ready to experiment with a variety of writing and speaking genres. Each of the…

  13. The Effect of Process Writing Activities on the Writing Skills of Prospective Turkish Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dilidüzgün, Sükran

    2013-01-01

    Problem statement: Writing an essay is a most difficult creative work and consequently requires detailed instruction. There are in fact two types of instruction that contribute to the development of writing skills: Reading activities analysing texts in content and schematic structure to find out how they are composed and process writing…

  14. Incorporating Writing into the Science Curriculum: A Sample Activity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Totten, Samuel; Tinnin, Claire

    1988-01-01

    Presents a lesson on introducing writing into the science curriculum by using an experiment to illustrate the detrimental effect of tobacco smoke on human lungs. Outlines the materials, procedures, a summary of the project, extension activities, and additional information about the writing process. Two handout sheets are included. (RT)

  15. The Effect of Cooperative Writing Activities on Writing Anxieties of Prospective Primary School Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erdogan, Ozge

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of cooperative writing activities on the writing anxieties of prospective primary school teachers. The study group of the research is composed of 30 prospective primary school teachers. A mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used in the collection,…

  16. Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 1: Functions, Tasks, and Activities.

    PubMed

    Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

    2018-01-01

    This article provides Section 1 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry. The functions in the Model are scientific communication strategy; document preparation, development, and finalization; document project management; document template, standard, format, and style development and maintenance; outsourcing, alliance partner, and client management; knowledge, skill, ability, and behavior development and sharing; and process improvement. The full Model also includes Section 2, which covers the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed for medical writers to be effective in their roles; Section 2 is presented in a companion article. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

  17. Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Arguments A-1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Michael O.

    Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The 16 activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities expose…

  18. Inspiration from Nature: Creative Outdoor Writing Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardno, Anthony R.

    1998-01-01

    When campers notice the natural world around them, they can identify with nature and build an emotional connection with the environment. Creative-writing activities tied to nature are presented that can help campers enhance their descriptive and communication skills, and also learn something about themselves in the process. (TD)

  19. Writer's cramp: increased dorsal premotor activity during intended writing.

    PubMed

    Delnooz, Cathérine C S; Helmich, Rick C; Medendorp, W P; Van de Warrenburg, Bart P C; Toni, Ivan

    2013-03-01

    Simple writer's cramp (WC) is a task-specific form of dystonia, characterized by abnormal movements and postures of the hand during writing. It is extremely task-specific, since dystonic symptoms can occur when a patient uses a pencil for writing, but not when it is used for sharpening. Maladaptive plasticity, loss of inhibition, and abnormal sensory processing are important pathophysiological elements of WC. However, it remains unclear how those elements can account for its task-specificity. We used fMRI to isolate cerebral alterations associated with the task-specificity of simple WC. Subjects (13 simple WC patients, 20 matched controls) imagined grasping a pencil to either write with it or sharpen it. On each trial, we manipulated the pencil's position and the number of imagined movements, while monitoring variations in motor output with electromyography. We show that simple WC is characterized by abnormally increased activity in the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) when imagined actions are specifically related to writing. This cerebral effect was independent from the known deficits in dystonia in generating focal motor output and in processing somatosensory feedback. This abnormal activity of the PMd suggests that the task-specific element of simple WC is primarily due to alterations at the planning level, in the computations that transform a desired action outcome into the motor commands leading to that action. These findings open the way for testing the therapeutic value of interventions that take into account the computational substrate of task-specificity in simple WC, e.g. modulations of PMd activity during the planning phase of writing. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Using Regulation Activities to Improve Undergraduate Collaborative Writing on Wikis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cho, Moon-Heum; Lim, Seongmi

    2017-01-01

    Although wikis have been widely adopted to support collaborative writing in undergraduate classrooms, educators remain concerned about the level of student participation. Using regulation theories to design interventions in the form of activities, we examined their effects on collaborative writing on wikis. Results demonstrate that with the…

  1. An Activity to Encourage Writing in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Dyke, Frances; Malloy, Elizabeth J.; Stallings, Virginia

    2014-01-01

    This article discusses an activity designed to encourage writing to learn in mathematics. There were three stages of data collection. An assessment, requiring basic algebra only, was completed by 118 undergraduates from statistics and calculus courses. Students were given summaries of all participant responses, along with the correct answers.…

  2. Composing for the Left Hand: Writing Activities for the Intermediate Grades.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blake, Robert W.

    This paper cites descriptions, by professional writers, of two stages in the composing process that appear to correspond with the two modes of mental activity separately controlled by the hemispheres of the brain. The stage of writing a first draft involves unconscious, personal, irrational, intuitive writing which may be called "writing for the…

  3. Identifying Key Features of Effective Active Learning: The Effects of Writing and Peer Discussion

    PubMed Central

    Pangle, Wiline M.; Wyatt, Kevin H.; Powell, Karli N.; Sherwood, Rachel E.

    2014-01-01

    We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. PMID:25185230

  4. Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Descriptive Mysteries A-1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Albertus, Karen; And Others

    Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities in the book…

  5. Computer-Based Multimodal Composing Activities, Self-Revision, and L2 Acquisition through Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dzekoe, Richmond

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated how 22 advanced-low proficiency ESL students used computer-based multimodal composing activities (CBMCAs) to facilitate self-revision and learn English through academic writing in the USA. The CBMCAs involved a combination of writing, listening, visual analysis, and speaking activities. The research was framed within an…

  6. Comparison of Muscle Activation during Dominant Hand Wrist Flexion when Writing.

    PubMed

    Park, Soohee

    2013-12-01

    [Purpose] This study investigated the difference in muscle activation of the dominant upper extremity in right-handed and left-handed persons during writing. [Subjects] There were 36 subjects (16 left- handers/ 20 right- handers), and the study was conducted from 03/01/2012 to 30/3/2012. [Methods] Six electrodes were attached to the FCU (flexor carpi ulnaris), FCR (flexor carpi radialis), ECU (extensor carpi ulnaris), ECR (extensor carpi radialis), and both UT (upper trapezius) muscles. [Results] FCU muscle activation was 16.77±9.12% in left-handers and 10.29±4.13% (%MVIC) in right-handers. FCR muscle activation was 19.09±9.43% in left-handers and 10.64±5.03% in right-handers. In addition, the UT muscle activation on the writing hand side was 11.91±5.79% in left-handers and 1.66±1.19% in right-handers. [Conclusion] As a result of this study, it was discovered that left-handers used more wrist flexion in performance of the writing task with the dominant upper extremity than right-handers, and that the left-handers activated the wrist and shoulder muscles more than the right-handers. These results indicate a potential danger of musculoskeletal disease in left-hander.

  7. An Examination of At-Risk College Freshmen's Expository Literacy Skills Using Interactive Online Writing Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mongillo, Geraldine; Wilder, Hilary

    2012-01-01

    This qualitative study focused on at-risk college freshmen's ability to read and write expository text using game-like, online expository writing activities. These activities required participants to write descriptions of a target object so that peers could guess what the object was, after which they were given the results of those guesses as…

  8. Identifying key features of effective active learning: the effects of writing and peer discussion.

    PubMed

    Linton, Debra L; Pangle, Wiline M; Wyatt, Kevin H; Powell, Karli N; Sherwood, Rachel E

    2014-01-01

    We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. © 2014 D. L. Linton et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  9. Linguistic Characteristics of ESL Writing in Task-based E-mail Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yili

    2000-01-01

    Investigated the efficacy of integrating task-based e-mail activities into a process-oriented English-as-Second-Language (ESL) writing class. Particular focus was on the linguistic characteristics of 132 pieces of e-mail writing by ESL students in tasks that differed in terms of purpose, audience interaction, and task structure. Computerized text…

  10. Professional training in creative writing is associated with enhanced fronto-striatal activity in a literary text continuation task.

    PubMed

    Erhard, K; Kessler, F; Neumann, N; Ortheil, H-J; Lotze, M

    2014-10-15

    The aim of the present study was to explore brain activities associated with creativity and expertise in literary writing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we applied a real-life neuroscientific setting that consisted of different writing phases (brainstorming and creative writing; reading and copying as control conditions) to well-selected expert writers and to an inexperienced control group. During creative writing, experts showed cerebral activation in a predominantly left-hemispheric fronto-parieto-temporal network. When compared to inexperienced writers, experts showed increased left caudate nucleus and left dorsolateral and superior medial prefrontal cortex activation. In contrast, less experienced participants recruited increasingly bilateral visual areas. During creative writing activation in the right cuneus showed positive association with the creativity index in expert writers. High experience in creative writing seems to be associated with a network of prefrontal (mPFC and DLPFC) and basal ganglia (caudate) activation. In addition, our findings suggest that high verbal creativity specific to literary writing increases activation in the right cuneus associated with increased resources obtained for reading processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Sports Management Faculty External Grant-Writing Activities in the United States

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeVinney, Timothy P.

    2012-01-01

    This study was conducted to fill a void in information, provide relevant, current data for faculty members related to external grant-writing activities related to the academic field of sport management and serve as a tool that may aid in the advancement of external grant-writing efforts within the field of sport management. All data is specific to…

  12. Spelling for Writing: Student Activity Book. Level 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peet, Howard

    The Level 5 activity book is designed to help children learn that writing messages and stories will help them see the value of learning to spell. The workbook's program is based on the ideas that accurate spelling contributes to the clarity of written messages; spelling accuracy shows attention to detail, sending a positive message to teachers and…

  13. 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…

  14. The Effectiveness of the Creative Writing Instruction Program Based on Speaking Activities (CWIPSA)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bayat, Seher

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to develop a creative writing instruction program based on speaking activities and to investigate its effect on fourth-grade primary school students' creative writing achievements and writing attitudes. The experimental method based on the pre-test/post-test model was used in this research. The research was conducted with 42…

  15. The Dynamic Interplay between Spatialization of Written Units in Writing Activity and Functions of Tools on the Computer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huh, Joo Hee

    2012-01-01

    I criticize the typewriting model and linear writing structure of Microsoft Word software for writing in the computer. I problematize bodily movement in writing that the error of the software disregards. In this research, writing activity is viewed as bodily, spatial and mediated activity under the premise of the unity of consciousness and…

  16. Measuring and Visualizing Students' Behavioral Engagement in Writing Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Ming; Calvo, Rafael A.; Pardo, Abelardo; Martin, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    Engagement is critical to the success of learning activities such as writing, and can be promoted with appropriate feedback. Current engagement measures rely mostly on data collected by observers or self-reported by the participants. In this paper, we describe a learning analytic system called Tracer, which derives behavioral engagement measures…

  17. 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…

  18. The Contribution of Early Home Literacy Activities to First Grade Reading and Writing Achievements in Arabic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aram, Dorit; Korat, Ofra; Hassunah-Arafat, Safieh

    2013-01-01

    This longitudinal study assessed the literacy development of native Arabic-speaking children from kindergarten to the end of first grade, focusing on the role of home literacy activities (mother-child shared book reading and joint writing). The contribution of these activities in kindergarten to children's reading and writing at the end of…

  19. Power Perceptions and Negotiations in a Cross-National Email Writing Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Yichun

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigates EFL students' perceptions of power differentials and their negotiation strategies when communicating with native English-speaking students via emails. The study involved 28 Taiwanese and American undergraduates who participated in a semester-long cross-national email writing activity. Findings show that students in…

  20. My Changed Body: Background, development and acceptability of a self-compassion based writing activity for female survivors of breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Przezdziecki, Astrid; Alcorso, Jessica; Sherman, Kerry A

    2016-05-01

    To assess consumer and health professional user acceptability of a web-based self-compassion writing activity to minimize psychological distress related to the negative impact of breast cancer on body image. "My Changed Body" is a web-based writing activity that combines expressive writing with a self-compassionate approach that focuses on cancer-related adverse body image alterations. Breast cancer survivors (n=15) and health professionals (n=20) provided feedback via a survey regarding the appearance, organization and content of the website and writing activity. Both breast cancer survivors and health professionals rated the website highly in terms of design, layout and content. Participants commented positively on the website's clear wording, appealing design and ease of navigation. Suggestions for improving the website included simplifying the instructions for the writing activity and allowing participants' writing to be saved. Results from both breast cancer survivors and health professionals suggest a moderate to high level of user acceptability and positive ratings for the overall impression of the website. Self-compassion based writing interventions can be translated to a web-based self-administered activity for body image difficulties after breast cancer treatment in a format that is acceptable to consumers and health professionals. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  1. Brief Daily Writing Activities and Performance on Major Multiple-Choice Exams

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Haley C.; Bliss, Stacy L.; Hautau, Briana; Carroll, Erin; Jaspers, Kathryn E.; Williams, Robert L.

    2006-01-01

    Although past research indicates that giving brief quizzes, administered either regularly or randomly, may lead to improvement in students' performance on major exams, negligible research has targeted daily writing activities that require the processing of course information at a deeper level than might result from simply reading course materials…

  2. Forming Well Organized Writing Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tosuncuoglu, Irfan

    2018-01-01

    English has been widely spoken in the world and seen as the language of education, communication, economics and etc., for a long time and it can be accepted as lingua franca. Knowledge of a language includes four basic language skills, these are listening, reading, speaking, and writing. In this study writing was investigated in detail and it was…

  3. Learning from the experts: exploring playground experience and activities using a write and draw technique.

    PubMed

    Knowles, Zoe Rebecca; Parnell, Daniel; Stratton, Gareth; Ridgers, Nicola Diane

    2013-03-01

    Qualitative research into the effect of school recess on children's physical activity is currently limited. This study used a write and draw technique to explore children's perceptions of physical activity opportunities during recess. 299 children age 7-11 years from 3 primary schools were enlisted. Children were grouped into Years 3 & 4 and Years 5 & 6 and completed a write and draw task focusing on likes and dislikes. Pen profiles were used to analyze the data. Results indicated 'likes' focused on play, positive social interaction, and games across both age groups but showed an increasing dominance of games with an appreciation for being outdoors with age. 'Dislikes' focused on dysfunctional interactions linked with bullying, membership, equipment, and conflict for playground space. Football was a dominant feature across both age groups and 'likes/dislikes' that caused conflict and dominated the physically active games undertaken. Recess was important for the development of conflict management and social skills and contributed to physical activity engagement. The findings contradict suggestions that time spent in recess should be reduced because of behavioral issues.

  4. Reading, writing, and reserve: Literacy activities are linked to hippocampal volume and memory in multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Sumowski, James F; Rocca, Maria A; Leavitt, Victoria M; Riccitelli, Gianna; Meani, Alessandro; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

    2016-10-01

    Engagement in cognitive leisure activities during early adulthood has been linked to preserved memory and larger hippocampal volume in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). To investigate which specific types of cognitive leisure activities contribute to hippocampal volume and memory. We investigated links between three types of cognitive activities (Reading-Writing, Art-Music, Games-Hobbies) and (a) hippocampal volume within independent samples of Italian (n=187) and American (n=55) MS patients and (b) memory in subsamples of Italian (n=97) and American (n=53) patients. Reading-Writing was the only predictor of hippocampal volume (rp=.204, p=.002), and the best predictor of memory (rp=.288, p=.001). Findings inform the development of targeted evidence-based enrichment programs aiming to bolster reserve against memory decline. © The Author(s), 2016.

  5. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists.

    PubMed

    Scullin, Michael K; Krueger, Madison L; Ballard, Hannah K; Pruett, Natalya; Bliwise, Donald L

    2018-01-01

    Bedtime worry, including worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep. Previous research showed that writing about one's worries can help individuals fall asleep. We investigated whether the temporal focus of bedtime writing-writing a to-do list versus journaling about completed activities-affected sleep onset latency. Fifty-seven healthy young adults (18-30) completed a writing assignment for 5 min prior to overnight polysomnography recording in a controlled sleep laboratory. They were randomly assigned to write about tasks that they needed to remember to complete the next few days (to-do list) or about tasks they had completed the previous few days (completed list). Participants in the to-do list condition fell asleep significantly faster than those in the completed-list condition. The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep, whereas the opposite trend was observed when participants wrote about completed activities. Therefore, to facilitate falling asleep, individuals may derive benefit from writing a very specific to-do list for 5 min at bedtime rather than journaling about completed activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Infusing Writing Activities into College Reading.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cate, L. C.; Heerman, C. E.

    1987-01-01

    Measures the effects of infusing writing components into a university reading laboratory. Reports that reading improvement was significant with writing infusions but that results are inconclusive due to lack of true experimental design. (AEW)

  7. Effects of Multiple Intelligences Activities on Writing Skill Development in an EFL Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gündüz, Zennure Elgün; Ünal, Ismail Dogan

    2016-01-01

    This study aims at exploring the effects of multiple intelligences activities versus traditional method on English writing development of the sixth grade students in Turkey. A quasi-experimental research method with a pre-test post-test design was applied. The participants were 50 sixth grade students at a state school in Ardahan in Turkey. The…

  8. Writing Activities of Public Relations Practitioners: The Relationship between Experience and Writing Tasks.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Napoli, Philip M.; Taylor, Maureen; Powers, Gerald

    1999-01-01

    Surveys 200 public relations practitioners and investigates whether the type of writing and over-all time spent writing vary with years of experience. Finds that higher levels of writing efficiency come with writing experience, and shows that female practitioners spend a higher percentage of their workday on writing tasks than do their male…

  9. Test Takers' Writing Activities during the "TOEFL iBT"® Writing Tasks: A Stimulated Recall Study. "TOEFL iBT"® Research Report. TOEFL iBT-25. ETS Research Report No. RR-15-04

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barkaoui, Khaled

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to describe the writing activities that test takers engage in when responding to the writing tasks in the "TOEFL iBT"[superscript R] test and to examine the effects of task type and test-taker English language proficiency (ELP) and keyboarding skills on the frequency and distribution of these activities. Each of 22 test…

  10. Cross Space: The Exploration of SNS-Based Writing Activities in a Multimodal Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Kwang-Soon; Kim, Bong-Gyu

    2016-01-01

    This study explores the positive learning effect of formulating English sentences via Social Network Service (SNS; "Kakao-Talk") on less proficient L2 university students' (LPSs') writing, when the application is utilized as a tool to link in and out-of class activities in a multimodal-learning environment. Its objective is also to…

  11. Differences in Active and Collaborative Learning by Race for Community College Developmental Writing Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barhoum, Sim; Wood, J. Luke

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there were significant differences in the self-reported frequency of active and collaborative learning by racial/ethnic affiliation between students who have completed a developmental writing course and those that plan to take one. Drawing upon data from the Community College Survey of…

  12. EEG-based time and spatial interpretation of activation areas for relaxation and words writing between poor and capable dyslexic children.

    PubMed

    Mohamad, N B; Lee, Khuan Y; Mansor, W; Mahmoodin, Z; Fadzal, C W N F C W; Amirin, S

    2015-01-01

    Symptoms of dyslexia such as difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, and/or poor spelling as well as decoding abilities, are easily misinterpreted as laziness and defiance amongst school children. Indeed, 37.9% of 699 school dropouts and failures are diagnosed as dyslexic. Currently, Screening for dyslexia relies heavily on therapists, whom are few and subjective, yet objective methods are still unavailable. EEG has long been a popular method to study the cognitive processes in human such as language processing and motor activity. However, its interpretation is limited to time and frequency domain, without visual information, which is still useful. Here, our research intends to illustrate an EEG-based time and spatial interpretation of activated brain areas for the poor and capable dyslexic during the state of relaxation and words writing, being the first attempt ever reported. From the 2D distribution of EEG spectral at the activation areas and its progress with time, it is observed that capable dyslexics are able to relax compared to poor dyslexics. During the state of words writing, neural activities are found higher on the right hemisphere than the left hemisphere of the capable dyslexics, which suggests a neurobiological compensation pathway in the right hemisphere, during reading and writing, which is not observed in the poor dyslexics.

  13. An active-learning assignment requiring pharmacy students to write medicinal chemistry examination questions.

    PubMed

    Kolluru, Srikanth

    2012-08-10

    To implement and assess the effectiveness of an assignment requiring doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students to write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry sections of a pharmacotherapeutics course. Students were divided into groups of 5-6 and given detailed instructions and grading rubrics for writing multiple-choice examination questions on medicinal chemistry topics. The compiled student-written questions for each examination were provided to the entire class as a study aid. Approximately 5% of the student-written questions were used in course examinations. Student appreciation of and performance in the medicinal chemistry portion of the course was significantly better than that of the previous year's class. Also, students' responses on a qualitative survey instrument indicated that the assignment provided students' guidance on which concepts to focus on, helped them retain knowledge better, and fostered personal exploration of the content, which led to better performance on examinations. Adding an active-learning assignment in which students write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry portion of a pharmacotherapeutics course was an effective means of increasing students engagement in the class and knowledge of the course material.

  14. The Effects of Collaborative Writing Activity Using Google Docs on Students' Writing Abilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Suwantarathip, Ornprapat; Wichadee, Saovapa

    2014-01-01

    Google Docs, a free web-based version of Microsoft Word, offers collaborative features which can be used to facilitate collaborative writing in a foreign language classroom. The current study compared writing abilities of students who collaborated on writing assignments using Google Docs with those working in groups in a face-to-face classroom.…

  15. Neural activity during affect labeling predicts expressive writing effects on well-being: GLM and SVM approaches

    PubMed Central

    Memarian, Negar; Torre, Jared B.; Haltom, Kate E.; Stanton, Annette L.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Affect labeling (putting feelings into words) is a form of incidental emotion regulation that could underpin some benefits of expressive writing (i.e. writing about negative experiences). Here, we show that neural responses during affect labeling predicted changes in psychological and physical well-being outcome measures 3 months later. Furthermore, neural activity of specific frontal regions and amygdala predicted those outcomes as a function of expressive writing. Using supervised learning (support vector machines regression), improvements in four measures of psychological and physical health (physical symptoms, depression, anxiety and life satisfaction) after an expressive writing intervention were predicted with an average of 0.85% prediction error [root mean square error (RMSE) %]. The predictions were significantly more accurate with machine learning than with the conventional generalized linear model method (average RMSE: 1.3%). Consistent with affect labeling research, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC) and amygdalae were top predictors of improvement in the four outcomes. Moreover, RVLPFC and left amygdala predicted benefits due to expressive writing in satisfaction with life and depression outcome measures, respectively. This study demonstrates the substantial merit of supervised machine learning for real-world outcome prediction in social and affective neuroscience. PMID:28992270

  16. Activation of writing-specific brain regions when reading Chinese as a second language. Effects of training modality and transfer to novel characters.

    PubMed

    Lagarrigue, Aurélie; Longcamp, Marieke; Anton, Jean Luc; Nazarian, Bruno; Prévot, Laurent; Velay, Jean-Luc; Cao, Fan; Frenck-Mestre, Cheryl

    2017-03-01

    We examined the implication of training modality on the cortical representation of Chinese words in adult second language learners of Chinese. In particular, we tested the implication of the neural substrates of writing in a reading task. The brain network sustaining finger writing was defined neuroanatomically based on an independent functional localizer. We examined the brain activations elicited by Chinese words learned via writing vs. pronunciation, and by novel untrained words, within regions of interest (ROIs) defined according to the position of the activation peaks in the localizer, and at the whole brain level. We revealed activations in the reading task that overlapped with several parts of the finger writing network. In addition, our results provide evidence that the neural substrates of writing are differentially involved in reading depending on the stored knowledge for words, as revealed by the fine-grained response of several regions including the left superior parietal lobule and left precentral gyrus / superior frontal sulcus to the experimental manipulations. Training modality and the linguistic properties of the characters also impacted the response of the left mid-fusiform gyrus, confirming its involvement as the brain region where linguistic, visual and sensorimotor information converge during orthographic processing. At the behavioral level, global handwriting quality during the training sessions was positively correlated to the final translation performance. Our results demonstrate substantial overlap in the neural substrates of reading and writing, and indicate that some regions sustaining handwriting are differentially involved in reading depending on the type of knowledge associated with words. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Reading, Writing, and Reserve: Literacy Activities are linked to Hippocampal Volume and Memory in Multiple Sclerosis

    PubMed Central

    Sumowski, James F.; Rocca, Maria A.; Leavitt, Victoria M.; Riccitelli, Gianna; Meani, Alessandro; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

    2016-01-01

    Consistent with basic research on enriched environments and the cognitive reserve literature, greater engagement in cognitive leisure activities during early adulthood has been linked to preserved memory and larger hippocampal volume in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Herein we investigated which specific types of cognitive leisure activities contribute to reserve. Reading-writing activities were positively linked to (a) hippocampal volume within independent samples of Italian (n=187) and American (n=55) MS patients, and (b) memory in subsamples of Italian (n=97) and American (n=53) patients with memory data. Art-music and games-hobbies did not contribute. Findings directly inform the development of targeted evidence-based enrichment programs aiming to bolster reserve against memory decline. PMID:26920377

  18. Neural activity during affect labeling predicts expressive writing effects on well-being: GLM and SVM approaches.

    PubMed

    Memarian, Negar; Torre, Jared B; Haltom, Kate E; Stanton, Annette L; Lieberman, Matthew D

    2017-09-01

    Affect labeling (putting feelings into words) is a form of incidental emotion regulation that could underpin some benefits of expressive writing (i.e. writing about negative experiences). Here, we show that neural responses during affect labeling predicted changes in psychological and physical well-being outcome measures 3 months later. Furthermore, neural activity of specific frontal regions and amygdala predicted those outcomes as a function of expressive writing. Using supervised learning (support vector machines regression), improvements in four measures of psychological and physical health (physical symptoms, depression, anxiety and life satisfaction) after an expressive writing intervention were predicted with an average of 0.85% prediction error [root mean square error (RMSE) %]. The predictions were significantly more accurate with machine learning than with the conventional generalized linear model method (average RMSE: 1.3%). Consistent with affect labeling research, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC) and amygdalae were top predictors of improvement in the four outcomes. Moreover, RVLPFC and left amygdala predicted benefits due to expressive writing in satisfaction with life and depression outcome measures, respectively. This study demonstrates the substantial merit of supervised machine learning for real-world outcome prediction in social and affective neuroscience. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

  19. Writing by the Book, Writing beyond the Book

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Kristine

    2017-01-01

    Writing has become more visible in academia through writing advice manuals and the faculty development activities they inspire. In this article, I examine writing advice manuals and argue they are epistemologically current traditional, which limits how well and how far they can support scholarly writers. Writing advice manuals and composition…

  20. Microcomputer Activities Which Encourage the Reading-Writing Connection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balajthy, Ernest

    Many reading teachers, cognizant of the creative opportunities for skill development allowed by new reading-writing software, are choosing to use microcomputers in their classrooms full-time. Adventure story creation programs capitalize on reading-writing integration by allowing children, with appropriate assistance, to create their own…

  1. See, Say, Write: A Writing Routine for the Preschool Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Copp, Stefanie B.; Cabell, Sonia Q.; Tortorelli, Laura S.

    2016-01-01

    See, Say, Write is an adaptable classroom writing routine that teachers can use across a range of activities in the preschool classroom. This preschool writing routine offers an opportunity for teachers to build on a shared experience through engagement in rich conversation and writing. After a shared experience, teachers will provide a visual…

  2. FL Activities & Festivals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.

    A collection of student, class, and school foreign language activities suggests a variety of projects and describes three specific school efforts. The suggested activities include: (1) individual student efforts such as writing to pen-pals; (2) group activities such as a foreign language auction or sing-along; (3) group projects for the school…

  3. More than Writing-to-Learn

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDermott, Mark

    2010-01-01

    Writing-to-learn activities are designed to use writing as a process in which students generate and clarify understanding of scientific concepts for themselves, rather than simply communicating with a teacher for evaluation. Instead of having students parrot science facts back to the instructor, writing-to-learn activities focus on the production…

  4. Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum.

    PubMed

    Sahoo, Soumendra; Mohammed, Ciraj Ali

    2018-06-01

    This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken. A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students.

  5. Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    Purpose This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. Methods A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken.A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Results Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. Conclusion This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students. PMID:29860777

  6. Writing: Empowering Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Love, Angela; Burns, M. Susan; Buell, Martha Jane

    2007-01-01

    Writing activities are an essential part of quality literacy practices in early care and education settings. As children communicate through writing, they learn important concepts about books and other forms of print in the world around them, including writing and alphabet systems. Young children best understand and appreciate writing when it is…

  7. 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…

  8. Brain Activation Associated with Practiced Left Hand Mirror Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kushnir, T.; Arzouan, Y.; Karni, A.; Manor, D.

    2013-01-01

    Mirror writing occurs in healthy children, in various pathologies and occasionally in healthy adults. There are only scant experimental data on the underlying brain processes. Eight, right-handed, healthy young adults were scanned (BOLD-fMRI) before and after practicing left-hand mirror-writing (lh-MW) over seven sessions. They wrote dictated…

  9. The Effect of the Process Writing Approach on Writing Success and Anxiety

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bayat, Nihat

    2014-01-01

    The process writing approach treats writing not as a completed product but as a process. Writing studies are carried out as a part of the process before the written text is completed. This approach focuses on the student in writing lessons, and the teacher only acts as a guide. The process writing approach involves activities occurring during the…

  10. The Effect of Process Oriented Writing Activities on the Achievement and Attitude of the Preservice Primary School Teachers: An Example of Mixed Method Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Özenç, Emine Gül

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to find out whether process oriented writing exercises/activities have any effect on the achievement and attitude of preservice teachers as well as to set forth the opinions of primary preservice teachers on process oriented writing approach. In the research one classroom was designated as experimental group (N = 35)…

  11. Functional Anatomy of Writing with the Dominant Hand

    PubMed Central

    Najee-ullah, Muslimah ‘Ali; Hallett, Mark

    2013-01-01

    While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand. PMID:23844132

  12. Functional anatomy of writing with the dominant hand.

    PubMed

    Horovitz, Silvina G; Gallea, Cecile; Najee-Ullah, Muslimah 'ali; Hallett, Mark

    2013-01-01

    While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand.

  13. An investigation of the impact of selected prereading activities on student content learning through laboratory activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kass, Jesse (Shaya)

    This study investigated whether two prereading activities impacted student learning from hands-on science activities. The study was based on constructivist learning theory. Based on the work of Piaget, it was hypothesized that students who activated prior knowledge would learn more from the activities. Based on the work of Vygotsky it was hypothesized that students who talk more and write more would learn more from the activity. The K-W-L chart and anticipation guide strategies were used with eighth grade students at Graves Middle School in Whittier, California before learning about levers and convection currents. D. M. Ogle (1986) created the three-column K-W-L chart to have students activate prior knowledge. In the first column, the students write what they already know about a subject, in the second column, the students write what they want to know about the subject, and the students complete the third column after learning about a subject by writing answers to the questions that they asked in the second column. Duffelmeyer (1994) created the anticipation guide based on Herber's (1978) reasoning guide. In the anticipation guide, the teacher creates three or four sentences that convey the major ideas of the topic and the students either agree or disagree with the statements. After learning about the topic, students revisit their answers and decide if they were correct or incorrect and they must defend their choices. This research used the Solomon (1947) four-square design and compared both the experimental groups to a control group that simply discussed the concepts before completing the activity. The research showed no significant difference between the control group and either of the treatment groups. The reasons for the lack of significant differences are considered. It was hypothesized that since the students were unfamiliar with the prereading activities and did not have much experience with using either writing-to-learn or talking-to-learn strategies, the

  14. Reading and Writing in the Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ediger, Marlow

    There are many kinds of writing activities for pupils. Pupils need to develop proficiency for a variety of types of writing, such as creative writing and poetry, writing in journals, writing about personal experiences, writing an outline, writing an opinion, writing on how something should be done, writing and problem solving, writing to inform,…

  15. Write to read: the brain's universal reading and writing network.

    PubMed

    Perfetti, Charles A; Tan, Li-Hai

    2013-02-01

    Do differences in writing systems translate into differences in the brain's reading network? Or is this network universal, relatively impervious to variation in writing systems? A new study adds intriguing evidence to these questions by showing that reading handwritten words activates a pre-motor area across writing systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

    PubMed

    Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

    2016-01-01

    Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

  17. Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading

    PubMed Central

    Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A.

    2016-01-01

    Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level. PMID:27992505

  18. Movie-Generated EFL Writing: Discovering the Act of Writing through Visual Literacy Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hekmati, Nargess; Ghahremani Ghajar, Sue-san; Navidinia, Hossein

    2018-01-01

    The present article explores the idea of using movies in EFL classrooms to develop students' writing skill. In this qualitative study, 15 EFL learners were engaged in different writing activities in a contextualized form of movies, meaning that the films acted as text-books, and activities were designed based on the contexts of the films. Taking…

  19. Writing Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Peggy Ann, Ed.

    1984-01-01

    Ways that colleges and universities provide opportunities for students to improve their writing are discussed in two essays and program descriptions. In "Reinventing the Rhetorical Tradition: Finding Ways to Revalue Writing," Patrick Hartwell and Greg Waters briefly describe activities at colleges that center around the rhetorical…

  20. 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…

  1. Evaluation of reading, writing, and watching TV using the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory.

    PubMed

    Bruijning, Janna E; van Rens, Ger H M B; Knol, Dirk L; van Nispen, Ruth M A

    2014-11-01

    To investigate the longitudinal outcomes of rehabilitation (from baseline to 4 and 12 months) at a multidisciplinary rehabilitation center. The three goals ("Reading," "Writing," and "Watching TV") were measured with the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory (D-AI). In addition, outcomes were compared with the Low Vision Quality-of-Life questionnaire (LVQOL) for better insight into the (longitudinal) interpretation. In a cohort of 241 visually impaired persons, corrected and uncorrected linear mixed models were used to determine longitudinal rehabilitation outcomes for the D-AI goals "Reading," "Writing," and "Watching TV," and difficulty and underlying tasks, as well as for the LVQOL scales "Basic aspects" and "Reading and fine work." At baseline, Spearman correlations were determined for similar scales of the D-AI and LVQOL. Importance scores of goals were stable over time. Difficulty scores decreased over time, but the differences were not significant at each measurement moment. For reading, difficulty of underlying tasks seemed to reflect the (change in) difficulty at the goal level; however, change in writing tasks did not reflect the change in the umbrella goal. Each of the three subscales of underlying tasks of the goal "Watching TV" changed in a different way. Changes in similar LVQOL scales were comparable, although less pronounced and more influenced by depression. Prescription or advice of low-vision aids and training in visual devices was not related (p > 0.01) with any of the outcome measures. It seems reasonable to conclude that the decrease in perceived difficulty was an effect of rehabilitation. The D-AI goal scores for difficulty were less influenced by depression and may be more sensitive to measure change over time compared with the LVQOL. Importance scores may not be useful for evaluation purposes.

  2. Dialogue Journal Writing and the Mediated Development of Writing: How Do Second Language Learners Engaged in Authentic Writing Activities Develop as Writers?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ulanoff, Sharon

    This study examined the writing development of two language minority students over 3 school years, in particular, students' writing samples in the form of dialogue journals. Analyses focus on the function of content features (pragmatics) in their writing, the development of mechanical control (surface features), and the change in content over…

  3. The Effects of Self-Monitoring and Peer-Monitoring on Writing Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Toofan, Zohreh Zare; Maghsoudi, Mojtaba; Madani, Davood

    2014-01-01

    Writing is an important experience through which we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people (White & Arndt, 1991). It is important to view writing not solely as the product of an individual, but as a cognitive, social and cultural act. Writing is an act that takes place within a context, that accomplishes a…

  4. Premotor activations in response to visually presented single letters depend on the hand used to write: a study on left-handers.

    PubMed

    Longcamp, Marieke; Anton, Jean-Luc; Roth, Muriel; Velay, Jean-Luc

    2005-01-01

    In a previous fMRI study on right-handers (Rhrs), we reported that part of the left ventral premotor cortex (BA6) was activated when alphabetical characters were passively observed and that the same region was also involved in handwriting [Longcamp, M., Anton, J. L., Roth, M., & Velay, J. L. (2003). Visual presentation of single letters activates a premotor area involved in writing. NeuroImage, 19, 1492-1500]. We therefore suggested that letter-viewing may induce automatic involvement of handwriting movements. In the present study, in order to confirm this hypothesis, we carried out a similar fMRI experiment on a group of left-handed subjects (Lhrs). We reasoned that if the above assumption was correct, visual perception of letters by Lhrs might automatically activate cortical motor areas coding for left-handed writing movements, i.e., areas located in the right hemisphere. The visual stimuli used here were either single letters, single pseudoletters, or a control stimulus. The subjects were asked to watch these stimuli attentively, and no response was required. The results showed that a ventral premotor cortical area (BA6) in the right hemisphere was specifically activated when Lhrs looked at letters and not at pseudoletters. This right area was symmetrically located with respect to the left one activated under the same circumstances in Rhrs. This finding supports the hypothesis that visual perception of written language evokes covert motor processes. In addition, a bilateral area, also located in the premotor cortex (BA6), but more ventrally and medially, was found to be activated in response to both letters and pseudoletters. This premotor region, which was not activated correspondingly in Rhrs, might be involved in the processing of graphic stimuli, whatever their degree of familiarity.

  5. 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…

  6. Primary writing tremor.

    PubMed

    Bain, P G; Findley, L J; Britton, T C; Rothwell, J C; Gresty, M A; Thompson, P D; Marsden, C D

    1995-12-01

    Primary writing tremor (PWT) is considered to be a type of task-specific tremor in which tremor predominantly occurs and interferes with handwriting. We describe the clinical and neurophysiological features of 21 patients (20 male and one female) with PWT. Mean age at tremor onset was 50.1 years. A family history of PWT was obtained from seven patients. Ten patients obtained benefit from drug treatment (mainly propranalol or primidone) and seven responded to alcohol. The writing speeds of the patients (mean +/- SEM: 73.1 +/- 6.6 letters per minute) when using their preferred hand were significantly reduced (Student's t test: P < 0.001) compared with those of healthy control subjects (mean +/- SEM: 127.7 +/- 6.4). Surface polymyography performed during writing showed 4.1-7.3 Hz rhythmic activity predominantly in the intrinsic hand and forearm muscles. Alternating, extensor activation alone, skipping from alternating to extensor activation, and co-contracting EMG patterns were recorded from the flexor and extensor muscles of the forearm. There was no evidence for excessive 'overflow' of this rhythmic EMG activity, as similar activity was detected in comparable muscle groups of healthy control subjects. Accelerometry confirmed that the frequency of PWT ranged from 4.1-7.3 Hz (median 5.5 Hz) and that normal subjects wrote with a 4.0-7.7 Hz oscillation (median 4.6 Hz). Forearm reciprocal inhibition was normal in PWT (n = 13), and thus patients with PWT can be distinguished from those with writer's cramp in whom decreased presynaptic inhibition has been found. Patients were sub-classified as having either type A (n = 11) or B (n = 10) PWT depending on whether tremor appeared during writing (type A: task induced tremor) or whilst writing and adopting the hand position used in writing (type B: positionally sensitive tremor). However, the only differences between these two groups were that a co-contracting EMG pattern and tremor induced by tendon taps to the volar aspect of

  7. 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…

  8. Writing: The Nature, Development, and Teachinq of Written Communication. Volume 2, Writing: Process, Development and Communication.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frederiksen, Carl H., Ed.; Dominic, Joseph F., Ed.

    Intended for researchers, teachers, local and national policy makers, and others interested in writing, this volume explores the processes and development of writing, particularly in the context of writing instruction. Following a preface, the introduction discusses various perspectives on the activity of writing, such as writing as a cognitive…

  9. CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR EVERY SCHOOL.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    WALSH, ROSALIA

    SUGGESTIONS FOR CREATIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES ARE PRESENTED. THE SUBJECTS OUTLINED ARE CREATIVE ART, CREATIVE DRAMA, CREATIVE THINKING, CREATIVE WRITING AND CREATIVE MATH. UNDER EACH HEADING ACTIVITIES AND THE MATERIALS NEEDED WERE LISTED. AN EXAMPLE OF AN ACTIVITY IN CREATIVE ART IS BOX SCULPTURE, THE MATERIALS NEEDED WERE AN…

  10. The Effect of Carrying out Writing to Learn Activities on Academic Success of Fifth Grade Students in Secondary School on the Subject of "Force and Motion"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seven, Sabriye; Koksal, Asiye Pinar; Kocak, Gulsen

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of writing poems and keeping a journal as writing-to-learn activities on the academic achievement of students in teaching the Force and Motion unit in the Science class of fifth grade students in secondary school. Sample of the study consists of 50 students who study in the fifth grade of two…

  11. Brain activation associated with practiced left hand mirror writing.

    PubMed

    Kushnir, T; Arzouan, Y; Karni, A; Manor, D

    2013-04-01

    Mirror writing occurs in healthy children, in various pathologies and occasionally in healthy adults. There are only scant experimental data on the underlying brain processes. Eight, right-handed, healthy young adults were scanned (BOLD-fMRI) before and after practicing left-hand mirror-writing (lh-MW) over seven sessions. They wrote dictated words, using either the right hand with regularly oriented writing or lh-MW. An MRI compatible stylus-point recording system was used and online visual feedback was provided. Practice resulted in increased speed and readability of lh-MW but the number of movement segments was unchanged. Post-training signal increases occurred in visual, right lateral and medial premotor areas, and in right anterior and posterior peri-sylvian areas corresponding to language areas. These results suggest that lh-MW may constitute a latent ability that can be reinstated by a relatively brief practice experience. Concurrently, right hemisphere language processing areas may emerge, reflecting perhaps a reduction in trans-hemispheric suppression. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Writing and Science Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiss-Magasic, Coleen

    2012-01-01

    Writing activities are a sure way to assess and enhance students' science literacy. Sometimes the author's students use technical writing to communicate their lab experiences, just as practicing scientists do. Other times, they use creative writing to make connections to the topics they're learning. This article describes both types of writing…

  13. Powerful Writing: Promoting a Political Writing Community of Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ife, Fahima

    2012-01-01

    Literature that provokes readers to engage in activism is the author's favorite type of writing. For years she has celebrated the tradition of counterculture authors who advocated for a cause, using narratives to educate the world and elicit change. As a culminating project after a year of embracing dialogue and promoting writing for power, she…

  14. A Heuristic Tool for Teaching Business Writing: Self-Assessment, Knowledge Transfer, and Writing Exercises

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ortiz, Lorelei A.

    2013-01-01

    To teach effective business communication, instructors must target students’ current weaknesses in writing. One method for doing so is by assigning writing exercises. When used heuristically, writing exercises encourage students to practice self-assessment, self-evaluation, active learning, and knowledge transfer, all while reinforcing the basics…

  15. Active Students in Webinars

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kolås, Line; Nordseth, Hugo; Yri, Jørgen Sørlie

    2015-01-01

    To ensure student activity in webinars we have defined 10 learning tasks focusing on production and communication e.g. collaborative writing, discussion and polling, and investigated how the technology supports the learning activities. The three project partners in the VisPed-project use different video-conferencing systems, and we analyzed how it…

  16. Writing for Science Literacy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chamberlin, Shannon Marie

    Scientific literacy is the foundation on which both California's currently adopted science standards and the recommended new standards for science are based (CDE, 2000; NRC, 2011). The Writing for Science Literacy (WSL) curriculum focuses on a series of writing and discussion tasks aimed at increasing students' scientific literacy. These tasks are based on three teaching and learning constructs: thought and language, scaffolding, and meta-cognition. To this end, WSL is focused on incorporating several strategies from the Rhetorical Approach to Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking to engage students in activities designed to increase their scientific literacy; their ability to both identify an author's claim and evidence and to develop their own arguments based on a claim and evidence. Students participated in scaffolded activities designed to strengthen their written and oral discourse, hone their rhetorical skills and improve their meta-cognition. These activities required students to participate in both writing and discussion tasks to create meaning and build their science content knowledge. Students who participated in the WSL curriculum increased their written and oral fluency and were able to accurately write an evidence-based conclusion all while increasing their conceptual knowledge. This finding implies that a discourse rich curriculum can lead to an increase in scientific knowledge.

  17. 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

  18. Effects of coaching on educators' and preschoolers' use of references to print and phonological awareness during a small-group craft/writing activity.

    PubMed

    Milburn, Trelani F; Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Weitzman, Elaine; Greenberg, Janice; Pelletier, Janette; Girolametto, Luigi

    2015-04-01

    The current study investigated the effects of coaching as part of an emergent literacy professional development program to increase early childhood educators' use of verbal references to print and phonological awareness during interactions with children. Thirty-one educators and 4 children from each of their classrooms (N = 121) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (21 hr of in-service workshops plus 5 coaching sessions) and a comparison group (workshops alone). The in-service workshops included instruction on how to talk about print and phonological awareness during a post-story craft/writing activity. All educators were video-recorded during a 15-min craft/writing activity with a small group of preschoolers at pretest and posttest. All videotapes were transcribed and coded for verbal references to print and phonological awareness by the educators and children. Although at posttest, there were no significant group differences in the educators' or the children's references to print as measured by rate per minute, both the educators and the children in the experimental group used a significantly higher rate per minute of references to phonological awareness relative to the comparison group. Professional development that included coaching with a speech-language pathologist enabled educators and children to engage in more phonological awareness talk during this activity.

  19. Altered Activation and Functional Asymmetry of Exner's Area but not the Visual Word Form Area in a Child with Sudden-onset, Persistent Mirror Writing.

    PubMed

    Linke, Annika; Roach-Fox, Elizabeth; Vriezen, Ellen; Prasad, Asuri Narayan; Cusack, Rhodri

    2018-06-02

    Mirror writing is often produced by healthy children during early acquisition of literacy, and has been observed in adults following neurological disorders or insults. The neural mechanisms responsible for involuntary mirror writing remain debated, but in healthy children, it is typically attributed to the delayed development of a process of overcoming mirror invariance while learning to read and write. We present an unusual case of sudden-onset, persistent mirror writing in a previously typical seven-year-old girl. Using her dominant right hand only, she copied and spontaneously produced all letters, words and sentences, as well as some numbers and objects, in mirror image. Additionally, she frequently misidentified letter orientations in perceptual assessments. Clinical, neuropsychological, and functional neuroimaging studies were carried out over sixteen months. Neurologic and ophthalmologic examinations and a standard clinical MRI scan of the head were normal. Neuropsychological testing revealed average scores on most tests of intellectual function, language function, verbal learning and memory. Visual perception and visual reasoning were average, with the exception of below average form constancy, and mild difficulties on some visual memory tests. Activation and functional connectivity of the reading and writing network was assessed with fMRI. During a reading task, the VWFA showed a strong response to words in mirror but not in normal letter orientation - similar to what has been observed in typically developing children previously - but activation was atypically reduced in right primary visual cortex and Exner's Area. Resting-state connectivity within the reading and writing network was similar to that of age-matched controls, but hemispheric asymmetry between the balance of motor-to-visual input was found for Exner's Area. In summary, this unusual case suggests that a disruption to visual-motor integration rather than to the VWFA can contribute to sudden

  20. Teaching Descriptive/Narrative Writing: Strategies for Middle and Secondary Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johannessen, Larry R.

    Practical classroom activities for teaching narrative/descriptive writing exist which are based on approaches to teaching writing that research indicates improve the quality of student writing. Teachers need to do less lecturing to students about what they should be doing in their writing and more actively involve their students in the learning of…

  1. Argument-Driven Inquiry as a Way to Help Undergraduate Students Write to Learn by Learning to Write in Chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sampson, Victor; Phelps Walker, Joi

    2012-07-01

    This exploratory study examined how undergraduate students' ability to write in science changed over time as they completed a series of laboratory activities designed using a new instructional model called argument-driven inquiry. The study was conducted in a single section of an undergraduate general chemistry lab course offered at a large two-year community college located in the southeast USA. The intervention took place over a 15-week semester and consisted of six laboratory activities. During each laboratory activity, the undergraduates wrote investigation reports, participated in a double-blind group peer review of the reports, and revised their reports based on the reviews. The reports written during each laboratory activity were used to examine changes in the students' writing skills over time and to identify aspects of scientific writing that were the most difficult for the undergraduates in this context. The reviews produced by the students during each report were used to evaluate how well undergraduates engage in the peer-review process. The results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the reports and reviews indicate that the participants made significant improvements in their ability to write in science and were able to evaluate the quality of their peers' writing with a relatively high degree of accuracy, but they also struggled with several aspects of scientific writing. The conclusions and implications of the study include recommendations for helping undergraduate students learn to write by writing to learn in science and new directions for future research.

  2. Collaborative Writing in L2 Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storch, Neomy

    2013-01-01

    In this first book-length treatment of collaborative writing in second language (L2) classrooms, Neomy Storch provides a theoretical, pedagogical and empirical rationale for the use of collaborative writing activities in L2 classes, as well as some guidelines about how to best implement such activities in both face-to-face and online mode. The…

  3. 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

  4. Spanish Picture Books: An Annotated Bibliography with Activities for Teaching Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Melissa G.

    With the growing numbers of English language learners in the schools, more and more educators are creating bilingual programs and opportunities for students to learn in their native languages while also perfecting their English skills. Writing is integral to these approaches, and learning to write well in Spanish often contributes to academic…

  5. Writing in the Language Arts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ediger, Marlow

    Pupils should participate in numerous forms and kinds of writing activities involving poetry and should hear, read, and write different forms and kinds of prose. Types of poetry that pupils can write include couplets, triplets, quatrains, limericks, free verse, haiku, and diamante. The ingredients that all types of poetry might have include…

  6. Writing in the Elementary Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perrin, Robert

    Twenty-six teachers at a suburban school near Terre Haute, Indiana, responded to a survey to determine the activities used to teach writing in their classrooms. The results suggest the following: (1) writing in elementary classes concentrates heavily on "creative" writing and responses to literature, and should be broadened to include expository…

  7. Japanese and English sentence reading comprehension and writing systems: An fMRI study of first and second language effects on brain activation.

    PubMed

    Buchweitz, Augusto; Mason, Robert A; Hasegawa, Mihoko; Just, Marcel A

    2009-01-28

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activation from Japanese readers reading hiragana (syllabic) and kanji (logographic) sentences, and English as a second language (L2). Kanji showed more activation than hiragana in right-hemisphere occipito-temporal lobe areas associated with visuospatial processing; hiragana, in turn, showed more activation than kanji in areas of the brain associated with phonological processing. L1 results underscore the difference in visuospatial and phonological processing demands between the systems. Reading in English as compared to either of the Japanese systems showed more activation in inferior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus. The additional activation in English in these areas may have been associated with an increased cognitive demand for phonological processing and verbal working memory. More generally, L2 results suggest more effortful reading comprehension processes. The study contributes to the understanding of differential brain responses to different writing systems and to reading comprehension in a second language.

  8. Japanese and English sentence reading comprehension and writing systems: An fMRI study of first and second language effects on brain activation

    PubMed Central

    Buchweitz, Augusto; Mason, Robert A.; Hasegawa, Mihoko; Just, Marcel A.

    2009-01-01

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activation from Japanese readers reading hiragana (syllabic) and kanji (logographic) sentences, and English as a second language (L2). Kanji showed more activation than hiragana in right-hemisphere occipito-temporal lobe areas associated with visuospatial processing; hiragana, in turn, showed more activation than kanji in areas of the brain associated with phonological processing. L1 results underscore the difference in visuospatial and phonological processing demands between the systems. Reading in English as compared to either of the Japanese systems showed more activation in inferior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus. The additional activation in English in these areas may have been associated with an increased cognitive demand for phonological processing and verbal working memory. More generally, L2 results suggest more effortful reading comprehension processes. The study contributes to the understanding of differential brain responses to different writing systems and to reading comprehension in a second language. PMID:19946611

  9. Comparison of the neural basis for imagined writing and drawing.

    PubMed

    Harrington, Greg S; Farias, Dana; Davis, Christine H; Buonocore, Michael H

    2007-05-01

    Drawing and writing are complex processes that require the synchronization of cognition, language, and perceptual-motor skills. Drawing and writing have both been utilized in the treatment of aphasia to improve communication. Recent research suggests that the act of drawing an object facilitated naming, whereas writing the word diminished accurate naming in individuals with aphasia. However, the relationship between object drawing and subsequent phonological output is unclear. Although the right hemisphere is characteristically mute, there is evidence from split-brain research that the right hemisphere can integrate pictures and words, likely via a semantic network. We hypothesized that drawing activates right hemispheric and left perilesional regions that are spared in aphasic individuals and may contribute to semantic activation that supports naming. Eleven right-handed subjects participated in a functional MRI (fMRI) experiment involving imagined drawing and writing and 6 of the 11 subjects participated in a second fMRI experiment involving actual writing and drawing. Drawing and writing produced very similar group activation maps including activation bilaterally in the premotor, inferior frontal, posterior inferior temporal, and parietal areas. The comparison of drawing vs. writing revealed significant differences between the conditions in areas of the brain known for language processing. The direct comparison between drawing and writing revealed greater right hemisphere activation for drawing in language areas such as Brodmann area (BA) 46 and BA 37.

  10. Teaching Writing Skills: Global Issues. Skills Series, Volume 3.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benegar, John

    Social studies and language arts teachers can use these self-contained activities to teach writing skills to students in grades 6-12. Some of the activities have a global approach requiring students to write about topics such as human rights and cultural differences. Information provided for each activity includes an introduction, objectives, time…

  11. See It, Be It, Write It: Using Performing Arts to Improve Writing Skills and Test Scores

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blecher-Sass, Hope Sara; Moffitt, Maryellen

    2010-01-01

    Improve students' writing skills and boost their assessment scores while adding arts education, creativity, and fun to your writing curriculum. With this vibrant resource, improving writing skills goes hand-in-hand with improving test scores. Students learn how to use acting and visualization as prewriting activities to help them connect writing…

  12. Finite Element Learning Modules as Active Learning Tools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Ashland O.; Jensen, Daniel; Rencis, Joseph; Wood, Kristin; Wood, John; White, Christina; Raaberg, Kristen Kaufman; Coffman, Josh

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of active learning is to solicit participation by students beyond the passive mode of traditional classroom lectures. Reading, writing, participating in discussions, hands-on activities, engaging in active problem solving, and collaborative learning can all be involved. The skills acquired during active learning tend to go above and…

  13. Studies and Suggestions on Prewriting Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zheng, Shigao; Dai, Weiping

    2012-01-01

    This paper studies and suggests the need for writing instruction by which students can experience writing as a creative process in exploring and communicating meaning. The prewriting activities generate ideas which can encourage a free flow of thoughts and help students discover both what they want to say and how to say it on paper. Through the…

  14. The Words in My Pencil: Considering Children's Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Anne

    Methods of eliciting writing from children are explored in this monograph, which includes samples of nine- and ten-year-old students' writing. The monograph offers four recommendations for improving writing skills: make writing a daily activity; take children's writing seriously; maintain flexible standards of form and language; and identify group…

  15. Writing-Reading Relationships: Effectiveness of Writing Activities as Pre-Reading Tasks to Enhance L2 Inferential Reading Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wickramaarachchi, Thilina Indrajie

    2014-01-01

    The study examines the interaction between reading and writing processes in general and more specifically the impact of pre-reading tasks incorporating writing tasks (referred to as "prw tasks") in helping the development of inferential reading comprehension. A sample of 70 first year ESL students of the University of Kelaniya were…

  16. The effects of gratitude expression on neural activity.

    PubMed

    Kini, Prathik; Wong, Joel; McInnis, Sydney; Gabana, Nicole; Brown, Joshua W

    2016-03-01

    Gratitude is a common aspect of social interaction, yet relatively little is known about the neural bases of gratitude expression, nor how gratitude expression may lead to longer-term effects on brain activity. To address these twin issues, we recruited subjects who coincidentally were entering psychotherapy for depression and/or anxiety. One group participated in a gratitude writing intervention, which required them to write letters expressing gratitude. The therapy-as-usual control group did not perform a writing intervention. After three months, subjects performed a "Pay It Forward" task in the fMRI scanner. In the task, subjects were repeatedly endowed with a monetary gift and then asked to pass it on to a charitable cause to the extent they felt grateful for the gift. Operationalizing gratitude as monetary gifts allowed us to engage the subjects and quantify the gratitude expression for subsequent analyses. We measured brain activity and found regions where activity correlated with self-reported gratitude experience during the task, even including related constructs such as guilt motivation and desire to help as statistical controls. These were mostly distinct from brain regions activated by empathy or theory of mind. Also, our between groups cross-sectional study found that a simple gratitude writing intervention was associated with significantly greater and lasting neural sensitivity to gratitude - subjects who participated in gratitude letter writing showed both behavioral increases in gratitude and significantly greater neural modulation by gratitude in the medial prefrontal cortex three months later. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. P.S. Write Soon! Teachers' Notes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edwards, Pat

    Prepared to accompany an Australian letter writing guide for students, this teachers' guide provides suggestions for integrating letter writing into the school curriculum, either through regularly scheduled activities during the school year, or through special letter writing units of a few weeks. Topics covered in the guide include: (1) the craft…

  18. The Development of a High School Poetry Writing Program from Selected Writings of Erik Erikson, Kenneth Koch, and Theodore Roethke.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobs, Albert Luck, Jr.

    In this study, a program for teaching poetry writing in secondary schools is derived from Kenneth Koch's and Theodore Roethke's ideas, and from Erik Erikson's model of adolescent human processes. A review of related literature defines three major approaches to the teaching of poetry writing: models, activities, and models and activities combined.…

  19. Writing To Learn in Science: A Curriculum Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chatel, Regina G.

    This curriculum guide supports and gives structure to engaging students in writing-to-learn activities in science classes by delineating writing outcomes and assessment. The guide is structured according to the beliefs that students need models, revision is the key to successful writing, writing is a tool for demonstrating learning, and writing is…

  20. The effects of data-driven learning activities on EFL learners' writing development.

    PubMed

    Luo, Qinqin

    2016-01-01

    Data-driven learning has been proved as an effective approach in helping learners solve various writing problems such as correcting lexical or grammatical errors, improving the use of collocations and generating ideas in writing, etc. This article reports on an empirical study in which data-driven learning was accomplished with the assistance of the user-friendly BNCweb, and presents the evaluation of the outcome by comparing the effectiveness of BNCweb and a search engine Baidu which is most commonly used as reference resource by Chinese learners of English as a foreign language. The quantitative results about 48 Chinese college students revealed that the experimental group which used BNCweb performed significantly better in the post-test in terms of writing fluency and accuracy, as compared with the control group which used the search engine Baidu. However, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of writing complexity. The qualitative results about the interview revealed that learners generally showed a positive attitude toward the use of BNCweb but there were still some problems of using corpora in the writing process, thus the combined use of corpora and other types of reference resource was suggested as a possible way to counter the potential barriers for Chinese learners of English.

  1. The Development and Evaluation of an Achievement Test for Measuring the Efficacy of Task-Based Writing Activities to Enhance Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nejad, Ferdows Mohsen; Khosravian, Fereshteh

    2014-01-01

    The present study examined the reliability of an achievement test to measure the efficacy of task-based writing activities to improve Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension at the intermediate level in a private language institute in Ilam, Iran, namely Alefba language institute. To achieve the goal, the techniques for evaluating reliability…

  2. 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…

  3. National Writing Project 2009 Annual Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Writing Project (NJ1), 2009

    2009-01-01

    Writing as a tool for thinking, learning, and communicating is crucial to academic and career success as well as to active citizenship in a democracy. This annual report of the National Writing Project features teachers of math, chemistry, art, history, and business who develop their students as writers. These educators employ writing to engage…

  4. Nursing problem-based learning activity: song writing and singing.

    PubMed

    Chan, Zenobia C Y

    2014-08-01

    The function of song is not only to deliver individual's messages, but also to serve as a learning approach to facilitate students' learning. To observe the effectiveness of songs in facilitating students' learning, a Problem-based Learning (PBL) class with twenty students was divided into four groups with five students per group. Each group was asked to write a song based on two given scenarios, to sing the song out loud, and to participate in a follow-up focus group interview afterwards. The four songs reflected the students' understanding of academic knowledge and their perspectives toward the protagonists in the presented scenarios. Two songs are presented in this paper to demonstrate how the approach was carried out in the nursing PBL class. This paper aims to show the implication of song writing and singing in PBL and shed some light on teaching and learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Actively Learning about Readers: Audience Modelling in Business Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holst-Larkin, Jane

    2008-01-01

    The advantages of peer feedback in business writing classes are clear in that feedback comes from different perspectives and sometimes carries extra credibility coming from fellow students. However, students also hesitate to criticise their friends and prefer praising in a general way rather than suggesting improvements, which requires…

  6. Recycle, Reformulate, Reevaluate: The Three R's for Writing in the Language Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swenson, Barbara E.

    A discussion of second language writing instruction illustrates how writing activities can be incorporated into regular classroom activities and outlines strategies for providing purpose, feedback, and assessment while integrating language skills and culture. Three stages in the writing process are identified: (1) recycling previous information…

  7. The Quarterly of the National Writing Project and the Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy, 1996.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Loofbourrow, Peggy Trump, Ed.; Peterson, Art, Ed.

    1996-01-01

    This publication is devoted to concerns surrounding the teaching and learning of writing, and offers resources and ideas for professionals, including articles, interviews with prominent members of the field, book reviews, and brief updates on research by the National Center for the Study of Writing and National Writing Project activities. Articles…

  8. Fostering Cognitive Growth Through Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sternglass, Marilyn S.

    Recent research studies and texts in composition demonstrate the growing belief that students' difficulties with the writing tasks assigned to them are inextricably linked with their difficulties in handling complex cognitive processes. Through appropriate writing activities, students can be provided with practice in the intellectual functions…

  9. Three ESL Students Writing a Policy Paper Assignment: An Activity-Analytic Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yongyan

    2013-01-01

    How university students write from sources has been an issue of long-standing interest among researchers of advanced academic literacy. Previous research in this regard in the context of L2 writing has tended to focus on novices' textual borrowing; less attention has been given to exploring the potential light that theories from other intellectual…

  10. Commercial Product Activation Using RFID

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jedrey, Thomas

    2008-01-01

    Radio-frequency identification (RFID) would be used for commercial product activation, according to a proposal. What is new here is the concept of combining RFID with activation - more specifically, using RFID for activating commercial products (principally, electronic ones) and for performing such ancillary functions as tracking individual product units on production lines, tracking shipments, and updating inventories. According to the proposal, an RFID chip would be embedded in each product. The information encoded in the chip would include a unique number for identifying the product. An RFID reader at the point of sale would record the number of the product and would write digital information to the RFID chip for either immediate activation of the product or for later interrogation and processing. To be practical, an RFID product-activation system should satisfy a number of key requirements: the system should be designed to be integrable into the inventory-tracking and the data-processing and -communication infrastructures of businesses along the entire supply chain from manufacture to retail; the system should be resistant to sophisticated hacking; activation codes should be made sufficiently complexity to minimize the probability of activating stolen products; RFID activation equipment at points of sale must be capable to two-way RF communication for the purposes of reading information from, and writing information to, embedded RFID chips; the equipment at points of sale should be easily operable by sales clerks with little or no training; the point-of-sale equipment should verify activation and provide visible and/or audible signals indicating verification or lack thereof; and, the system should be able to handle millions of products per year with minimal human intervention, among other requirements.

  11. 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…

  12. Whose Writing Is it Anyway?: Issues of Control in the Teaching of Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Ros

    2006-01-01

    In the UK, teachers have moved from a process approach to the teaching of writing to a more didactic and objectives led programme. This has given rise to concerns about the suppression of creativity and enjoyment. Writing is a convention bound activity where spelling, punctuation and expectations about different text types imply a right and wrong…

  13. Description of a medical writing rotation for a postgraduate pharmacy residency program.

    PubMed

    Brown, Jamie N; Tiemann, Kelsey A; Ostroff, Jared L

    2014-04-01

    To provide a description of a pharmacy residency rotation dedicated to medical writing developed at a tertiary care academic medical center. Contribution to the medical literature is an important component of professional pharmacy practice, and there are many benefits seen by practitioners actively involved in scholarly activities. Residency programs have an opportunity to expand beyond the standard roles of postgraduate pharmacist training but rarely is there formal instruction on medical writing skills or are scholarship opportunities provided to residents. In order to address this deficiency, a residency program may consider the implementation of a formal Medical Writing rotation. This rotation is designed to introduce the resident to medical writing through active discussion on medical writing foundational topics, engage the resident in a collaborative review of a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed professional journal, and support the resident in the design and composition of manuscript of publishable quality. A structured Medical Writing rotation during a pharmacy resident's training can help develop the skills necessary to promote scholarly activities and foster resident interest in future pursuit of professional medical writing.

  14. 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…

  15. Execution and pauses in writing narratives: processing time, cognitive effort and typing skill.

    PubMed

    Alves, Rui Alexandre; Castro, São Luís; Olive, Thierry

    2008-12-01

    At the behavioural level, the activity of a writer can be described as periods of typing separated by pauses. Although some studies have been concerned with the functions of pauses, few have investigated motor execution periods. Precise estimates of the distribution of writing processes, and their cognitive demands, across periods of typing and pauses are lacking. Furthermore, it is uncertain how typing skill affects these aspects of writing. We addressed these issues, selecting writers of low and high typing skill who performed dictation and composition tasks. The occurrences of writing processes were assessed through directed verbalization, and their cognitive demands were measured through interference in reaction times (IRT). Before writing a narrative, 34 undergraduates learned to categorize examples of introspective thoughts as different types of activities related to writing (planning, translating, or revising). Then, while writing, they responded to random auditory probes, and reported their ongoing activity according to the learned categories. Convergent with previous findings, translating was most often reported, and revising and planning had fewer occurrences. Translating was mostly activated during motor execution, whereas revising and planning were mainly activated during pauses. However, none of the writing processes can be characterized as being typical of pauses, since translating was activated to a similar extent as the other two processes. Regarding cognitive demands, revising is likely to be the most demanding process in narrative writing. Typing skill had an impact on IRTs of motor execution. The demands of execution were greater in the low than in the high typing skill group, but these greater demands did not affect the strategy of writing processes activation. Nevertheless, low typing skill had a detrimental impact on text quality.

  16. Computer Support for the Rhythms of Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sharples, Mike

    1994-01-01

    Suggests that writing is a rhythmic activity. Claims that the combined effect of rapidly switching between composing and revising is to set up complex cycles of engagement and reflection that may disrupt the flow of composition. Describes "Writer's Assistant," a writing environment designed to study computer support for writing processes. Proposes…

  17. Motivational Scaffolding, Politeness, and Writing Center Tutoring

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mackiewicz, Jo; Thompson, Isabelle

    2013-01-01

    Writing center tutors know that improving writing skills requires sustained effort over a long period of time. They also know that motivation--the drive to actively invest in sustained effort toward a goal--is essential for writing improvement. Because motivation can direct attention toward particular tasks and increase both effort and…

  18. Analysis of proximal and distal muscle activity during handwriting tasks.

    PubMed

    Naider-Steinhart, Shoshana; Katz-Leurer, Michal

    2007-01-01

    In this study we sought to describe upper-extremity proximal and distal muscle activity in typically developing children during a handwriting task and to explore the relationship between muscle activity and speed and quality of writing. We evaluated 35 third- and fourth-grade Israeli children using the Alef-Alef Ktav Yad Hebrew Handwriting Test. Simultaneously, we recorded the participants' upper trapezius and thumb muscle activity by surface electromyography. Using the coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by mean amplitude) as a measure of variability within each muscle, we analyzed differences in muscle activity variability within and between muscles. The proximal muscle displayed significantly less variability than the distal muscles. Decreased variability in proximal muscle activity was associated with decreased variability in distal muscle activity, and decreased variability in the distal muscles was significantly associated with faster speed of writing. The lower amount of variability exhibited in the proximal muscle compared with the distal muscles seems to indicate that the proximal muscle functions as a stabilizer during a handwriting task. In addition, decreased variability in both proximal and distal muscle activity appears to be more economical and is related to faster writing speed. Knowledge of the type of proximal and distal muscle activity used during handwriting can help occupational therapists plan treatment for children with handwriting disabilities.

  19. Help Your Child Learn To Write Well.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

    Addressing parents, this pamphlet describes ways to help children learn to write well and thereby excel in school, enjoy self-expression, and become more self-reliant. Writing is discussed as a practical, job-related, stimulating, social, and therapeutic activity that receives inadequate attention in many schools. It is emphasized that writing is…

  20. A Writing-Intensive Program for Teaching Retail Management.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Darian, Jean C.; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Presents the writing-intensive design for a retailing management course developed by its instructor in accordance with writing-across-the-curriculum principles. Provides an overview of the semester-long project. Details project procedures for preparatory activities, field research, and writing the marketing plan. (SR)

  1. Reading, Writing and Relevance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffman, Mary

    This monograph presents classroom activities that were designed to encourage children to read and write in a self-reliant and responsible manner. The activities were chosen for their relevance to the children involved and because the vocabulary involved was interesting, familiar, and worth remembering and using again. The topics are arranged in…

  2. Mechanics of active surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salbreux, Guillaume; Jülicher, Frank

    2017-09-01

    We derive a fully covariant theory of the mechanics of active surfaces. This theory provides a framework for the study of active biological or chemical processes at surfaces, such as the cell cortex, the mechanics of epithelial tissues, or reconstituted active systems on surfaces. We introduce forces and torques acting on a surface, and derive the associated force balance conditions. We show that surfaces with in-plane rotational symmetry can have broken up-down, chiral, or planar-chiral symmetry. We discuss the rate of entropy production in the surface and write linear constitutive relations that satisfy the Onsager relations. We show that the bending modulus, the spontaneous curvature, and the surface tension of a passive surface are renormalized by active terms. Finally, we identify active terms which are not found in a passive theory and discuss examples of shape instabilities that are related to active processes in the surface.

  3. Innovative Hands-on Activities for Middle School Science.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barry, Dana M.

    This paper contains some hands-on activities that relate science to art and language arts. The focus is placed on middle schools and activities engage students in the discovery that chemicals are used to draw and color. Students also read and write poetry and literature that employ science-related topics. A number of spin-off activities are…

  4. Reading and Thinking through Writing in General Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bennet, James R.; Hodges, Karen

    1986-01-01

    Describes a writing based course in freshman world literature and summarizes tests, writing assignments, and class activities used in teaching "The Odyssey,""Metamorphoses,""Hamlet," and other works. (JG)

  5. Computer Game Development as a Literacy Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Owston, Ron; Wideman, Herb; Ronda, Natalia Sinitskaya; Brown, Christine

    2009-01-01

    This study examined computer game development as a pedagogical activity to motivate and engage students in curriculum-related literacy activities. We hypothesized that as a consequence, students would improve their traditional reading and writing skills as well as develop new digital literacy skills. Eighteen classes of grade 4 students were…

  6. Building Schema through Writing: The Effects of Writing as a Pre-Reading Activity on Delayed Recall of Narrative Text.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marino, Jacqueline L.; And Others

    Drawing upon research on the composing process and schema theory, a study explored the effects of a generative writing task presented prior to reading on the delayed recall of fourth grade students. The purpose of the study was to determine if a writing task that required the learner to identify with events in a text to be read later would assist…

  7. [Talks on evaluation of students' writing (discussion)].

    PubMed

    Terazawa, K; Otaki, J; Abe, K

    2001-09-01

    We talked about the evaluation of students' writing; this is thought to be difficult for teachers. We have a class "history of medicine" for freshmen in the second semester of the medical course. Students give lecture by themselves on famous historical persons in medicine such as Hippocrates, Vesalius, Pasteur and Sackett, referring to their historical significance in present medicine. As the final work of the subject they write report on "clinical medicine or medical researches 20 years in future and myself". We talked generally about educational evaluation in various aspects, concerning the methods for writing. We discussed mainly on two themes--ability to write and originality in thinking. We give a larger point to the originality, which correlates to ability to write, though we feel difficult in evaluating students' originality only by reading their reports. We also emphasize the importance of active interaction between students and teachers, and to evaluate educational activities of teachers in Japanese universities.

  8. Mostly Plants. Individualized Biology Activities on: I. Investigating Bread Mold; II. Transpiration; III. Botany Project; IV. Collecting/Preserving/Identifying Leaves; [and] V. Student Science Laboratory Write-Ups.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gibson, Paul R.

    Individualized biology activities for secondary students are presented in this teaching guide. The guide is divided into five sections: (1) investigating bread mold; (2) investigating transpiration; (3) completing a botany project; (4) collecting, preserving, and identifying leaves; and (5) writing up science laboratory investigations. The…

  9. Using the Word Processor in Writing Groups.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melia, Josie

    Writing groups can use word processors or microcomputers in many different types of writing activities. Four hour-long sessions at a word processor with the help of a skilled word processing tutor have been found to be sufficient to provide a working knowledge of word processing. When two or three students enrolled in a writing class are assigned…

  10. Randomized clinical trial of expressive writing on wound healing following bariatric surgery.

    PubMed

    Koschwanez, Heidi; Robinson, Hayley; Beban, Grant; MacCormick, Andrew; Hill, Andrew; Windsor, John; Booth, Roger; Jüllig, Mia; Broadbent, Elizabeth

    2017-07-01

    Writing emotionally about upsetting life events (expressive writing) has been shown to speed healing of punch-biopsy wounds compared to writing objectively about daily activities. We aimed to investigate whether a presurgical expressive writing intervention could improve surgical wound healing. Seventy-six patients undergoing elective laparoscopic bariatric surgery were randomized either to write emotionally about traumatic life events (expressive writing) or to write objectively about how they spent their time (daily activities writing) for 20 min a day for 3 consecutive days beginning 2 weeks prior to surgery. A wound drain was inserted into a laparoscopic port site and wound fluid analyzed for proinflammatory cytokines collected over 24 hr postoperatively. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene tubes were inserted into separate laparoscopic port sites during surgery and removed after 14 days. Tubes were analyzed for hydroxyproline deposition (the primary outcome), a major component of collagen and marker of healing. Fifty-four patients completed the study. Patients who wrote about daily activities had significantly more hydroxyproline than did expressive writing patients, t(34) = -2.43, p = .020, 95% confidence interval [-4.61, -0.41], and higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha, t(29) = -2.42, p = .022, 95% confidence interval [-0.42, -0.04]. Perceived stress significantly reduced in both groups after surgery. Expressive writing prior to bariatric surgery was not effective at increasing hydroxyproline at the wound site 14 days after surgery. However, writing about daily activities did predict such an increase. Future research needs to replicate these findings and investigate generalizability to other surgical groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. The Cortical Network for Braille Writing in the Blind.

    PubMed

    Likova, Lora T; Tyler, Christopher W; Cacciamani, Laura; Mineff, Kristyo; Nicholas, Spero

    2016-01-01

    Fundamental forms of high-order cognition, such as reading and writing, are usually studied in the context of one modality - vision. People without sight, however, use the kinesthetic-based Braille writing, and haptic-based Braille reading. We asked whether the cognitive and motor control mechanisms underlying writing and reading are modality-specific or supramodal. While a number of previous functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the brain network for Braille reading in the blind, such studies on Braille writing are lacking. Consequently, no comparative network analysis of Braille writing vs. reading exists. Here, we report the first study of Braille writing, and a comparison of the brain organization for Braille writing vs Braille reading. FMRI was conducted in a Siemens 3T Trio scanner. Our custom MRI-compatible drawing/writing lectern was further modified to provide for Braille reading and writing. Each of five paragraphs of novel Braille text describing objects, faces and navigation sequences was read, then reproduced twice by Braille writing from memory, then read a second time. During Braille reading, the haptic-sensing of the Braille letters strongly activated not only the early visual area V1 and V2, but some highly specialized areas, such as the classical visual grapheme area and the Exner motor grapheme area. Braille-writing-from-memory, engaged a significantly more extensive network in dorsal motor, somatosensory/kinesthetic, dorsal parietal and prefrontal cortex. However, in contrast to the largely extended V1 activation in drawing-from-memory in the blind after training (Likova, 2012), Braille writing from memory generated focal activation restricted to the most foveal part of V1, presumably reflecting topographically the focal demands of such a "pin-pricking" task.

  12. The Cortical Network for Braille Writing in the Blind

    PubMed Central

    Likova, Lora T.; Tyler, Christopher W.; Cacciamani, Laura; Mineff, Kristyo; Nicholas, Spero

    2017-01-01

    Fundamental forms of high-order cognition, such as reading and writing, are usually studied in the context of one modality - vision. People without sight, however, use the kinesthetic-based Braille writing, and haptic-based Braille reading. We asked whether the cognitive and motor control mechanisms underlying writing and reading are modality-specific or supramodal. While a number of previous functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the brain network for Braille reading in the blind, such studies on Braille writing are lacking. Consequently, no comparative network analysis of Braille writing vs. reading exists. Here, we report the first study of Braille writing, and a comparison of the brain organization for Braille writing vs Braille reading. FMRI was conducted in a Siemens 3T Trio scanner. Our custom MRI-compatible drawing/writing lectern was further modified to provide for Braille reading and writing. Each of five paragraphs of novel Braille text describing objects, faces and navigation sequences was read, then reproduced twice by Braille writing from memory, then read a second time. During Braille reading, the haptic-sensing of the Braille letters strongly activated not only the early visual area V1 and V2, but some highly specialized areas, such as the classical visual grapheme area and the Exner motor grapheme area. Braille-writing-from-memory, engaged a significantly more extensive network in dorsal motor, somatosensory/kinesthetic, dorsal parietal and prefrontal cortex. However, in contrast to the largely extended V1 activation in drawing-from-memory in the blind after training (Likova, 2012), Braille writing from memory generated focal activation restricted to the most foveal part of V1, presumably reflecting topographically the focal demands of such a “pin-pricking” task. PMID:28890944

  13. Learning to Write and Loving It! Preschool-Kindergarten

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trehearne, Miriam P.

    2011-01-01

    "Learning to Write and Loving It!" equips teachers of young children with practical strategies, assessment tools, and motivating writing activities that are based on current research and proven practice and are easily applicable to all kinds of learning environments. Included are many authentic writing samples and photos to illustrate effective,…

  14. Construction of meaning in the authentic science writing of deaf students.

    PubMed

    Lang, H G; Albertini, J A

    2001-01-01

    This study examines how students construct meaning through writing during authentic science activities. To determine how well students understood science concepts, we analyzed 228 writing samples from deaf students in grades 6 through 11 as well as the explanatory and reflective comments of their teachers. The analyses indicate that certain process writing strategies were differentially useful in helping deaf students to construct meaning and in allowing teachers to evaluate the constructed meaning. Three instructional conditions and two teacher variables were found to play roles in determining the accuracy and adequacy of the writing: (1) the writing prompts the teachers used, (2) the focus for the writing, (3) follow-up to the initial writing activity, (4) the teacher's content knowledge, and (5) the teacher's ability to interpret student writing. The authors recommend future applications of writing-to-learn strategies and suggest directions for further research and changes in teacher education.

  15. The Visuospatial Dimension of Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olive, Thierry; Passerault, Jean-Michel

    2012-01-01

    The authors suggest that writing should be conceived of not only as a verbal activity but also as a visuospatial activity, in which writers process and construct visuospatial mental representations. After briefly describing research on visuospatial cognition, they look at how cognitive researchers have investigated the visuospatial dimension of…

  16. English Skills for Engineers Required by the English Technical Writing Test

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kyouno, Noboru

    Japanese English education has focused mainly on teaching passive skills such as reading and listening, whereas actual business activities in society require active skills such as writing and speaking in addition to the passive skills. This educational situation is estimated to be a reason Japanese engineers are less confident in writing and speaking than in reading and listening. This paper focuses on details of the English Technical Writing Test provided by the Japan Society of Technical Communication and emphasizes the importance of the active skills, mainly focusing on what skills should be taught in the future and how to develop these skills. This paper also stresses the necessity of learning rhetoric-related skills, concept of information words, as well as paragraph reading and writing skills based on the concept of the 3Cs (Correct, Clear, and Concise) as a means to develop technical writing skills for engineers.

  17. American Literature: Performance Objectives and Classroom Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ascher, Hope; And Others

    This guide is a sampler of ideas and activities based on 22 minimum objectives in speech, reading, writing, and research that have been identified for American literature study. Many of the activities involve an integration of several skills that are cross-referenced to other skills in the margins of the guide. A separate section on research…

  18. Comparative analysis of brain EEG signals generated from the right and left hand while writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sardesai, Neha; Jamali Mahabadi, S. E.; Meng, Qinglei; Choa, Fow-Sen

    2016-05-01

    This paper provides a comparative analysis of right handed people and left handed people when they write with both their hands. Two left handed and one right handed subject were asked to write their respective names on a paper using both, their left and right handed, and their brain signals were measured using EEG. Similarly, they were asked to perform simple mathematical calculations using both their hand. The data collected from the EEG from writing with both hands is compared. It is observed that though it is expected that the right brain only would contribute to left handed writing and vice versa, it is not so. When a right handed person writes with his/her left hand, the initial instinct is to go for writing with the right hand. Hence, both parts of the brain are active when a subject writes with the other hand. However, when the activity is repeated, the brain learns to expect to write with the other hand as the activity is repeated and then only the expected part of the brain is active.

  19. Writing as Soul Work: Training Teachers in a Group-Based Career-Narrative Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lengelle, Reinekke; Ashby, Sjon

    2017-01-01

    Writing as soul work refers to the active engagement of students in transformative writing activities in a group setting with the aim to enable students to develop new, more empowering narratives. This article explains how soul work through writing can be used to foster career adaptability, expressed in the form of increased awareness and…

  20. Today's Technologies Enhance Writing in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, Amy

    2012-01-01

    It is widely accepted that including writing activities in the learning process positively impacts student achievement and leads to greater depth of student understanding. This writing is often missing in the math classroom though, when the focus is misplaced on rote procedures. In these classrooms students learn mathematical processes but have…

  1. Online Activities and Writing Practices of Urban Malaysian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan, Kok Eng; Ng, Melissa L. Y.; Saw, Kim Guan

    2010-01-01

    Among a number of urban adolescents in Malaysia, going online is a much valued practice. They are regularly drawn to the Internet to engage in activities across school, nonschool, mainstream and alternative domains. The aim of this study is to know more about what these adolescents do online. Data on the online activities were collected from 535…

  2. 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.

  3. The Role of Writing Pedagogy in Vocabulary Improvement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mirhassani, Seyyed Akbar; Samar, Reza Ghafar; Fattahipoor, Majid

    2006-01-01

    To improve and activate the vocabulary of EFL learners, an alternative to common advice in trying to use them in speech can be invited. As two quite different methodologies in writing pedagogy are process and product writing, it is of concern to find which holds more promise for the vocabulary improvement. Product writing pedagogy encompasses…

  4. The Use of Podcasts to Enhance Narrative Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Qaddour, Kinana

    2017-01-01

    This activity uses podcasts to model narrative writing techniques. The challenges students face when exercising narrative writing skills are unique when compared to those of persuasive and expository writing; my students have repeatedly expressed their qualms with articulating experiences that engage their audience. Although students have…

  5. A "Hyper- and Pessimistic Activism" in a Curriculum Master's Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brass, Jory

    2012-01-01

    In this article the author explores Foucault's counter-intuitive views on intellectuals and political activism--a stance he once described as "a hyper- and pessimistic activism" (Foucault, 1983). After contrasting the activist stance of critical pedagogy with Foucault's writing on political activism, the author outlines early attempts to…

  6. Changing University Students' Alternative Conceptions of Optics by Active Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hadžibegovic, Zalkida; Sliško, Josip

    2013-01-01

    Active learning is individual and group participation in effective activities such as in-class observing, writing, experimenting, discussion, solving problems, and talking about to-be-learned topics. Some instructors believe that active learning is impossible, or at least extremely difficult to achieve in large lecture sessions. Nevertheless, the…

  7. Write Angles: Strategies for Teaching Composition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tompkins, Gail E., Ed.; Goss, Claudette, Ed.

    Written by teachers for teachers, this book, the first publication of the Oklahoma Writing Project, contains a collection of articles which describe successful strategies and activities for teaching composition. The articles, which deal with a variety of topics, listed with their authors, are as follows: (1) The Writing Process (Gail E. Tompkins…

  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. Writing to Learn in Social Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boyer, Tara L.

    2006-01-01

    One of the best ways to enrich students' social studies experience is to include assignments in which students interact with social studies content and skills. In this article, the author explains how teachers can use writing exercises to encourage such interaction. She describes the following writing activities: (1) acrostics; (2) haiku; (3)…

  10. Favor Asking and ESL: Something to Break the Routine: A Collaborative Writing Activity; Using E-Mail Assignments and Online Correction in ESL Instruction; Tips for facilitating Full-Time Employment in TESOL.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Tamara; Iannacone, Vince; Melby-Mauer, Jean; Tanner, Mark W.

    2003-01-01

    The tips discussed here center around favor asking and English as a Second Language, a collaborative writing activity, e-mail assignments nd online correction, and facilitating full-time employment in TESOL (Author/VWL)

  11. Whole Language Discovery Activities for the Primary Grades.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riley, Margaret C.; Coe, Donna L.

    For the K-3 teacher, this book presents hundreds of ready-to-use individual and group activities for developing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, all correlated with other curriculum areas and organized into nine monthly sections. The book includes teaching strategies, individual and group games, activity sheets, quizzes, writing…

  12. Individual Self-Monitoring & Peer-Monitoring in One Classroom in Writing Activities: Who Is at Disadvantage?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Toofan, Zohreh Zare

    2014-01-01

    Writing is an important experience through which we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people (white & Arndt, 1991). It is important to view writing not solely as the product of an individual, but as a cognitive, social and cultural act. Writing is an act that takes place within a context, that accomplishes a…

  13. The Writing of Chinese Characters by CFL Learners: Can Writing on Facebook and Using Machine Translation Help?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Qi; Lu, Zhouxiang

    2014-01-01

    The current study investigates the applications of the pinyin input system, a Chinese word processing method, for writing on Facebook in order to help CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) learners from two Irish universities to improve their handwriting in Chinese characters on paper. The data were collected from writing activities conducted over…

  14. School to Work: Using Active Learning to Teach Business Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karmas, Cristina

    2011-01-01

    To succeed as tomorrow's workers in the knowledge society of the new century--a world characterized by ceaseless change, boundless knowledge and endless doubt, today's business writing students must develop the skills and traits needed to become creative problem-solvers, flexible team-players and risk-taking life-time learners (Bereiter, 2002a).…

  15. Anxiety, not anger, induces inflammatory activity: An avoidance/approach model of immune system activation.

    PubMed

    Moons, Wesley G; Shields, Grant S

    2015-08-01

    Psychological stressors reliably trigger systemic inflammatory activity as indexed by levels of proinflammatory cytokines. This experiment demonstrates that one's specific emotional reaction to a stressor may be a significant determinant of whether an inflammatory reaction occurs in response to that stressor. Based on extant correlational evidence and theory, a causal approach was used to determine whether an avoidant emotion (anxiety) triggers more inflammatory activity than an approach emotion (anger). In an experimental design (N = 40), a 3-way Emotion Condition × Time × Analyte interaction revealed that a writing-based anxiety induction, but not a writing-based anger induction, increased mean levels of interferon-γ (IFN- γ) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), but not interleukin-6 (IL-6) in oral mucous, F(2, 54) = 4.64, p = .01, ηp(²) = .15. Further, self-reported state anxiety predicted elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines, all ΔR(²) >.06, ps <.04, but self-reported state anger did not. These results constitute the first evidence to our knowledge that specific negative emotions can differentially cause inflammatory activity and support a theoretical model explaining these effects based on the avoidance or approach motivations associated with emotions. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Sustaining Preschoolers' Engagement during Interactive Writing Lessons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Anna H.

    2016-01-01

    Interactive writing is a developmentally appropriate activity used to enhance children's literacy development in the preschool setting. This article describes the unique needs of preschoolers as emerging writers, including their developing fine motor skills, early literacy skills, and social skills related to group writing. Strategies are provided…

  17. Teaching Students How to Write a Description with Photos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chong, Ivan

    2017-01-01

    In writing instruction, teachers often struggle with developing engaging and interactive activities given constraints such as large classes and packed teaching schedules. A purposeful and appealing pre-task can energize the writing process and set the context for the subsequent writing task. With this purpose in mind, the author designed the…

  18. Effect of muscle activity immediately after botulinum toxin injection for writer's cramp.

    PubMed

    Chen, R; Karp, B I; Goldstein, S R; Bara-Jimenez, W; Yaseen, Z; Hallett, M

    1999-03-01

    Animal and human studies have shown that nerve stimulation enhances some effects of botulinum toxin (btx A) injection. Voluntary muscle activity might work similarly and would focus the effect of an injection into the active muscles. We studied the effects of exercise immediately after btx A injection in eight patients with writer's cramp with established response to btx A over two injection cycles with a single-blinded, randomized, crossover design. Immediately after the first study injection, they were randomly assigned to write continuously for 30 min or have their hand and forearm immobilized for 30 min. Following the second injection, they were assigned the alternate condition. Patients were assessed just before each injection, and at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months post-injection. Assessment included objective strength testing, self-reported rating of benefit and weakness, and blinded evaluation of videotapes and writing samples of the patients writing a standard passage. Strength testing showed that the maximum weakness occurred at 2 weeks post-injection, but the benefit was maximum at 6 weeks post-injection. The "write" condition resulted in greater reduction in strength than the "rest" condition. Btx A treatment led to improvement in self-reported ratings, writer's cramp rating scale scores by blinded raters, and reduction in writing time, but the differences between the "write" and "rest" conditions were not significant. We conclude that voluntary muscle activity immediately after btx A injection leads to greater reduction in muscle strength. Our findings raise the possibility that voluntary muscle activation may allow reduction of btx A doses and favorably alter the balance of benefit and side effects of btx A injections.

  19. Student Perceptions on Collaborative Writing in a Project-Based Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deveci, Tanju

    2018-01-01

    The traditional view that writing is an individual activity often translates into the teaching of it as an individual task. Rarely do students engage in extensive dialogue with their peers when writing. However, much writing in the workplace takes place in collaboration with others. Although, on the surface, many authors may not seem to write with…

  20. Passing the Baton: Mentoring for Adoption of Active-Learning Pedagogies by Research-Active Junior Faculty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grimes, Catherine Leimkuhler; White, Harold B., III

    2015-01-01

    There are barriers to adoption of research-based teaching methods. Professional development workshops may inform faculty of these methods, but effective adoption often does not follow. In addition, newly-minted research-active faculty are often overwhelmed by the many new responsibilities (grant writing, group management, laboratory setup,…

  1. Writing to Like Writing: A Longitudinal First-Person Education Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iran-Nejad, Asghar; Xu, Yuejin; Mansouri, Behzad

    2013-01-01

    Reported in this article was an experiment in which 143 undergraduates in an educational psychology course were encouraged to engage in the performance learning activity (PLA) of "seeking their own revelations (or insights) and reflecting on them in writing." The hypothesis, grounded in the biofunctionally-based, first-person…

  2. Opciones (Options). Spanish Correspondence. Level 1. Learning Activity Packet.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, James W.

    The purpose of this learning activity packet is to acquaint students of Spanish as a second language with letter-writing in Spanish. Upon completion of the packet, students should be able to: (1) identify some of the major differences in mailing customs between the U.S. and Hispanic countries, (2) read and write mailing and return adresses, (3)…

  3. Writing Science and Objectification: Selecting, Organizing, and Decontextualing Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Laura J.

    2008-01-01

    This analysis focuses on two writing activities required by a middle school science curriculum unit to demonstrate how particular forms of writing guide students to frame their knowledge in important ways. Following the completion of charts and "Think and Write" questions related to a single scientific phenomenon, I trace how students identify the…

  4. Writing affects the brain network of reading in Chinese: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

    PubMed

    Cao, Fan; Vu, Marianne; Chan, Derek Ho Lung; Lawrence, Jason M; Harris, Lindsay N; Guan, Qun; Xu, Yi; Perfetti, Charles A

    2013-07-01

    We examined the hypothesis that learning to write Chinese characters influences the brain's reading network for characters. Students from a college Chinese class learned 30 characters in a character-writing condition and 30 characters in a pinyin-writing condition. After learning, functional magnetic resonance imaging collected during passive viewing showed different networks for reading Chinese characters and English words, suggesting accommodation to the demands of the new writing system through short-term learning. Beyond these expected differences, we found specific effects of character writing in greater activation (relative to pinyin writing) in bilateral superior parietal lobules and bilateral lingual gyri in both a lexical decision and an implicit writing task. These findings suggest that character writing establishes a higher quality representation of the visual-spatial structure of the character and its orthography. We found a greater involvement of bilateral sensori-motor cortex (SMC) for character-writing trained characters than pinyin-writing trained characters in the lexical decision task, suggesting that learning by doing invokes greater interaction with sensori-motor information during character recognition. Furthermore, we found a correlation of recognition accuracy with activation in right superior parietal lobule, right lingual gyrus, and left SMC, suggesting that these areas support the facilitative effect character writing has on reading. Finally, consistent with previous behavioral studies, we found character-writing training facilitates connections with semantics by producing greater activation in bilateral middle temporal gyri, whereas pinyin-writing training facilitates connections with phonology by producing greater activation in right inferior frontal gyrus. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. 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…

  6. Rethinking the Research Paper in the Writing Center.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDonald, James C.

    1994-01-01

    Discusses the problems presented to writing center tutors by traditional research paper assignments. Recounts typical definitions of student research papers according to current-traditional rhetoric. Advocates writing centers helping students transform research papers into meaning-making activities in which students construct knowledge. (HB)

  7. Thesis Writing Challenges for Non-Native MA Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sadeghi, Karim; Shirzad Khajepasha, Arash

    2015-01-01

    Writing in a second (L2)/foreign language is generally a challenging activity, and writing an MA thesis, as an example of academic enterprise, can be daunting when done in a language in which the writer is not fully competent. The challenge such a genre of writing poses for L2 writers has not been properly addressed. To fill in the gap in this…

  8. Music Activities for "Little Wolf's Song"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardany, Audrey Berger

    2015-01-01

    Drawn from Britta Techentrup's children's book "Little Wolf's Song", the author shares music activities appropriate for preschool and children in primary grades. Children will enjoy Technentrup's tender family story, while exploring vocal and instrumental timbres, as well as reading, writing, and creating with melodic contour.

  9. The Quest for Less: Activities and Resources for Teaching K-8

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Quest for Less provides hands-on lessons and activities, enrichment ideas, journal writing assignments, and other educational tools related to preventing and reusing waste. This document includes factsheets, activities, and teaching notes for 6-8

  10. Exploring Poetry: The Reading and Writing Connection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ediger, Marlow

    Connecting reading and writing has become an important trend in teaching the language arts. Poetry, as a salient facet of the reading curriculum, integrates well with different purposes in writing. Poetry read aloud to students can assist learners to enjoy reading activities and develop the feeling and aesthetic dimension of learning, among other…

  11. Contextualized Writing: Promoting Audience-Centered Writing through Scenario-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golden, Paullett

    2018-01-01

    Scenario-based learning is an approach for student-centered learning used in the medical and legal fields, but is little used in liberal arts. In this study, I examine students' understanding and application of audience-centered writing techniques after a semester of formal scenario-based essays and problem-based activities. Comparing the grades…

  12. Meursault on Trial: Multi-Skills Activities for Teaching "L'Etranger."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polly, Lyle R.; Buscaglia, Michael J.

    1978-01-01

    Presents a unit of activities based on a reading of Albert Camus'""L'Etranger." The activities, which can be adapted to various levels and abilities in an intermediate French class, incorporate reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Sample materials and a bibliography are appended. (AM)

  13. No Effect of Writing Advice on Reading Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balling, Laura Winther

    2018-01-01

    This article considers text comprehension through the integrated perspectives of language processing research and practical writing advice as expressed in writing guides and language policies. Such guides for instance include advice to use active constructions instead of passives and sentences instead of nominalizations. These recommended and…

  14. Noncovalent Ubiquitin Interactions Regulate the Catalytic Activity of Ubiquitin Writers.

    PubMed

    Wright, Joshua D; Mace, Peter D; Day, Catherine L

    2016-11-01

    Covalent modification of substrate proteins with ubiquitin is the end result of an intricate network of protein-protein interactions. The inherent ability of the E1, E2, and E3 proteins of the ubiquitylation cascade (the ubiquitin writers) to interact with ubiquitin facilitates this process. Importantly, contact between ubiquitin and the E2/E3 writers is required for catalysis and the assembly of chains of a given linkage. However, ubiquitin is also an activator of ubiquitin-writing enzymes, with many recent studies highlighting the ability of ubiquitin to regulate activity and substrate modification. Here, we review the interactions between ubiquitin-writing enzymes and regulatory ubiquitin molecules that promote activity, and highlight the potential of these interactions to promote processive ubiquitin transfer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Integrate oral communication with technical writing: Towards a rationale

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Skelton, T.

    1981-01-01

    Integrating oral communication and technical writing instruction, to give students the opportunity to learn and practice interpersonal skills, is proposed. By linking speech and writing the importance of small-group interaction in developing transferrable ideas is acknowledged. Three reasons for integration are examined: workday activities, application of role-taking to writing, and conflict resolution. Four advantages of integration are stated.

  16. Magazine Mania Gets Kids Writing and Thinking.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gozzi, Joan Daniels

    1987-01-01

    Magazine Mania is a series of seven reproducible self-motivating activities involving magazines such as "National Geographic" and "Ranger Rick." While enjoying the activities pupils will be increasing their self awareness, appreciation of foreign cultures, divergent thinking skills, skimming, research skills, creative writing skills, vocabulary,…

  17. Ted's Writing across the Curriculum E-BOOK.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panitz, Theodore

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a wide range of examples of writing across the curriculum (WAC) activities in order to encourage teachers to use writing in their classes regularly as a way of stimulating critical thinking in their students and providing variety in their teaching methods. The paper is presented in three sections. The first…

  18. To the Teacher: P.S. Write Soon!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Post Office Dept., Washington, DC.

    Intended for teachers of grades 4 through 8 who want to adapt the activities listed in the publication "P.S. Write Soon!" for classroom use, this guide provides chapter by chapter examples of the kinds of classroom projects suggested by the book that can be incorporated into an existing unit on letter writing or used as the basis for…

  19. Get Started and Write: Advice for New Faculty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, M. Cecil

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes several strategies for organizing, collaborating on, persisting in, and funding professional writing activities that can benefit new tenure track faculty members. Establishing and maintaining a regular program of academic writing is essential to a successful career in higher education, but initiating and maintaining a program…

  20. Developing Cultural Literacy through the Writing Process: Empowering All Learners.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmer, Barbara C.; And Others

    Combining the expansion of cultural literacy with the development of process-based writing, this book addresses each stage of the writing process, with emphasis on the recursive and overlapping nature of these stages. Numerous related model activities at the end of each chapter show how to develop the writing process, while expanding the writer's…

  1. Symbols and Scrolls: Teaching Elementary Students about Historic Writing. Pull-out 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Christensen, Lois M.

    1999-01-01

    Describes a unit for elementary students on the history and technology of writing from ancient to medieval times. Includes a contemporary writing and print exercise, an ancient and medieval writing exercise, a research activity on the evolution of writing, a biography study, a fine arts exercise, and a community survey. Addresses the unit…

  2. Interindividual uniformity and variety of the "Writing center": a functional MRI study.

    PubMed

    Sugihara, Genichi; Kaminaga, Tatsuro; Sugishita, Morihiro

    2006-10-01

    Our aim is to investigate the neural substrates for writing using fMRI (twenty right-handed subjects). We assumed that common areas involved in both writing with right and left hands are crucial to the central process of writing. We employed Japanese phonograms (Kana), in which phoneme-grapheme conversion would be extremely simple. Brain activation was examined under three conditions: (1) written naming with the right hand (WR), (2) written naming with the left hand (WL), and (3) naming silently (NA). While the comparison of WR to NA (WR>NA) exhibited activation only in the left frontoparietal area, the WL>NA comparison exhibited broader activation than the WR>NA comparison, i.e., the left frontoparietal area except the motor and sensory areas and the right frontoparietal area. A conjunction analysis in SPM2 revealed common areas of activation across the WR>NA and WL>NA comparisons, which are assumed to be crucial to writing. In the group analysis, three areas were found to be activated: the posterior end of the left superior frontal gyrus, which is superior and posterior to Exner's center; the anterior part of the left superior parietal lobule; and the lower part of the anterior limb of the left supramarginal gyrus. In the single-subject analysis, whereas the first two of the above three areas were found to be crucial for writing in all individuals, an interindividual inconsistency of involvement with writing was observed in three areas: the lower part of the anterior limb of the left supramarginal gyrus (60% involved); the right frontal region (47%); and the right intraparietal sulcus (47%).

  3. Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Urquhart, Vicki

    2009-01-01

    Writing is the ability to compose text effectively for different purposes and audiences. When many of us reflect on our own school experiences, we recall writing in English and history classes, but not in mathematics. Math classes previously relied on skill-building and conceptual understanding activities. Today, teachers are realizing that…

  4. Building a Writing Community through Learning of French

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bissoonauth-Bedford, Anu.; Stace, Ray

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on a pilot study designed to develop writing proficiency in French via collaborative writing activities at intermediate level at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Twenty four students in the final year of French studies program took part in this innovative approach which integrates multimodal functionality of the…

  5. Concept Maps as Cognitive Visualizations of Writing Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Villalon, Jorge; Calvo, Rafael A.

    2011-01-01

    Writing assignments are ubiquitous in higher education. Writing develops not only communication skills, but also higher-level cognitive processes that facilitate deep learning. Cognitive visualizations, such as concept maps, can also be used as part of learning activities including as a form of scaffolding, or to trigger reflection by making…

  6. "The Return of the Unicorn": Creative Writing Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Inman, Kathy Huse; Kreitzer, Jack

    The classroom activities suggested in this resource booklet, proven successful by South Dakota poet Jack Kreitzer, are designed to spark or increase students' creativity by bringing the exciting language of poetry alive in the elementary and secondary classroom. Introductory comments present thoughts on what poetry is and how it should be taught,…

  7. Practice It: Create a Weekly Activity Plan

    Cancer.gov

    At the beginning of the week, create an activity plan to help you reach your goals. Start by identifying your goals for the week. Based on your goals, write down when you are going to exercise and what you are going to do.

  8. "SimChemistry" as an Active Learning Tool in Chemical Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bolton, Kim; Saalman, Elisabeth; Christie, Michael; Ingerman, Ake; Linder, Cedric

    2008-01-01

    The publicly available free computer program, "SimChemistry," was used as an active learning tool in the chemical engineering curriculum at the University College of Boras, Sweden. The activity involved students writing their own simulation programs on topics in the area of molecular structure and interactions. Evaluation of the learning…

  9. The dynamics of narrative writing in primary grade children: writing process factors predict story quality.

    PubMed

    von Koss Torkildsen, Janne; Morken, Frøydis; Helland, Wenche A; Helland, Turid

    In this study of third grade school children, we investigated the association between writing process measures recorded with key stroke logging and the final written product. Moreover, we examined the cognitive predictors of writing process and product measures. Analyses of key strokes showed that while most children spontaneously made local online revisions while writing, few revised previously written text. Children with good reading and spelling abilities made more online revisions than their peers. Two process factors, transcription fluency and online revision activity, contributed to explaining variance in narrative macrostructural quality and story length. As for cognitive predictors, spelling was the only factor that gave a unique contribution to explaining variance in writing process factors. Better spelling was associated with more revisions and faster transcription. The results show that developing writers' ability to make online revisions in creative writing tasks is related to both the quality of the final written product and to individual literacy skills. More generally, the findings indicate that investigations of the dynamics of the writing process may provide insights into the factors that contribute to creative writing during early stages of literacy.

  10. Research on Three-Part Argumentative Writings for English Majors in China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mingli, Luo

    2012-01-01

    Writing is a kind of creative thinking activity. The teaching of three-part argumentative writing is crucial in college English instruction. Many English majors that fail to write well lack sufficient input of English argumentative reading materials, use Chinese thinking and structure to express their ideas, and lack frequent and sufficient…

  11. On Campus Activity Guide. Environmental Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinellas County School Board, Clearwater, FL.

    Descriptions of about 100 secondary-level activities that can be done on the school grounds are presented. Among the lessons included are a study of life in sidewalk cracks, methods of estimating animal populations, soil testing, constructing and using triangulation instruments to map the school area, and creative writing exercises. Although most…

  12. Extraordinary Animals and Expository Writing: Zoo in the Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trainin, Guy; Wilson, Kathleen; Wickless, Mimi; Brooks, David

    2005-01-01

    A zoo outreach program led to placing animals in classrooms where those animals became foci for numerous learning activities such as writing, observing, and care. Systematic debriefings suggested uniqueness to learning outcomes connected to zoo animals. Subsequent analysis of student writing indicated that students responded to situational…

  13. The Writing-Reading Connection: A Pamphlet Project at Yang-Ming University.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wu, Siew-Rong

    This project emphasized the writing-reading connection in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum, noting the effects of integrating nonfiction reading about culture into writing tasks and investigating reading-for-writing activities that functioned as an extension from the EFL classrooms to the outside world. The project occurred in a…

  14. Narrative writing: Effective ways and best practices

    PubMed Central

    Ledade, Samir D.; Jain, Shishir N.; Darji, Ankit A.; Gupta, Vinodkumar H.

    2017-01-01

    A narrative is a brief summary of specific events experienced by patients, during the course of a clinical trial. Narrative writing involves multiple activities such as generation of patient profiles, review of data sources, and identification of events for which narratives are required. A sponsor outsources narrative writing activities to leverage the expertise of service providers which in turn requires effective management of resources, cost, time, quality, and overall project management. Narratives are included as an appendix to the clinical study report and are submitted to the regulatory authorities as a part of dossier. Narratives aid in the evaluation of the safety profile of the investigational drug under study. To deliver high-quality narratives within the specified timeframe to the sponsor can be achieved by standardizing processes, increasing efficiency, optimizing working capacity, implementing automation, and reducing cost. This paper focuses on effective ways to design narrative writing process and suggested best practices, which enable timely delivery of high-quality narratives to fulfill the regulatory requirement. PMID:28447014

  15. Narrative writing: Effective ways and best practices.

    PubMed

    Ledade, Samir D; Jain, Shishir N; Darji, Ankit A; Gupta, Vinodkumar H

    2017-01-01

    A narrative is a brief summary of specific events experienced by patients, during the course of a clinical trial. Narrative writing involves multiple activities such as generation of patient profiles, review of data sources, and identification of events for which narratives are required. A sponsor outsources narrative writing activities to leverage the expertise of service providers which in turn requires effective management of resources, cost, time, quality, and overall project management. Narratives are included as an appendix to the clinical study report and are submitted to the regulatory authorities as a part of dossier. Narratives aid in the evaluation of the safety profile of the investigational drug under study. To deliver high-quality narratives within the specified timeframe to the sponsor can be achieved by standardizing processes, increasing efficiency, optimizing working capacity, implementing automation, and reducing cost. This paper focuses on effective ways to design narrative writing process and suggested best practices, which enable timely delivery of high-quality narratives to fulfill the regulatory requirement.

  16. The Utility of Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Bioscience

    PubMed Central

    Libarkin, Julie; Ording, Gabriel

    2012-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that engagement in a few, brief writing assignments in a nonmajors science course can improve student ability to convey critical thought about science. A sample of three papers written by students (n = 30) was coded for presence and accuracy of elements related to scientific writing. Scores for different aspects of scientific writing were significantly correlated, suggesting that students recognized relationships between components of scientific thought. We found that students' ability to write about science topics and state conclusions based on data improved over the course of three writing assignments, while the abilities to state a hypothesis and draw clear connections between human activities and environmental impacts did not improve. Three writing assignments generated significant change in student ability to write scientifically, although our results suggest that three is an insufficient number to generate complete development of scientific writing skills. PMID:22383616

  17. Invention and Writing in Technical Work: Representing the Object.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winsor, Dorothy A.

    1994-01-01

    Describes the way invention is relevant to the practice of technical writing. Studies three engineering students engaged in a real-world project. Shows how the students' technical work and invention for the final report were simultaneous activities. Claims that invention for and through writing overlaps with technical invention. (HB)

  18. Dialogizing Response in the Writing Classroom: Students Answer Back.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gay, Pamela

    1998-01-01

    Notes that while informed teachers of writing have moved toward more dialogic approaches, they still have colonial tendencies when responding to student writing. Suggests an activity that invites students to talk back to the teacher-reader as a means of helping them move more effectively toward revision. (PA)

  19. Singing in Science: Writing and Recording Student Lyrics to Express Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Sara D.; Norton-Meier, Lori

    2009-01-01

    This article explores the use of lyric writing in elementary science. It details an exploratory project in which elementary students and a professional musician collaborated to write and record lyrics at the conclusion of an inquiry-based science unit. What we found was that lyric writing when used as a summary reflection activity in science…

  20. "Spinach to Chocolate": Changing Awareness and Attitudes in ESL Writing Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winer, Lise

    1992-01-01

    Data from student journals in an English-as-a-Second-Language writing practicum are used to trace the process by which practice of and reflection on specific activities change awareness of and attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing. The paper demonstrates the necessity of integrating training and development in teacher education.…

  1. 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…

  2. Got Skills? On-the-Job Activities of Physicists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ivie, Rachel

    2011-03-01

    It goes almost without saying that physics doctorates do a lot more than just physics research or teaching at their jobs. But what exactly do they do? First, I will share basic data showing where physics doctorates are employed. Then I will present data from two of AIP's surveys about the employment of physicists. The first set of data comes from our survey of physics PhDs one year after doctorate. We will consider how often physics doctorates do a variety of activities on the job, including management, technical writing, teamwork, design and development, programming, and advanced mathematics. The second set of data comes from AIP's new survey of PhDs in physics 10 to 13 years after graduation. Data for many of the same activities will be shown for physics doctorates who have been in the workplace about a decade. Depending on the type of job, most industrially employed physics doctorates do some type of physics at work, but they are also very likely to report managing projects, writing for technical audiences, working on a team, and collaborating with non-physicists, among many other activities. This examination of the types of activities physics doctorates perform in the workplace will provide insight on the non-scientific training that would benefit graduate students the most.

  3. Writing Assignments that Promote Active Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, M.

    2014-12-01

    Encourage students to write a detailed, analytical report correlating classroom discussions to an important historical event or a current event. Motivate students interview an expert from industry on a topic that was discussed in class. Ask the students to submit a report with supporting sketches, drawings, circuit diagrams and graphs. Propose that the students generate a complete a set of reading responses pertaining to an assigned topic. Require each student to bring in one comment or one question about an assigned reading. The assignment should be a recent publication in an appropriate journal. Have the students conduct a web search on an assigned topic. Ask them to generate a set of ideas that can relate to classroom discussions. Provide the students with a study guide. The study guide should provide about 10 or 15 short topics. Quiz the students on one or two of the topics. Encourage the students to design or develop some creative real-world examples based on a chapter discussed or a topic of interest. Require that students originate, develop, support and defend a viewpoint using a specifically assigned material. Make the students practice using or utilizing a set of new technical terms they have encountered in an assigned chapter. Have students develop original examples explaining the different terms. Ask the students to select one important terminology from the previous classroom discussions. Encourage the students to explain why they selected that particular word. Ask them to talk about the importance of the terminology from the point of view of their educational objectives and future career. Angelo, T. A. (1991). Ten easy pieces: Assessing higher learning in four dimensions. In T. A. Angelo (Ed.), Classroom research: Early lessons from success (pp. 17-31). New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 46. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  4. The Prewriting of Unsuccessful Writers on Timed Writing Competence Tests.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chiste, Katherine Beaty; O'Shea, Judith

    1990-01-01

    Examines the characteristics of prewriting activities of unsuccessful writers who took the Alberta Universities' Writing Competence Test. Finds that the students' limited and ineffective use of prewriting strategies interferes with their ability to generate and develop ideas in writing a timed essay. (KEH)

  5. Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 2: Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Behaviors.

    PubMed

    Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

    2018-01-01

    This article provides Section 2 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that professional medical writers need in order to perform effectively within the life sciences industry. What a medical writer should know, what they should be able to do, and how they should use this knowledge and these skills to facilitate their primary work function is a focus. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The full Model also includes Section 1, which covers the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry; Section 1 is included in a companion article. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

  6. Active Learning: Qualitative Inquiries into Vocabulary Instruction in Chinese L2 Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shen, Helen H.; Xu, Wenjing

    2015-01-01

    Active learning emerged as a new approach to learning in the 1980s. The core concept of active learning involves engaging students not only in actively exploring knowledge but also in reflecting on their own learning process in order to become more effective learners. Because the nonalphabetic nature of the Chinese writing system makes learning to…

  7. Getting published: reflections of a collaborative writing group.

    PubMed

    Ness, Valerie; Duffy, Kathleen; McCallum, Jacqueline; Price, Lesley

    2014-01-01

    Writing for publication, in the nursing profession, is considered essential for the development of the profession and individual career advancement. In education there is also the increasing pressure to produce University research output. To develop a collaborative writing group to develop and write articles relating to our teaching practice. The idea of forming a writing group was discussed at a module team meeting where five academics expressed an interest. The process of forming the group involved an initial meeting to discuss and agree to the aims, interests, expertise and areas of responsibility for each member. Regular meetings are held and each member takes on responsibility for an aspect of work towards completing the articles. Three articles and one editorial have been published and another is under peer review. We have endeavoured to develop and maintain a theme, this being supporting nursing students' development with an emphasis on an aspect of their decision making skills. Also, importantly, we have created a supportive environment and friendships. The demands made upon the nurse educator to be clinically, educationally and research active can be difficult to meet. Collaborative writing groups may be one way to fulfil the scholarly activity element. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Writing for Learning in Science: A Model for Use within Classrooms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hand, Brian; Prain, Vaughan

    1996-01-01

    Discusses writing for learning within science classrooms. Presents a model that can be used by teachers to promote a greater variety of writing types. Includes examples of its use and an explanation of learning strategies students use in these activities. Discusses the value of the model in framing the planning of writing-for-learning tasks.…

  9. Augmenting Literacy: The Role of Expertise in Digital Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Ittersum, Derek

    2011-01-01

    This essay presents a model of reflective use of writing technologies, one that provides a means of more fully exploiting the possibilities of these tools for transforming writing activity. Derived from the work of computer designer Douglas Engelbart, the "bootstrapping" model of reflective use extends current arguments in the field…

  10. The Reading-Writing Connection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Brett; McCardle, Peggy; Long, Richard

    2012-01-01

    Reading and writing development begin in early childhood and are linked in daily function and in classroom activities from kindergarten or prekindergarten through high school and beyond. There is little research addressing that relationship, or when and how best to integrate these two critical areas instructionally. The report presents an experts…

  11. Writing a book review.

    PubMed

    Bryson, David; Hudson, Robert

    2017-04-01

    Book reviews are a good way to get started with writing for a journal and this Learning and CPD activity takes you through the process of understanding the aims of book review, undertaking practice pieces through to reviewing a book and advice on the dos and don'ts of book reviewing.

  12. 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…

  13. Active Learning Strategies for the Mathematics Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kerrigan, John

    2018-01-01

    Active learning involves students engaging with course content beyond lecture: through writing, applets, simulations, games, and more (Prince, 2004). As mathematics is often viewed as a subject area that is taught using more traditional methods (Goldsmith & Mark, 1999), there are actually many simple ways to make undergraduate mathematics…

  14. State Assessment and Persuasive Writing in the Social Studies Instruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Barbara

    1990-01-01

    Examines current Illinois statewide assessment of social studies education. Argues conceptual knowledge assessment in the social studies should use essay tests. Includes guidelines and activities for teaching students to write persuasively. Explains various strategies to teach reading, writing, and thinking skills, including the "RAFT"…

  15. Effects of the Science Writing Heuristic Approach on the Quality of Prospective Science Teachers' Argumentative Writing and Their Understanding of Scientific Argumentation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yaman, Fatma

    2018-01-01

    This study investigates the effect of the science writing heuristic (SWH) approach on the quality of prospective science teachers' (PSTs) argumentative writing and their understanding of the components of argumentation in the SWH approach and their own learning. Ten SWH approach activities were implemented during the semester. The study was…

  16. Creative Writing and the Water Cycle.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Rich; Virmani, Jyotika; Kusek, Kristen M.

    2001-01-01

    Uses the story "The Life of a Drop of Water" to initiate a creative writing activity and teach about the water cycle. Attempts to stimulate students' understanding of a scientific concept by using their imaginations. (YDS)

  17. Discussing Active Learning from the Practitioner's Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bamba, Priscilla

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of how active learning took place in a class containing specific readings,cooperative and collaborative group work, and a writing assignment for college students at a Northern Virginia Community College campus (NVCC). Requisite knowledge, skills, learner characteristics, brain-based learning, and…

  18. Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms

    PubMed Central

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners’ writing performance. PMID:24578591

  19. Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms.

    PubMed

    Puranik, Cynthia S; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

    2014-02-01

    The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners' writing performance.

  20. Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Genomics: Read-Write Genome Evolution as an Active Biological Process.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, James A

    2016-06-08

    The 21st century genomics-based analysis of evolutionary variation reveals a number of novel features impossible to predict when Dobzhansky and other evolutionary biologists formulated the neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis in the middle of the last century. These include three distinct realms of cell evolution; symbiogenetic fusions forming eukaryotic cells with multiple genome compartments; horizontal organelle, virus and DNA transfers; functional organization of proteins as systems of interacting domains subject to rapid evolution by exon shuffling and exonization; distributed genome networks integrated by mobile repetitive regulatory signals; and regulation of multicellular development by non-coding lncRNAs containing repetitive sequence components. Rather than single gene traits, all phenotypes involve coordinated activity by multiple interacting cell molecules. Genomes contain abundant and functional repetitive components in addition to the unique coding sequences envisaged in the early days of molecular biology. Combinatorial coding, plus the biochemical abilities cells possess to rearrange DNA molecules, constitute a powerful toolbox for adaptive genome rewriting. That is, cells possess "Read-Write Genomes" they alter by numerous biochemical processes capable of rapidly restructuring cellular DNA molecules. Rather than viewing genome evolution as a series of accidental modifications, we can now study it as a complex biological process of active self-modification.

  1. Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Genomics: Read–Write Genome Evolution as an Active Biological Process

    PubMed Central

    Shapiro, James A.

    2016-01-01

    The 21st century genomics-based analysis of evolutionary variation reveals a number of novel features impossible to predict when Dobzhansky and other evolutionary biologists formulated the neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis in the middle of the last century. These include three distinct realms of cell evolution; symbiogenetic fusions forming eukaryotic cells with multiple genome compartments; horizontal organelle, virus and DNA transfers; functional organization of proteins as systems of interacting domains subject to rapid evolution by exon shuffling and exonization; distributed genome networks integrated by mobile repetitive regulatory signals; and regulation of multicellular development by non-coding lncRNAs containing repetitive sequence components. Rather than single gene traits, all phenotypes involve coordinated activity by multiple interacting cell molecules. Genomes contain abundant and functional repetitive components in addition to the unique coding sequences envisaged in the early days of molecular biology. Combinatorial coding, plus the biochemical abilities cells possess to rearrange DNA molecules, constitute a powerful toolbox for adaptive genome rewriting. That is, cells possess “Read–Write Genomes” they alter by numerous biochemical processes capable of rapidly restructuring cellular DNA molecules. Rather than viewing genome evolution as a series of accidental modifications, we can now study it as a complex biological process of active self-modification. PMID:27338490

  2. The Green Pages: Environmental Education Activities K-12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clearing, 1990

    1990-01-01

    Presented are 37 environmental science activities for students in grades K-12. Topics include water pollution, glaciers, protective coloration, shapes in nature, environmental impacts, recycling, creative writing, litter, shapes found in nature, color, rain cycle, waste management, plastics, energy, pH, landfills, runoff, watersheds,…

  3. How Young Students Communicate Their Mathematical Problem Solving in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Teledahl, Anna

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates young students' writing in connection to mathematical problem solving. Students' written communication has traditionally been used by mathematics teachers in the assessment of students' mathematical knowledge. This study rests on the notion that this writing represents a particular activity which requires a complex set of…

  4. 15 CFR 908.14 - Business to be transacted in writing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Business to be transacted in writing... MAINTAINING RECORDS AND SUBMITTING REPORTS ON WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES § 908.14 Business to be transacted in writing. All business transacted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with...

  5. Funding Music: Guidelines for Grant Writing in the Music Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rajan, Rekha S.

    2016-01-01

    With music education's continued unstable role within the school system, music educators are actively seeking external funding to support and augment their programs. However, there are many challenges involved with grant writing including understanding where to find potential funders, writing the proposal, developing a budget, and including an…

  6. Direct-write fabrication of 4D active shape-changing behavior based on a shape memory polymer and its nanocomposite (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wei, Hongqiu; Zhang, Qiwei; Yao, Yongtao; Liu, Liwu; Liu, Yanju; Leng, Jinsong

    2017-04-01

    Shape memory polymers (SMPs), a typical class of smart materials, have been witnessed significant advances in the past decades. Based on the unique performance to recover the initial shape after going through a shape deformation, the applications of SMPs have aroused growing interests. However, most of the researches are hindered by traditional processing technologies which limit the design space of SMPs-based structures. Three-dimension (3D) printing as an emerging technology endows design freedom to manufacture materials with complex structures. In present article, we show that by employing direct-write printing method; one can realize the printing of SMPs to achieve 4D active shape-changing structures. We first fabricated a kind of 3D printable polylactide (PLA)-based SMPs and characterized the overall properties of such materials. Results demonstrated the prepared PLA-based SMPs presenting excellent shape memory effect. In what follows, the rheological properties of such PLA-based SMP ink during printing process were discussed in detail. Finally, we designed and printed several 3D configurations for investigation. By combining 3D printing with shape memory behavior, these printed structures achieve 4D active shape-changing performance under heat stimuli. This research presents a high flexible method to realize the fabrication of SMP-based 4D active shape-changing structures, which opens the way for further developments and improvements of high-tech fields like 4D printing, soft robotics, micro-systems and biomedical devices.

  7. Solar Energy Education. Humanities: activities and teacher's guide. Field test edition

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

    Not Available

    1982-01-01

    Activities are outlined to introduce students to information on solar energy while performing ordinary classroom work. In this teaching manual solar energy is integrated with the humanities. The activities include such things as stories, newspapers, writing assignments, and art and musical presentations all filled with energy related terms. An energy glossary is provided. (BCS)

  8. 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…

  9. Syntactic Complexity as a Predictor of Second Language Writing Proficiency and Writing Quality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Park, Ji-Hyun

    2017-01-01

    Syntactic (i.e., grammatical) complexity refers to the range and the degree of sophistication of the forms that appear in language production (Ortega, 2003). This concept has long been regarded as an important construct of language proficiency and has been actively investigated in the field of second language (L2) writing. Syntactic complexity is…

  10. Enlightened Use of Passive Voice in Technical Writing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Trammell, M. K.

    1981-01-01

    The passive voice as a normal, acceptable, and established syntactic form in technical writing is defended. Passive/active verb ratios, taken from sources including 'antipassivist' text books, are considered. The suitability of the passive voice in technical writing which involves unknown or irrelevant agents is explored. Three 'myths' that the passive (1) utilizes an abnormal and artificial word order, (2) is lifeless, and (3) is indirect are considered. Awkward and abnormal sounding examples encountered in text books are addressed in terms of original context. Unattractive or incoherent passive sentences are explained in terms of inappropriate conversion from active sentences having (1) short nominal or pronominal subjects or (2) verbs with restrictions on their passive use.

  11. 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…

  12. Improving Scientific Research and Writing Skills through Peer Review and Empirical Group Learning †

    PubMed Central

    Senkevitch, Emilee; Smith, Ann C.; Marbach-Ad, Gili; Song, Wenxia

    2011-01-01

    Here we describe a semester-long, multipart activity called “Read and wRite to reveal the Research process” (R3) that was designed to teach students the elements of a scientific research paper. We implemented R3 in an advanced immunology course. In R3, we paralleled the activities of reading, discussion, and presentation of relevant immunology work from primary research papers with student writing, discussion, and presentation of their own lab findings. We used reading, discussing, and writing activities to introduce students to the rationale for basic components of a scientific research paper, the method of composing a scientific paper, and the applications of course content to scientific research. As a final part of R3, students worked collaboratively to construct a Group Research Paper that reported on a hypothesis-driven research project, followed by a peer review activity that mimicked the last stage of the scientific publishing process. Assessment of student learning revealed a statistically significant gain in student performance on writing in the style of a research paper from the start of the semester to the end of the semester. PMID:23653760

  13. A novel approach for monitoring writing interferences during navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation mappings of writing related cortical areas.

    PubMed

    Rogić Vidaković, Maja; Gabelica, Dragan; Vujović, Igor; Šoda, Joško; Batarelo, Nikolina; Džimbeg, Andrija; Zmajević Schönwald, Marina; Rotim, Krešimir; Đogaš, Zoran

    2015-11-30

    It has recently been shown that navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is useful in preoperative neurosurgical mapping of motor and language brain areas. In TMS mapping of motor cortices the evoked responses can be quantitatively monitored by electromyographic (EMG) recordings. No such setup exists for monitoring of writing during nTMS mappings of writing related cortical areas. We present a novel approach for monitoring writing during nTMS mappings of motor writing related cortical areas. To our best knowledge, this is the first demonstration of quantitative monitoring of motor evoked responses from hand by EMG, and of pen related activity during writing with our custom made pen, together with the application of chronometric TMS design and patterned protocol of rTMS. The method was applied in four healthy subjects participating in writing during nTMS mapping of the premotor cortical area corresponding to BA 6 and close to the superior frontal sulcus. The results showed that stimulation impaired writing in all subjects. The corresponding spectra of measured signal related to writing movements was observed in the frequency band 0-20 Hz. Magnetic stimulation affected writing by suppressing normal writing frequency band. The proposed setup for monitoring of writing provides additional quantitative data for monitoring and the analysis of rTMS induced writing response modifications. The setup can be useful for investigation of neurophysiologic mechanisms of writing, for therapeutic effects of nTMS, and in preoperative mapping of language cortical areas in patients undergoing brain surgery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Transformation of Traditional Vocabulary Exercises into Collaborative Writing Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zheng, Jian-feng

    2010-01-01

    In the reading course, especially the so-called intensive reading course or integrative English reading course, there are some vocabulary exercises which intend to consolidate the active vocabulary emerging in the reading passages. Mostly, these exercises are in the form of blank-filling or rewriting sentences with the words given. The problem…

  15. Holographic imaging and photostimulation of neural activity.

    PubMed

    Yang, Weijian; Yuste, Rafael

    2018-06-01

    Optical imaging methods are powerful tools in neuroscience as they can systematically monitor the activity of neuronal populations with high spatiotemporal resolution using calcium or voltage indicators. Moreover, caged compounds and optogenetic actuators enable to optically manipulate neural activity. Among optical methods, computer-generated holography offers an enormous flexibility to sculpt the excitation light in three-dimensions (3D), particularly when combined with two-photon light sources. By projecting holographic light patterns on the sample, the activity of multiple neurons across a 3D brain volume can be simultaneously imaged or optically manipulated with single-cell precision. This flexibility makes two-photon holographic microscopy an ideal all-optical platform to simultaneously read and write activity in neuronal populations in vivo in 3D, a critical ability to dissect the function of neural circuits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A Teaching Model for Scaffolding 4th Grade Students' Scientific Explanation Writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Hsiu-Ting; Wang, Kuo-Hua

    2014-08-01

    Improving students scientific explanations is one major goal of science education. Both writing activities and concept mapping are reported as effective strategies for enhancing student learning of science. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a teaching model, named the DCI model, which integrates a Descriptive explanation writing activity, Concept mapping, and an Interpretive explanation writing activity, is introduced in a 4th grade science class to see if it would improve students' scientific explanations and understanding. A quasi-experimental design, including a non-randomized comparison group and a pre- and post-test design, was adopted for this study. An experimental group of 25 students were taught using the DCI teaching model, while a comparison group received a traditional lecture teaching. A rubric and content analysis was used to assess students' scientific explanations. The independent sample t test was used to measure difference in conceptual understanding between the two groups, before and after instruction. Then, the paired t test analysis was used to understand the promotion of the DCI teaching model. The results showed that students in the experimental group performed better than students in the comparison group, both in scientific concept understanding and explanation. Suggestions for using concept mapping and writing activities (the DCI teaching model) in science classes are provided in this study.

  17. Writing with Young Children: A Comparison of Paternal and Maternal Guidance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aram, Dorit

    2010-01-01

    The increasing involvement of fathers in active parenthood raises questions concerning their parenting style. This study compared mothers and fathers in their writing interactions with their young children, exploring how parents' writing guidance related to children's early literacy. Mothers and fathers of 51 kindergarteners were videotaped…

  18. Science and Creative Writing: An Ad(d)verse Relationship?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blake, William E.

    1983-01-01

    Suggests integrating creative writing activities into field trips or outdoor education experiences in science as a method of providing "right-brain" and "left-brain" activities in the same exercise. Provides instructions given to students and a poem written from student "photographs" using imaginary cameras. Also provides two student poems. (JM)

  19. Mentored residential writing retreats: a leadership strategy to develop skills and generate outcomes in writing for publication.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Debra

    2009-01-01

    There is an increasing expectation that academic and clinical nurses will contribute to disciplinary and professional discourses through scholarly writing. However, the difficulties and challenges associated with writing for publication mean that many papers will never be written. This current paper describes an innovative approach developed to support skill development and outcomes in writing for publication. Intensive residential writing retreats informed by the principles of servant leadership and incorporating strategies such as mentoring and peer learning were conducted in 2005 and 2007. Positive outcomes and benefits included publications submitted to peer-reviewed journals, as well as positive effects on collegial relationships, and team building. Novice writers benefited from intensive and sustained support and coaching by experienced writers. Organisational benefits included increased participation by staff and research higher degree students in publication activities, enhanced collegial relationships and opportunities for senior established writers to work with inexperienced writers.

  20. Pause Time Patterns in Writing Narrative and Expository Texts by Children and Adults

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Hell, Janet G.; Verhoeven, Ludo; van Beijsterveldt, Liesbeth M.

    2008-01-01

    How do beginning and skilled writers compose a text in the course of time? To gain insight into the temporal aspects of planning and translating activities during writing, this article examined writing in real time and analyzed pause time patterns in writing in relation to linguistic characteristics of the written product. Fourth-grade children…

  1. Increased task-uncorrelated muscle activity in childhood dystonia.

    PubMed

    Lunardini, Francesca; Maggioni, Serena; Casellato, Claudia; Bertucco, Matteo; Pedrocchi, Alessandra L G; Sanger, Terence D

    2015-06-12

    Even if movement abnormalities in dystonia are obvious on observation-based examinations, objective measures to characterize dystonia and to gain insights into its pathophysiology are still strongly needed. We hypothesize that motor abnormalities in childhood dystonia are partially due to the inability to suppress involuntary variable muscle activity irrelevant to the achievement of the desired motor task, resulting in the superposition of unwanted motion components on the desired movement. However, it is difficult to separate and quantify appropriate and inappropriate motor signals combined in the same muscle, especially during movement. We devise an innovative and practical method to objectively measure movement abnormalities during the performance of a continuous figure-eight writing task in 7 children with dystonia and 9 age-matched healthy controls. During the execution of a continuous writing task, muscle contractions should occur at frequencies that match the frequencies of the writing outcome. We compare the power spectra of kinematic trajectories and electromyographic signals of 8 upper limb muscles to separate muscle activity with the same frequency content of the figure-eight movement (task-correlated) from activity occurring at frequencies extraneous to the task (task-uncorrelated). Children with dystonia present a greater magnitude of task-uncorrelated muscle components. The motor performance achieved by children with dystonia is characterized by an overall lower quality, with high spatial and temporal variability and an altered trade-off between speed and accuracy. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, in childhood dystonia, the ability to appropriately suppress variable and uncorrelated elements of movement is impaired. Here we present a proof-of-concept of a promising tool to characterize the phenomenology of movement disorders and to inform the design of neurorehabilitation therapies.

  2. 78 FR 1213 - Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-08

    ... Information Collection Activity; Comment Request Title: Descriptive Study of County versus State Administered... Descriptive Study of County and State Administered TANF Programs. The proposed information collection consists... be forwarded by writing to the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research...

  3. Photography and Writing: Alternative Ways of Learning for ESL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friesen, Helen Lepp

    2012-01-01

    To writing, painting, drawing, and photography as artistic media, the author would like to add teaching as a creative endeavor as well. Especially in a classroom where English is not the first language for many students, the writing teacher needs to be creative with assignments and activities that address nontraditional ways of learning. Her…

  4. Writing in Science: Beyond the Lab Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stallsworth, Dana

    2002-01-01

    Discusses the importance of writing in learning science. Describes a science lesson designed as a part of an ocean unit using many genres of literature. Includes activity length, objectives, goals, and material for the lesson. (KHR)

  5. A Fundamental Study for Efficient Implementaion of Online Collaborative Activities in Large-Scale Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matsuba, Ryuichi; Suzuki, Yusei; Kubota, Shin-Ichiro; Miyazaki, Makoto

    2015-01-01

    We study tactics for writing skills development through cross-disciplinary learning in online large-scale classes, and particularly are interested in implementation of online collaborative activities such as peer reviewing of writing. The goal of our study is to carry out collaborative works efficiently via online effectively in large-scale…

  6. Teaching the Writing Process as a First and Second Language Revisited: Are They the Same?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lincoln, Felicia; Ben Idris, Anisa

    2015-01-01

    Research on the second writing process is not recent. Both first and second writing processes have been in the area of argument among scholars. It has been confirmed that both first and second writers nearly all practice similar physical activities pre-writing, during, and post writing stages; however, they still differ in the inner extra thinking…

  7. 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…

  8. Intersectional Computer-Supported Collaboration in Business Writing: Learning through Challenged Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Remley, Dirk

    2009-01-01

    Carter (2007) identifies four meta-genres associated with writing activities that can help students learn discipline-specific writing skills relative to standards within a given field: these include problem solving, empirical approaches to analysis, selection of sources to use within research, and production of materials that meet accepted…

  9. Language Learners' Writing Task Representation and Its Effect on Written Performance in an EFL Context.

    PubMed

    Zarei, Gholam Reza; Pourghasemian, Hossein; Jalali, Hassan

    2017-06-01

    The present study attempts to give an account of how students represent writing task in an EAP course. Further, the study is intended to discover if learners' mental representation of writing would contribute to their written performance. During a 16-week term, students were instructed to practice writing as a problem solving activity. At almost the end of the term, they were prompted to write on what they thought writing task was like and also an essay on an argumentative topic. The results revealed that students could conceptualize the instructed recursive model of writing as a process-based, multi-dimensional and integrated activity inducing self-direction and organization while holding in low regard the product view of writing. The findings also demonstrated that task representation was related to the students' writing performance, with process oriented students significantly outperforming the product-oriented ones. Also, it was found that task representation components (ideational, linguistic, textual, interpersonal) had a significant relationship with the written performance ([Formula: see text]; Sig.: 0.006). The study can have both theoretical and practical implications with regard to the factors involving the students' writing internal processes and their effects on written performance.

  10. Writing Practices for Mainstream Teachers of Middle School English Learners: Building on What We Know Works Effectively

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haas, Eric; Goldman, Julie; Faltis, Christian

    2018-01-01

    Improving the writing of middle-school English learners can improve their academic thinking, literacy, and content knowledge. The Writing Reform and Innovation for Teaching Excellence (WRITE) program uses six high-leverage writing practices and develops teacher capacity through professional learning activities anchored in the group grading of…

  11. P. S. Write Soon! All about Letters (Grades 4-8).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Post Office Dept., Washington, DC.

    A joint project of the United States Postal Service and the National Council of Teachers of English, this book provides ideas and activities to help students in grades 4 through 8 get into the letter writing habit. Section 1 stresses the joy of writing letters to friends, relatives, pen pals, and celebrities. The second section describes letters…

  12. Writing for the Big Screen: Literacy Experiences in a Moviemaking Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bedard, Carol; Fuhrken, Charles

    2011-01-01

    An integrated language arts and technology program engaged students in reading and writing activities that funded an experience in moviemaking. With video cameras in hand, students, often working collaboratively, developed expanded views of the writing and revision processes as they created movies that mattered to them and found an audience beyond…

  13. Learning to write like a scientist: Coauthoring as an enculturation task

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Florence, Marilyn K.; Yore, Larry D.

    2004-08-01

    This multiple case study examined the coauthorship process in research laboratories of different university departments. The study focused on two cases comprising five writing teams, one in biochemistry and microbiology and four in earth and ocean sciences. The role of the research supervisor, the role of the student (graduate and postgraduate), the interaction of the supervisor and the student, the activities and processes inherent in the coauthorship process, and the student's beliefs, expertise, scientific writing, and entry into an academic discourse community were documented utilizing multiple sources of data and methods. Several activities and processes were found to be common across all coauthorship teams, including aspects of planning, drafting, and revising. Elements of scientific and writing expertise, facets of enculturation into scientific research and discourse communities, academic civility, and the dynamics of collaborative groups also were apparent. There was healthy tension and mutual respect in the research groups as they attempted to make sense of science, report their results clearly and persuasively, and share the responsibilities of expertise. The novice scientists came to appreciate that the writing, editing, and revising process influenced the quality of the science as well as the writing.

  14. Influence of indoor and outdoor activities on progression of myopia during puberty.

    PubMed

    Öner, Veysi; Bulut, Asker; Oruç, Yavuz; Özgür, Gökhan

    2016-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate whether time spent on indoor and outdoor activities or the other possible risk factors including age, gender, parental history, and initial refraction was associated with progression of myopia, during puberty. Fifty eyes of 50 myopic children aged 9-14 years were enrolled in the study. The parents were interviewed to determine the amounts of time in hours per day spent on reading and writing, using computer, watching TV, and outdoor activities (i.e., sports, games, or being outdoor with no activities) on an average day. The annual myopia progression rate (diopters per year) was calculated for each subject and was used in the statistical analyses. The mean initial age of the subjects was 10.9 ± 1.5 (ranging from 9 to 14) years. The mean follow-up period was 33.3 ± 10.3 (ranging from 17 to 55) months. There was a significant increase in the mean myopia value of the subjects after follow-up period (p < 0.001). The mean daily time spent on reading and writing and initial refraction value were independently associated with annual myopic progression rate. On the other hand, age, gender, parental myopia, and the mean daily times spent on computer use, watching TV, and outdoor activities had no correlations with annual myopia progression rate. The present study showed that myopia progression was associated with time spent on reading and writing and initial refraction value, during puberty. However, myopia progression was not associated with parental myopia, age, gender, and daily times spent on using computer, watching TV, and outdoor activities.

  15. Educacion al Aire Libre: Libro de Actividades II = Outdoor Education: Student Activity Book II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ada, Alma Flor, Comp.; And Others

    Divided into four sections, the book includes activities for students to do before camp, on the way to camp, at camp, and after camp. Activities to do before camp include writing proverbs, tongue twisters, riddles, poems, and stories. Activities to do on the way to camp include singing songs and reading a map. The words to the following songs are…

  16. High School Teachers Use of Writing to Support Students' Learning: A National Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillespie, Amy; Graham, Steve; Kiuhara, Sharlene; Hebert, Michael

    2014-01-01

    A random sample of language arts, social studies, science, and math high school teachers from across the United States were surveyed about their use of writing to support student learning. Four out of every five teachers reported they used writing to support student learning, applying on average 24 different writing activities across the school…

  17. Adaptive Reading and Writing Instruction in iSTART and W-Pal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Amy M.; McCarthy, Kathryn S.; Kopp, Kristopher J.; Perret, Cecile A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

    2017-01-01

    Intelligent tutoring systems for ill-defined domains, such as reading and writing, are critically needed, yet uncommon. Two such systems, the Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) and Writing Pal (W-Pal) use natural language processing (NLP) to assess learners' written (i.e., typed) responses and provide immediate,…

  18. Reading and Writing Journals: Balancing Skills and Humanities in the English Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pezzulich, Evelyn

    Interdepartmental rivalries between literature instruction and composition instruction have contributed to viewing reading and writing as disconnected activities. One solution to this divisiveness is a course in "the journal as a literary tradition," which combines reading and writing in equal portions. Students first learn about the…

  19. How to conduct a workshop on medical writing: Tips, advice and experience sharing.

    PubMed

    Rathore, Farooq Azam; Mansoor, Sahibzada Nasir

    2015-06-01

    Medical writing has become an essential skill for anybody in academia and engaged in teaching. Workshops on medical writing are an effective way to teach the essential skills of medical writing to students and faculty members. There is a huge demand for these workshops all around the globe. Usually there is no curriculum of medical writing for the undergraduates or dedicated structured training sessions for the faculty members. One of the authors won an Author AID grant to conduct a series of workshops on medical writing. Eight workshops were conducted in three months, benefitting more than 200 students and faculty staff. We share our experience of holding this successful series of workshops with the aim that it might serve as a guide for researchers and faculty members who are eager to share and transfer their skills and knowledge. We also offer lessons learnt during this educational activity, tips to improve the quality and delivery of the content with limited resources and maximizing the impact. Experienced medical writers need to conduct these workshops to transfer their skills and to facilitate their colleagues and students to become better medical writers. Planning, rehearsal, motivation, resource management, good team work, audience analysis and feedback can make a workshop successful. Well prepared workshop content delivered in an interactive way with a variety of activities makes the workshop an engaging and interesting educational activity.

  20. Writing for publication: faculty development initiative using social learning theory.

    PubMed

    Sanderson, Bonnie K; Carter, Matt; Schuessler, Jenny B

    2012-01-01

    Demonstrating scholarly competency is an expectation for nurse faculty. However, there is hesitancy among some faculty to fully engage in scholarly activities. To strengthen a school of nursing's culture of scholarship, a faculty development writing initiative based on Social Learning Theory was implemented. The authors discuss this initiative to facilitate writing for publication productivity among faculty and the successful outcomes.

  1. Interdisciplinary Research in a Dense Summer Bridge: The Role of a Writing Intensive Chemistry Seminar

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waratuke, Stephen; Kling, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    We describe the structure of a writing-intensive, chemistry first year seminar designed to support a three week, research focused summer bridge program. Writing assignments in the seminar helped students understand their research activities, learn to conduct themselves as scientists, and reflect upon their lab work. The writing intensive seminar…

  2. An Empirical Study on the Application of Process Approach in Non-English Majors' Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhou, Dongmei

    2015-01-01

    Process approach has been introduced to China for more than two decades. This approach which views writing as a recursive mental cognitive process is one of the most popular methods for teaching writing. It attaches more importance to a series of activities in the process of writing and the interaction among the student writers. Meanwhile, it…

  3. "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…

  4. Doing peer review and receiving feedback: impact on scientific literacy and writing skills.

    PubMed

    Geithner, Christina A; Pollastro, Alexandria N

    2016-03-01

    Doing peer review has been effectively implemented to help students develop critical reading and writing skills; however, its application in Human Physiology programs is limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of peer review on Human Physiology majors' perceptions of their scientific literacy and writing skills. Students enrolled in the Scientific Writing course completed multiple writing assignments, including three revisions after receiving peer and instructor feedback. Students self-assessed their knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to science and writing in pre- and postcourse surveys (n = 26 with complete data). Seven survey items related to scientific literacy and writing skills impacted by peer review were selected for analysis. Scores on these survey items were summed to form a composite self-rating score. Responses to two questions regarding the most useful learning activities were submitted to frequency analysis. Mean postcourse scores for individual survey items and composite self-rating scores were significantly higher than precourse means (P < 0.05). Peer review was the most frequently noted among 21 learning activities for increasing scientific literacy and in the top 5 for improving writing skills. In conclusion, peer review is an effective teaching/learning approach for improving undergraduate Human Physiology majors' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding science and scientific writing. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

  5. Motivation and Connection: Teaching Reading (and Writing) in the Composition Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bunn, Michael

    2013-01-01

    Teaching reading in terms of its connections to writing can motivate students to read and increase the likelihood that they find success in both activities. It can lead students to value reading as an integral aspect of learning to write. It can help students develop their understanding of writerly strategies and techniques. Drawing on qualitative…

  6. The effects of the ride environment on intercity train passenger activities

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1979-01-01

    The ability to perform activities such as reading, writing, : talking, and sleeping has frequently been cited in the : ride quality literature as an important factor in passengers' : comfort and satisfaction with transportation systems. A field : stu...

  7. How do I love thee? Let me count the words: the social effects of expressive writing.

    PubMed

    Slatcher, Richard B; Pennebaker, James W

    2006-08-01

    Writing about emotional experiences is associated with a host of positive outcomes. This study extended the expressive-writing paradigm to the realm of romantic relationships to examine the social effects of writing. For 3 consecutive days, one person from each of 86 dating couples either wrote about his or her deepest thoughts and feelings about the relationship or wrote about his or her daily activities. In the days before and after writing, instant messages were collected from the couples. Participants who wrote about their relationship were significantly more likely to still be dating their romantic partners 3 months later. Linguistic analyses of the instant messages revealed that participants and their partners used significantly more positive and negative emotion words in the days following the expressive-writing manipulation if the participants had written about their relationship than if they had written about their daily activities. Increases in positive emotion words partially mediated the relation between expressive writing and relationship stability.

  8. Music Activities in Primary School: Students' Preferences in the Spanish Region of Murcia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vicente-Nicolás, Gregorio; Mac Ruairc, Gerry

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the preferences of primary school children in relation to the types of activities that typically take place in music classrooms. For the purposes of this study, these classroom-based music activities have been categorised into five areas: singing, playing instruments, listening, reading and writing music and…

  9. Reversible mechano-electrochemical writing of metallic nanostructures with the tip of an atomic force microscope.

    PubMed

    Obermair, Christian; Kress, Marina; Wagner, Andreas; Schimmel, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    We recently introduced a method that allows the controlled deposition of nanoscale metallic patterns at defined locations using the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) as a "mechano-electrochemical pen", locally activating a passivated substrate surface for site-selective electrochemical deposition. Here, we demonstrate the reversibility of this process and study the long-term stability of the resulting metallic structures. The remarkable stability for more than 1.5 years under ambient air without any observable changes can be attributed to self-passivation. After AFM-activated electrochemical deposition of copper nanostructures on a polycrystalline gold film and subsequent AFM imaging, the copper nanostructures could be dissolved by reversing the electrochemical potential. Subsequent AFM-tip-activated deposition of different copper nanostructures at the same location where the previous structures were deleted, shows that there is no observable memory effect, i.e., no effect of the previous writing process on the subsequent writing process. Thus, the four processes required for reversible information storage, "write", "read", "delete" and "re-write", were successfully demonstrated on the nanometer scale.

  10. Motivating Students to Write about Art

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New, Robin

    2005-01-01

    In this article, the author relates what she had learned about motivating students to participate in writing activities. She initially assumed that time consuming and materialistic rewards would be the solution to this common teachers' dilemma. Instead, she discovered that teacher enthusiasm and ability top the list. This practice makes sense…

  11. Using Reciprocal Peer Review to Help Graduate Students Develop Scholarly Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmer, Betsy; Major, Claire Howell

    2008-01-01

    We developed an innovative instructional method to actively engage students in writing and critiquing scholarly work. We tested the effectiveness of this pedagogy using a mixed methods research design. Compared to control group peers, students in the experimental classes perceived gains in their own writing, research ability, and motivation to…

  12. Exploring a Monetary Union among Nations through Active Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goma, Ophelia D.

    2002-01-01

    This article presents a classroom project that employs various techniques of active learning including role-playing, collaborative group work and writing. The project explores the recent creation of the European Monetary Union (EMU) with special emphasis on the introduction of the euro. The project assumes that the Americas have begun preliminary…

  13. Language Learners' Writing Task Representation and Its Effect on Written Performance in an EFL Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zarei, Gholam Reza; Pourghasemian, Hossein; Jalali, Hassan

    2017-01-01

    The present study attempts to give an account of how students represent writing task in an EAP course. Further, the study is intended to discover if learners' mental representation of writing would contribute to their written performance. During a 16-week term, students were instructed to practice writing as a problem solving activity. At almost…

  14. The Relationship between EFL Students' Emotional Intelligence and Writing Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shao, KaiQi; Yu, WeiHua; Ji, ZhongMin

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was threefold: (1) to further examine the possibility of using literature-based activities to raise EFL students' emotional intelligence (hereafter EI) and (2) to see whether there is any relationship between students' EI and writing achievement, in addition (3) to shed light on the implementation of such activities into the…

  15. Passing the baton: Mentoring for adoption of active-learning pedagogies by research-active junior faculty.

    PubMed

    Grimes, Catherine Leimkuhler; White, Harold B

    2015-01-01

    There are barriers to adoption of research-based teaching methods. Professional development workshops may inform faculty of these methods, but effective adoption often does not follow. In addition, newly-minted research-active faculty are often overwhelmed by the many new responsibilities (grant writing, group management, laboratory setup, teaching) that accompany the position and normally do not have the time to consider novel teaching approaches. This case study documents how over a three-year period, the responsibility for teaching a nontraditional "Introduction to Biochemistry" course in a problem-based learning format was successfully transferred from a senior faculty member nearing retirement (HBW) to a newly-hired research-active assistant professor (CLG). We describe our apprenticeship project involving modeling, scaffolding, fading, and coaching. We suggest that involving faculty in active-learning pedagogy early in their career with mentoring by senior faculty overcomes barriers to adopting these methods. This case describes a specific example from which potentially useful elements can be adopted and adapted wherever biochemistry is taught. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  16. Popularization activities for young children of the scientific activity in the field of environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gires, Auguste; Le Gueut, Marie-Agathe; Schertzer, Daniel

    2015-04-01

    Research projects now rely on various pillars which include of course high level science and equipments, and also communication, outreach and educational activities. This paper focuses on education for young children and present activities that aim at helping them (and their parents!) to grasp some of the complex underlying scientific issues in the field of environment. More generally it helps children to get familiarized with science and scientists, with the hope of enhancing scientific culture and promoting careers in this field. The activities which are part of the popularization effort of the NEW Interreg IV RainGain project (www.raingain.eu) : - Experiments led in classrooms of kinder garden to design and test a disdrometer made of a plate and flour or oil to observe the diversity of rain drop sizes. It simply consists in putting a bit (roughly 1 mm depth) of flour or oil in a plate. The features of the devices based either flour or oil were first studied inside with artificial drops. Then it was tested outside under actual rain. - The writing of scientific book with and for children aged 8-9 years with the help of the editor of the collection. The process leading to the final book is splat in three main successive steps: (i) A 1.5 h interactive session with the researcher and a class of 8-9 year children. They are simply given the general topic of the book few hours before and ask all the questions they have on it and get some answers; (ii) The researcher writes a book in which all the questions raised by children are answered (at least partially). The scientific elements should be inserted in a lively story with few characters. The story should be more than a simple dialogue; a genuine fiction should take place and come first so that children do not even notice they are understanding and learning; (iii) Once children have read the book, there is a second session to get some feedback and possibly edit the manuscript (altering a character, adding some

  17. Reading, Writing, and Revolution: Facilitating Social Activism in First Grade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silva, Janelle M.

    2016-01-01

    This article examines how teachers can develop a sense of social activism in students through critical multiculturalism. Drawing upon data from a nine-month participant observation study of a first-grade public charter school classroom in central California, this article highlights how teachers can integrate critical multiculturalism within an…

  18. Creative writing and dementia care: 'making it real'.

    PubMed

    Bailey, Catherine; Jones, Romi; Tiplady, Sue; Quinn, Isabel; Wilcockson, Jane; Clarke, Amanda

    2016-12-01

    Health professionals continue to seek ways to promote positive communication and self-worth when supporting people living with dementia. The value of creative writing techniques as part of reflective practice in nursing and caring for older people with dementia needs further exploration. To introduce creative writing techniques to health professionals as part of dementia-related reflective practice. A local experienced author facilitated creative writing workshops with nine preregistration nursing students (general and mental health), one family carer and five care professionals working with people with dementia. The student nurses reported that the creative writing exercises felt more 'real' than the reflective practice models they had used in their academic and practical studies. Workshop participants also reported they had learnt some creative writing techniques to reduce work-related stress and anxiety. They also saw the impact of writing activities with people living with dementia, which can enable creativity and 'alleviate the common symptoms of depression and anxiety'. Creative writing techniques can support insightful, reflective dementia focused practice. Creative writing, as a tool in reflective practice, may enable health professionals and family carers to become confident and creative partners in older people's care. The added value, time and investment needed to introduce creative writing need to be articulated and acknowledged from within supervision and staffing teams. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Using ICT to Foster (Pre) Reading and Writing Skills in Young Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

    2008-01-01

    This study examines how technology can support the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four- to five-year-old children. The research was conducted with PictoPal, an intervention which features a software package that uses images and text in three main activity areas: reading, writing, and authentic applications. This article…

  20. Research for Monday Morning: Elementary Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perron, Jack

    The first section of this paper discusses recent writing research and the basic elements of language development. The second section describes a program which used a sentence-combining method as an activity-based experience for language development. A six-month study involved all fourth graders at Powell School in Mountain View, California. The…

  1. Poetry Writing in General Physics Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmidt, William L.

    2013-01-01

    Poetry writing in the context of physics is a student-centered activity that enables students to view the world through the window of physics and make connections to everyday life scenarios. Poetry assignments provide a creative and atypical challenge to students, creating more student-centered class discussions and a fun, light-hearted approach…

  2. Multiliteracies, Social Futures, and Writing Centers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trimbur, John

    2010-01-01

    In this article, the author mentions his experience at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) because he thinks it is fairly indicative of recent trends in writing center theory and practice to see literacy as a multimodal activity in which oral, written, and visual communication intertwine and interact. He says this notion of multiliteracies has…

  3. Local adaptation of the National Physical Activity Plan: creation of the Active Living Plan for a Healthier San Antonio.

    PubMed

    Esparza, Laura A; Velasquez, Katherine S; Zaharoff, Annette M

    2014-03-01

    Physical inactivity and related health consequences are serious public health threats. Effective strategies to facilitate and support active-living opportunities must be implemented at national, state, and local levels. San Antonio, Texas, health department officials launched the Active Living Council of San Antonio (ALCSA) to engage the community in developing a 3- to 5-year plan to promote active living. A steering committee set preliminary ALCSA aims and established a multisector membership structure modeled after the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP). ALCSA adopted governance standards, increased knowledge of physical activity and health, and engaged in an 18-month collaborative master plan writing process. ALCSA selected overarching strategies and evidence-based strategies for each societal sector and adapted strategies to the local context, including tactics, measures of success, and timelines. Community and expert engagement led to a localized plan reflecting national recommendations, the Active Living Plan for a Healthier San Antonio. Multisector collaborations among governmental agencies and community organizations, which were successfully developed in this case to produce the first-ever local adaptation of the NPAP, require clearly defined expectations. Lessons learned in ALCSA's organizational and plan development can serve as a model for future community-driven efforts to increase active living.

  4. Learning Science Process Through Data Exploration and Writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prothero, W. A.

    2007-12-01

    One of the most effective ways of teaching science process is to have students take part in the same activities that practicing scientists engage in. These activities include studying the current research in the field, discussing ideas with colleagues, formulating a research problem, making a proposal defining the problem and plan of attack, presenting and writing about the results of the study, and critically reviewing the work of others. An inquiry curriculum can use these activities to guide the scaffolding of assignments and learning experiences that help students learn science process. At UCSB, students in a large general education oceanography class use real Earth data to study plate tectonics, the Indian Monsoon, climate change, and the health of the world fisheries. The end product for each subject has been a science paper based on Earth data. Over a period of approximately 15 years, the scaffolding of activities to prepare each student for the written assignments has been modified and improved, in response to student feedback and their success with the assignments. I have found that the following resources and sequence of activities help the oceanography students write good science papers. 1. Lecture: motivation and the opportunity for feedback and questions. 2. Textbook: background information. It is also possible to get the information from the internet, but unless the scope of reading is strictly defined, students don't know when to stop reading and become unhappy. 3. Online assignments: automatically graded assignments that force the student to keep up with reading. 4. Questions of the day: in-class handouts, with diagrams that the students either complete, or answer questions about. They are handed in and tallied, but not graded. They also inform the instructor of misconceptions. 5. Thought questions: student answers are posted on a threaded discussion list, and are due prior to lecture. The answers provide instructor feedback and guide the lecture

  5. Subjectivity Matters: Using Gerda Lerner's Writing and Rhetoric to Claim an Alternative Epistemology for the Feminist Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Kathleen J.

    2006-01-01

    In this article, the author argues the common assumption among teachers that the traditional academic essay is the most appropriate sustained writing activity for students. As a feminist, the author believes that the traditional academic essay considers a positivist, patriarchal epistemology that governs beliefs about knowledge and teaching…

  6. Children's high-level writing skills: development of planning and revising and their contribution to writing quality.

    PubMed

    Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A; Fidalgo, Raquel

    2014-06-01

    It is well established that the activity of producing a text is a complex one involving three main cognitive processes: Planning, translating, and revising. Although these processes are crucial in skilled writing, beginning and developing writers seem to struggle with them, mainly with planning and revising. To trace the development of the high-level writing processes of planning and revising, from Grades 4 to 9, and to examine whether these skills predict writing quality in younger and older students (Grades 4-6 vs. 7-9), after controlling for gender, school achievement, age, handwriting fluency, spelling, and text structure. Participants were 381 students from Grades 4 to 9 (age 9-15). Students were asked to plan and write a story and to revise another story by detecting and correcting mechanical and substantive errors. From Grades 4 to 9, we found a growing trend in students' ability to plan and revise despite the observed decreases and stationary periods from Grades 4 to 5 and 6 to 7. Moreover, whereas younger students' planning and revising skills made no contribution to the quality of their writing, in older students, these high-level skills contributed to writing quality above and beyond control predictors. The findings of this study seem to indicate that besides the increase in planning and revising, these skills are not fully operational in school-age children. Indeed, given the contribution of these high-level skills to older students' writing, supplementary instruction and practice should be provided from early on. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  7. Minority Politics Courses: Moving beyond Controversy and toward Active Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alex-Assensoh, Yvette

    2000-01-01

    Focuses on an undergraduate course, "Outside Politics: How Minorities Play the Political Game". Describes how to create a foundation for active and collaborative learning and to promote critical thinking, discussion, and writing through reading assignments. Discusses the use of debates and role playing, autobiographies and videos, and…

  8. On-line and Mobil Learning Activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ackerman, S. A.; Whittaker, T. M.; Jasmin, T.; Mooney, M. E.

    2012-12-01

    Introductory college-level science courses for non-majors are critical gateways to imparting not only discipline-specific information, but also the basics of the scientific method and how science influences society. They are also indispensable for student success to degree. On-line, web-based homework (whether on computers or mobile devices) is a rapidly growing use of the Internet and is becoming a major component of instruction in science, replacing delayed feedback from a few major exams. Web delivery and grading of traditional textbook-type questions is equally effective as having students write them out for hand grading, as measured by student performance on conceptual and problem solving exams. During this presentation we will demonstrate some of the interactive on-line activities used to teach concepts and how scientists approach problem solving, and how these activities have impacted student learning. Evaluation of the activities, including formative and summative, will be discussed and provide evidence that these interactive activities significantly enhance understanding of introductory meteorological concepts in a college-level science course. More advanced interactive activities are also used in our courses for department majors, some of these will be discussed and demonstrated. Bring your mobile devices to play along! Here is an example on teaching contouring: http://profhorn.aos.wisc.edu/wxwise/contour/index.html

  9. Active-learning strategies to develop health literacy knowledge and skills.

    PubMed

    Devraj, Radhika; Butler, Lakesha M; Gupchup, Gireesh V; Poirier, Therese I

    2010-10-11

    To implement active-learning exercises in a required pharmacy course and assess their impact on students' knowledge and confidence in identifying and communicating with patients with low health literacy, as part of a required course in cultural competency, health literacy, and health beliefs. Active-learning activities including administering health literacy assessments, identifying informal signs of low health literacy, conducting mock patient counseling sessions, rating the readability of drug information, analyzing information in drug advertisements, and writing patient education materials were incorporated into the 6-sesssion health literacy portion of the course. A pretest and posttest showed that students' knowledge of health literacy increased, and a retrospective pretest found improvement in students' confidence in their ability to care for patients with low health literacy. In-class discussions provided informal evidence that students gained new knowledge from the active-learning activities. The addition of active-learning activities was effective in teaching health literacy concepts to pharmacy students.

  10. Using Active-Learning Pedagogy to Develop Essay-Writing Skills in Introductory Political Theory Tutorials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murphy, Michael P. A.

    2017-01-01

    Building on prior research into active learning pedagogy in political science, I discuss the development of a new active learning strategy called the "thesis-building carousel," designed for use in political theory tutorials. This use of active learning pedagogy in a graduate student-led political theory tutorial represents the overlap…

  11. Development of Students' Critical-Reasoning Skills through Content-Focused Activities in a General Education Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fencl, Heidi S.

    2010-01-01

    Students in a general education science course made significant gains in scientific reasoning skills when they were taught using carefully designed hands-on activities and writing assignments. The activities required students to make use of scientific skills such as graphing, predicting outcomes under changing conditions, or designing experiments,…

  12. Optically readout write once read many memory with single active organic layer

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

    Nguyen, Viet Cuong; Lee, Pooi See, E-mail: pslee@ntu.edu.sg

    An optically readable write once read many memory (WORM) in Ag/Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH PPV)/ITO is demonstrated in this work. Utilising characteristics of the organic light emitting diode structure of Ag/MEH PPV/ITO and electrochemical metallization of Ag, a WORM with light emitting capability can be realised. The simple fabrication process and multifunction capability of the device can be useful for future wearable optoelectronics and photomemory applications, where fast and parallel readout can be achieved by photons.

  13. Therapeutic writing and chronic pain: experiences of therapeutic writing in a cognitive behavioural programme for people with chronic pain.

    PubMed

    Furnes, Bodil; Dysvik, Elin

    2012-12-01

    To examine the experiences of therapeutic writing from the perspectives of patients attending a chronic pain management programme. Pain is a multifaceted experience. Increased awareness, understanding and gaining new insights are essential aspects of dealing with chronic pain. It is crucial to find powerful ways to cope with chronic pain. Several studies point to writing as a tool for managing such demanding life experiences. Therapeutic writing in a cognitive behavioural approach may be used to facilitate the rehabilitation process. A qualitative study with a descriptive and explorative design including a phenomenological perspective was used. A consecutive sample of 34 outpatients with chronic pain was recruited to an eight-week group-based pain management programme. A therapeutic writing tool was developed and included as part of the homework tasks. Guidelines were used to initiate and guide the therapeutic writing activity. Written reports were collected after completion. Three thematic findings emerged from the analysis: 'increased understanding of chronic pain as a multifaceted experience', 'new insights into managing the chronic pain situation' and 'different performances lead to different experiences with therapeutic writing'. Increased awareness, understanding and new insights are essential to dealing with chronic pain. People with chronic pain need tools and skills for optimal adaptation. Our findings suggest therapeutic writing may strengthen cognitive behavioural therapy by facilitating cognitive restructuring processes. Therapeutic writing may be used as a tool to express individual experiences and to improve adaptation to chronic pain. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  14. Children's High-Level Writing Skills: Development of Planning and Revising and Their Contribution to Writing Quality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A.; Fidalgo, Raquel

    2014-01-01

    Background: It is well established that the activity of producing a text is a complex one involving three main cognitive processes: Planning, translating, and revising. Although these processes are crucial in skilled writing, beginning and developing writers seem to struggle with them, mainly with planning and revising. Aims: To trace the…

  15. What Happens When I Write? Pupils' Writing about Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barbeiro, Luis Filipe

    2011-01-01

    This article presents pupils' awareness of writing as elicited through a metawriting task, in other words a task in which pupils from the third, fourth and sixth forms (grades) were required to write about writing. The analysis of the texts revealed the pupils' increasing ability to write texts focusing on writing and on the subject's relationship…

  16. Using Wikis to Foster Collaborative Writing: Exploring Influencing Factors to Successful Implementation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hadjerrouit, Said

    2012-01-01

    Wiki technology provides new opportunities to foster collaborative learning in various educational settings. To empirically examine the impact of wikis on learning, this article explores students' collaborative writing activities performed on MediaWiki. The activities were analyzed using a taxonomy with ten categories (clarify content, add…

  17. Executive functions in becoming writing readers and reading writers: note taking and report writing in third and fifth graders.

    PubMed

    Altemeier, Leah; Jones, Janine; Abbott, Robert D; Berninger, Virginia W

    2006-01-01

    Results are reported for a study of 2 separate processes of report writing-taking notes while reading source material and composing a report from those notes-and related individual differences in executive functions involved in integrating reading and writing during these writing activities. Third graders (n = 122) and 5th graders (n = 106; overall, 127 girls and 114 boys) completed two reading-writing tasks-read paragraph (mock science text)-write notes and use notes to generate written report, a reading comprehension test, a written expression test, four tests of executive functions (inhibition, verbal fluency, planning, switching attention), and a working memory test. For the read-take notes task, the same combination of variables was best (explained the most variance and each variable added unique variance) for 3rd graders and 5th graders: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) Reading Comprehension, Process Assessment of the Learner Test for Reading and Writing (PAL) Copy Task B, WIAT-II Written Expression, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Inhibition. For the use notes to write report task, the best combinations of variables depended on grade level: For 3rd graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, WIAT-II Written Expression, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, and Tower of Hanoi; for 5th graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, WIAT-II Written Expression, and PAL Alphabet Task. These results add to prior research findings that executive functions contribute to the writing development of elementary-grade students and additionally support the hypothesis that executive functions play a role in developing reading-writing connections.

  18. Stimulating Creative Writing Through Literature: A Guide for Teachers of the Intermediate Grades.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pilon, Alice Barbara Cummings

    A structured writing program for the intermediate grades was designed, utilizing such children's literature as poems, legends, fairy tales, tall tales, and books to stimulate elementary school children to write creatively. Chapters in the teacher's guide for the program present many specific suggestions and activities to help children (1) use…

  19. Uncovering the Motivating Factors behind Writing in English in en EFL Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Büyükyavuz, Oya; Çakir, Ismail

    2014-01-01

    Writing in a language, whether the target or native, is regarded as a complex activity operating on multiple cognitive levels. This study aimed to uncover the factors which motivate teacher trainees of English to write in English in an EFL context. The study also investigated the differences in the ways teacher trainees are motivated in terms of…

  20. Beyond diagnoses: family medicine core themes in student reflective writing.

    PubMed

    Bradner, Melissa K; Crossman, Steven H; Gary, Judy; Vanderbilt, Allison A; VanderWielen, Lynn

    2015-03-01

    We share qualitative study results of third-year medical student writings during their family medicine clerkship utilizing a reflective writing exercise from 2005 and 2013. For this paper, 50 student writings were randomly selected from the 2005 cohort in addition to 50 student writings completed by the 2013 cohort. Deductive thematic analysis utilizing Atlas.ti software was completed utilizing the Future of Family Medicine core attributes of family physicians as the a priori coding template. Student writings actively reflect key attributes of family physicians as described by the Future of Family Medicine Report: a deep understanding of the dynamics of the whole person, a generative impact on patients' lives, a talent for humanizing the health care experience, and a natural command of complexity and multidimensional access to care. We discuss how to lead the writing exercise and provide suggestions for facilitating the discussion to bring out these important aspects of family medicine care.

  1. Teaching Historical Analysis through Creative Writing Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Janine Larmon; Graham, Lea

    2015-01-01

    Incorporating creative writing exercises in history courses can heighten students' critical reading and analytical skills in an active learning model. We identify and define two types of possible assignments that use model texts as their locus: centripetal, which focuses on specific context and disciplinary terms, and centrifugal, which address…

  2. 5 CFR 5501.106 - Outside employment and other outside activities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... teaching, speaking, writing, or editing that: (A) Relates to the employee's official duties within the... of leave that will be required; (I) The method or basis of any compensation to be received (e.g., fee..., cooperative agreement, or other funding relationship; (N) For activities involving teaching, speaking, or...

  3. Life Sciences: Curriculum Resources and Activities for School Librarians and Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bain, Amy; Richer, Janet; Weckman, Janet

    This book provides resources to teachers and librarians for creating thematic units on specific topics targeting grades K-8. Each topic includes key concepts, comprehensive teaching resources, teaching resources (nonfiction children's literature), reading selections (fiction children's literature), science activities, creative writing and art…

  4. Earth Sciences: Curriculum Resources and Activities for School Librarians and Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bain, Amy; Richer, Janet; Weckman, Janet

    This book provides resources to teachers and librarians for creating thematic units on specific topics targeting grades K-8. Each topic includes key concepts, comprehensive teaching resources, teaching resources (nonfiction children's literature), reading selections (fiction children's literature), science activities, creative writing and art…

  5. Physical Sciences: Curriculum Resources and Activities for School Librarians and Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bain, Amy; Richer, Janet; Weckman, Janet

    This book provides resources to teachers and librarians for creating thematic units on specific topics targeting grades K-8. Each topic includes key concepts, comprehensive teaching resources, teaching resources (nonfiction children's literature), reading selections (fiction children's literature), science activities, creative writing and art…

  6. Running to Achieve: Engaging Students in Literacy and Physical Activity through an After-School Learning Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vanzandt, Christina

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this participant-observation study is to describe rural, southern, 3rd-5th grade children's engagement in running and writing in an after-school learning community called "Running to Achieve." This study provides insights into links between physical activity and writing by using one to engage students in the other. Three…

  7. Evaluation of Brain Activity Related to Speech and Handwriting Using NIRS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asano, Hirotoshi; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Ide, Hideto

    The difference by the brain activity when writing it down speech the use of the near-infrared spectroscopy is examined in the present study. It is thought that it becomes a help of the communications between the nurse and people requiring long-term care if the identification of the information transmission means can be evaluated and be detected from the brain activity. Because the possibility of the evaluation of result, “Speech”, and “Writing” was shown, it reports.

  8. A three-year reflective writing program as part of introductory pharmacy practice experiences.

    PubMed

    Nuffer, Wesley; Vaughn, Jessica; Kerr, Kevin; Zielenski, Christopher; Toppel, Brianna; Johnson, Lauren; McCauley, Patrina; Turner, Christopher J

    2013-06-12

    To implement and evaluate a 3-year reflective writing program incorporated into introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) in the first- through third-year of a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Reflective writing was integrated into 6 IPPE courses to develop students' lifelong learning skills. In their writing, students were required to self-assess their performance in patient care activities, identify and describe how they would incorporate learning opportunities, and then evaluate their progress. Practitioners, faculty members, and fourth-year PharmD students served as writing preceptors. The success of the writing program was assessed by reviewing class performance and surveying writing preceptor's opinions regarding the student's achievement of program objectives. Class pass rates averaged greater than 99% over the 8 years of the program and the large majority of the writing preceptors reported that student learning objectives were met. A support pool of 99 writing preceptors was created. A 3-year reflective writing program improved pharmacy students' reflection and reflective writing skills.

  9. How to Teach Poetry Writing: Workshops for Ages 8-13. Developing Creative Literacy, 2nd Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, Michaela

    2011-01-01

    Now in a fully revised and extended second edition, "How to Teach Poetry Writing: Workshops for Ages 8-13" is a practical and activity based resource of writing workshops to help you teach poetry in the primary classroom. Designed to help build writing, speaking and listening skills, this book contains a wide selection of workshops exemplifying a…

  10. "Cos Um It like Put a Picture in My Mind of What I Should Write": An Exploration of How Home-School Partnership Might Support the Writing of Lower-Achieving Boys

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scanlan, Mary

    2012-01-01

    This article outlines how home and school working together supported the writing of lower-achieving boys. It describes an activity in which parents and children selected artefacts at home to inspire writing in school. This model of home-school partnership permitted different levels of parental involvement and also allowed the child to take a key…

  11. Writing Creatively in a Museum: Tracing Lines through Persons, Art Objects and Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sabeti, Shari

    2016-01-01

    Creative writing is often thought of as an individual and solitary pursuit. This is partly owing to Romantic (and still popular) notions of "creativity" as residing in highly gifted individuals, but also to the widely held belief that "writing" is a lonely rather than a social activity. The research presented in this paper…

  12. Management Consulting and Teaching: Lessons Learned Teaching Professionals to Control Tone in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jameson, Daphne A.

    2009-01-01

    In working with business executives, engineers, and government officials to improve their writing, the author learned that it is much easier to teach clarity than tone. To achieve clarity, writers can follow concrete action steps: (1) organize the ideas; (2) write previews and summaries; (3) insert substantive headings; (4) use active verbs; and…

  13. The Protest as a Teaching Technique for Promoting Feminist Activism.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rose, Suzanna

    An assignment about protesting was given to students in an upper-level undergraduate women's studies course to provide them with experience and skills in political protesting and to promote feminist activism. The students selected for their assignments: (1) a letter writing campaign against Robert Bork's Supreme Court nomination; (2) a picket…

  14. A systematic writing program as a tool in the grief process: part 1.

    PubMed

    Furnes, Bodil; Dysvik, Elin

    2010-12-06

    The basic aim of this paper is to suggest a flexible and individualized writing program as a tool for use during the grief process of bereaved adults. An open, qualitative approach following distinct steps was taken to gain a broad perspective on the grief and writing processes, as a platform for the writing program. Following several systematic methodological steps, we arrived at suggestions for the initiation of a writing program and its structure and substance, with appropriate guidelines. We believe that open and expressive writing, including free writing and focused writing, may have beneficial effects on a person experiencing grief. These writing forms may be undertaken and systematized through a writing program, with participation in a grief writing group and with diary writing, to achieve optimal results. A structured writing program might be helpful in promoting thought activities and as a tool to increase the coherence and understanding of individuals in the grief process. Our suggested program may also be a valuable guide to future program development and research.

  15. Impact of Guided-Inquiry-Based Instruction with a Writing and Reflection Emphasis on Chemistry Students' Critical Thinking Abilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gupta, Tanya; Burke, K. A.; Mehta, Akash; Greenbowe, Thomas J.

    2015-01-01

    The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) laboratory instruction approach has been used successfully over a decade to engage students in laboratory activities. SWH-based instruction emphasizes knowledge construction through individual writing and reflection, and collaborative learning as a group. In the SWH approach, writing is a core component of…

  16. Understanding the cognitive processes involved in writing to learn.

    PubMed

    Arnold, Kathleen M; Umanath, Sharda; Thio, Kara; Reilly, Walter B; McDaniel, Mark A; Marsh, Elizabeth J

    2017-06-01

    Writing is often used as a tool for learning. However, empirical support for the benefits of writing-to-learn is mixed, likely because the literature conflates diverse activities (e.g., summaries, term papers) under the single umbrella of writing-to-learn. Following recent trends in the writing-to-learn literature, the authors focus on the underlying cognitive processes. They draw on the largely independent writing-to-learn and cognitive psychology learning literatures to identify important cognitive processes. The current experiment examines learning from 3 writing tasks (and 1 nonwriting control), with an emphasis on whether or not the tasks engaged retrieval. Tasks that engaged retrieval (essay writing and free recall) led to better final test performance than those that did not (note taking and highlighting). Individual differences in structure building (the ability to construct mental representations of narratives; Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990) modified this effect; skilled structure builders benefited more from essay writing and free recall than did less skilled structure builders. Further, more essay-like responses led to better performance, implicating the importance of additional cognitive processes such as reorganization and elaboration. The results highlight how both task instructions and individual differences affect the cognitive processes involved when writing-to-learn, with consequences for the effectiveness of the learning strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. One Size Does Not Fit All: Contextualising Family Physical Activity Using a Write, Draw, Show and Tell Approach.

    PubMed

    Noonan, Robert J; Fairclough, Stuart J; Knowles, Zoe R; Boddy, Lynne M

    2017-07-14

    Understanding family physical activity (PA) behaviour is essential for designing effective family-based PA interventions. However, effective approaches to capture the perceptions and "lived experiences" of families are not yet well established. The aims of the study were to: (1) demonstrate how a "write, draw, show and tell" (WDST) methodological approach can be appropriate to family-based PA research, and (2) present two distinct family case studies to provide insights into the habitual PA behaviour and experiences of a nuclear and single-parent family. Six participants (including two "target" children aged 9-11 years, two mothers and two siblings aged 6-8 years) from two families were purposefully selected to take part in the study, based on their family structure. Participants completed a paper-based PA diary and wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer on their left wrist for up to 10 weekdays and 16 weekend days. A range of WDST tasks were then undertaken by each family to offer contextual insight into their family-based PA. The selected families participated in different levels and modes of PA, and reported contrasting leisure opportunities and experiences. These novel findings encourage researchers to tailor family-based PA intervention programmes to the characteristics of the family.

  18. One Size Does Not Fit All: Contextualising Family Physical Activity Using a Write, Draw, Show and Tell Approach

    PubMed Central

    Fairclough, Stuart J.; Knowles, Zoe R.; Boddy, Lynne M.

    2017-01-01

    Understanding family physical activity (PA) behaviour is essential for designing effective family-based PA interventions. However, effective approaches to capture the perceptions and “lived experiences” of families are not yet well established. The aims of the study were to: (1) demonstrate how a “write, draw, show and tell” (WDST) methodological approach can be appropriate to family-based PA research, and (2) present two distinct family case studies to provide insights into the habitual PA behaviour and experiences of a nuclear and single-parent family. Six participants (including two “target” children aged 9–11 years, two mothers and two siblings aged 6–8 years) from two families were purposefully selected to take part in the study, based on their family structure. Participants completed a paper-based PA diary and wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer on their left wrist for up to 10 weekdays and 16 weekend days. A range of WDST tasks were then undertaken by each family to offer contextual insight into their family-based PA. The selected families participated in different levels and modes of PA, and reported contrasting leisure opportunities and experiences. These novel findings encourage researchers to tailor family-based PA intervention programmes to the characteristics of the family. PMID:28708114

  19. Xavier's Take on Authentic Writing: Structuring Choices for Expression and Impact

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Behizadeh, Nadia

    2015-01-01

    Because authenticity in education is a subjective judgment regarding the meaningfulness of an activity, a need exists to co-investigate with students classroom factors increasing authenticity of writing. In this case study, one 8th grade student's needs for authentic writing are explored in detail. Xavier's take on authentic writing…

  20. Competency Gauged Writing Activities for Middle Grade Students Prompted by Needs of Technology Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Jan; And Others

    A cooperative program conducted by the Logan (Utah) City School District and IBM Corporation used computers in the classroom to develop new teaching and career guidance approaches while enhancing students' process writing skills. The program included units designed for student and teacher awareness of the impacts of technology, the need for a new…

  1. Neuroimaging correlates of handwriting quality as children learn to read and write

    PubMed Central

    Gimenez, Paul; Bugescu, Nicolle; Black, Jessica M.; Hancock, Roeland; Pugh, Kenneth; Nagamine, Masanori; Kutner, Emily; Mazaika, Paul; Hendren, Robert; McCandliss, Bruce D.; Hoeft, Fumiko

    2014-01-01

    Reading and writing are related but separable processes that are crucial skills to possess in modern society. The neurobiological basis of reading acquisition and development, which critically depends on phonological processing, and to a lesser degree, beginning writing as it relates to letter perception, are increasingly being understood. Yet direct relationships between writing and reading development, in particular, with phonological processing is not well understood. The main goal of the current preliminary study was to examine individual differences in neurofunctional and neuroanatomical patterns associated with handwriting in beginning writers/readers. In 46 5–6 year-old beginning readers/writers, ratings of handwriting quality, were rank-ordered from best to worst and correlated with brain activation patterns during a phonological task using functional MRI, and with regional gray matter volume from structural T1 MRI. Results showed that better handwriting was associated negatively with activation and positively with gray matter volume in an overlapping region of the pars triangularis of right inferior frontal gyrus. This region, in particular in the left hemisphere in adults and more bilaterally in young children, is known to be important for decoding, phonological processing, and subvocal rehearsal. We interpret the dissociation in the directionality of the association in functional activation and morphometric properties in the right inferior frontal gyrus in terms of neural efficiency, and suggest future studies that interrogate the relationship between the neural mechanisms underlying reading and writing development. PMID:24678293

  2. A State-of-the-Art Review of the Real-Time Computer-Aided Study of the Writing Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdel Latif, Muhammad M.

    2008-01-01

    Writing researchers have developed various methods for investigating the writing process since the 1970s. The early 1980s saw the occurrence of the real-time computer-aided study of the writing process that relies on the protocols generated by recording the computer screen activities as writers compose using the word processor. This article…

  3. 76 FR 49479 - Franchise Rule Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-10

    ... FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Franchise Rule Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection... Concerning Franchising (``Franchise Rule''). That clearance expires on December 31, 2011. DATES: Comments... INFORMATION section below. Write ``Franchise Rule, PRA Comment, FTC File No. P094400'' on your comment, and...

  4. Renewing Education: Selected Writings on Steiner Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edmunds, Francis

    Having taught for nearly 30 years in Britain's first Rudolf Steiner school, Francis Edmunds founded Emerson College, an adult education and teacher training center where he was active until his death in 1989. This book contains a collection of Edmunds' writings on Steiner education mostly excerpted from "Child and Man,""The Michael…

  5. Written Communications Simulation: Write Me a Letter.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    North Carolina State Dept. of Public Instruction, Raleigh. Div. of Vocational Education.

    This simulation is intended for use as a culminating activity after students have been exposed to personal and/or business letter writing, use of reference manuals, typing of letters, mailing procedures, typing of numbers, punctuation practice, and filing procedures. Stated objectives are to enable students to type a mailable letter; to inspect,…

  6. Innovative Writing Instruction: Writing Selves, Writing Stories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kinloch, Valeria, Ed.

    2009-01-01

    In this third "Innovative Writing Instruction" column, the author invited a former high school teacher on the verge of preparing for doctoral candidacy exams, an instructor and doctoral student interested in writing research/practice, and a university supervisor for teacher education preservice students to share aspects of their writing selves,…

  7. Writing in Dyslexia: Product and Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morken, Froydis; Helland, Turid

    2013-01-01

    Research on dyslexia has largely centred on reading. The aim of this study was to assess the writing of 13 children with and 28 without dyslexia at age 11?years. A programme for keystroke logging was used to allow recording of typing activity as the children performed a sentence dictation task. Five sentences were read aloud twice each. The task…

  8. Guiding the Noticing: Using a Dramatic Performance Experience to Promote Tellability in Narrative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Shanetia

    2012-01-01

    In this article, the author describes her use of dramatic performance to promote tellability in narrative writing within a seventh and eighth grade English and language arts classroom. By experiencing dramatic performance, the students were able to actively and physically perform the writing process: brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing.…

  9. Relationship Between Active Learning Methodologies and Community College Students' STEM Course Grades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark Lesko, Cherish Christina

    Active learning methodologies (ALM) are associated with student success, but little research on this topic has been pursued at the community college level. At a local community college, students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses exhibited lower than average grades. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of ALM predicted STEM course grades while controlling for academic discipline, course level, and class size. The theoretical framework was Vygotsky's social constructivism. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were performed on data collected through an anonymous survey of 74 instructors of 272 courses during the 2016 fall semester. Results indicated that students were more likely to achieve passing grades when instructors employed in-class, highly structured activities, and writing-based ALM, and were less likely to achieve passing grades when instructors employed project-based or online ALM. The odds ratios indicated strong positive effects (greater likelihoods of receiving As, Bs, or Cs in comparison to the grade of F) for writing-based ALM (39.1-43.3%, 95% CI [10.7-80.3%]), highly structured activities (16.4-22.2%, 95% CI [1.8-33.7%]), and in-class ALM (5.0-9.0%, 95% CI [0.6-13.8%]). Project-based and online ALM showed negative effects (lower likelihoods of receiving As, Bs, or Cs in comparison to the grade of F) with odds ratios of 15.7-20.9%, 95% CI [9.7-30.6%] and 16.1-20.4%, 95% CI [5.9-25.2%] respectively. A white paper was developed with recommendations for faculty development, computer skills assessment and training, and active research on writing-based ALM. Improving student grades and STEM course completion rates could lead to higher graduation rates and lower college costs for at-risk students by reducing course repetition and time to degree completion.

  10. Argument-Driven Inquiry as a Way to Help Undergraduate Students Write to Learn by Learning to Write in Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sampson, Victor; Walker, Joi Phelps

    2012-01-01

    This exploratory study examined how undergraduate students' ability to write in science changed over time as they completed a series of laboratory activities designed using a new instructional model called argument-driven inquiry. The study was conducted in a single section of an undergraduate general chemistry lab course offered at a large…

  11. Programming biological operating systems: genome design, assembly and activation.

    PubMed

    Gibson, Daniel G

    2014-05-01

    The DNA technologies developed over the past 20 years for reading and writing the genetic code converged when the first synthetic cell was created 4 years ago. An outcome of this work has been an extraordinary set of tools for synthesizing, assembling, engineering and transplanting whole bacterial genomes. Technical progress, options and applications for bacterial genome design, assembly and activation are discussed.

  12. 76 FR 54779 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, Write Your...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-02

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID FEMA-2011-0014; OMB..., Write Your Own (WYO) Program AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has submitted the following information collection to...

  13. Evidence of Two Theoretical Models Observed in Young Children with Disabilities Who Are Beginning to Learn to Write

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staples, Amy; Edmister, Evette

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the composing process and communication of students aged 5-8 identified with intellectual disabilities. An open-ended writing activity called Big Paper was implemented at least once every 2 weeks for a 6-month period. Qualitative methods were utilized to analyze writing samples, videotapes of writing sessions, and transcripts…

  14. The Untamed Imagination: Creative Writing in Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cross, Gillian

    1999-01-01

    Offers thoughts on mastering creative writing, and why a good teacher is essential to the process. Asserts that students must ultimately satisfy themselves and not their teachers, and that a pupil's innermost imagination must be nurtured and given free-rein. Makes emphatic the view that good teaching is one of the most unselfish activities that…

  15. More Students Master "Basics" on Writing NAEP

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Manzo, Kathleen Kennedy

    2008-01-01

    At a time when many teenagers are consumed by such activities as text-messaging, blogging, and social networking, more middle and high school students than in the past have mastered the formal "basic" writing skills needed to express ideas or share information, national assessment results released last week show. But just small proportions--33…

  16. Multigenre Writing: A Ventana on the Possibility of Activating Voice and Increasing Self-Efficacy and Motivation in a High School Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mungons, Renee L.

    2012-01-01

    Multigenre writing is defined as a collection of pieces written in a variety of genres but centered on one topic. It is distinctively different from traditional research writing in that the writer has autonomy to select a topic of interest, determine which genres will best express the information and make decisions throughout the writing process.…

  17. A Three-Year Reflective Writing Program as Part of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences

    PubMed Central

    Vaughn, Jessica; Kerr, Kevin; Zielenski, Christopher; Toppel, Brianna; Johnson, Lauren; McCauley, Patrina; Turner, Christopher J.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives. To implement and evaluate a 3-year reflective writing program incorporated into introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) in the first- through third-year of a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Design. Reflective writing was integrated into 6 IPPE courses to develop students’ lifelong learning skills. In their writing, students were required to self-assess their performance in patient care activities, identify and describe how they would incorporate learning opportunities, and then evaluate their progress. Practitioners, faculty members, and fourth-year PharmD students served as writing preceptors. Assessment. The success of the writing program was assessed by reviewing class performance and surveying writing preceptor’s opinions regarding the student’s achievement of program objectives. Class pass rates averaged greater than 99% over the 8 years of the program and the large majority of the writing preceptors reported that student learning objectives were met. A support pool of 99 writing preceptors was created. Conclusions. A 3-year reflective writing program improved pharmacy students’ reflection and reflective writing skills. PMID:23788811

  18. Teaching Writing in Japanese. Instructional Materials for the Less Commonly Taught Languages.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Yonkers, NY.

    This volume offers a set of writing activities designed to correspond with two levels of proficiency on the American Council of Foreign Languages scale: Novice and Intermediate. The activities have been designed to accompany any type of textbook in any type of instruction. The intention is to provide learners with the opportunity to use Japanese…

  19. The impact of developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia on movement production during word writing.

    PubMed

    Kandel, Sonia; Lassus-Sangosse, Delphine; Grosjacques, Géraldine; Perret, Cyril

    This study investigated how deficits in orthographic processing affect movement production during word writing. Children with dyslexia and dysgraphia wrote words and pseudo-words on a digitizer. The words were orthographically regular and irregular of varying frequency. The group analysis revealed that writing irregular words and pseudo-words increased movement duration and dysfluency. This indicates that the spelling processes were active while the children were writing the words. The impact of these spelling processes was stronger for the children with dyslexia and dysgraphia. The analysis of individual performance revealed that most dyslexic/dysgraphic children presented similar writing patterns. However, selective lexical processing deficits affected irregular word writing but not pseudo-word writing. Selective poor sublexical processing affected pseudo-word writing more than irregular word writing. This study suggests that the interaction between orthographic and motor processing constitutes an important cognitive load that may disrupt the graphic outcome of the children with dyslexia/dysgraphia.

  20. Categorization and Analysis of Explanatory Writing in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Craig, Tracy S.

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this article is to present a scheme for coding and categorizing students' written explanations of mathematical problem-solving activities. The scheme was used successfully within a study project carried out to determine whether student problem-solving behaviour could be positively affected by writing explanatory strategies to…

  1. Writing through Bureaucracy: Migrant Correspondence and Managed Mobility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leonard, Rebecca Lorimer

    2015-01-01

    Contemporary international migration produces a great deal of bureaucratic writing activity. This article reports on a study of one bureaucratic literacy practice--correspondence--of 25 international migrants in the United States. Contextual and practice-based analysis of data collected through literacy history interviews shows that (a) by virtue…

  2. Doctors writing outside the square.

    PubMed

    Hurley, Thomas H

    2011-01-17

    Publications written by doctors about subjects outside their professional activities are often widely read and may be more enduring than their technical publications. Dr Graeme Robertson, Sir Clive Fitts and Professor Richard Lovell were three doctors from Victoria who wrote with skill and artistry about subjects outside their professional work. Here I discuss these publications and the reasons these doctors came to write them, and offer some reasons for the enduring interest of these publications.

  3. Seeing Chinese Characters in Action: An fMRI Study of the Perception of Writing Sequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yu, Hongbo; Gong, Lanyun; Qiu, Yinchen; Zhou, Xiaolin

    2011-01-01

    The Chinese character is composed of a finite set of strokes whose order in writing follows consensual principles and is learnt through school education. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigates the neural activity associated with the perception of writing sequences by asking participants to observe…

  4. Report in Argument's Clothing: An Ecological Perspective on Writing Instruction in a Seventh-Grade Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nystrand, Martin; Graff, Nelson

    2001-01-01

    Draws on classroom observations, interviews, and writing portfolios to contend that competing demands in modern classrooms can lead to environments that sabotage the teaching of argumentative and persuasive writing. Concludes that the epistemology fostered by classroom talk and other activities was inimical to the complex rhetoric the teacher was…

  5. Optimized Motor Imagery Paradigm Based on Imagining Chinese Characters Writing Movement.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Zhaoyang; Allison, Brendan Z; Jin, Jing; Zhang, Yu; Wang, Xingyu; Li, Wei; Cichocki, Andrzej

    2017-07-01

    motor imagery (MI) is a mental representation of motor behavior. The MI-based brain computer interfaces (BCIs) can provide communication for the physically impaired. The performance of MI-based BCI mainly depends on the subject's ability to self-modulate electroencephalogram signals. Proper training can help naive subjects learn to modulate brain activity proficiently. However, training subjects typically involve abstract motor tasks and are time-consuming. to improve the performance of naive subjects during motor imagery, a novel paradigm was presented that would guide naive subjects to modulate brain activity effectively. In this new paradigm, pictures of the left or right hand were used as cues for subjects to finish the motor imagery task. Fourteen healthy subjects (11 male, aged 22-25 years, and mean 23.6±1.16) participated in this study. The task was to imagine writing a Chinese character. Specifically, subjects could imagine hand movements corresponding to the sequence of writing strokes in the Chinese character. This paradigm was meant to find an effective and familiar action for most Chinese people, to provide them with a specific, extensively practiced task and help them modulate brain activity. results showed that the writing task paradigm yielded significantly better performance than the traditional arrow paradigm (p < 0.001). Questionnaire replies indicated that most subjects thought that the new paradigm was easier. the proposed new motor imagery paradigm could guide subjects to help them modulate brain activity effectively. Results showed that there were significant improvements using new paradigm, both in classification accuracy and usability.

  6. To apply or not to apply: a survey analysis of grant writing costs and benefits.

    PubMed

    von Hippel, Ted; von Hippel, Courtney

    2015-01-01

    We surveyed 113 astronomers and 82 psychologists active in applying for federally funded research on their grant-writing history between January, 2009 and November, 2012. We collected demographic data, effort levels, success rates, and perceived non-financial benefits from writing grant proposals. We find that the average proposal takes 116 PI hours and 55 CI hours to write; although time spent writing was not related to whether the grant was funded. Effort did translate into success, however, as academics who wrote more grants received more funding. Participants indicated modest non-monetary benefits from grant writing, with psychologists reporting a somewhat greater benefit overall than astronomers. These perceptions of non-financial benefits were unrelated to how many grants investigators applied for, the number of grants they received, or the amount of time they devoted to writing their proposals. We also explored the number of years an investigator can afford to apply unsuccessfully for research grants and our analyses suggest that funding rates below approximately 20%, commensurate with current NIH and NSF funding, are likely to drive at least half of the active researchers away from federally funded research. We conclude with recommendations and suggestions for individual investigators and for department heads.

  7. A review of creative and expressive writing as a pedagogical tool in medical education.

    PubMed

    Cowen, Virginia S; Kaufman, Diane; Schoenherr, Lisa

    2016-03-01

    The act of writing offers an opportunity to foster self-expression and organisational abilities, along with observation and descriptive skills. These soft skills are relevant to clinical thinking and medical practice. Medical school curricula employ pedagogical approaches suitable for assessing medical and clinical knowledge, but teaching methods for soft skills in critical thinking, listening and verbal expression, which are important in patient communication and engagement, may be less formal. Creative and expressive writing that is incorporated into medical school courses or clerkships offers a vehicle for medical students to develop soft skills. The aim of this review was to explore creative and expressive writing as a pedagogical tool in medical schools in relation to outcomes of medical education. This project employed a scoping review approach to gather, evaluate and synthesise reports on the use of creative and expressive writing in US medical education. Ten databases were searched for scholarly articles reporting on creative or expressive writing during medical school. Limitation of the results to activities associated with US medical schools, produced 91 articles. A thematic analysis of the articles was conducted to identify how writing was incorporated into the curriculum. Enthusiasm for writing as a pedagogical tool was identified in 28 editorials and overviews. Quasi-experimental, mixed methods and qualitative studies, primarily writing activities, were aimed at helping students cognitively or emotionally process difficult challenges in medical education, develop a personal identity or reflect on interpersonal skills. The programmes and interventions using creative or expressive writing were largely associated with elective courses or clerkships, and not required courses. Writing was identified as a potentially relevant pedagogical tool, but not included as an essential component of medical school curricula. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Mirror writing: a tachistoscopic study of a woman suffering from migraine when writing with the right hand.

    PubMed

    Nakano, Mitsuko; Tanaka, Shigeki; Izuno, Kenji; Ichihara, Shigeru

    2012-01-01

    An experimental study was conducted with a young woman who had suddenly developed mirror writing in the right hand, which she used for writing. She was not cured for eight years. The patient was ambidextrous and had no medical complaints except for migraine with perceptual and sensory abnormalities, and an enlarged cavity of the septum pellucidum. A previous study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), conducted when she imagined letters and wrote letters in the air with either hand, indicated that both her cerebral hemispheres were active. In the present study three experiments were conducted using a tachistoscope to explore the stage in the cognitive process when directional errors emerged. In the experiments, after independently being presented with Attneave's meaningless figures or letters to each hemisphere, participants were requested to do the following: (a) verbally respond whether the orientation of two consecutively shown figures were the same or different and the letters were standard or reversed; (b) distinguish the orientations with right and left hand movements other than by writing (by pushing a button); and (c) reproduce the stimuli (drawing) immediately after the presentation. Results showed a higher rate of incorrect directions only when drawings were reproduced by the right hand. Results also indicated that the woman's inaccurate judgment in direction emerged only when in writing and not at the perceptual level, or when responding with hand movements other than writing. Her migraine was cured after five years following the experiment. The mirror writing was cured 2-3 months later.

  9. Reading, Writing, and Word Walls: Strategies to Boost Literacy Skills in All Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell-Rush, Peggy

    2007-01-01

    In this book, author Peggy Campbell-Rush shares the strategies she relies on to teach young students not only how to read and write, but also to love to read and write. Teachers will find close to 100 tips, ideas, and activities that they can implement immediately, including: the dos and don'ts for reading aloud; putting new twists on tedious…

  10. A Summary of Activities, Accomplishments and Hispanic Education Attainment: 2001-08

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    US Department of Education, 2008

    2008-01-01

    This report represents the culmination of the activities conducted by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (White House Initiative) over the span of seven years, as of this writing. It also encompasses the work of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (the…

  11. The Activation and Monitoring of Memories Produced by Words and Pseudohomophones

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cortese, Michael J.; Khanna, Maya M.; White, Katherine K.; Veljkovic, Ilija; Drumm, Geoffery

    2008-01-01

    Using the DRM paradigm, our experiments examined the activation and monitoring of memories in semantic and phonological networks. Participants viewed lists of words and/or pseudohomophones (e.g., "dreem"). In Experiment 1, participants verbally recalled lists of semantic associates or attempted to write them as they appeared during study. False…

  12. An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder.

    PubMed

    Krpan, Katherine M; Kross, Ethan; Berman, Marc G; Deldin, Patricia J; Askren, Mary K; Jonides, John

    2013-09-25

    The benefits of expressive writing have been well documented among several populations, but particularly among those who report feelings of dysphoria. It is not known, however, if those diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) would also benefit from expressive writing. Forty people diagnosed with current MDD by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV participated in the study. On day 1 of testing, participants completed a series of questionnaires and cognitive tasks. Participants were then randomly assigned to either an expressive writing condition in which they wrote for 20 min over three consecutive days about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event (n=20), or to a control condition (n=20) in which they wrote about non-emotional daily events each day. On day 5 of testing, participants completed another series of questionnaires and cognitive measures. These measures were repeated again 4 weeks later. People diagnosed with MDD in the expressive writing condition showed significant decreases in depression scores (Beck Depression Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores) immediately after the experimental manipulation (Day 5). These benefits persisted at the 4-week follow-up. Self-selected sample. This is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of expressive writing among people formally diagnosed with current MDD. These data suggest that expressive writing may be a useful supplement to existing interventions for depression. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Winchester High School Excellence in Education Grant: Reading and Writing across the Curriculum. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winchester School District, MA.

    This collection of documents constitutes the final report of the first year of Winchester High School's federally funded reading and writing across the curriculum program. The project director's report presents an overview of the program and discusses anticipated and actual outcomes, including: (1) more systematic reading and writing activities in…

  14. Promoting Self-Directed Revision in EFL Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coomber, Matthew

    2016-01-01

    Second language writers need to develop the ability to revise their writing independently of third party advice; thus, it is important that teachers devise methods by which to promote habits of self-directed revision. This quasi-experimental study investigates three classroom activities designed to encourage students to independently revise essays…

  15. Development of medical writing in India: Past, present and future.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Suhasini

    2017-01-01

    Pharmaceutical medical writing has grown significantly in India in the last couple of decades. It includes preparing regulatory, safety, and publication documents as well as educational and communication material related to health and health-care products. Medical writing requires medical understanding, knowledge of drug development and the regulatory and safety domains, understanding of research methodologies, and awareness of relevant regulations and guidelines. It also requires the ability to analyze, interpret, and present biomedical scientific data in the required format and good writing skills. Medical writing is the fourth most commonly outsourced clinical development activity, and its global demand has steadily increased due to rising cost pressures on the pharmaceutical industry. India has the unique advantages of a large workforce of science graduates and medical professionals trained in English and lower costs, which make it a suitable destination for outsourcing medical writing services. However, the current share of India in global medical writing business is very small. This industry in India faces some real challenges, such as the lack of depth and breadth in domain expertise, inadequate technical writing skills, high attrition rates, and paucity of standardized training programs as well as quality assessment tools. Focusing our time, attention, and resources to address these challenges will help the Indian medical writing industry gain its rightful share in the global medical writing business.

  16. Development of medical writing in India: Past, present and future

    PubMed Central

    Sharma, Suhasini

    2017-01-01

    Pharmaceutical medical writing has grown significantly in India in the last couple of decades. It includes preparing regulatory, safety, and publication documents as well as educational and communication material related to health and health-care products. Medical writing requires medical understanding, knowledge of drug development and the regulatory and safety domains, understanding of research methodologies, and awareness of relevant regulations and guidelines. It also requires the ability to analyze, interpret, and present biomedical scientific data in the required format and good writing skills. Medical writing is the fourth most commonly outsourced clinical development activity, and its global demand has steadily increased due to rising cost pressures on the pharmaceutical industry. India has the unique advantages of a large workforce of science graduates and medical professionals trained in English and lower costs, which make it a suitable destination for outsourcing medical writing services. However, the current share of India in global medical writing business is very small. This industry in India faces some real challenges, such as the lack of depth and breadth in domain expertise, inadequate technical writing skills, high attrition rates, and paucity of standardized training programs as well as quality assessment tools. Focusing our time, attention, and resources to address these challenges will help the Indian medical writing industry gain its rightful share in the global medical writing business. PMID:28194338

  17. Case Report Writing in a Doctor of Physical Therapy Education Program: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fillyaw, Michael J.

    2011-01-01

    Case reports are an established form of scholarship used for teaching and learning in medicine and health care, but there are few examples of the teaching and learning activities used to prepare students to write a case report. This report describes the implementation of two courses that prepare physical therapy students to write and disseminate a…

  18. 77 FR 17504 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Notification...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-26

    ...: Notification to Fire Safety Authority of Storage of Explosive Materials. (3) Agency form number, if any, and... provided both orally and in writing to the authority having jurisdiction for fire safety in the locality in...] Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Notification to Fire...

  19. 34 CFR 646.4 - What activities and services does a project provide?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ..., writing, study skills, mathematics, science, and other subjects. (2) Advice and assistance in... 34 Education 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What activities and services does a project provide? 646.4 Section 646.4 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued...

  20. Effects of the Ride Environment on Passenger Activities : A Field Study on Intercity Trains

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1979-01-01

    A three-part field study of passenger activities (e.g. reading, writing, talking, sleeping) was conducted on intercity Amtrak trains in the northeastern United States to determine the relationships between the ride environment, subjective passenger c...

  1. Language Arts: The Intricate Interplay of Reading, Writing and Speech. Harvesting the Harvesters. Book 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawless, Ken

    The sixth in a series of 10 study units for a Migrant Educators' National Training OutReach (MENTOR) correspondence course examines the role of speech, reading, and writing in migrant education and suggests approaches to teaching reading and writing which use group activities and individualized evaluation. Designed to be used in preservice or…

  2. What Can You Learn about Writing in School?: A Case Study in an Elementary Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Florio, Susan; And Others

    A two-year study investigated writing in the elementary school. Data collected included field notes from observation of a second/third grade classroom, videotapes of selected classroom activities, weekly journals kept by the teacher reflecting her thoughts on teaching in general and on writing in particular, interviews with the teacher about the…

  3. Improving the Students' Activity and Learning Outcomes on Social Sciences Subject Using Round Table and Rally Coach of Cooperative Learning Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ningsih; Soetjipto, Budi Eko; Sumarmi

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was: (1) to analyze increasing students' learning activity and learning outcomes. Student activities which were observed include the visual, verbal, listening, writing and mental visual activity; (2) to analyze the improvement of student learning outcomes using "Round Table" and "Rally Coach" Model of…

  4. Student Worlds, Student Words: Teaching Writing through Folklore.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simons, Elizabeth Radin

    Encouraging teachers of middle and secondary school students to learn to write using their own folklore, each chapter in this book presents a 1- to 3-week unit of study including background information, student activities, transcripts of discussions, and suggested readings for both teachers and students. After an introduction (Knowing Our Insides…

  5. A Reading-Writing Connection in the Content Areas (Secondary Perspectives).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Journal of Reading, 1990

    1990-01-01

    Discusses instructional activities designed to foster the reading-writing connection in the content area classroom. Describes the use of "possible sentences," learning logs, freewriting, dialogue journals, the RAFT technique (role, audience, format, and topic), and the "opinion-proof" organization strategy. (RS)

  6. The Important Things about Writing in Secondary Mathematics Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jao, Limin; Hall, Jennifer

    2018-01-01

    In this article, the authors present a writing activity that allowed pre-service teachers to be creative in the mathematics classroom. Inspired by "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown, students explored secondary-level mathematics concepts, discussing various attributes/characteristics of each concept through their written…

  7. Writing Research Articles for Publication in Early Childhood Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saracho, Olivia N.

    2013-01-01

    Published research results in early childhood education contribute to the field's knowledge, theory, and practice. They also guide future early childhood education research studies. The publication of research articles is an essential requirement for academics. For some researchers, however, writing may be a difficult activity, particularly the…

  8. Drawing and Writing in Digital Science Notebooks: Sources of Formative Assessment Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shelton, Angi; Smith, Andrew; Wiebe, Eric; Behrle, Courtney; Sirkin, Ruth; Lester, James

    2016-06-01

    Formative assessment strategies are used to direct instruction by establishing where learners' understanding is, how it is developing, informing teachers and students alike as to how they might get to their next set of goals of conceptual understanding. For the science classroom, one rich source of formative assessment data about scientific thinking and practice is in notebooks used during inquiry-oriented activities. In this study, the goal was to better understand how student knowledge was distributed between student drawings and writings about magnetism in notebooks, and how these findings might inform formative assessment strategies. Here, drawing and writing samples were extracted and evaluated from our digital science notebook, with embedded content and laboratories. Three drawings and five writing samples from 309 participants were analyzed using a common ten-dimensional rubric. Descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that fourth-grade student understanding of magnetism was distributed unevenly between writing and drawing. Case studies were then presented for two exemplar students. Based on the rubric we developed, students were able to articulate more of their knowledge through the drawing activities than through written word, but the combination of the two mediums provided the richest understanding of student conceptions and how they changed over the course of their investigations.

  9. Correcting the Errors in the Writing of University Students in the Comfortable Atmosphere

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lu, Tuanhua

    2010-01-01

    This paper analyzed the common errors in university students' writing. At the same time, it showed some methods based on activities designed to give students practice in these problem areas. The activities are meant to be carried out in a comfortable, non-threatening atmosphere in which students can make positive steps toward reducing their errors…

  10. An interactional ethnographic study of the construction of literate practices of science and writing in a university science classroom

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sena, Nuno Afonso De Freitas Lopes De

    An interactional ethnographic study informed by a sociocultural perspective was conducted to examine how a professor and students discursively and interactionally shaped the basis for engaging in the work of a community of geologists. Specifically, the study examined the role the Question of the Day, an interactive writing activity in the lecture, in affording students opportunities for learning the literate practices of science and how to incorporate them in thinking critically. A writing-intensive, introductory oceanography course given in the Geological Sciences Department was chosen because the professor designed it to emphasize writing in the discipline and science literacy within a science inquiry framework. The study was conducted in two phases: a pilot in 2002 and the current study in the Spring Quarter of 2003. Grounded in the view that members in a classroom construct a culture, this study explored the daily construction of the literate practices of science and writing. This view of classrooms was informed by four bodies of research: interactional ethnography, sociolinguistics sociology of science and Writing In the Disciplines. Through participant observation, data were collected in the lecture and laboratory settings in the form of field notes, video, interviews, and artifacts to explore issues of science literacy in discourse, social action, and writing. Examination of participation in the Question of the Day interactive writing activity revealed that it played a key role in initiating and supporting a view of science and inquiry. As the activity permitted collaboration, it encouraged students to engage in the social process to critically explore a discourse of science and key practices with and through their writing. In daily interaction, participants were shown to take up social positions as scientist and engage in science inquiry to explore theory, examine data, and articulately reformulate knowledge in making oral and written scientific arguments

  11. Writing to Learn the Reformation: Or, Who Was Ulrich Zwingli and Why Should I Care?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jordon, Sherry

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the use of "Writing to Learn" assignments in a course on the Theology of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. These short, informal assignments promote active learning by focusing on writing as a process for critical thinking and as a way to learn the content of the course. They help students creatively engage…

  12. Modeling Writing Development: Contribution of Transcription and Self-Regulation to Portuguese Students' Text Generation Quality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A.

    2013-01-01

    Writing is a complex activity that requires transcription and self-regulation. We used multiple-group structural equation modeling to test the contribution of transcription (handwriting and spelling), planning, revision, and self-efficacy to writing quality at 2 developmental points (Grades 4-6 vs. 7-9). In Grades 4-6, the model explained 76% of…

  13. Authors "in Residence" Make Writing Fun! Online Mentors Help Fourth Graders Compose Original Stories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hagins, Chelsea; Austin, Jackie; Jones, Raven; Timmons, Taylor

    2004-01-01

    Chelsea pointed to four sentences on her computer screen. "Am I done, Mrs. Weeg?" Writing was not her favorite activity. She and five other fourth-grade classmates were in the early stages of writing a story in the global classroom. For the past four years, 12 students at Delmar Elementary School have taken part in this online mentoring program,…

  14. An advanced practice psychiatric nurse's guide to professional writing.

    PubMed

    Campanelli, Peter C; Feferman, Robert; Keane, Chris; Lieberman, Harvey J; Roberson, Deborah

    2007-10-01

    Many good ideas are not communicated to the community of mental health practitioners because advanced practice psychiatric nurses (APPNs) are not being well informed about writing for public dissemination. This study aims to support APPNs through the various stages of manuscript preparation so they can enlarge the scope of their written contributions to the mental health field. An appreciation for the skills, mechanics, and attitudes that support the authoring enterprise can result in APPNs enjoying the multiple benefits that accrue to those who write about their professional activities for clinical, administrative, advocacy, fund-raising, and other purposes.

  15. Parental Strategies to Scaffold Emergent Writing Skills in the Pre-School Child within the Home Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumann, Michelle M.; Neumann, David L.

    2010-01-01

    Joint writing activities between parent and child can enhance literacy skills in young children. This paper describes the strategies used by a mother to scaffold her daughter's alphabet letter shaping, word and story writing in the years before formal schooling. The strategies included identifying alphabet letters embedded in environmental print…

  16. The Effects of Physical Activity on the On-Task Behavior of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miramontez, Shane K. H.; Schwartz, Ilene S.

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of adult-directed physical activities conducted during circle time on the on-task behavior of students during a journal-writing activity held immediately after circle. The participants of the study were three male students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who attended a full day inclusive…

  17. Discovery and Change: How Children Redraft Their Narrative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Booley, Heather A.

    1984-01-01

    Fourteen year olds were introduced to a process model for writing and revising fictional narratives. Drafts were analyzed for evidence that they actively worked on cognitive, stylistic, and affective aspects of their narratives. Eighteen of 32 pupils made extensive or significant changes influenced by the process model. (SK)

  18. 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

  19. 77 FR 67650 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-13

    ... FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review... with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (``CFPB'') of the information collection requirements in... instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Subpart N...

  20. Permanent Ink: Learning To Write Is a Lesson That Lasts a Lifetime. But What Brings Out the Best in Young Writers?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boss, Suzie

    2002-01-01

    Recent efforts to improve writing instruction include emphasizing writing as a process rather than a product, new evaluation methods, allowing students a more active role, providing a real audience, and using desktop publishing and the World Wide Web. Sidebars present parents' role, the connection between reading and writing, and a professional…

  1. Relating Self Reports of Writing Behaviour and Online Task Execution Using a Temporal Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tillema, Marion; van den Bergh, Huub; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; Sanders, Ted

    2011-01-01

    Current theory about writing states that the quality of (meta)cognitive processing (i.e. planning, text production, revising, et cetera) is, at least partly, determined by the temporal distribution of (meta)cognitive activities across task execution. Put simply, the quality of task execution is determined more by "when" activities are applied than…

  2. Creative Writing for the Verbally Gifted: Senior High.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boesen, Steve

    The guide presents information on a creative writing course for verbally gifted senior high school students. Part I of the course consists of general exploration activities on literary forms: the journal, the poem, the short story, and a student selection from among such types as one-act plays, essays or by-lined articles, editorials, and TV (or…

  3. The effects of the ride environment on passenger activities : a field study on intercity trains

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1979-01-01

    A three-part field study of passenger activities (e.g. reading, writing, talking, sleeping) was conducted on intercity Amtrak trains in the northeastern United States to determine the relationships between the ride environment, subjective passenger c...

  4. Helping Preschoolers Prepare for Writing: Developing Fine Motor Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huffman, J. Michelle; Fortenberry, Callie

    2011-01-01

    Early childhood is the most intensive period for the development of physical skills. Writing progress depends largely on the development of fine motor skills involving small muscle movements of the hand. Young children need to participate in a variety of developmentally appropriate activities intentionally designed to promote fine motor control.…

  5. Flipped Learning for ESL Writing in a Sudanese School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdelrahman, Limia Ali Mohamed; DeWitt, Dorothy; Alias, Norlidah; Rahman, Mohd Nazri Abdul

    2017-01-01

    Sudanese students seem to lack proficiency in writing English. In addition, teachers continue to use traditional, teacher-centered methods in teaching English as a second language (ESL). The flipped learning (FL) approach where video lectures are assigned as online homework before class, followed by learning activities during class, might be able…

  6. 76 FR 29792 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-23

    ... Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of...) Title of the Form/Collection: Reports of Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of Listed Chemicals/Machines... collection: Form number: Notification of suspicious orders and thefts is provided in writing on an as needed...

  7. Exercising self-control increases relative left frontal cortical activation

    PubMed Central

    Crowell, Adrienne; Harmon-Jones, Eddie

    2016-01-01

    Self-control refers to the capacity to override or alter a predominant response tendency. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, as revealed by patterns of electrical activity in the prefrontal cortex. Participants completed a writing task that did vs did not require them to exercise self-control. Then they viewed pictures known to evoke positive, negative or neutral affect. We assessed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity while participants viewed the pictures, and participants reported their trait levels of behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity at the end of the study. We found that exercising (vs not exercising) self-control increased relative left frontal cortical activity during picture viewing, particularly among individuals with relatively higher BAS than BIS, and particularly during positive picture viewing. A similar but weaker pattern emerged during negative picture viewing. The results suggest that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, which may help to explain the aftereffects of self-control (i.e. ego depletion). PMID:26341900

  8. Reading, Writing & Rings: Science Literacy for K-4 Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McConnell, S.; Spilker, L.; Zimmerman-Brachman, R.

    2007-12-01

    Scientific discovery is the impetus for the K-4 Education program, "Reading, Writing & Rings." This program is unique because its focus is to engage elementary students in reading and writing to strengthen these basic academic skills through scientific content. As science has been increasingly overtaken by the language arts in elementary classrooms, the Cassini Education Program has taken advantage of a new cross-disciplinary approach to use language arts as a vehicle for increasing scientific content in the classroom. By utilizing the planet Saturn and the Cassini-Huygens mission as a model in both primary reading and writing students in these grade levels, young students can explore science material while at the same time learning these basic academic skills. Content includes reading, thinking, and hands-on activities. Developed in partnership with the Cassini-Huygens Education and Public Outreach Program, the Bay Area Writing Project/California Writing Project, Foundations in Reading Through Science & Technology (FIRST), and the Caltech Pre-College Science Initiative (CAPSI), and classroom educators, "Reading, Writing & Rings" blends the excitement of space exploration with reading and writing. All materials are teacher developed, aligned with national science and language education standards, and are available from the Cassini-Huygens website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/edu-k4.cfm Materials are divided into two grade level units. One unit is designed for students in grades 1 and 2 while the other unit focuses on students in grades 3 and 4. Each includes a series of lessons that take students on a path of exploration of Saturn using reading and writing prompts.

  9. Faculty Identity through Spheres of Teaching and Research Activity and Associated Genres

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallego, Liliana; Castelló, Montserrat; Badia, Antoni

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to understand how faculty identity development is related to a differential use of writing genres in the teaching and research spheres of activity and whether this development follows different paths, on the bases of faculty perceptions regarding what they consider their main goal at university and their preferred sphere of…

  10. The role of learning in improving functional writing in stroke aphasia.

    PubMed

    Thiel, Lindsey; Sage, Karen; Conroy, Paul

    2016-10-01

    Improving writing in people with aphasia could improve ability to communicate, reduce isolation and increase access to information. One area that has not been sufficiently explored is the effect of impairment based spelling therapies on functional writing. A multiple case study was conducted with eight participants with aphasia subsequent to stroke. This aimed to measure the effects of spelling therapy on functional writing and perception of disability. Participants engaged in 10 sessions of copy and recall spelling therapy. Outcome measures included spelling to dictation of trained and untrained words, written picture description, spelling accuracy within emails, a disability questionnaire and a writing frequency diary. All participants made significant gains on treated words and six demonstrated improvements to untreated words. Group analyses showed significant improvements to written picture description, but not email writing, writing frequency or perceptions of disability. These results show that small doses of writing therapy can lead to large gains in specific types of writing. These gains did not extend to improvements in frequency of writing in daily living, nor ecological measures of email writing. There is a need to develop bridging interventions between experimental tasks towards more multi-faceted and ecological everyday writing tasks. Implications for Rehabilitation Acquired dysgraphia can restrict people from participating in social, educational and professional life. This study has shown that copy and recall spelling therapies can improve the spelling of treated words, untreated words and written picture description in people with a range of types and severities of dysgraphia following stroke. The results of this study suggest that more specific additional training is required for other writing activities such as email writing.

  11. 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.

  12. Cross-cultural effect on the brain revisited: universal structures plus writing system variation.

    PubMed

    Bolger, Donald J; Perfetti, Charles A; Schneider, Walter

    2005-05-01

    Recognizing printed words requires the mapping of graphic forms, which vary with writing systems, to linguistic forms, which vary with languages. Using a newly developed meta-analytic approach, aggregated Gaussian-estimated sources (AGES; Chein et al. [2002]: Psychol Behav 77:635-639), we examined the neuroimaging results for word reading within and across writing systems and languages. To find commonalities, we compiled 25 studies in English and other Western European languages that use an alphabetic writing system, 9 studies of native Chinese reading, 5 studies of Japanese Kana (syllabic) reading, and 4 studies of Kanji (morpho-syllabic) reading. Using the AGES approach, we created meta-images within each writing system, isolated reliable foci of activation, and compared findings across writing systems and languages. The results suggest that these writing systems utilize a common network of regions in word processing. Writing systems engage largely the same systems in terms of gross cortical regions, but localization within those regions suggests differences across writing systems. In particular, the region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) shows strikingly consistent localization across tasks and across writing systems. This region in the left mid-fusiform gyrus is critical to word recognition across writing systems and languages.

  13. The Importance of Harmony: An Ecological Metaphor for Writing Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fleckenstein, Kristie S.; Spinuzzi, Clay; Rickly, Rebecca J.; Papper, Carole Clark

    2008-01-01

    This essay argues for the value of an ecological metaphor in conceptualizing, designing, and enacting research in writing studies. Such a metaphor conceives of activities, actors, situations, and phenomena as interdependent, diverse, and fused through feedback. This ecological orientation invites composition scholars to research rhetorically: to…

  14. Real-World Reading and Writing through Project-Based Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Diffily, Deborah

    Standards documents produced by professional educational organizations on the best ways to teach reading and writing have been synthesized by Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde (1998). They recommend that teachers provide: more active learning in the classroom; more diverse roles for teachers; more emphasis on higher order thinking; more deep study of a…

  15. Laser writing of coherent colour centres in diamond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Yu-Chen; Salter, Patrick S.; Knauer, Sebastian; Weng, Laiyi; Frangeskou, Angelo C.; Stephen, Colin J.; Ishmael, Shazeaa N.; Dolan, Philip R.; Johnson, Sam; Green, Ben L.; Morley, Gavin W.; Newton, Mark E.; Rarity, John G.; Booth, Martin J.; Smith, Jason M.

    2017-02-01

    Optically active point defects in crystals have gained widespread attention as photonic systems that could be applied in quantum information technologies. However, challenges remain in the placing of individual defects at desired locations, an essential element of device fabrication. Here we report the controlled generation of single negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centres in diamond using laser writing. Aberration correction in the writing optics allows precise positioning of the vacancies within the diamond crystal, and subsequent annealing produces single NV- centres with a probability of success of up to 45 ± 15%, located within about 200 nm of the desired position in the transverse plane. Selected NV- centres display stable, coherent optical transitions at cryogenic temperatures, a prerequisite for the creation of distributed quantum networks of solid-state qubits. The results illustrate the potential of laser writing as a new tool for defect engineering in quantum technologies, and extend laser processing to the single-defect domain.

  16. For Parents Particularly: Saving with Dough and Other Inexpensive Activities for the Family.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Rita

    1995-01-01

    Encourages parents to be aware of how natural exploration and play can facilitate learning in their children. Gives activities, adjustable in difficulty depending on developmental age of child, such as cooking that can be used to develop readiness for reading, writing, and math. Includes suggestions for inexpensive materials. (ET)

  17. Teaching Pharmacology Graduate Students how to Write an NIH Grant Application.

    PubMed

    Leak, Rehana K; O'Donnell, Lauren A; Surratt, Christopher K

    2015-11-25

    Objective. To fill the gap in grant writing training in pharmacology graduate education using an active-learning strategy. Design. Graduate students wrote subsections of a grant according to NIH guidelines. Students revised their applications based on multiple rounds of critiques from professors and peers throughout a semester-long scientific writing course. Assessment. Prerevision and postrevision grant drafts were graded. Students were provided with questionnaires assessing their perception of the process. To determine the impact of feedback on the proposals, the quality of the pre/postrevision drafts was assessed by professors who were blinded and unaffiliated with the course. Conclusion. Student grades improved significantly upon resubmission. Perceptions of the proposals by blinded faculty members favored revised submissions based on multiple criteria. Survey feedback indicated an increase in student confidence in grant writing ability. The results of 3 independent measures demonstrate that intensive feedback on scientific writing improved the quality of student proposals.

  18. Effects of planning strategies on writing dynamics and final texts.

    PubMed

    Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A

    2018-06-12

    Expert writing involves the interaction among three cognitively demanding processes: planning, translating, and revising. To manage the cognitive load brought on by these processes, writers frequently use strategies. Here, we examined the effects of planning strategies on writing dynamics and final texts. Before writing an argumentative text with the triple-task technique, 63 undergraduates were asked either to elaborate an outline with the argumentative structure embedded (structure-based planning condition), to provide a written list of ideas for the text (list-based planning condition), or to do a non-writing-related filler task (no planning condition). Planning showed no effects on the length of the pre-writing pause and cognitive effort, but influenced writing processes occurrences. Compared to participants in the no-planning condition, those in the planning conditions showed a later activation of revising. Moreover, participants in the structure-based condition were mainly focused on translating in the beginning and middle of composition, whereas their peers tended to distribute their attention among all processes. Planning ahead of writing also resulted in texts with longer words, produced at a higher rate. Only the structure-based planning strategy led to an increase in the number of argumentation elements as well as in essays' persuasiveness and overall quality. There was, however, no indication that these improvements in final texts were associated with changes in the dynamics of writing. Overall, the use of structure-based plans seems to be an effective and efficient way of improving undergraduates' argumentative writing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. A Pedagogical Theory and Practice for College Writing Courses and Writing across the Curriculum Courses: A Social Constructionist Perspective on Learning through Argument.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soffree-Cady, Flore

    To provide a writing pedagogy grounded in theory, a teaching method was developed which sequenced certain types of assignments. The classification of types and the organizational structure of the sequences were based on a teaching model that draws upon theories from various disciplines. Although the teaching activities are not new in themselves,…

  20. Hand preference for sending mobile-phone text messages: associations with sex, writing hand, and throwing hand.

    PubMed

    Lambert, Anthony; Hallett, Charlene

    2009-07-01

    Hand preference for sending mobile-phone text messages ("texting") and its relationship with hand preference for other activities were investigated in a questionnaire study with 886 participants. Overall rates of both sinistrality and dextrality were reduced for texting, in comparison with other activities, due to the substantial number of individuals who use both hands simultaneously when performing this activity. Because they both involve verbal expression, it was hypothesised that the association between hand preferences for texting and writing might be stronger than the association between either of these tasks and more spatial activities, such as throwing. This prediction was not confirmed, either in the sample as a whole or in a sub-group of individuals who reported writing and throwing with opposite hands. Females were less likely than males to use their left hand when sending text messages. Implications of these findings are discussed, in relation to theoretical views of handedness and in relation to practical aspects of mobile-phone design.

  1. Investigation of Writing Strategies, Writing Apprehension, and Writing Achievement among Saudi EFL-Major Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Asmari, AbdulRahman

    2013-01-01

    The tenet of this study is to investigate the use of writing strategies in reducing writing apprehension and uncovering its effect on EFL students' writing achievement. It also attempts to explore associations between foreign language apprehension, writing achievement and writing strategies. The primary aims of the study were to explore the…

  2. Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kent, Richard

    2012-01-01

    "Writing on the Bus" showcases the what, how, and why of using athletic team notebooks and journals. The book guides coaches and athletes, from elementary school through college, in analyzing games while thinking deeply about motivation, goal setting, and communication in order to optimize performance. Filled with lesson plans, writing activities,…

  3. Success of Children at Risk in a Program That Combines Writing and Reading. Technical Report No. 417.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinnell, Gay Su

    A study examined the processes and results of children's involvement in interrelated reading/writing activities. First, descriptions of 23 children's reading and writing behavior were drawn from a group of case studies of children who were participating in Reading Recovery, an early intervention program that targets first grade children at risk of…

  4. Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Professional Collaborative Writing--Teaching, Writing, and Learning--Together.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bush, Jonathan; Zuidema, Leah

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the authors report the importance of teaching students about collaborative writing. When teachers are effective in helping students to learn processes for collaborative writing, everyone involved needs to speak, listen, write, and read about how to write well and what makes writing good. Students are forced to "go meta"…

  5. TECFORS, A Newsletter for Instructors of Writing and Reading to ESL and Bi-Lingual Adult Students. Volume 4, 1981.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    TECFORS, 1981

    1981-01-01

    Numbers 3 through 5 of the 1981 TECFORS newsletter include these articles: "Pre-Writing Activities" (Sandra L. McKay); "Errors in Advanced-Level Discourse" (Robert B. Kaplan); "Sensory Imagery" (Elizabeth Jamison Hodges); "Introducing Advanced Concepts of Reading and Writing in the Beginning ESL Class"…

  6. Project Synapse. Sparking Connection between Speech and Writing. Instructor's Handbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rubin, Donald; And Others

    Intended for college-level basic writers, the program described in this report integrates selected oral communication training with writing instruction. The first section of the report presents a rationale for the program--which uses oral activities to enhance students' development in the underlying rhetorical abilities of invention, audience…

  7. Using Restaurant Reviews to Teach How to Write Literature Reviews

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Kelli Jean K.; Ferris, Sharmila Pixy

    2017-01-01

    Courses: Any communication course requiring a literature review, including, but is not limited to, Communication Research Methods and Communication Theory. Objectives: After completing this activity, students should be able to write better literature reviews by (1) locating a range of resources; (2) identifying a variety of relevant information…

  8. 78 FR 76656 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-18

    ... Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of... Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of Listed Chemicals/Machines. (3) Agency form number, if any, and the... suspicious orders and thefts is provided in writing on an as needed basis and does not occur using a form...

  9. 76 FR 14994 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-18

    ... Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Reports of Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of...: Reports of Suspicious Orders or Theft/Loss of Listed Chemicals/Machines. (3) Agency form number, if any...: Notification of suspicious orders and thefts is provided in writing on an as needed basis and does not occur...

  10. Can Assessment Mirror Instruction? A Look at Peer Response and Revision in a Large-Scale Writing Test.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldberg, Gail Lynn; Roswell, Barbara Sherr; Michaels, Hillary

    1996-01-01

    Student engagement during testing in the full range of writing process activities they had been taught was studied. Results with 28 third-grade draft sets, 21 fifth-grade sets, and 38 eighth-grade sets on the Maryland School Performance Assessment writing test show that students' peer responses are unengaged, minimal, and formulaic, and that their…

  11. Writing Plan Quality: Relevance to Writing Scores

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chai, Constance

    2006-01-01

    If writing matters, how can we improve it? This study investigated the nature of writing plan quality and its relationship to the ensuing writing scores. Data were drawn from the 1998 Provincial Learning Assessment Programme (PLAP) in Writing, which was administered to pupils in Grades 4, 7, and 10 across British Columbia, Canada. Common features…

  12. Evaluation of Twitter Users Writings about Teachers in Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yavuz, Mustafa

    2014-01-01

    As a social sharing network whose number of users worldwide continues to rapidly increase, Twitter has become an active network for individuals to share their thoughts and feelings at any given time. The purpose of this work, then, is to evaluate Twitter users of Turkey in terms of how they write about their teachers on Twitter. In order to…

  13. Physical and postural aspects of teachers during work activity.

    PubMed

    da Silva, Nilson Rogério; Almeida, Maria Amélia

    2012-01-01

    Studies indicate that teachers constitute a professional segment, in which the work characteristics and the demands originating from the act of teaching, favor the emergence of sickness, concerning physical or emotional aspects. The present work aimed to describe physical and postural aspects during the working activity of teachers. A total of 120 elementary school teachers (1st to 8th grade) took part in the survey. For data collection, a questionnaire was applied: it included personal and occupational information, perception of discomfort and being off work; physical strength activities; posture at work and physical conditioning activities. The average age of teachers of the present sample corresponds to 35,8 years. In relation to activities which generate more physical strength, the answer none of the activities was predominant with 30 answers; followed by writing on the board, standing up during the period of classes, explanation of the subjects, class elaboration, correction of homework and others. The area of the body with higher amount of occurrences and prevalent discomfort referred to the lower limbs and spinal cord. These data inform the necessity of investing in prevention programs for the teachers, in order to develop strategies into the organizational context and interventions at the work environment.

  14. Teachers' reported practices for teaching writing in England.

    PubMed

    Dockrell, Julie E; Marshall, Chloë R; Wyse, Dominic

    To date there have been no systematic studies examining the ways in which teachers in England focus and adapt their teaching of writing. The current study addresses this gap by investigating the nature and frequency of teachers' approaches to the teaching of writing in a sample of English primary schools, using the 'simple view of writing' as a framework to examine the extent to which different aspects of the writing process are addressed. One hundred and eighty-eight staff from ten different schools responded to an online questionnaire. Only the data from class teachers (n = 88) who responded to all items on the questionnaire were included in the final analyses. Respondents enjoyed teaching writing and felt prepared to teach it. However, despite feeling that they were effective in identifying approaches to support students' writing, nearly half reported that supporting struggling writers was problematic for them. Overall teachers reported more work at word level, occurring several times a week, than with transcription, sentence or text levels, which were reported to occur weekly. Planning, reviewing and revising occurred least often, only monthly. For these variables no differences were found between teachers of younger (age 4-7) and older students (age 8-11). By contrast, an examination of specific aspects of each component revealed differences between the teachers of the two age groups. Teachers of younger students focused more frequently on phonic activities related to spelling, whereas teachers of older students focussed more on word roots, punctuation, word classes and the grammatical function of words, sentence-level work, and paragraph construction.

  15. The Contribution of the Parietal Lobes to Speaking and Writing

    PubMed Central

    Wise, Richard J. S.

    2010-01-01

    The left parietal lobe has been proposed as a major language area. However, parietal cortical function is more usually considered in terms of the control of actions, contributing both to attention and cross-modal integration of external and reafferent sensory cues. We used positron emission tomography to study normal subjects while they overtly generated narratives, both spoken and written. The purpose was to identify the parietal contribution to the modality-specific sensorimotor control of communication, separate from amodal linguistic and memory processes involved in generating a narrative. The majority of left and right parietal activity was associated with the execution of writing under visual and somatosensory control irrespective of whether the output was a narrative or repetitive reproduction of a single grapheme. In contrast, action-related parietal activity during speech production was confined to primary somatosensory cortex. The only parietal area with a pattern of activity compatible with an amodal central role in communication was the ventral part of the left angular gyrus (AG). The results of this study indicate that the cognitive processing of language within the parietal lobe is confined to the AG and that the major contribution of parietal cortex to communication is in the sensorimotor control of writing. PMID:19531538

  16. Writing To Learn History in the Intermediate Grades. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Downey, Matthew T.

    A study examined the relationship between writing activities and historical learning by elementary school students. Subjects in schools in the San Francisco Bay area were drawn from third-grade classrooms from a predominantly working class neighborhood, a mixed fourth-grade class of mostly limited-English-proficient children of immigrants from…

  17. Digital Stories: Bringing Multimodal Texts to the Spanish Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oskoz, Ana; Elola, Idoia

    2016-01-01

    Despite the availability and growing use of digital story software for authoring and instructional purposes, little is known about learners' perceptions on its integration in the foreign language writing class. Following both a social semiotics approach and activity theory, this study focuses on six advanced Spanish learners' perceptions about the…

  18. Teaching Pharmacology Graduate Students how to Write an NIH Grant Application

    PubMed Central

    O’Donnell, Lauren A.; Surratt, Christopher K.

    2015-01-01

    Objective. To fill the gap in grant writing training in pharmacology graduate education using an active-learning strategy. Design. Graduate students wrote subsections of a grant according to NIH guidelines. Students revised their applications based on multiple rounds of critiques from professors and peers throughout a semester-long scientific writing course. Assessment. Prerevision and postrevision grant drafts were graded. Students were provided with questionnaires assessing their perception of the process. To determine the impact of feedback on the proposals, the quality of the pre/postrevision drafts was assessed by professors who were blinded and unaffiliated with the course. Conclusion. Student grades improved significantly upon resubmission. Perceptions of the proposals by blinded faculty members favored revised submissions based on multiple criteria. Survey feedback indicated an increase in student confidence in grant writing ability. The results of 3 independent measures demonstrate that intensive feedback on scientific writing improved the quality of student proposals. PMID:28435165

  19. A Journal-Club-Based Class that Promotes Active and Cooperative Learning of Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kitazono, Ana A.

    2010-01-01

    A journal-club-based class has been developed to promote active and cooperative learning and expose seniors in biochemistry and cellular molecular biology to recent research in the field. Besides giving oral presentations, students also write three papers: one discussing an article of their own choosing and two, discussing articles presented by…

  20. Imagining a Future for the Planet through Literature, Writing, Images, and Drama

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beach, Richard

    2015-01-01

    This Commentary posits the need to analyze how the energy/transportation, agricultural/food, and economic/political systems influence climate change through responding to literary "cli-fi" texts, place-based writing, visual representation of the effects of climate change, and drama activities.

  1. Research-based active-learning instruction in physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meltzer, David E.; Thornton, Ronald K.

    2013-04-01

    The development of research-based active-learning instructional methods in physics has significantly altered the landscape of U.S. physics education during the past 20 years. Based on a recent review [D.E. Meltzer and R.K. Thornton, Am. J. Phys. 80, 478 (2012)], we define these methods as those (1) explicitly based on research in the learning and teaching of physics, (2) that incorporate classroom and/or laboratory activities that require students to express their thinking through speaking, writing, or other actions that go beyond listening and the copying of notes, or execution of prescribed procedures, and (3) that have been tested repeatedly in actual classroom settings and have yielded objective evidence of improved student learning. We describe some key features common to methods in current use. These features focus on (a) recognizing and addressing students' physics ideas, and (b) guiding students to solve problems in realistic physical settings, in novel and diverse contexts, and to justify or explain the reasoning they have used.

  2. "Thinking-for-Writing": A Prolegomenon on Writing Signed Languages.

    PubMed

    Rosen, Russell S; Hartman, Maria C; Wang, Ye

    2017-01-01

    In his article in this American Annals of the Deaf special issue that also includes the present article, Grushkin argues that the writing difficulties of many deaf and hard of hearing children result primarily from the orthographic nature of the writing system; he proposes a new system based on features found in signed languages. In response, the present authors review the literature on D/HH children's writing difficulties, outline the main percepts of and assumptions about writing signed languages, discuss "thinking-for-writing" as a process in developing writing skills, offer research designs to test the effectiveness of writing signed language systems, and provide strategies for adopting "thinking-for-writing" in education. They conclude that until empirical studies show that writing signed languages effectively reflects writers' "thinking-for-writing," the alphabetic orthographic system of English should still be used, and ways should be found to teach D/HH children to use English writing to express their thoughts.

  3. The Mediation of Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development through a Co-Constructed Writing Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Ian

    2013-01-01

    This article develops a theoretical understanding of the processes involved in the co-construction of a written text by a teacher and student from a Vygotskian perspective. Drawing on cultural-historical and sociocultural theories of writing and Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this case study of a student and teacher…

  4. Writing for Change: Research as Public Pedagogy and Arts-Based Activism. Critical Qualitative Research. Volume 8

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robson, Claire

    2012-01-01

    In its analysis of the potential and realities of narrative inquiry, "Writing for Change" is both theoretical and highly practical, offering a way to conceptualize this kind of research and providing concrete suggestions as to how it might be conducted. With its emphasis on arts-based activist education, the book also contributes to current…

  5. Generating Cultures of Writing: Collaborations between the Stanford Writing Center and High School Writing Centers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tinker, John

    2006-01-01

    For several years, the author has been working with colleagues in the Northern California Writing Centers Association (NCWCA) and the Stanford Writing Center to build bridges between college and high school writing centers. The writing center at Stanford defines one of its central goals as "celebrating a culture of writing" for all…

  6. What Is Good Writing? Proceedings of a Conference at the University of Connecticut (Storrs, Connecticut, December 6, 1980).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheidley, William E., Ed.; And Others

    The focus of the conference proceedings in this booklet was evaluation of student writing at various levels and in various fields. The booklet contains a schedule of activities; a description of the morning session, which included a panel discussion on evaluating writing in college freshman composition courses; examples of students' papers, with…

  7. Exercising self-control increases relative left frontal cortical activation.

    PubMed

    Schmeichel, Brandon J; Crowell, Adrienne; Harmon-Jones, Eddie

    2016-02-01

    Self-control refers to the capacity to override or alter a predominant response tendency. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, as revealed by patterns of electrical activity in the prefrontal cortex. Participants completed a writing task that did vs did not require them to exercise self-control. Then they viewed pictures known to evoke positive, negative or neutral affect. We assessed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity while participants viewed the pictures, and participants reported their trait levels of behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity at the end of the study. We found that exercising (vs not exercising) self-control increased relative left frontal cortical activity during picture viewing, particularly among individuals with relatively higher BAS than BIS, and particularly during positive picture viewing. A similar but weaker pattern emerged during negative picture viewing. The results suggest that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, which may help to explain the aftereffects of self-control (i.e. ego depletion). © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. 29 CFR 1400.735-12 - Outside employment, business activities, or interests (paid or unpaid).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... information in our society. Such activities, if remuneration is anticipated, must not be dependent on... available to others, at least on request. (2) This provision does not, of course, prevent the Director from... publication thereof. Advance approval by the Director, before undertaking the research or writing, is not...

  9. Teaching Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tomas, Z.; Kostka, I.; Mott-Smith, J. A.

    2013-01-01

    The authors of "Teaching Writing" draw on their years of teaching and their knowledge of theory and research to present major concepts in teaching L2 writing. These concepts encompass how cultural differences affect the writing class, planning instruction, text-based writing, writing strategies, modeling, and responding to student…

  10. Dopaminergic neurons write and update memories with cell-type-specific rules

    PubMed Central

    Aso, Yoshinori; Rubin, Gerald M

    2016-01-01

    Associative learning is thought to involve parallel and distributed mechanisms of memory formation and storage. In Drosophila, the mushroom body (MB) is the major site of associative odor memory formation. Previously we described the anatomy of the adult MB and defined 20 types of dopaminergic neurons (DANs) that each innervate distinct MB compartments (Aso et al., 2014a, 2014b). Here we compare the properties of memories formed by optogenetic activation of individual DAN cell types. We found extensive differences in training requirements for memory formation, decay dynamics, storage capacity and flexibility to learn new associations. Even a single DAN cell type can either write or reduce an aversive memory, or write an appetitive memory, depending on when it is activated relative to odor delivery. Our results show that different learning rules are executed in seemingly parallel memory systems, providing multiple distinct circuit-based strategies to predict future events from past experiences. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16135.001 PMID:27441388

  11. Reading and Writing in Multimodal Contexts: Exploring the Deictic Nature of Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bailey, Margaret Denice

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the reading and writing processes that seventh-graders used in hypertext versus traditional print environments. Additionally, it considered the impact of incorporating technology and collaboration into pedagogical practice. Three separate literacy activities involved students in finding information, creating presentations, and…

  12. The anatomy and art of writing a successful grant application: a practical step-by-step approach.

    PubMed

    Gholipour, Ali; Lee, Edward Y; Warfield, Simon K

    2014-12-01

    Writing a compelling grant application is a skill that is crucial to conducting high-quality and high-impact scientific research. A successful grant proposal provides the resources necessary to foster activity in an important area of investigation. A concise and practical overview of the anatomy and art of grant writing is provided in this article, along with citations to resources that are particularly useful for junior investigators.

  13. Data-Based Active Learning in the Principles of Macroeconomics Course: A Mock FOMC Meeting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whiting, Cathleen

    2006-01-01

    The author presents an active-learning exercise for the introductory macroeconomics class in which students participate in a mock Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Preparation involves data gathering and writing both a research report and a policy recommendation. An FOMC meeting is simulated in which students give their policy…

  14. Constructing Glocal Identities through Multilingual Writing Practices on Flickr.com[R

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Carmen K. M.; Barton, David

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on a study of user-generated multilingual writing activities on the photo sharing site, Flickr.com[R]. It discusses how Flickr users deploy their multilingual resources when interacting with international audiences, the factors affecting their language choice, and how new multilingual identities are constructed. An exploratory…

  15. They All Have Something To Say: Helping Learning Disabled Students Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, Shirley S.; MacArthur, Charles A.

    1990-01-01

    A process approach to writing instruction with learning-disabled students is presented, in which students are guided through the processes of planning, drafting, and revising text. The model emphasizes the interaction of the teacher and learner through such activities as conferences, prompting, modeling, peer collaboration, and dialogues about…

  16. Examining the Impact of Writing and Literacy Connections on Mathematics Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Christie; Polly, Drew

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we examine how literacy connections with multiple step mathematics problems affected mathematics learning for 4th grade students. Three fourth grade teachers incorporated writing activities in their mathematics classroom for two weeks. The level of teacher scaffolding decreased as students progressed through the problems. The…

  17. How We Write: Understanding Scholarly Writing through Metaphor

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boyd, Michelle

    2012-01-01

    This article introduces the "writing metaphor" and examines why political scientists should consider developing one to describe their own writing process. Drawing on the author's experience with writing accountability groups, it defines the components of the writing metaphor, provides an example, and discusses its advantages and disadvantages. The…

  18. Walking the Line: Teaching Remedial Writing in a Correctional Facility.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crimmel, Henry Hays, III

    When teaching remedial writing in a correctional facility, a teacher may carry assumptions shaped by formal education that do not always translate to a prison context. These include the idea that the classroom will provide a sphere of intellectual activity, immune from heavy-handed institutional intrusions; that students will want to get to know…

  19. Wordplaygrounds: Reading, Writing, and Performing Poetry in the English Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Connor, John S.

    2004-01-01

    John S. O'Connor offers exciting new approaches to teaching poetry in middle school and high school classrooms with more than 25 high-interest activities designed to sharpen students' writing and self-understanding and heighten their awareness of the world around them. In the process, he demystifies poetry for teachers and students by using…

  20. 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…

  1. Activities and Accomplishments in Various Domains: Relationships with Creative Personality and Creative Motivation in Adolescence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hong, Eunsook; Peng, Yun; O'Neil, Harold F., Jr.

    2014-01-01

    This study examined relationships between five personal traits and adolescents' creative activities and accomplishments in five domains--music, visual arts, creative writing, science, and technology. Participants were 439 tenth graders (220 males and 219 females) in China. The relationships were examined using confirmatory factor analysis.…

  2. The Best of "Notes Plus": Practical Classroom Activities for Junior and Senior High School Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cline, Ruth K. J., Comp.

    This book is a collection of class activities and lesson plans from "NOTES Plus." The book focuses on three special columns from "NOTES Plus": "Classic of the Month,""Literature Assignment of the Month," and "Writing Assignment of the Month," that contain longer and more involved strategies for…

  3. Students' performance in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and writing.

    PubMed

    Capellini, Simone Aparecida; Lanza, Simone Cristina

    2010-01-01

    phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading and writing in students with learning difficulties of a municipal public school. to characterize and compare the performance of students from public schools with and without learning difficulties in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading and writing. participants were 60 students from the 2nd to the 4th grades of municipal public schools divided into 6 groups. Each group was composed by 10 students, being 3 groups of students without learning difficulties and 3 groups with students with learning difficulties. As testing procedure phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, oral reading and writing under dictation assessments were used. the results highlighted the better performance of students with no learning difficulties. Students with learning difficulties presented a higher ratios considering time/speed in rapid naming tasks and, consequently, lower production in activities of phonological awareness and reading and writing, when compared to students without learning difficulties. students with learning difficulties presented deficits when considering the relationship between naming and automatization skills, and among lexical access, visual discrimination, stimulus frequency use and competition in using less time for code naming, i.e. necessary for the phoneme-grapheme conversion process required in the reading and writing alphabetic system like the Portuguese language.

  4. Polymer electro-optic waveguide devices: Low-loss etchless fabrication techniques and passive-to-active integration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geary, Kevin

    The development of high-frequency polymer electro-optic modulators has seen steady and significant progress in recent years, yet applications of these promising materials to more complicated integrated optic structures and arrays of devices have been limited primarily due to high optical waveguide loss characteristics. This is unfortunate since a major advantage of polymers as photonic materials is their compatibility with photolithographic processing of large components. In this Dissertation, etchless waveguide writing techniques are presented in order to improve the overall optical insertion loss of electro-optic polymer waveguide devices. These techniques include poling-induced writing, stress-induced waveguide writing, and photobleaching. Using these waveguide writing mechanisms, we have demonstrated straight waveguides, phase modulators, Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators, variable optical attenuators, and multimode interference (MMI) power splitters, all with improved loss characteristics over their etched rib waveguide counterparts. Ultimately, the insertion loss of an integrated optic device is limited by the actual material loss of the core waveguide material. In this Dissertation, passive-to-active polymer waveguide transitions are proposed to circumvent this problem. These transitions are compact, in-plane, self-aligned, and require no tapering of any physical dimensions of the waveguides. By utilizing both the time-dependent and intensity-dependent photobleaching characteristics of electro-optic polymer materials, adiabatic refractive index tapers can be seamlessly coupled to in-plane butt couple transitions, resulting in losses as low as 0.1 dB per interface. By integrating passive polymer planar lightwave circuits with the high-speed phase shifting capability of electro-optic polymers, active wideband photonic devices of increased size and complexity can be realized. Optical fiber-to-device coupling can also result in significant contributions to the

  5. "The Writing Writes Itself": Deleuzian Desire and the Creative Writing MFA Degree

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker, Ginger Marie

    2017-01-01

    This post-qualitative inquiry project investigated subjectivity (sense of self) among graduates of creative writing Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs. The project asked how subjectivity is involved in the creative writing process and how that process fuels further writing after a creative piece (such as the MFA thesis) is completed. A…

  6. Technology-enhanced writing therapy for people with aphasia: results of a quasi-randomized waitlist controlled study.

    PubMed

    Marshall, Jane; Caute, Anna; Chadd, Katie; Cruice, Madeline; Monnelly, Katie; Wilson, Stephanie; Woolf, Celia

    2018-05-10

    Acquired writing impairment, or dysgraphia, is common in aphasia. It affects both handwriting and typing, and may recover less well than other aphasic symptoms. Dysgraphia is an increasing priority for intervention, particularly for those wishing to participate in online written communication. Effective dysgraphia treatment studies have been reported, but many did not target, or did not achieve, improvements in functional writing. Functional outcomes might be promoted by therapies that exploit digital technologies, such as voice recognition and word prediction software. This study evaluated the benefits of technology-enhanced writing therapy for people with acquired dysgraphia. It aimed to explore the impact of therapy on a functional writing activity, and to examine whether treatment remediated or compensated for the writing impairment. The primary question was: Does therapy improve performance on a functional assessment of writing; and, if so, do gains occur only when writing is assisted by technology? Secondary measures examined whether therapy improved unassisted written naming, functional communication, mood and quality of life. The study employed a quasi-randomized waitlist controlled design. A total of 21 people with dysgraphia received 12 h of writing therapy either immediately or after a 6-week delay. The primary outcome measure was a functional assessment of writing, which was administered in handwriting and on a computer with assistive technology enabled. Secondary measures were: The Boston Naming Test (written version), Communication Activities of Daily Living-2, Visual Analogue Mood Scales (Sad question), and the Assessment of Living with Aphasia. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to examine change on the outcome measures over two time points, between which the immediate group had received therapy but the delayed group had not. Pre-therapy, post-therapy and follow-up scores on the measures were also examined for all participants. Time × group

  7. Egocentric daily activity recognition via multitask clustering.

    PubMed

    Yan, Yan; Ricci, Elisa; Liu, Gaowen; Sebe, Nicu

    2015-10-01

    Recognizing human activities from videos is a fundamental research problem in computer vision. Recently, there has been a growing interest in analyzing human behavior from data collected with wearable cameras. First-person cameras continuously record several hours of their wearers' life. To cope with this vast amount of unlabeled and heterogeneous data, novel algorithmic solutions are required. In this paper, we propose a multitask clustering framework for activity of daily living analysis from visual data gathered from wearable cameras. Our intuition is that, even if the data are not annotated, it is possible to exploit the fact that the tasks of recognizing everyday activities of multiple individuals are related, since typically people perform the same actions in similar environments, e.g., people working in an office often read and write documents). In our framework, rather than clustering data from different users separately, we propose to look for clustering partitions which are coherent among related tasks. In particular, two novel multitask clustering algorithms, derived from a common optimization problem, are introduced. Our experimental evaluation, conducted both on synthetic data and on publicly available first-person vision data sets, shows that the proposed approach outperforms several single-task and multitask learning methods.

  8. Interprofessional pharmacy observation activity for third-year dental students.

    PubMed

    Conway, Susan E; Smith, Winter J; Truong, Teresa H; Shadid, Jill

    2014-09-01

    Interprofessional learning is a key component of today's health sciences education. Within a two-course series in dental pharmacology and therapeutics, a dental curriculum was revised to provide an interprofessional activity to expose dental students to a community pharmacy setting. The objectives of this activity were to augment students' learning about drug laws and prescription writing, as well as to foster interprofessional relationships and collaboration between pharmacists and dentists. Dental students were scheduled for one-hour observations at community pharmacies on campus. Learning objectives to guide this activity focused on demonstrating community pharmacy operating procedures, identifying ways to minimize prescribing and dosing errors, and understanding how pharmacists can assist dentists in prescribing. Following the observation, students were required to submit a written assignment, which accounted for 14 percent of their course grade. All 119 dental students (100 percent) enrolled in the course for the summers of 2012 and 2013 completed the activity. The average grade on the written assignment was 96.2 out of 100. At the end of the course, students were asked to participate in an online course evaluation survey, for which response rates were 37 percent and 43 percent for 2012 and 2013, respectively. The students rated the pharmacy observation activity favorably on this course evaluation. The pharmacy observation activity provided a successful interprofessional component to the didactic pharmacy course and was well received by the dental students as well as the community pharmacists.

  9. Using Writing as a Constructivist Instructional Tool

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, M.

    2006-12-01

    Researchers in the area of cognitive science and educational psychology have shown that instructors who encourage student writing are actually helping in motivating a reluctant pupil. It has also been reported that writing indirectly rewards an individual with dynamic interest. Furthermore, it is believed that writing strengthens the self-confidence of a lethargic learner. (Kosakowski, 1998). All in all, promoting writing helps and supports learners cultivate a positive attitude toward the subject matter in question. The constructivist approach promotes a learning paradigm and helps individuals learn and understand by "constructing" knowledge. Learners are effectively encouraged to generate and build their own knowledge base. Learners document progress by constructing new concepts based on previously gained knowledge. The role of the teacher is actually to facilitate the creation of a learning environment. The constructivist approach when used in the classroom enables the students to become more active, independent thinkers of knowledge. Education World writer Gloria Chaika (Chaika, 2000) states that "Talent is important, but practice creates the solid base that allows that unique talent to soar. Like athletes, writers learn by doing. Good writing requires the same kind of dedicated practice that athletes put in. Young writers often lack the support they need to practice writing and develop their talent to the fullest, though." The author has successfully utilized some of these principles and techniques in a senior level course he teaches. He has encouraged students to try to solve problems their own way and has asked them to observe, document, assess and evaluate the results. In the classroom, the author takes the role of a coach and helps the students approach the problem with a different viewpoint. Eventually the students document their conclusions in a page-long essay. This type of writing assignment not only builds critical thinking abilities but also

  10. Effects of Interactive Chat versus Independent Writing on L2 Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tare, Medha; Golonka, Ewa M.; Vatz, Karen; Bonilla, Carrie L.; Crooks, Carolyn; Strong, Rachel

    2014-01-01

    This study examines the importance of interaction for second language (L2) acquisition by analyzing outcomes from two types of out-of-class activities. The study compared: (a) interactive homework, completed via text chat, and (b) individual homework, completed via independent writing. In a between-subjects design, participants in two…

  11. Preservice Teachers' Experiences Facilitating Writing Instruction in a Juvenile Detention Facility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pytash, Kristine E.

    2017-01-01

    A myriad of personal and contextual factors are important in understanding how preservice teachers learn to teach and why they adopt or reject certain teaching practices. Activity theory was used a framework in understand preservice teachers' experiences teaching writing during a field experience at a juvenile detention facility. The purposes of…

  12. 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…

  13. Chemistry for Kids: Generating Carbon Dioxide in Elementary School Chemistry and Using a Computer To Write about It.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schlenker, Richard M.; Yoshida, Sarah

    This material describes an activity using vinegar and baking soda to generate carbon dioxide, and writing a report using the Appleworks word processing program for grades 3 to 8 students. Time requirement, relevant process skills, vocabulary, mathematics skills, computer skills, and materials are listed. Activity procedures including class…

  14. Technical writing versus technical writing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dillingham, J. W.

    1981-01-01

    Two terms, two job categories, 'technical writer' and 'technical author' are discussed in terms of industrial and business requirements and standards. A distinction between 'technical writing' and technical 'writing' is made. The term 'technical editor' is also considered. Problems inherent in the design of programs to prepare and train students for these jobs are discussed. A closer alliance between industry and academia is suggested as a means of preparing students with competent technical communication skills (especially writing and editing skills) and good technical skills.

  15. 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…

  16. 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…

  17. Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers' Adventure. A Guide for Educators and Students with Activities in Aeronautics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benson, T.; Galica, C.; McCredie, P.; Storm, R.

    2003-01-01

    This guide was produced by the NASA Glenn Research Center Office of Educational Programs in Cleveland, OH, and the NASA Aerospace Educational Coordinating Committee. It includes activity modules for students, including the history of the Wright Brothers and their family in Dayton, Ohio and flight experimentation in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Student activities such as building models of the Wright Brothers glider and writing press releases of the initial flight are included.

  18. Negotiating Pedagogy Development: Learning to Teach Writing in a Service-Learning Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kelley, Karen S.; Hart, Steven; King, James R.

    2007-01-01

    Research has called for courses to be developed that provide preservice teachers opportunities to actively engage their pedagogies under construction in order to effectively translate their beliefs into sound instructional practice. This article presents research that examined how a service-learning writing tutoring program affected preservice…

  19. Final Report for Grant "Direct Writing via Novel Aromatic Ladder Polymer Precursors"

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

    C. B. Gorman

    2010-10-29

    This report describes activities and findings under the above entitled grant. These pertain to the development of new synthetic routes to novel precursor polymers and oligomers that are applicable for conversion from electrical insulators to electrical conductors under the application of light (e.g. direct photolithographic writing)

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. Powerful Letter Writing: Students Discover the Power of the Pen(cil).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neuhauser, Sandra P.

    Students can better experience the impact of written words by the response of a real audience. This paper describes a letter-writing activity for sixth graders in which the students first identified and discussed real-life happenings which had caused disappointments with companies that had produced faulty items. They then obtained all the…

  3. Using Writing and Culture to Teach Science Content to Preservice Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saint-Hilaire, Line Augustin

    2013-01-01

    This article describes how the incorporation of a writing assignment, creating a book about culture and science, into the syllabus of methods science course for preservice teachers, was used to foster science content learning. Preservice teachers were actively and purposely engaged in science learning through the generation of a book about a…

  4. Cloud Computing Technologies in Writing Class: Factors Influencing Students' Learning Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Jenny

    2017-01-01

    The proposed interactive online group within the cloud computing technologies as a main contribution of this paper provides easy and simple access to the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) system and delivers effective educational tools for students and teacher on after-class group writing assignment activities. Therefore, this study…

  5. Writing Instruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richgels, Donald J.

    2003-01-01

    Discusses four recent writing books: "Teaching to Write: Theory Into Practice" (Jane B. Hughey and Charlotte Slack); "The Writing Teacher's Handbook" (Jo Phenix); "Scaffolding Young Writers: A Writers' Workshop Approach" (Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos); and "Directing the Writing Workshop: An Elementary Teacher's Handbook" (Jean Wallace Gillet…

  6. Learning to Write with Interactive Writing Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Cheri

    2018-01-01

    Interactive writing is a process-oriented instructional approach designed to make the composing and encoding processes of writing overt and explicit for young students who are learning to write. It is particularly suitable for students who struggle with literacy learning. This article describes one first-grade teacher's use of interactive writing…

  7. Influence of stationary lateral vibrations on train passengers' difficulty to read and write.

    PubMed

    Sundström, Jerker; Khan, Shafiquzzaman

    2008-11-01

    Recent studies on train passengers' activities found that many passengers were engaged in some form of work, e.g. reading and writing, while traveling by train. A majority of the passengers reported that they were disturbed by vibrations or motions during their journey. A laboratory study was therefore set up to study how stationary low-frequency lateral vibrations influence the difficulty to read and write. The study involved 48 subjects (24f+24m) divided into three age groups. Two levels of sinusoidal vibrations were applied at nine discrete frequencies (0.8-8.0 Hz). Subjects performed both reading and writing tasks under two sitting positions (leaning against the backrest and leaning over a table). The judgments of perceived difficulty to read and write were rated using Borg's CR-100 scale. The results showed significant differences between the tasks and postural conditions. The subjects reported greater difficulty while reading and writing on the table than while leaning back. The frequencies up to 5 Hz had a particular influence on the perceived difficulty.

  8. Any Letter for Me? Relationships between an Elementary School Letter Writing Program and Student Attitudes, Literacy Achievement, and Friendship Culture

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chohan, Sukhdeep Kaur

    2011-01-01

    This study involved the development, implementation, and assessment of a comprehensive schoolwide mailing program as a practical tool to communicate enthusiasm towards writing to children and actively engage them in letter writing. The author played the dual role of teacher-researcher and worked for one school year with one teacher from each grade…

  9. 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…

  10. Europe: Language Arts around the World, Volume I. Cross Curricular Activities for Grades 4-6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Lucy

    Suggesting that students in the intermediate grades can explore the world around them and practice valuable skills in spelling, reading, writing, communication, and language, this book presents cross-curricular units designed to integrate language-arts activities into the study of European cultures. The units in the book reach diverse needs by…

  11. Complexity in Student Writing: The Relationship between the Task and Vocabulary Uptake

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolsey, Thomas D.

    2010-01-01

    Cognitive flexibility theory posits that some tasks or cognitive activities resist oversimplification, a lens through which the present study is cast. High school writing tasks that promote complex thinking may also promote increased uptake of academic vocabulary. The study described in this article demonstrates how essential questions and other…

  12. Characterization of Viscoelastic Materials Through an Active Mixer by Direct-Ink Writing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Drake, Eric

    The goal of this thesis is two-fold: First, to determine mixing effectiveness of an active mixer attachment to a three-dimensional (3D) printer by characterizing actively-mixed, three-dimensionally printed silicone elastomers. Second, to understand mechanical properties of a printed lattice structure with varying geometry and composition. Ober et al defines mixing effectiveness as a measureable quantity characterized by two key variables: (i) a dimensionless impeller parameter (O ) that depends on mixer geometry as well as Peclet number (Pe) and (ii) a coefficient of variation (COV) that describes the mixer effectiveness based upon image intensity. The first objective utilizes tungsten tracer particles distributed throughout a batch of Dow Corning SE1700 (two parts silicone) - ink "A". Ink "B" is made from pure SE1700. Using the in-site active mixer, both ink "A" and "B" coalesce to form a hybrid ink just before extrusion. Two samples of varying mixer speeds and composition ratios are printed and analyzed by microcomputed tomography (MicroCT). A continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) model is applied to better understand mixing behavior. Results are then compared with computer models to verify the hypothesis. Data suggests good mixing for the sample with higher impeller speed. A Radial Distrubtion Function (RDF) macro is used to provide further qualitative analysis of mixing efficiency. The second objective of this thesis utilized three-dimensionally printed samples of varying geometry and composition to ascertain mechanical properties. Samples were printed using SE1700 provided by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with a face-centered tetragonal (FCT) structure. Hardness testing is conducted using a Shore OO durometer guided by a computer-controlled, three-axis translation stage to provide precise movements. Data is collected across an 'x-y' plane of the specimen. To explain the data, a simply supported beam model is applied to a single unit cell which yields

  13. Additive Manufacturing of Catalytically Active Living Materials.

    PubMed

    Saha, Abhijit; Johnston, Trevor G; Shafranek, Ryan T; Goodman, Cassandra J; Zalatan, Jesse G; Storti, Duane W; Ganter, Mark A; Nelson, Alshakim

    2018-04-25

    Living materials, which are composites of living cells residing in a polymeric matrix, are designed to utilize the innate functionalities of the cells to address a broad range of applications such as fermentation and biosensing. Herein, we demonstrate the additive manufacturing of catalytically active living materials (AMCALM) for continuous fermentation. A multi-stimuli-responsive yeast-laden hydrogel ink, based on F127-dimethacrylate, was developed and printed using a direct-write 3D printer. The reversible stimuli-responsive behaviors of the polymer hydrogel inks to temperature and pressure are critical, as they enabled the facile incorporation of yeast cells and subsequent fabrication of 3D lattice constructs. Subsequent photo-cross-linking of the printed polymer hydrogel afforded a robust elastic material. These yeast-laden living materials were metabolically active in the fermentation of glucose into ethanol for 2 weeks in a continuous batch process without significant reduction in efficiency (∼90% yield of ethanol). This cell immobilization platform may potentially be applicable toward other genetically modified yeast strains to produce other high-value chemicals in a continuous biofermentation process.

  14. Children's Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacPhee, Angus

    1971-01-01

    The proper approach to children's writing from an educational point of view is discussed. The point is made that there is something fundamentally wrong with the current approach in children's writing. Current books on children's writing deal only with children's writing. It is recommended that any program which aims to be efficient in the teaching…

  15. Lessons Over a Decade of Writing About Scientific Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beitler, J.; Collins, S. R.; Naranjo, L.

    2006-12-01

    For eleven years, the NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) have sponsored writing about research and applications using NASA remote sensing data. The publication, NASA: Supporting Earth System Science, is premised on stimulating scientific curiosity and leading a broad audience carefully into the challenging puzzles that researchers address with the help of remote-sensing data. The National Snow and Ice Data Center, one of the NASA DAACs, has handled the challenge of telling these stories across multiple science disciplines, researching and writing ten to twelve articles each year. Our approach centers on quality science. We preserve its complexity, and attract and stimulate audience interest by placing scientific endeavor at center stage. We propose to share our experiences, successes, and strategies with others who are interested in telling stories that highlight the essential nature of data in the scientific enterprise. We have learned how to write engagingly about abstract, long-term research projects involving a lot of math and physics, in ways that appeal to both scientific and lay readers. We will also talk about the skills and resources that we consider necessary to write informative data stories. We welcome leads on scientific research topics that use NASA remote sensing data. Talk to us at the conference, or write us at nasadaacs@nsidc.org. View our eleventh annual publication as well as past stories online at http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/articles/index.html, or stop by the NASA booth to pick up a color copy.

  16. Anxiety over EFL Speaking and Writing: A View from Language Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gkonou, Christina

    2011-01-01

    The assumption that foreign language learners experience a high level of anxiety mainly when faced with speaking activities implies that research should focus on those learners prone to anxiety over that skill. Despite not being widely investigated, foreign language writing anxiety also seems to be a concern for a large number of students. Drawing…

  17. Formative Assessment as Educational and Administrative Adhesive: Establishing an Elementary School Writing Center.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilcox, Brad; Black, Sharon; Anstead, Marcia Howell

    1997-01-01

    Describes the collaboration between a university and an elementary school to establish a writing center at the elementary school, staffed by university students (preservice teachers). Describes the crucial role of ongoing formative assessment activity for both elementary students and the university preservice teachers. (SR)

  18. Writing Inspired

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tischhauser, Karen

    2015-01-01

    Students need inspiration to write. Assigning is not teaching. In order to inspire students to write fiction worth reading, teachers must take them through the process of writing. Physical objects inspire good writing with depth. In this article, the reader will be taken through the process of inspiring young writers through the use of boxes.…

  19. Sports Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grubaugh, Karl

    2003-01-01

    Lists the following 10 tips for improved sports writing in high school publications: reporting comes before writing; do not try to do too much; show, do not tell; do not do game stories; avoid cliches; avoid "jock-talk"; use the drama of sports; do not write the obvious story; sports is also news; and read great sports writing. (PM)

  20. Direct-Write 3D Nanoprinting of Plasmonic Structures

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

    Winkler, Robert; Schmidt, Franz-Philipp; Karl-Franzens Univ.

    During the past decade, significant progress has been made in the field of resonant optics ranging from fundamental aspects to concrete applications. And while several techniques have been introduced for the fabrication of highly defined metallic nanostructures, the synthesis of complex, free-standing three-dimensional (3D) structures is still an intriguing, but so far intractable, challenge. Here, we demonstrate a 3D direct-write synthesis approach that addresses this challenge. Specifically, we succeeded in the direct-write fabrication of 3D nanoarchitectures via electron-stimulated reactions, which are applicable on virtually any material and surface morphology. Furthermore, by that, complex 3D nanostructures composed of highly compact, puremore » gold can be fabricated, which reveal strong plasmonic activity and pave the way for a new generation of 3D nanoplasmonic architectures that can be printed on-demand.« less

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.