Sample records for creative writing assignment

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arshavskaya, Ekaterina

    2015-01-01

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

  2. Personal, Expository, Critical, and Creative: Using Writing in Mathematics Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braun, Benjamin

    2014-01-01

    This article provides a framework for creating and using writing assignments based on four types of writing: personal, expository, critical, and creative. This framework includes specific areas of student growth affected by these writing styles. Illustrative sample assignments are given throughout for each type of writing and various combinations…

  3. Promoting Creative Tension within Collaborative Writing Groups.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ewald, Helen Rothschild; MacCallum, Virginia

    1990-01-01

    Describes a collaborative writing assignment which features a series of interconnected business messages arising out of a case study and including inhouse memos and an analytical report. Shows how the design of a collaborative writing assignment can foster creative rather than debilitative tension. (RS)

  4. Creative Writing and Learning in a Conceptual Astrophysics Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berenson, R.

    2012-08-01

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

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blue, Tim

    2006-01-01

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

  6. 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…

  7. Lost Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Writing Assigned at Howard University, 1919-31.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zaluda, Scott

    1998-01-01

    Examines writing assignments, articles, textbooks, and other expressions of faculty thinking from courses about relationships among education, writing, and society in philosophy, English, history, and sociology at Howard University, a historically black university. Finds writing assignments at once conservative, subversive, and creative, in a…

  8. Students' Evaluation of Writing Assignments in an Abnormal Psychology Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Procidano, Mary E.

    1991-01-01

    Presents a study in which students in an abnormal psychology class rated the usefulness of drafts for two writing assignments. Reports that a research proposal was more effective than a case study in generating interest in psychology and opportunity for creativity. Concludes that writing assignments should reflect important aspects of a…

  9. Integrating Levels of Critical Thinking into Writing Assignments for Introductory Psychology Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willis, A. Sandra

    Short analytical writing exercises were designed to develop critical thinking and writing skills; stimulate creative thinking and writing; promote learning of psychological concepts; and to assess student knowledge. Design of these assignments was based on Bloom's taxonomy of multiple levels of critical thinking: recall, comprehension,…

  10. The Mock Research Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Carlton

    2008-01-01

    The mock research paper combines creative writing with academic writing and, in the process, breaks down that binary. This article describes a writing assignment that offers an introduction to the college research paper genre. This assignment helps students focus on crafting an argument and learning genre conventions while postponing until the…

  11. 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…

  12. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Counting Pizza Toppings: A Creative Writing Learning Strategy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buchan, Laura; And Others

    1996-01-01

    This article describes the application of a proofreading mnemonic learning strategy for proofreading creative writing assignments. The mnemonic--Ninja Turtles Counting Pizza Toppings--reminds students to check their work for name, title, capitalization, punctuation, and transition words. Application of the strategy, possible pitfalls, and…

  13. Nudging Students into Writing Creatively (Teaching Ideas).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perreault, George; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Describes ideas for writing prompts and assignments proposed by three different teachers: (1) writing poems inspired by smells of herbs and spices; (2) writing about past perceptions and feelings after looking at a photograph; and (3) writing a "self-portrait." (TB)

  14. 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…

  15. Using the Lesson Cycle in Teaching Composition: A Plan for Creativity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robitaille, Marilyn M.

    Designed to combine the science and the art of teaching composition, this series of assignments encourages junior high and high school writing students to explore tone, original visual images, point of view, and other literary techniques. One assignment asks students to write a number of paragraphs alternately using sarcasm, humor, melancholy, and…

  16. Field Botany and Creative Writing: Where the Science of Writing Meets the Writing of Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Killingbeck, Keith

    2006-01-01

    Merging science and writing to enhance both subjects was the objective of a venture known as "Plant Notes." At first, teacher-written notes served as the inspiration for this writing assignment. Later, eclectic student-written novellas, poems, song lyrics, mnemonic devices, and field trip recollections made their way into "Plant Notes" and stole…

  17. The "Reverse Case Study:" Enhancing Creativity in Case-Based Instruction in Leadership Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Atkinson, Timothy N.

    2014-01-01

    In this application brief I share a case study assignment I used in my "Leadership in Complex Organizations" classes to promote creativity in problem solving. I sorted Ph.D. students into two teams and trained them to use creative writing techniques to "encode" theory into their own cases. A sense of competition emerged. Later,…

  18. Poetry in teaching pharmacology: Exploring the possibilities.

    PubMed

    Kalra, Juhi; Singh, Satendra; Badyal, Dinesh; Barua, Purnima; Sharma, Taruna; Dhasmana, Dinesh Chandra; Singh, Tejinder

    2016-10-01

    To explore poetry as a tool for active learning in linking knowledge and affective domains and to find if correlating learning with imagination can be used in "assessment for learning." After taking a conventional lecture on Asthma, a creative writing assignment in the form of poetry writing was given to the students. Different triggers were given to the students to channelize their thought pattern in a given direction that was linked to specific areas of academic relevance. Students were asked to reflect on this learning experience and the faculty was asked to evaluate the student assignment on a 5-point Likert scale. Most student groups scored well in the "overall assessment" of creative assignments and were rated as good or fair by the faculty. Students reflections were very informative and revealed that more than 90% of the students liked the exercise and many were too exuberant and liberal with emotional reactions that breathed positive. Around 5% students found the exercise average and another 5% found it very childish. Poetry writing turned out to be like a simulation exercise that linked academic knowledge, creativity, and the affective domain in an assumed scenario, rehearsed in free locales of mind. The metaphorical transition embedded in its subtle creation helped assess deeper understanding of the subject and the logical sequence of thought pattern.

  19. "Everybody Wants Somebody to Hear Their Story": High School Students Writing Screenplays

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bedard, Carol; Fuhrken, Charles

    2010-01-01

    Writing a screenplay was an assignment that was part of Storytelling Through Film, a program sponsored by the Austin Film Festival, a professional film organization. In six weeks, students in creative writing and English classes first learned about the genre of screenwriting and then wrote original screenplays. The curriculum was a collaborative…

  20. Release the Body, Release the Mind.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stoner, Martha Goff

    1998-01-01

    A college English teacher describes the anxiety and resentment of students during in-class writing assignments and the successful classroom use of meditation and body movement. Movement seemed to relax the students, change their attitudes, and release their creative impulses to write. Implications related to the body-mind connection are pondered.…

  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. High Impact Creative Pedagogy Using a Maker Model of Composition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bell, Stephanie

    2017-01-01

    This article recommends that faculty developers promote online writing assignments--from blogs to podcasts--that make use of the interactive tools of the "social Web." Unlike traditional essays, which are typically private documents exchanged between student and instructor, online writing tasks can become sites of engagement and…

  3. Poetry in teaching pharmacology: Exploring the possibilities

    PubMed Central

    Kalra, Juhi; Singh, Satendra; Badyal, Dinesh; Barua, Purnima; Sharma, Taruna; Dhasmana, Dinesh Chandra; Singh, Tejinder

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: To explore poetry as a tool for active learning in linking knowledge and affective domains and to find if correlating learning with imagination can be used in “assessment for learning.” Materials and Methods: After taking a conventional lecture on Asthma, a creative writing assignment in the form of poetry writing was given to the students. Different triggers were given to the students to channelize their thought pattern in a given direction that was linked to specific areas of academic relevance. Students were asked to reflect on this learning experience and the faculty was asked to evaluate the student assignment on a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Most student groups scored well in the “overall assessment” of creative assignments and were rated as good or fair by the faculty. Students reflections were very informative and revealed that more than 90% of the students liked the exercise and many were too exuberant and liberal with emotional reactions that breathed positive. Around 5% students found the exercise average and another 5% found it very childish. Conclusion: Poetry writing turned out to be like a simulation exercise that linked academic knowledge, creativity, and the affective domain in an assumed scenario, rehearsed in free locales of mind. The metaphorical transition embedded in its subtle creation helped assess deeper understanding of the subject and the logical sequence of thought pattern. PMID:28031611

  4. Creativity and Introductory Physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guilaran, Ildefonso (Fonsie) J.

    2012-01-01

    When I was an undergraduate physics major, I would often stay up late with my physics major roommate as we would digest the physics content we were learning in our courses and explore our respective imaginations armed with our new knowledge. Such activity during my undergraduate years was confined to informal settings, and the first formal creativity assignment in my physics education did not come until well into my graduate years when my graduate advisor demanded that I write a prospectus for my dissertation. I have often lamented the fact that the first formal assignment in which I was required to be creative, take responsibility for my own learning and research objectives, and see them to completion during my physics education came so late, considering the degree to which creative attributes are celebrated in the personalities of great physicists. In this essay I will apply some of the basic concepts as defined by creativity-related psychology literature to physics pedagogy, relate these concepts to the exchanges in this journal concerning Michael Sobel's paper "Physics for the Non-Scientist: A Middle Way," and provide the framework for a low-overhead creativity assignment that can easily be implemented at all levels of physics education.

  5. Rethinking Plagiarism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nealy, Chynette

    2011-01-01

    Plagiarism, presenting someone's words or other creative products as one's own, is a mandatory discussion and writing assignment in many undergraduate business communication courses. Class discussions about this topic tend to be lively, ranging from questions about simply omitting identified sources to different standards of ethical behaviors…

  6. Five Hundred Pages and a Topic of Her Own: Successfully Designing an Advanced Writing Course on 19th Century British Women Novelists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Phillips, Amy Criniti

    2009-01-01

    During the fourth year of Amy Phillips' teaching assistantship in the spring semester of 2008, she was asked to teach a 300-level advanced writing course in which she was given the creative freedom to design the syllabus, choose the textbooks, craft all assignments, and organize the course content. However, there was one stipulation: the course,…

  7. Sudden Fiction: What Is It?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tindall, James

    Initially an assignment for a library science class, this paper presents various definitions of the current creative writing phenomenon called "sudden fiction" (very short short stories with concise character sketches, and terse tales limited in length to several pages). The paper includes: (1) a list of well regarded sudden fiction…

  8. Between Writers: Exploring Literature from (Deep) Within.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lang, Frederick K.

    This paper provides a creative approach to developing literary understanding and writing ability in students in a college introduction to literature course. Eight assignments are described which pair literary works having some feature in common. A sample suggestion from the first group of exercises, concerned with characterization, is as follows:…

  9. A Tale of Four Electrons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burgmayer, Paul

    2011-01-01

    "A Tale of Four Electrons" is a creative writing assignment used with 10th-grade Honors Chemistry students. The project helps students consolidate their learning about bonding--an important unifying theme in chemistry--and answers questions such as (1) How are ionic, metallic, and covalent bonds related? (2) How do variations in electron…

  10. More than words: applying the discipline of literary creative writing to the practice of reflective writing in health care education.

    PubMed

    Kerr, Lisa

    2010-12-01

    This paper examines definitions and uses of reflective and creative writing in health care education classrooms and professional development settings. A review of articles related to writing in health care reveals that when teaching narrative competence is the goal, creative writing may produce the best outcomes. Ultimately, the paper describes the importance of defining literary creative writing as a distinct form of writing and recommends scholars interested in using literary creative writing to teach narrative competence study pedagogy of the field.

  11. 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.

  12. "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…

  13. Designing a Digital Story Assignment for Basic Writers Using the TPCK Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandi-Rao, Shoba; Sepp, Mary

    2014-01-01

    The process of digital storytelling allows basic writers to take a personal narrative and translate it into a multimodal and multidimensional experience, motivating a diverse group of writers with different learning styles to engage more creatively and meaningfully in the writing process. Digital storytelling has the capacity to contextualize…

  14. Creative writing in recovery from severe mental illness.

    PubMed

    King, Robert; Neilsen, Philip; White, Emma

    2013-10-01

    There is evidence that creative writing forms an important part of the recovery experience of people affected by severe mental illness. In this paper, we consider theoretical models that explain how creative writing might contribute to recovery, and we discuss the potential for creative writing in psychosocial rehabilitation. We argue that the rehabilitation benefits of creative writing might be optimized through focus on process and technique in writing, rather than content, and that consequently, the involvement of professional writers might be important. We describe a pilot workshop that deployed these principles and was well-received by participants. Finally, we make recommendations regarding the role of creative writing in psychosocial rehabilitation for people recovering from severe mental illness and suggest that the development of an evidence base regarding the effectiveness of creative writing is a priority. © 2012 The Authors; International Journal of Mental Health Nursing © 2012 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

  15. Digitizing Craft: Creative Writing Studies and New Media--A Proposal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koehler, Adam

    2013-01-01

    This article identifies and examines a digital arm of creative writing studies and organizes that proposal into four categories through which to theorize the "craft" of creative production, each borrowed from Tim Mayers's "(Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English Studies": process, genre, author, and…

  16. "Creative Writing as Freedom, Education as Exploration": Creative Writing as Literary and Visual Arts Pedagogy in the First Year Teacher-Education Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anae, Nicole

    2014-01-01

    The themed presentation at the Sydney Writers' Festival on May 25, 2013 entitled "Creative Writing as Freedom, Education as Exploration" brought together three key players in a discussion about imaginative freedom, and the evidence suggesting that the impact of creativity and creative writing on young minds held long lasting, ongoing…

  17. Creative Writing and Schiller's Aesthetic Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howarth, Peter

    2007-01-01

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

  18. Balancing Structure and Creativity in Culminating Projects for Liberal Arts Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kasman, Reva

    2014-01-01

    Liberal arts mathematics courses can provide non-majors the opportunity to connect mathematical topics with areas of personal interest. This article describes two end-of-unit writing assignments (on voting and graph theory) that have been structured so that each student is able to synthesize course material in a unique way, while ensuring a…

  19. 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.

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dali, Keren; Lau, Andrea; Risk, Kevin

    2015-01-01

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

  1. Exploring Processes of Collaborative Creativity--The Role of Emotions in Children's Joint Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vass, Eva

    2007-01-01

    This paper reports a study on children's classroom-based collaborative creative writing. Based on socio-cultural theory, the central aim of the research was to contribute to current understanding of young children's creativity, and describe ways in which peer collaboration can resource, stimulate and enhance classroom-based creative writing. The…

  2. Motivation and Creativity: Effects of Motivational Orientation on Creative Writers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amabile, Teresa M.

    This study directly tested the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity and extrinsic motivation is detrimental. Chosen because they identified themselves as actively involved in creative writing, 72 young adults participated in individual laboratory sessions where they were asked to write two brief poems. Before writing the…

  3. The Use of Computers to Aid the Teaching of Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sharples, Mike

    1983-01-01

    An analysis of the writing process is followed by a description of programs used in a computer-based creative writing scheme developed at Edinburgh University. An account of a project to study the program's effect on the creative writings of 11 year old pupils concludes the article. (EAO)

  4. Importance of Technical Writing in Engineering Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, M.

    2010-12-01

    It is important to recognize technical writing as a creative vehicle to communicate with the audience. It is indeed possible to motivate a reluctant learner by encouraging student writing combined with reading and research. John Kosakowski is of the opinion that writing assignments actually help to strengthen the self-confidence of a lethargic learner (Kosakowski, 1998). Researchers in the area of cognitive science and educational psychology are also of the opinion that encouraging students to writing actually helps the learners cultivate a positive attitude toward the subject matter in question. One must also recognize the fact that the students are indeed very reluctant to devote time and effort that requiress descriptive long writing assignments. One has to be more creative towards assignments that utilize problem-solving pedagogy (Saxe, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sims, 1995; Young & Young, 1999). 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.” Writing assignments have several key elements and the author has outlined below, some ideas for conducting assessment. 1. Identification of a purpose. 2. Focusing on the subject matter. 3. Attracting the attention of audience. 4. Format, flow and familiarity of the structure. 5. Observation of formality, voice and tone. 6. Promotion of critical thinking. 7. Importance of Logic and evidence-based reasoning. 8. Follows a realistic time line. 9. Process and procedure are properly outlined. References: Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Education, 13-24. Cox, M. D., Grasha, A., & Richlin, L. (1997, March). Town meeting. Between teaching model and learning model: Adapting and adopting bit by bit. Paper presented at the ninth annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching - West, Lake Arrowhead, CA. Narayanan, Mysore (2009). Assessment Based on the principles of Theodore Marchese. ASEE 116th Annual Conference and Exposition, Austin, TX. June 14-17, 2009. Paper # AC 2009-1532. Saxe, S. (1990, June). Peer influence and learning. Training and Development Journal, 42 (6), 50-53. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Currency Doubleday. Sims, R. R. (1992, Fall). Developing the learning climate in public sector training programs. Public Personnel Management, 21 (3), 335-346. Kosakowski, John, (1998). The Benefits of Information Technology. ERIC Digests; Technology Integration; Technology Role, ED0-IR-98-04 Chaika, Gloria (2000), Encourage Student Writing: Published on the Web, Education World http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech042.shtml

  5. Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans: Effectiveness Activities, Strategies, and Assignments for Classrooms and Communities. Critical Perspectives on Asian Pacific Americans #15

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Edith Wen-Chu, Ed.; Omatsu, Glenn, Ed.

    2006-01-01

    The legitimization of Asian American Studies as an academic discipline has led to the publication of new research, policy reports, and creative writing. Despite the plethora of new scholarship, many significant findings and critical ideas have failed to effectively reach college and high school students or the general American public. "Teaching…

  6. A Short Take on Evaluation and Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    James, David L.

    2008-01-01

    Creative writing has been the ugly stepsister in the English discipline for years. On one side, the literature scholars carry the torch for pure language, and, on the other side, the composition and rhetoric theorists approach writing like a science. Somewhere off in a dark corner, the creative writing staff loiters, getting paid to do nothing…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mallinger, Anita E.

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

  8. 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…

  9. Developing a Differentiated Model for the Teaching of Creative Writing to High Performing Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ngo, Thu Thi Bich

    2016-01-01

    Differentiating writing instruction has been a puzzling matter for English teachers when it comes to teaching creative writing to high potential and high performing (HPHP) students. The lack of differentiation in creative writing pedagogy for HPHP students in Australia is due to two major issues: (1) teachers' lack of high-level linguistic and…

  10. Learning from an Owl.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greeves, Adrian

    1988-01-01

    Describes one creative writing teacher's use of an owl as a focal point for writing activities and how the writing activities aided the students' personal and creative development. Provides samples of student writing. (ARH)

  11. The Writing Curriculum and the Student.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ediger, Marlow

    Writing must receive major emphasis in teaching-learning situations. There are important differences between creative endeavors and those that involve role learning and exact answers. Creativity emphasizes the novel, the unique, the original, and the open-ended. Creativity should stress writing across the curriculum, and should involve reading and…

  12. The Effect of Creative Drama Method on Pre-Service Classroom Teachers' Writing Skills and Attitudes towards Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erdogan, Tolga

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the study is to explore the effect of the creative drama method on pre-service classroom teachers' writing skills and attitudes towards writing. Additionally, the views of the pre-service teachers concerning the creative drama method were also investigated in the study. The participants of the study were 24 pre-service teachers studying…

  13. Deep Habits: Workshop as Critique in Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stukenberg, Jill

    2017-01-01

    The creative writing workshop, involving peer critique of manuscripts in progress, is deeply connected to many writerly habits of mind. As such, this article examines workshop as a signature pedagogy in creative writing. Through workshop, students develop awareness of their readers, understanding of how texts are created by readers and through…

  14. Literature as a Network: Creative-Writing Scholarship in Literary Magazines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Harriett E.

    2014-01-01

    With the increase in undergraduate and graduate programs for creative writing at institutions of higher education in North America, literary journals and magazines now serve as leading scholarly publishing outlets and research resources for creative-writing faculty and students. This study analyzes ten years of citations from nineteen leading…

  15. Power and Identity in the Creative Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leahy, Anna, Ed.

    2005-01-01

    This book remaps theories and practices for teaching creative writing at university and college level. This collection critiques well-established approaches for teaching creative writing in all genres and builds a comprehensive and adaptable pedagogy based on issues of authority, power, and identity. A long-needed reflection, this book shapes…

  16. Creative C.O.W. or a Moo Is Worth a Thousand Words.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bowers, Arla

    1987-01-01

    A teacher details a method, the Creative Concrete Operational Writing (Creative C.O.W.) program to provide an individualized structured approach to creative writing in the primary grades. Sample story plans and worksheets are included. (DB)

  17. Language Creativity and Co-Emergence of Form and Meaning in Creative Writing Tasks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tin, Tan Bee

    2011-01-01

    Drawing on various theoretical approaches to creativity and the emergentist perspectives, this study examines the opportunities for creative language use and emergence of complex language in creative writing tasks with high formal constraints (acrostics) and those with looser formal constraints (similes). It indicates that formal constraints lead…

  18. The Rise of Creative Writing Programmes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morrison, Blake

    2013-01-01

    Creative writing courses are growing in universities and outside them. Publishers and agents even turn to them now as sources of promise and talent. This article describes a particularly successful MA in creative writing at Goldsmiths College in London and makes a case for the popularity and the usefulness to universities, to aspiring writers and…

  19. Primary Pupils' Creative Writing: Enacting Identities in a Community of Writers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dobson, Tom; Stephenson, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    This paper focuses on a Community of Writers creative writing project where 25 primary school pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds took part in creative writing workshops over a 2-week period at a higher education institution. Using practitioner enquiry and discourse analysis, this paper views identity as participation in "figured…

  20. Creative Writing in America: Theory and Pedagogy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moxley, Joseph M., Ed.

    Intended for high school and college teachers who are interested in how creative writing can be taught effectively, this book features the ideas of poets, novelists, editors, and playwrights on the fundamental aspects of their craft. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Notes from a Cell: Creative Writing Programs in Isolation"…

  1. Embodied Learning and Creative Writing: An Action Research Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tobin, Jennifer Ann

    2012-01-01

    This action research study used narrative analysis to explore the role of the body in the writing process of creative writers. Specifically, the purpose of this action research study was threefold: it was first to examine how professional creative writers describe their writing process with particular attention to their perceptions of the role and…

  2. Improving the 5th Formers' Continuous Writing Skills through the Creative Writing Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murugiah, Mohana Ram

    2013-01-01

    Writing is a complex task. The development of students' writing skill depends on the teacher's teaching strategy and also the materials used in the writing lesson. In the present study, the effectiveness of a creative writing module was examined that was designed to improve the writing skill of a group of excellent students. It was added with…

  3. Why Literature Students Should Practise Life Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardell, Kylie; Douglas, Kate

    2018-01-01

    This article considers our experiences teaching a hybrid literature/creative writing subject called "Life Writing." We consider the value of literature students engaging in creative writing practice--in this instance, the nonfiction subgenre of life writing--as part of their critical literary studies. We argue that in practicing life…

  4. Creative Writing as a Teaching Tool.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Starkey, David, Ed.; And Others

    1995-01-01

    Offering the notion of writing pedagogy as a "bazaar with many booths," this collection of articles on teaching creative writing is focused on applicability to all levels of instruction. The 10 articles, after a Foreword by the editor, are, as follows: "Before Writing: Remember What Makes Writing Easy" (Donald M. Murray);…

  5. Re-Writing the Subject: Psychoanalytic Approaches to Creative Writing and Composition Pedagogy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Judith

    2001-01-01

    Suggests that the teaching of both composition and creative writing would benefit from focusing less exclusively on the writing process and products and more on the writing subject. Claims that focusing on the writing subject through the lens of psychoanalysis provides several potential benefits. Concludes psychoanalysis can be a filtrate for the…

  6. 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…

  7. Developing a Pedagogical-Technical Framework to Improve Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chong, Stefanie Xinyi; Lee, Chien-Sing

    2012-01-01

    There are many evidences of motivational and educational benefits from the use of learning software. However, there is a lack of study with regards to the teaching of creative writing. This paper aims to bridge the following gaps: first, the need for a proper framework for scaffolding creative writing through learning software; second, the lack of…

  8. The Impact of Teacher Training on Creative Writing and Problem-Solving Using Futuristic Scenarios for Creative Problem Solving and Creative Problem Solving Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hayel Al-Srour, Nadia; Al-Ali, Safa M.; Al-Oweidi, Alia

    2016-01-01

    The present study aims to detect the impact of teacher training on creative writing and problem-solving using both Futuristic scenarios program to solve problems creatively, and creative problem solving. To achieve the objectives of the study, the sample was divided into two groups, the first consist of 20 teachers, and 23 teachers to second…

  9. 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…

  10. Treating of Content-Based Instruction to Teach Writing Viewed from EFL Learners' Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaelani, Selamet Riadi

    2017-01-01

    The objectives of the research are to examine: (1) whether Content-Based Instruction is more effective than Problem-based learning to teach writing to the EFL Learners; (2) whether the EFL Learners having high creativity have better writing than those having low creativity; and (3) whether there is an interaction between teaching methods and EFL…

  11. 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.

  12. A House Divided: On the Future of Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andrews, Kimberly

    2009-01-01

    In this essay, the author argues that the current superficial reading practices in creative writing programs are serving not only to marginalize the discipline from the larger body of English studies, but also to stifle the creative, intellectual, and professional progress of its students. Reading for creative writers must be viewed as a critical…

  13. The Discourse of Collaborative Creative Writing: Peer Collaboration as a Context for Mutual Inspiration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vass, Eva; Littleton, Karen; Miell, Dorothy; Jones, Ann

    2008-01-01

    Drawing on socio-cultural theory, this paper focuses on children's classroom-based collaborative creative writing. The central aim of the reported research was to contribute to our understanding of young children's creativity, and describe ways in which peer collaboration can resource, stimulate and enhance classroom-based creative writing…

  14. What's Your Story?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stanistreet, Paul

    2008-01-01

    The Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project, a community centre run by the unemployed for the unemployed, unwaged and low-waged, has run periodic creative writing classes for 15 years. The centre's creative writing scheme, Salt and Vinegar, gives centre users an opportunity to write about their lives and to develop their writing skills. The…

  15. Exploring Connections between Creative Thinking and Higher Attaining Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Copping, Adrian

    2018-01-01

    This paper explores writing pedagogy in the primary classroom and connections between children thinking creatively and their achievement in writing. Initially 'continuing professional development' for teachers, I designed and facilitated a two-day writing workshop with a class of children around the theme of a Victorian murder mystery. This was…

  16. A Qualitative Case Study Comparing a Computer-Mediated Delivery System to a Face-to-Face Mediated Delivery System for Teaching Creative Writing Fiction Workshops

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniels, Mindy A.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this case study was to compare the pedagogical and affective efficiency and efficacy of creative prose fiction writing workshops taught via asynchronous computer-mediated online distance education with creative prose fiction writing workshops taught face-to-face in order to better understand their operational pedagogy and…

  17. Uniqueness, Integration or Separation? Exploring the Nature of Creativity through Creative Writing by Elementary School Students in Taiwan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chu, Tsai-Ling; Lin, Wei-Wen

    2013-01-01

    The primary goal of our study was to investigate the importance of originality in divergent thinking (DT) tests and to determine whether originality is the best reflection of creativity. To accomplish this, we cross-validated the DT test and creative writing task rating by consensual assessment technique (CAT). Thirty-seven elementary school…

  18. Can Games Help Creative Writing Students to Collaborate on Story-Writing Tasks?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, David

    2017-01-01

    Story writing is a complex semantic and creative task, and the difficulty of managing it is made greater by attempting to write in collaboration with others. This complication can deter students from experimenting with collaboration before mastering their own practice in relative privacy. Such reticence is in spite of the fact that there are many…

  19. Setting the Stage for Creative Writing: Plot Scaffolds for Beginning and Intermediate Writers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Day, Shannon

    2006-01-01

    Standardized writing tests focus more on content than mechanics, but writing instruction typically focuses more on mechanics than content. Plot scaffolds, can help teachers fix the balance and help foster creativity and originality in students' writing. In this practical guide, elementary and middle school teachers will find: (1) a research-based…

  20. Wearing the Shoe on the Other Foot: Teacher as Student Writer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, Mimi

    1989-01-01

    Describes the author's experience of taking two creative writing courses. Stresses the values that are taught: self-investment; avoidance of premature closure; seeing revision as discovery; experimentation; and trusting your own creative power--all necessary for good writing, whether academic or creative. (RAE)

  1. Close Reading and Creative Writing in Clinical Education: Teaching Attention, Representation, and Affiliation

    PubMed Central

    Charon, Rita; Hermann, Nellie; Devlin, Michael J.

    2015-01-01

    Medical educators increasingly have embraced literary and narrative means of pedagogy, such as the use of learning portfolios, reading works of literature, reflective writing, and creative writing, to teach interpersonal and reflective aspects of medicine. Outcomes studies of such pedagogies support the hypotheses that narrative training can deepen the clinician's attention to a patient and can help to establish the clinician's affiliation with patients, colleagues, teachers, and the self. In this article, the authors propose that creative writing in particular is useful in the making of the physician. Of the conceptual frameworks that explain why narrative training is helpful for clinicians, the authors focus on aesthetic theories to articulate the mechanisms through which creative and reflective writing may have dividends in medical training. These theories propose that accurate perception requires representation and that representation requires reception, providing a rationale for teaching clinicians and trainees how to represent what they perceive in their clinical work and how to read one another's writings. The authors then describe the narrative pedagogy used at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Since faculty must read what their students write, they receive robust training in close reading. From this training emerged the Reading Guide for Reflective Writing, which has been useful to clinicians as they develop their skills as close readers. This institution-wide effort to teach close reading and creative writing aims to equip students and faculty with the pre-requisites to provide attentive, empathic clinical care. PMID:26200577

  2. Close Reading and Creative Writing in Clinical Education: Teaching Attention, Representation, and Affiliation.

    PubMed

    Charon, Rita; Hermann, Nellie; Devlin, Michael J

    2016-03-01

    Medical educators increasingly have embraced literary and narrative means of pedagogy, such as the use of learning portfolios, reading works of literature, reflective writing, and creative writing, to teach interpersonal and reflective aspects of medicine. Outcomes studies of such pedagogies support the hypotheses that narrative training can deepen the clinician's attention to a patient and can help to establish the clinician's affiliation with patients, colleagues, teachers, and the self. In this article, the authors propose that creative writing in particular is useful in the making of the physician. Of the conceptual frameworks that explain why narrative training is helpful for clinicians, the authors focus on aesthetic theories to articulate the mechanisms through which creative and reflective writing may have dividends in medical training. These theories propose that accurate perception requires representation and that representation requires reception, providing a rationale for teaching clinicians and trainees how to represent what they perceive in their clinical work and how to read one another's writings. The authors then describe the narrative pedagogy used at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Because faculty must read what their students write, they receive robust training in close reading. From this training emerged the Reading Guide for Reflective Writing, which has been useful to clinicians as they develop their skills as close readers. This institution-wide effort to teach close reading and creative writing aims to equip students and faculty with the prerequisites to provide attentive, empathic clinical care.

  3. "Writing Our Stories": An Anti-Violence Creative Writing Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smitherman, Tracy; Thompson, Jeanie

    2002-01-01

    Juvenile offenders studied creative writing and had their work published in anthologies as part of a therapeutic program that is a partnership between a writers' forum and the Alabama Department of Youth Services. A curriculum was developed to train department staff and writers who participate. (SK)

  4. The Poet in the Warehouse. Creative Writing as Inquiry: Using Imaginative Writing To Explore Other Disciplines.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCue, Frances

    This master's project contains two essays and a long poem, examining the possibilities of creative writing as a tool of inquiry in mathematics, history, science, film, art, and architecture. The project's first essay, "The Poet in the Warehouse," introduces a brief history of imaginative writing and an argument for its inclusion in…

  5. The Influence of Working Memory on Reading and Creative Writing Processes in a Second Language.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abu-Rabia, Salim

    2003-01-01

    Investigates the working memory (WM) processing and storage functions; whether WM in writing follows the same process as in reading; and the influence of WM on creative writing. Focuses on high school students (n=47). Finds relationships between WM measures and reading and writing in English as a Second Language. Includes references. (CMK)

  6. Writing Is the Funnest Thing: Teaching Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Witter, Janet; Emberlin, Don

    1973-01-01

    This curriculum bulletin discusses a program teaching creative writing to fifth and sixth grade children in an attempt to improve the quality of written English. These children wrote briefly every day throughout the school year. Every area of the written language curriculum was covered. Each student wrote letters, reports, stories, editorial…

  7. Creative Writing Strategies of Young Children: Evidence from a Study of Chinese Emergent Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Si; Zhou, Jing

    2010-01-01

    The ways in which learning graphical representations can encourage the development of creativities in Chinese young children remain to be fully explored. Previous research on children's writing focused on children's symbolization with syllabic languages, providing little information regarding Chinese young children's symbolization and creative…

  8. Teaching Writing from a Writer's Point of View.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hermsen, Terry, Ed.; Fox, Robert, Ed.

    Based on a series of successful summer writing institutes, this book presents practical ways for teachers to reinvigorate their classrooms and their own attitudes toward creative writing. In four complementary sections focusing on four groups of writers--creative writers in residence, K-12 students and teachers who participated in the summer…

  9. The effect of observational learning on students' performance, processes, and motivation in two creative domains.

    PubMed

    Groenendijk, Talita; Janssen, Tanja; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; van den Bergh, Huub

    2013-03-01

    Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for example, argumentative writing and mathematics. The question in this paper is whether observational learning can also be beneficial when learning to perform creative tasks in visual and verbal arts. We hypothesized that observation has a positive effect on performance, process, and motivation. We expected similarity in competence between the model and the observer to influence the effectiveness of observation. Sample.  A total of 131 Dutch students (10(th) grade, 15 years old) participated. Two experiments were carried out (one for visual and one for verbal arts). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; two observational learning conditions and a control condition (learning by practising). The observational learning conditions differed in instructional focus (on the weaker or the more competent model of a pair to be observed). We found positive effects of observation on creative products, creative processes, and motivation in the visual domain. In the verbal domain, observation seemed to affect the creative process, but not the other variables. The model similarity hypothesis was not confirmed. Results suggest that observation may foster learning in creative domains, especially in the visual arts. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

  10. Creative Writing as Public Pedagogy: A Short History of My Life in the Movies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Michael

    2005-01-01

    In the early 1970's the author of this article decided to dedicate his life to two tasks. The first was to write politically and creatively in popular literary genres such as the detective novel for a larger public than one was likely to find through academic writing. The second was to write politically and inventively within the genres of…

  11. Creative Writing Class as Crucible

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barron, Monica

    2007-01-01

    In this article, the author relates her experiences as creative writing teacher and her views as a teacher in the aftermath of Virginia Tech shooting. As a teacher who had taught writing and literature for twenty years, the author had received a great deal of submissions from her students about serial killers, rapists, slashers, and murderers and…

  12. Spoonfuls of Justice, Fistfuls of Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rentz, Lisa Annelouise

    2005-01-01

    As a part of the artist-mentor program at Battery Creek High School, the author was there to share her creative writing process with the students and their teachers. This article describes creative writing in a Food and Nutrition class which the students put together in a literary cookbook, "Da Food." "Justice on a Page: Writing…

  13. Health-Related Effects of Creative and Expressive Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lowe, Geoff

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of some health-related effects of creative and expressive writing. Design/methodology/approach: Reviews some of the main research studies exploring links between expressive writing and aspects of health, including two new experimental studies showing effects of poetry on mood and immune…

  14. Plying at Poetic Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cobine, Gary R.

    Creative writing is not a magical art from magic wands, but an everyday practice in the hands of steady writers. Creative writing calls, above all, for self-discipline. Along with intellectual and emotional stamina, a poetic writer needs sensory awareness. The writer also forms a mysterious sixth sense--intuition. In search of the good words, the…

  15. 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…

  16. Meditation, Twilight Imagery, and Individuation in Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stewart, Richard D.

    A study explored the relationship between meditation, meditative journal writing, and the Jungian-archetypal notions of creative formulation and individuation or self-integration in student and non-student writing. A case study method was used to examine data from four subjects: an undergraduate, a social services worker, a doctoral student, and a…

  17. "Poetry Makes Nothing Happen:" Creative Writing and the English Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, Wendy

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines the processes of creative writing, exploring in particular how intuition and analysis, unconscious and conscious, work together, and how the social and the personal are involved in these processes. The author discusses her experience of writing a sustained narrative poem with lyrical elements, and then as a teacher-educator…

  18. Colors of a Different Horse: Rethinking Creative Writing Theory and Pedagogy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Wendy, Ed.; Ostrom, Hans, Ed.

    In considering exactly what takes place in creative writing classrooms, this collection of 22 essays reexamines the profession of writing teacher and ponders why certain practices and contexts prevail. The essays and their authors are as follows: "Introduction: Of Radishes and Shadows, Theory and Pedagogy" (Hans Ostrom); (1) "The…

  19. Becoming More than It Never (Actually) Was: Expressive Writing as Research-Creation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Truman, Sarah E.

    2016-01-01

    In this article the author combines Chinese literary theory and new materialism with her ongoing research into creative writing. In the opening section, the author discusses how language and writing can be approached using new materialist theories. She then enters into a creative non-fiction "research-creation" piece that explores how…

  20. Monsters under the Bed: Critically Investigating Early Years Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melrose, Andrew

    2012-01-01

    "Monsters Under the Bed" is an essential text focussing on critical and contemporary issues surrounding writing for "early years" children. Containing a critically creative and a creatively critical investigation of the cult and culture of the child and childhood in fiction and non-fictional writing, it also contains a wealth of ideas and critical…

  1. Creative Ageing? Selfhood, Temporality and the Older Adult Learner

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sabeti, Shari

    2015-01-01

    This paper is based on a long-term ethnography of an adult creative writing class situated in a major urban art gallery in the United Kingdom. It takes the claims of one group of older adults--that creative writing made them "feel younger"--as the starting point for exploring this connection further. It places these claims broadly within…

  2. 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)

  3. Here Comes the Bogeyman: Exploring Contemporary Issues in Writing for Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Melrose, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    "Here Comes the Bogeyman" is an essential text focussing on critical and contemporary issues surrounding writing for children. Containing a critically creative and a creatively critical investigation of the cult and culture of the child and childhood in fiction and non-fictional writing, it also contains a wealth of ideas and critical advice to be…

  4. Foundations for Creativity in the Writing Process: Rhetorical Representations of Ill-Defined Problems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carey, L. J.; Flower, Linda

    This report examines the composing processes of expert writers to determine which cognitive processes in expository writing produce an opportunity for a creative response. The first section considers how the ill-defined nature of many writing problems and the cognitive processes experts use to solve these problems interact to provide an…

  5. Come Talk Story: A Creative Writing Workshop in Hawai'i.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kahaney, Phyllis

    Because of her unfamiliarity with the culture, an experienced creative writing instructor in her first year of teaching on the big island of Hawaii decided to use the standard writing workshop model. The University of Hawaii Hilo draws a diverse mix of students, returning students, and local students who speak Creole. Some students were uncertain…

  6. A Current Bibliography of Chicano Literature: Creative and Critical Writings through 1984. Working Bibliography Series No. 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trujillo, Roberto G.; Rodriquez, Andres

    The bibliography lists 610 creative works, written by Mexicans and their descendents living or having lived in what is now the United States, published as books, unpublished dissertations of book length, periodical titles that include both creative and critical literary writings on the Chicano experience, and video and sound recordings. The…

  7. Ctrl F: A Scholar's Tips for Delving into the World of Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berchini, Christina

    2016-01-01

    In this experimental nonfiction essay, the author recounts her (many) experiences with having her creative work rejected by mainstream outlets. Detailing the blessing and the curse that is the "Ctrl Find" command, she pokes fun at the creative writing process, and links her difficulties as a writer to her work as a middle school Language…

  8. Creative and Critical Engagement: Constructing a Teen Vision of the World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DiMarzio, Erica; Dippre, Ryan

    2011-01-01

    Today's high-stakes testing world has changed the English classroom a great deal, and perhaps one of the most dramatically affected areas has been that of creative writing. As all English teachers well know, creative writing does not easily lend itself to a multiple-choice test or a five-paragraph essay. As the authors began the push to prepare…

  9. Effects of Hierarchical versus Sequential Structuring of Teaching Content on Creativity in Chinese Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheung, Wai Ming

    2011-01-01

    This research employed the Learning Study approach which refers to a blend of Japanese "lesson study" and design-based research to provide support to teachers to teach creatively in Chinese writing. It reports a serendipity finding that remarkable differences in the creativity scores among these classes were noted even though they had the same…

  10. Teaching in the Dark: The Promise and Pedagogy of Creative Writing in Prison

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Appleman, Deborah

    2013-01-01

    Deborah Appleman's recent research has focused on teaching college-level language and literature courses for incarcerated men. In this article, she discusses using creative writing as a way to unlock creative potential, to foster students' love of language, and to offer a powerful outlet for self-expression in a class she teaches with…

  11. Interaction effect of response medium and working memory capacity on creative idea generation

    PubMed Central

    Hao, Ning; Yuan, Huan; Cheng, Rui; Wang, Qing; Runco, Mark A.

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to examine the interaction effect of response medium (i.e., write down ideas and orally report ideas) and working memory capacity (WMC) on creative idea generation. Participants (N = 90) with higher or lower WMC were asked to solve Alternative Uses Task (AUT) problems in the condition of writing down or speaking out ideas. The results showed that fluency of AUT performance was higher in the writing than in the speaking condition. Additionally, participants with higher WMC performed better on AUT fluency than those with lower WMC in the writing condition, while they showed no difference in the speaking condition. Moreover, level of cognitive demand fully mediated the effect of response medium on AUT fluency. Theoretically, these findings indicated the importance of WMC in creative idea generation, which supported the controlled-attention theory of creativity. Practical implications and future directions were discussed. PMID:26528227

  12. Interaction effect of response medium and working memory capacity on creative idea generation.

    PubMed

    Hao, Ning; Yuan, Huan; Cheng, Rui; Wang, Qing; Runco, Mark A

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to examine the interaction effect of response medium (i.e., write down ideas and orally report ideas) and working memory capacity (WMC) on creative idea generation. Participants (N = 90) with higher or lower WMC were asked to solve Alternative Uses Task (AUT) problems in the condition of writing down or speaking out ideas. The results showed that fluency of AUT performance was higher in the writing than in the speaking condition. Additionally, participants with higher WMC performed better on AUT fluency than those with lower WMC in the writing condition, while they showed no difference in the speaking condition. Moreover, level of cognitive demand fully mediated the effect of response medium on AUT fluency. Theoretically, these findings indicated the importance of WMC in creative idea generation, which supported the controlled-attention theory of creativity. Practical implications and future directions were discussed.

  13. 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…

  14. Designing Creative Inter-Disciplinary Science and Art Interventions in Schools: The Case of Write a Science Opera (WASO)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ben-Horin, Oded; Chappell, Kerry A.; Halstead, Jill; Espeland, Magne

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this qualitative study is to provide theoretical knowledge and design principles for a creative educational environment characterized by simultaneous study and exploration of science or math, and the arts: Write a Science Opera (WASO). To do so, we used a theory of creativity in education which links collaborative co-creation in…

  15. Creative Thinking for 21st Century Composing Practices: Creativity Pedagogies across Disciplines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Sohui; Carpenter, Russell

    2015-01-01

    In this article, the authors explore the corpus of literature on creative thinking and applied creativity in higher education to help composition teacher-scholars and writing center practitioners improve the application of creativity in written, visual, and multimodal composing practices. From studies of creative thinking investigated across…

  16. Does One Stand to Gain by Combining Art with Philosophy? A Study of Fourth-Year College (13/14 Years of Age) Philosophical Writings Produced within the "Precphi/Philosophemes" Corpus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maire, Hélène; Auriac-Slusarczyk, Emmanuèle; Slusarsczyk, Bernard; Daniel, Marie-France; Thebault, Cathy

    2018-01-01

    Creative thinking is sometimes neglected by schools. Introducing philosophy in schools represents a commitment to balancing the development of logical and creative thinking, currently exercised only orally. In the present study, the focus is on writing. Firstly, the value of authentic pupil writings is underscored. The pupils and students studied…

  17. Writing Like a Scientist: Exploring Elementary Teachers' Understandings and Practices of Writing in Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glen, Nicole J.; Dotger, Sharon

    2013-10-01

    This qualitative study examined the connections between elementary teachers’ conceptions of how scientists use writing and how the teachers used writing during science lessons. Data collected included lesson observations, interviews, handouts to students, and curriculum resources. The findings revealed that teachers in this study thought scientists write for several purposes: the presentation of data, observations, experiences, procedures, and facts. The teachers used writing tasks that mirrored this with their students. The teachers also had a limited definition of creativity in writing, and when they had students write creatively in science it was to add in fictional elements. Implications of this study include providing teachers with better models for how and why scientists write, including these models in more inquiry-based science lessons, and directly relating concepts of nature of science to elementary science writing.

  18. 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.

  19. Zines--The Ultimate Creative Writing Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bott, Christie "CJ"

    2002-01-01

    Details a creative writing project based on "zines," which are independently created and published personal magazines. Notes challenges addressed in the project, such as composing an engaging introduction and choice of language in relation to audience. Concludes that the students were enthusiastic about the project, and were interested…

  20. 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,…

  1. The Mississippi Junior College Creative Writing Association: A Decade of Progress.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Emory D., Ed.

    This booklet contains a capsule history of the Mississippi Junior College Creative Writing Association (MJCCWA), its constitution, and the following selected student manuscripts from the past ten years of the MJCCWA's journal, "The Junior College Writer": (1) "Chronology of a Hunt" (William Patrick Story); (2) "House of…

  2. From Minotaurs to Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morrison, Paul

    1992-01-01

    An integrated topic approach (on Theseus and the Minotaur) was used to develop creative writing skills of children (ages 12 and 13) with health- and stress-related disorders at a special school in England. Three elements of the topic (presentation, action, and interaction) were developed through which individual assessment, collaboration, and…

  3. Suddenly Sexy: Creative Nonfiction Rear-ends Composition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Wendy

    2003-01-01

    Suggests that there is a real chance right now for letting the possibilities of creative nonfiction infuse, improve, and invigorate the teaching of composition. Concludes that when allowed to explore literary nonfiction, writing students will develop a substantial set of strengths from which to undertake other disciplinary writing challenges as…

  4. 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)

  5. 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)

  6. Essential Skills for Creative Writing: Integrating Multiple Domain-Specific Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barbot, Baptiste; Tan, Mei; Randi, Judi; Santa-Donato, Gabrielle; Grigorenko, Elena L.

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this work was to gather different perspectives on the "key ingredients" involved in creative writing by children--from experts of diverse disciplines, including teachers, linguists, psychologists, writers and art educators. Ultimately, we sought in the experts' convergence or divergence insights on the relative importance of the…

  7. Developing Foreign Language Skills, Competence and Identity through a Collaborative Creative Writing Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feuer, Avital

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the effects of a collaborative creative writing project on identity formation and overall language proficiency development among advanced Hebrew students. In an exercise called "The Zoning Committee", college students created the fictional Israeli-American town of Beit Shemesh, located in northern Michigan.…

  8. Astronomy stories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berenson, Rhoda

    2015-03-01

    For many years I have taught physics and astronomy courses to liberal arts students. I have found most of my students to be intelligent and diligent, but not anxious to study science. They typically take the class only because their degree requires a science course. Many arrive having already decided they will not be able to do the math or understand the scientific concepts, and have essentially built a wall between themselves and science. In the 1990s, in an effort to help break down that wall, as part of an NSF-supported course, "The Evolution of the Universe, Earth and Life," I began using creative writing assignments.

  9. Pleasantness of Creative Tasks and Creative Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zenasni, Franck; Lubart, Todd

    2011-01-01

    To examine the impact of emotion on creative potential, experimental studies have typically focused on the impact of induced or spontaneous mood states on creative performance. In this report the relationship between the perceived pleasantness of tasks (using divergent thinking and story writing tasks) and creative performance was examined.…

  10. Measuring Creative Capacity in Gifted Students: Comparing Teacher Ratings and Student Products

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kettler, Todd; Bower, Janessa

    2017-01-01

    Creativity and giftedness are frequently associated, and schools may use measures of creativity for identifying gifted and talented students. The researchers examined three aspects of elementary student creativity: (a) the relationship between a teacher's rating of student creativity and rubric-scored student writing samples, (b) group differences…

  11. Creativity in the Age of Technology: Measuring the Digital Creativity of Millennials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffmann, Jessica; Ivcevic, Zorana; Brackett, Marc

    2016-01-01

    Digital technology and its many uses form an emerging domain of creative expression for adolescents and young adults. To date, measures of self-reported creative behavior cover more traditional forms of creativity, including visual art, music, or writing, but do not include creativity in the digital domain. This article introduces a new measure,…

  12. Concentrated Language Encounter Instruction Model III in Reading and Creative Writing Abilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Promnont, Piyapong; Rattanavich, Saowalak

    2015-01-01

    The research is aimed to study the development of eleventh grade students' reading, creative writing abilities, satisfaction taught through the concentrated language encounter instruction method, CLE model III. One experimental group time series design was used, and the data was analyzed by MANOVA with repeated measures, t-test for one-group…

  13. Beyond McPoetry: Contemporary American Poetry in the Institutionalized Creative Writing Program Era

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Julie LaRue

    2012-01-01

    This dissertation examines the rise of the creative writing program in American higher education and considers its influence on contemporary American poetry. I investigate how the patronage of the university has impacted American poetry and reconfigured the contemporary literary landscape. Using Mark McGurl's (2009) groundbreaking research on…

  14. "To Be Lived": Theorizing Influence in Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cain, Mary Ann

    2009-01-01

    As a field, creative writing must reject its traditional image of "uselessness" and realize its anticapitalist, antiprivatizing potential as a creator of public space. In part, this move would involve teaching students to question traditional notions of influence, as well as the modernist concept of the author as a lone, autonomous individual.

  15. An Investigation of Gender Stereotypes as Revealed through Children's Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gray-Schlegel, Mary Ann; Gray-Schlegel, Thomas

    1996-01-01

    Examines the creative writing of third- and sixth-grade students for gender differences when provided with story starters that introduced either a male or a female character. Finds that identifiable difference and trends related to gender and age appeared in the stories, reflecting the pervasiveness and power of sex-role stereotypes. (RS)

  16. Freeing the Creative Writer: An Introductory Lesson.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ehrle, Lisa

    1990-01-01

    Describes an introductory creative writing lesson in which students gave low grades to passages they later learned were written by William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Reports that the students graded mainly on mechanics and grammar (and very little on content). Notes that students began to learn to manipulate the various aspects of writing. (RS)

  17. 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…

  18. Learning from the Land: Teaching Ecology through Stories and Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Brian Fox

    This book strives to combine creative writing, the whole language approach, thinking skills, and problem-solving strategies with an introduction to ecological concepts. It aims to bring scientific facts to life by creating empathy for wild creatures and teach basic science skills by using creative writing and storytelling. This book contains nine…

  19. Classroom Remix: Patterns of Pedagogy in a Techno-Literacies Poetry Unit

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Callahan, Meg; King, Jennifer M.

    2011-01-01

    Researchers collaborated with two high school creative writing teachers to consider how a particular use of technology--PowerPoint poetry interpretations--would function in their creative writing classes. Their findings encouraged them to consider three kinds of "classroom remix" related to the introduction of techno-literacy practices into the…

  20. [Narrative and faculty development: results of a five years experience with a creative writing workshop].

    PubMed

    Walker, María Rosa; Zúñiga, Denisse; Triviño, Ximena

    2012-05-01

    Narrative medicine has showed to be a powerful instrument to reinforce relationships, identity, and self-knowledge among health professionals. Subjective issues have been recently recognized as relevant for faculty development in addition to the technical aspects. Since 2006 a creative writing workshop has been included as part of the Diploma in Medical Education at the medical school of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. To describe the experience and results of the creative writing workshop (2006-2010). Descriptive and retrospective study with a qualitative and quantitative design. Thirty-six teachers of the School of Medicine attended a 12-hour workshop. The Kirkpatrick model for evaluation of educational outcomes was used to report the data obtained in the course evaluation survey and in the stories produced. There were positive results at the four levels of Kirkpatrick evaluation model. The learning objectives of the workshop were achieved and 83 stories were created, compiled and published. The creative writing workshop can provide faculty with protected time for reflective practice about academic experiences and produce educational outcomes at different levels of the Kirkpatrick model.

  1. Multilingualism, Language Policy and Creative Writing in Kenya

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mbithi, Esther K

    2014-01-01

    Language use and creative writing go hand in hand. In the process of exploring language, we also engage in the study of literature. An engagement with literature is, indeed, a continuing process of improving our capacity to use language and refining our sensibility to good language use. In Kenya, there are clearly discernible patterns of creative…

  2. EFFECTS OF THREE DIFFERENT STIMULI ON THE CREATIVITY OF CHILDREN'S COMPOSITIONS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MAY, FRANK B.; TABACHNICK, B. ROBERT

    THIS STUDY BEGAN AN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE MOTIVATING STIMULI FOR USE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WRITING PROGRAMS. IN PARTICULAR, IT DEALT WITH THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZED AND UNORGANIZED STIMULI ON THE CREATIVE WRITING ABILITY OF THIRD- AND SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS. THE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO SIX GROUPS. ONE GROUP OF…

  3. 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…

  4. The Perfectionist Call of Intelligibility: Secondary English, Creative Writing, and Moral Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Belas, Oliver

    2016-01-01

    This article puts forward moral-philosophical arguments for re-building and re-thinking secondary-level (high-school equivalent) English studies around creative writing practices. I take it that when educators and policy makers talk about such entities as the "well-rounded learner," what we have, or should have, in mind is moral agents…

  5. Mathematics Textbooks and the Teaching of Assigned Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donlan, Dan

    This paper initially presents the results of several studies concerning what kind of writing mathematics teachers assign and what kind of writing mathematics textbooks assign. By far, report-research was the most popular type of writing assigned in the surveyed textbooks. The types of reports students were asked to write include biography,…

  6. Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zenasni, Franck; Besancon, Maud; Lubart, Todd

    2008-01-01

    This study examines the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures of creativity were used: a divergent thinking task, a story-writing task and self-evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed two self-report measures of tolerance of…

  7. Using Written Narratives in Public Health Practice: A Creative Writing Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Kreuter, Matthew W.

    2014-01-01

    Narratives have become an increasingly common health communication tool in recent years. Vivid, engaging writing can help audiences identify with storytellers and understand health messages, but few public health practitioners are trained to create such stories. A transdisciplinary perspective, informed by both creative writing advice and evidence-based public health practices, can help public health professionals use stories more effectively in their work. This article provides techniques for creating written narratives that communicate health information for chronic disease prevention. We guide public health professionals through the process of soliciting, writing, and revising such stories, and we discuss challenges and potential solutions. PMID:24901794

  8. Voxel-based morphometry in creative writers: Gray-matter increase in a prefronto-thalamic-cerebellar network.

    PubMed

    Neumann, Nicola; Domin, Martin; Erhard, Katharina; Lotze, Martin

    2018-05-18

    Continuous practice modulates those features of brain anatomy specifically associated with requirements of the respective training task. The current study aimed to highlight brain structural changes going along with long-term experience in creative writing. To this end, we investigated the gray-matter volume of 23 expert writers with voxel-based morphometry and compared it to 28 matched non-expert controls. Expert writers had higher gray-matter volume in the right superior frontal and middle frontal gyri (BA 9,10) as well as left middle frontal gyrus (BA 9, 10, 46), the bilateral medial dorsal nuclei of the thalamus and left posterior cerebellum. A regression analysis confirmed the association of enhanced gray-matter volume in the right superior frontal gyrus (BA 10) with practice index of writing. In region-of interest based regression analyses, we found associations of gray-matter volume in the right Broca's analogue (BA 44) and right primary visual cortex (BA 17) with creativity ratings of the texts written during scanning, but not with a standardized verbal creativity test. Creative writing thus seems to be strongly connected to a prefronto-thalamic-cerebellar network that supports the continuous generation, organization and revision of ideas that is necessary to write literary texts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  9. Elementary Teachers' Views on the Creative Writing Process: An Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akkaya, Nevin

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this study is to discover and evaluate both the areas of personal interest and the views of 4th and 5th grade classroom teachers regarding the creative writing process. In this study, one of the qualitative study methods, state study, and related to this, single state design which refers to the whole has been chosen. Research was…

  10. The Development of a Model for Creative Writing Instruction for Mattayomsuksa Three Students (Grade 9)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chaiyadejkamjorn, Natsuchawirang; Soonthonrojana, Wimonrat; Sangkhaphanthanon, Thanya

    2017-01-01

    The research aimed to construct an instructional model for creative writing for Mattayomsueksa Three students (Grade 9), to develop the model according to a criterion of 80/80, and to examine the results of the model in use. The research methodology consisted of three phases: phase one studied the current states, problems and needs for teaching…

  11. Fostering the Memoir Writing Skills as a Creative Non-Fiction Genre Using a WebQuest Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Sayed, Rania Kamal Muhammad; Abdel-Haq, Eman Muhammad; El-Deeb, Mervat Abou-Bakr; Ali, Mahsoub Abdel-Sadeq

    2016-01-01

    The present study aimed at developing the memoir writing skills as a creative non-fiction genre of second year distinguished governmental language preparatory school pupils using the a WebQuest model. Fifty participants from second year at Hassan Abu-Bakr Distinguished Governmental Language School at Al-Qanater Al-Khairia(Qalubia Governorate) were…

  12. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing in the United States: Teaching the "Unteachable"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caglioti, Carla

    2010-01-01

    The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing, usually housed within the English Department, has become a progressively more popular field of study among students and budget conscious administrators. But for all its popularity, it is a field that has been left generally unexamined by scholars. While there have been numerous scholarly studies…

  13. "What Would Happen If Everybody Behaved as I Do?": May Bush, Randall Jarrell, and the Historical "Disappointment" of Women WPAs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Kelly

    2011-01-01

    The feminized labor of composition studies is usually seen as being in service of, or subservient to, literary studies, ignoring composition's disaffective position against other fields, specifically creative writing. Viewing composition studies' complex labor histories in tandem with the meteoric rise of creative writing allows for a new way of…

  14. Cooking the Books.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geras, Adele

    1993-01-01

    Discusses the points of comparison between cooking and writing, between books and food, as they relate to creative writing. Describes how recipe ingredients lists, cooking methods, menus, leftovers, and food presentation all relate to writing. (HB)

  15. Writing for Publication.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Bill

    1991-01-01

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

  16. A Recipe for Writing Motivation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chakraborty, Basanti; Stone, Sandra

    2008-01-01

    There is nothing worse than hearing moans and groans when writing time is announced to students. Motivation for writing begins when students' interests are mixed with opportunities for creativity. This article presents an idea shared by a writing coach who found a way to spark students' interest in writing by developing recipes for more…

  17. Writers, Athletes and Engineers Learn by Doing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, M.

    2009-12-01

    The author strongly believes that when one provides students more opportunity to write and publish, one actually is helping those students learn better. Writing in reality reinforces the knowledge acquired and clarifies fuzzy, indistinct and indefinable points. In a Learning Paradigm or a Discovery Paradigm, it is observed that evaluation is holistic, and student success outcomes are those that are actually measured. Many scholars have recommended and supported a value-added concept of education by doing assessments before, during, and after a course (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Other scholars have argued that achievement of educational objectives is becoming less and less measurable whereas the need for accountability is rising to the surface more frequently. The literature supports our intuitive belief that education in a new learning paradigm will prepare students for the work ahead of them (Cox, Grasha, & Richlin 1997, March). Technical writing has been a part of engineering education for a long time. Regardless, it appears that engineering students are more interested in spending productive time learning the mathematical aspects of subject matter. The students are reluctant to devote time and effort that involves descriptive writing. The trend is to develop an interactive problem-solving pedagogy that encourages the development of learner’s creativity, understanding, written and oral communication skills (Saxe, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sims, 1995; Young & Young, 1999). It is essential for the students to recognize the fact that writing indeed enhances their grasp over technical content. The author has outlined seven areas for assessing a writing assignment. 1. The student writing has an identified a specific focus on a given purpose. 2. The author has indicated an audience for the writing assignment. 3. The writer has specified conventions for format, flow and structure. 4. The learner has documented conventions for formality, voice and tone. 5. The individual has provided evidence-based reasoning and critical thinking. 6. He/She has suggested a time-line for completing the assignment. 7. The person has completed the required process in the alloted time-line. In this presentation the author stresses the importance of writing assignments in engineering disciplines. References: Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Education, 13-24. Cox, M. D., Grasha, A., & Richlin, L. (1997, March). Town meeting. Between teaching model and learning model: Adapting and adopting bit by bit. Paper presented at the ninth annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching - West, Lake Arrowhead, CA. Narayanan, Mysore (2009). Assessment Based on the principles of Theodore Marchese. ASEE 116th Annual Conference and Exposition, Austin, TX. June 14-17, 2009. Paper # AC 2009-1532. Saxe, S. (1990, June). Peer influence and learning. Training and Development Journal, 42 (6), 50-53. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Currency Doubleday.

  18. Learning to Write and Draw

    MedlinePlus

    ... LinkedIn Share via email Print How Your Child’s Writing and Art Changes Over Time Creativity is a ... What Can You Do to Encourage Art and Writing Skills Make art a regular part of playtime. ...

  19. Construction of a Creative and Self-Transcending Life: George Sudarshan's Conception and Experience of Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raina, Maharaj

    2013-01-01

    This article presents a philosophical perspective on creativity as described in the writings of George Sudarshan, a highly accomplished theoretical physicist and natural philosopher whose vision of creativity was influenced by "the direct experience of transcendence." The article reviews his conceptualization of the various mental states…

  20. 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.…

  1. Dialogic Pedagogy in Creative Practice: A Conversation in Examples

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Archer, Carol; Kelen, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    This paper surveys examples of dialogic pedagogy in creative practices in the areas of Visual Studies and Creative Writing at universities in Hong Kong and Macao. The authors describe their own participant-observer experience of evolving pedagogy for creative practice through on-site and remote interaction, with colleagues and with and between…

  2. Structured Creative Processes in Learning Playwriting: Invoking Imaginative Pedagogies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gardiner, Paul; Anderson, Michael

    2018-01-01

    The concept of the 'creative' in creative writing has a vexed history. This article explores the myths surrounding creativity and how they have influenced the way teachers have approached playwriting pedagogy. It reports on research into the teaching and learning experiences of students and teachers in secondary schools, focusing on the…

  3. YOUTH CONTEMPLATES. SELECTED CREATIVE WRITINGS, WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chicago Board of Education, IL.

    AN ANTHOLOGY OF CREATIVE WRITING IS PRESENTED. THE THEMES ENCOMPASS A RANGE AND VARIETY OF SUBJECTS. ELEVEN SECTIONS INCLUDE THE IDEAS OF THE STUDENTS ON THE FOLLOWING--THEMSELVES AND THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD, THEIR FAMILY, THEIR SCHOOL, THE CITY OF CHICAGO, PATRIOTISM AND THE UNITED STATES, OUTER SPACE, HUMOR AND LAUGHTER, BEAUTY IN BOTH THE…

  4. I'm a Poet? International Doctoral Students at a U.S. University Participate in a Creative Writing Workshop

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ostrow, Jill; Ning Chang, Lynn Chih

    2012-01-01

    What happens when international doctoral students participate in a creative writing workshop? Very often, students at our large midwestern U.S. university enter classes having learned English in their native countries with a heavy emphasis on only skills and grammar. They have not had the chance to play with language, to express themselves through…

  5. Paperless Writing in World Literature I: Can Students See the Forest without Writing on the Trees?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffmann, Christine

    2010-01-01

    Electronic writing offers the opportunity to be creative, impromptu, personal, even improper--unstructured, in other words--while academic writing traps them, catches them up in, an impersonal, uncreative, unimaginative, structured, mechanical--and perhaps even ultimately noncommunicative--experience.

  6. Predicting Faculty Intentions to Assign Writing in Their Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trafimow, David; Ruckel, Lindsay M.; Stovall, Shelly; Raut, Yogesh J.

    2017-01-01

    Teachers who offer undergraduate courses agree widely on the importance of writing assignments to further undergraduate education. And yet, there is a great deal of variance among teachers in their writing assignments; some teachers assign no writing whatsoever. To determine the variables that influence the decisions of teachers about whether to…

  7. "Inspired to Be Creative?": Persons, Objects, and the Public Pedagogy of Museums

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sabeti, Shari

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores an enactment of public pedagogy through the ethnographic study of one museum creative writing class. It questions a theory of creativity that insists it is the properties of objects on display that inspire individuals. On the contrary, I argue that the flows of agency identified by the subjects themselves suggest creativity is…

  8. The Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College Technical Report. Science Scholars Program

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-08-31

    Yang-Mills- Higgs Functional on TR3 with Arbitrary Coupling Constant" Cheryl A. White, Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Role of...Bunting Fellow (Creative Writing) Felw(Creative Writing) Non-minimal Critical Points for the Yang-Mills- indepenident Writer IndepnetWir Higgs ...galaxy formation. Recent work by E. Carlson on cosmological models that produce a small cosmological constant might also naturally produce self

  9. The Angel in the Academy: The Creative Writer as Helpmeet on the Distaff Side of English Studies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Gayle

    Women who wish to assume full voice in their writing have no choice but to raise questions regarding their status and the status of creative writing within the academy. Tillie Olsen and Elaine Showalter have documented the bias in texts taught at the university in which women have little place, if at all. The effects are devastating: if the voices…

  10. Rocks, Landforms, and Landscapes vs. Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs: An Interdisciplinary Team Approach to Teaching the Tie Between Scientific Literacy and Inquiry-based Writing in a Community College's Geoscience Program and a University's' Geoscience Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thweatt, A. M.; Giardino, J. R.; Schroeder, C.

    2014-12-01

    Scientific literacy and inquiry-based writing go together like a hand and glove. Science literacy, defined by NRC in The NSF Standards, stresses the relationship between knowledge of science and skill in literacy so "a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions. Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed." A growing body of research and practice in science instruction suggests language is essential in the practice of the geosciences. Writing and critical thinking are iterative processes. We use this approach to educate our geoscience students to learn, write, and think critically. One does not become an accomplished writer via one course. Proficiency is gained through continued exposure, guidance and tailored assignments. Inquiry-based geoscience makes students proficient in the tools of the geosciences and to develop explanations to questions about Earth events. We have scaffolded our courses from introductory geology, English composition, writing in the geosciences, introduction to field methods and report writing to do more critical thinking, research data gatherings, and in-depth analysis and synthesis. These learning experiences that encourage students to compare their reasoning models, communicate verbally, written and graphically. The English composition course sets the stage for creative assignments through formulation of original research questions, collection of primary data, analysis, and construction of written research papers. Proper use of language allows students to clarify their ideas, make claims, present arguments, and record and present findings. Students have acquired the skills to be considered scientifically literate and capable of learning. A poster demonstrating the tie between Scientific Literacy and Inquiry-Based Writing has been produced and distributed widely around campus.

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2013-01-01

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

  12. Defining and Redefining Boundaries in the Creative Writing Workshop.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reichert, Nancy L.

    Acting as a team, a graduate research methods class at Florida State University studied a first-year imaginative writing course, "Writing from Life," designed to help students write autobiography, fiction, and poetry. In the course of this study, intriguing differences became apparent between the attitudes and approaches in this class…

  13. The Write Brain: How to Educate and Entertain with Learner-Centered Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iverson, Kathleen M.

    2009-01-01

    This article presents a conceptual framework for the writing process to facilitate motivation, learning, retention, and knowledge transfer in readers of expository material. Drawing from four well-developed bodies of knowledge--cognitive science, learning theory, technical communication, and creative writing--the author creates a model that allows…

  14. Using Creative Writing to Teach Exposition/Artistic/Report Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, William W.

    Teachers who restrict their teaching of writing to elements of exposition are likely to fail because there is insufficient content, interest, or challenge in learning simple exposition, and the techniques that contribute to polished exposition are more easily accessible when approached through aesthetic writing. A teaching sequence for using…

  15. 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…

  16. Beyond Theory: Improving Public Relations Writing through Computer Technology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neff, Bonita Dostal

    Computer technology (primarily word processing) enables the student of public relations writing to improve the writing process through increased flexibility in writing, enhanced creativity, increased support of management skills and team work. A new instructional model for computer use in public relations courses at Purdue University Calumet…

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. Theoretically Speaking: An Examination of Four Theories and How They Support Writing in the Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hodges, Tracey S.

    2017-01-01

    Writing is complex, and the more researchers understand the cognitive processes and engagement for writing, the more complex the relationships between cognition and producing writing appear. Writing theory is constantly shifting from a focus on mechanics and form to a focus on creativity and sociability. This literature review analyzes four…

  20. What Works for Me.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McFarland, Ron; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Presents six teaching suggestions from classroom teachers regarding creative scenarios with literary figures, lemons in the classroom (to aid descriptive writing), conferences using a computer, organizational patterns in writing, an epistolary icebreaker in composition, and using five-minute writings as review. (SR)

  1. The Cross-Cultural Invariance of Creative Cognition: A Case Study of Creative Writing in U.S. and Russian College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kornilov, Sergey A.; Kornilova, Tatiana V.; Grigorenko, Elena L.

    2016-01-01

    Unlike intelligence, creativity has rarely been investigated from the standpoint of cross-cultural invariance of the structure of the instruments used to measure it. In the study reported in this article, we investigated the cross-cultural invariance of expert ratings of creative stories written by undergraduate students from the Russian…

  2. Conscious Motivations of Adolescent Visual Artists and Creative Writers: Similarities and Differences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harrington, David M.; Chin-Newman, Christina S.

    2017-01-01

    This exploratory study was designed to expand the field's understanding of talented adolescent visual artists and creative writers and their conscious motivations for engaging in these creative activities. Accordingly, 233 talented high school visual arts (n = 151) and creative writing (n = 82) students were asked to rate the degree to which they…

  3. Sustaining K-12 professional development in geology: Recurrent participation in Rockcamp

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Repine, T.E.; Hemler, D.A.; Behling, R.E.

    2004-01-01

    A reconnaissance study of the geology professional development program known as RockCamp was initiated to examine the sustained, or recurrent, participation of K-12 science teachers. Open-ended interviews, concept mapping, and creative writing assignments were used to explore the perceptions of six teachers possessing an exceptional record of participation. Efficacy, fun, right time of life, and support emerged as unanimous reasons for recurrent participation. Content, friendship, and methodology were very important. College credit was not critical. These teachers' perceptions suggest their sustained involvement in the RockCamp Program is stimulated by situated learning experiences stressing a compare, contrast, connect, and construct pedagogy within a supportive learning community.

  4. "A Not-So-Simple Story from My Life": Using Auto-Ethnography and Creative Writing to Re-Frame the Heteronormative Narratives of School Life

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rickard, Angela

    2014-01-01

    Reflecting on my experience as a teacher and a lesbian in a second-level school in Ireland in the early 1990s, I use an auto-ethnographic approach first to explore some of the ways dominant narratives can silence, constrain and marginalise some people. Projecting forward to an imagined future, I draw on creative writing to "re-frame" how…

  5. The Efficiency of Cluster Method in Improving the Creative Writing Skill of 6th Grade Students of Primary School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sahbaz, Namik Kemal; Duran, Gozde

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this research is to search the effect of the cluster method on the creative writing skill of 6th grade students. In this paper, the students of 6-A, studying at Ulas Primary School in 2010-2011 academic year, were divided into two groups as experiment and control. Taking into consideration the various variants, pre-test and last-test…

  6. Poe and Prolixity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powers, John

    1990-01-01

    Describes a method of teaching Edgar Allan Poe's writings which uses writing as a tool to decipher the story and to teach a valuable lesson in creative writing and style, and which shows students how a text changes when it is either abridged or adapted. (SR)

  7. Creative Writing for Language, Content and Literacy Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guillén, María Teresa Fleta; Bermejo, María Luisa García

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports on pedagogies that promote language, content and literacy in English by stimulating learners' creativity. The starting point to promote creativity among learners was music and art. There seems to be a natural connection between music, language and thinking which suggests that incorporating musical experiences into daily…

  8. Literature and Creative Expression.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlson, Ruth Kearney

    Films, records, and literature and technique books helpful in encouraging creativity and composition writing are listed and described under the following headings: Books on forms of poetry (4 items); Creative dramatics and puppetry (9); Masks and mask making (9); Oriental forms of poetry--Haiku (9), Tanka (2), and other Oriental verse patterns…

  9. Students' Appropriation, Rejection and Perceptions of Creativity in Reflective Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Connell, Timothy S.; Dyment, Janet E.; Smith, Heidi A.

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores the intersection of reflection, journal writing and creativity. Undergraduate students who participated in a residential field camp were required to keep a creative reflective journal to demonstrate their theoretical and practical understandings of their experience. This study reports on the content analysis of 42 student…

  10. Proposal Savvy: Creating Successful Proposals for Media Projects.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parsigian, Elise K.

    Suggesting that the need for creative thinking, creative problem solving, and creative presentations binds the components of the field of communication (journalism, advertising, and public relations), this book presents a guide to proposal thinking and proposal writing for anyone in the field of communication. The book helps readers evaluate,…

  11. Brain Matters: Neuroscience and Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blevins, Dean G.

    2012-01-01

    This article introduces a relationship between neuroscience and creativity for the sake of religious education. Citing creativity as a process that involves both originality and value, the writing articulates Howard Gardner's interplay between the talent of the person, the internal demands of a discipline, and the quality judgment of the field.…

  12. Exploring creativity and critical thinking in traditional and innovative problem-based learning groups.

    PubMed

    Chan, Zenobia C Y

    2013-08-01

    To explore students' attitude towards problem-based learning, creativity and critical thinking, and the relevance to nursing education and clinical practice. Critical thinking and creativity are crucial in nursing education. The teaching approach of problem-based learning can help to reduce the difficulties of nurturing problem-solving skills. However, there is little in the literature on how to improve the effectiveness of a problem-based learning lesson by designing appropriate and innovative activities such as composing songs, writing poems and using role plays. Exploratory qualitative study. A sample of 100 students participated in seven semi-structured focus groups, of which two were innovative groups and five were standard groups, adopting three activities in problem-based learning, namely composing songs, writing poems and performing role plays. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. There are three themes extracted from the conversations: 'students' perceptions of problem-based learning', 'students' perceptions of creative thinking' and 'students' perceptions of critical thinking'. Participants generally agreed that critical thinking is more important than creativity in problem-based learning and clinical practice. Participants in the innovative groups perceived a significantly closer relationship between critical thinking and nursing care, and between creativity and nursing care than the standard groups. Both standard and innovative groups agreed that problem-based learning could significantly increase their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Further, by composing songs, writing poems and using role plays, the innovative groups had significantly increased their awareness of the relationship among critical thinking, creativity and nursing care. Nursing educators should include more types of creative activities than it often does in conventional problem-based learning classes. The results could help nurse educators design an appropriate curriculum for preparing professional and ethical nurses for future clinical practice. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  13. Getting It in Writing: The Quest to Become Outstanding and Effective Teachers of Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stankevich, Deborah M., Ed.

    2011-01-01

    Sixteen teachers. Sixteen journeys. All on a quest to become outstanding teachers of writing. All taking different paths to acquire and hone those skills that make a teacher effective. From kindergarten to college, teachers are faced with the daunting task of instilling the art of writing in their students. From creative writing to research, the…

  14. The Impact of Integrating Visuals in an Elementary Creative Writing Process.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bailey, Margaret; And Others

    Most children's books are filled with pictures, yet when schools design curricula to teach writing, they often ignore the role of visual images in the writing process. Historically, methods for teaching writing have focused on text. Even relatively recent techniques like brainstorming and story webbing still focus on verbal information. In some…

  15. Picturing Words: Using Photographs and Fiction to Enliven Writing for ELL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haines, Shana J.

    2015-01-01

    This article describes a teacher-research project in which a class of fifth-grade English language learners demonstrated that learning about photography and using it as inspiration for their creative writing authenticated their writing task, helped them bring their outside-school worlds inside school, increased their enthusiasm for writing, and…

  16. 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…

  17. Writing Laboratory Exercises To Be Used with a Writing and Research Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alicna, Elaine; And Others

    Intended to facilitate a broader emphasis on creative writing in American high school English classes, this manual offers a number of writing laboratory exercises. The exercises are divided into five categories: (1) library skills, including reference book know how, and using the parts of books; (2) critical reading skills, including…

  18. College Writing: A Personal Approach to Academic Writing. Third Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fulwiler, Toby

    The affirmation of individual creativity in writing is what sets this book apart from other process-oriented rhetorics. Conversational in tone, the book's third edition boasts a writer-to-writer perspective that will put students at ease. The book "walks" students through the main elements of writing from discovery and research to…

  19. Web-Based Interactive Writing Environment: Development and Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Jie Chi; Ko, Hwa Wei; Chung, I. Ling

    2005-01-01

    This study reports the development and evaluation of a web-based interactive writing environment designed for elementary school students. The environment includes three writing themes, "story pass on", "story chameleon" and "thousand ideas", to encourage reading comprehension, creativity and problem-solving skills of…

  20. Poetry Parodies: Explorations and Imitations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Wendy

    1990-01-01

    Argues that writing parodies of poetry is a productive, nonthreatening introduction to the creative effort of poem making. Provides several suggestions that may help in the parody-writing process. (RS)

  1. Making Economic Principles Personal: Student Journals and Reflection Papers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brewer, Stephanie M.; Jozefowicz, James J.

    2006-01-01

    The authors address two informal writing assignments implemented in introductory economics classes. One assignment involves students writing short reflection papers, and the other assignment involves students writing short journal entries for a designated period of time. Both assignments are designed to help students realize that economics is…

  2. On the Use of Writing Assignments in Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Neill, Patrick B.

    2009-01-01

    A typical writing assignment in upper level required courses is a term paper. However many economics majors, particularly those in business schools, need to develop skill at writing shorter pieces. In this paper I describe numerous examples of shorter writing assignments that I have incorporated into an Intermediate Microeconomic Theory course.…

  3. From Bhopal to Cold Fusion: A Case-Study Approach to Writing Assignments in Honors General Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chamely-Wiik, Donna M.; Haky, Jerome E.; Galin, Jeffrey R.

    2012-01-01

    Faculty from the chemistry and English departments have developed a combined second-semester honors general chemistry and college writing course that fosters critical thinking through challenging writing assignments. Examples of case-study writing assignments and guidelines are provided that faculty at other institutions can adapt in similar…

  4. Agendas for Writing in Philosophy: Conflicting or Complementary?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soven, Margot

    Recent research on how students perceive the function of writing assignments and the effects of different kinds of writing assignments on learning is inconclusive. Noting that this issue clouds writing across the curriculum programs, a study sought to determine how students perceive their involvement in assignments that require them to present an…

  5. Technical Writing Redesign and Assessment: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winter, Gaye Bush

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare scores on writing assignments from traditional, fully online courses in technical writing to pilot, hybrid courses at a southern university. A total of 232 students' assignments were compared in this study. All writing assignments were scored by six trained instructors of English using the same five point…

  6. Sustainability as a Design Principle for Composition: Situational Creativity as a Habit of Mind

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newcomb, Matthew

    2012-01-01

    Design is a rhetorical activity that requires creative thinking in response to difficult situations. That creative work ultimately builds new relationships and new contexts. Sustainable design can become an approach to composition that alters ways of thinking about writing situations, keeping ethical and contextual factors in focus, and…

  7. Saturday Subway Ride: A Report on the Initial Tryout.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Quilling, Mary R.; And Others

    "Saturday Subway Ride," a program designed to teach pupils creative thinking techniques and positive attitudes toward creative ideas, is a 92-page workbook in a story-exercise format. Secondary objectives for the product include improving verbal fluency and creative writing. Three classrooms 61 sixth graders and 34 fifth graders at two…

  8. "I'm in a Professional School! Why Are You Making Me Do This?" A Cross-Disciplinary Study of the Use of Creative Classroom Projects on Student Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reynolds, Candyce; Stevens, Dannelle D.; West, Ellen

    2013-01-01

    Creative thinking skills are essential for today's workplace. Three faculty members from different professional schools (business, higher education administration, teacher education) examined student responses to the creative assignments in their courses. The assignments exemplify the following criteria: invited taking risks, encouraged innovative…

  9. Novel, Effective, Whole: Toward a NEW Framework for Evaluations of Creative Products

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henriksen, Danah; Mishra, Punya; Mehta, Rohit

    2015-01-01

    Creativity is increasingly viewed as an important 21st century skill that needs to be taught in schools. This emphasis on creativity is often reflected by having students engage in open-ended, project based activities and assignments. A key challenge faced by educators is how such assignments are to be evaluated. An in-depth review of existing…

  10. 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.

  11. Creative Crisis: English Teacher Testimony of the Violent Writings of High School Youth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Lori; Buskey, Frederick

    2014-01-01

    Violent writing is a real, yet rarely understood phenomenon in the secondary and post-secondary classroom. The 2007 Virginia Tech shooting tragedy sensationalized violent writing as a marker of disturbed and violent persons. However, violent writing comes in multiple forms and is composed for multiple reasons. As secondary schools wrestle with…

  12. Journaling and the Improvement of Writing Skills for Incoming College Freshmen

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hight, Jim D.

    2013-01-01

    Journaling is an effective tool for the development of writing skills and creative thinking; however, research has not revealed how it improves writing skills in the college classroom. The majority of the studies related to journaling are elementary school studies, which do not provide statistics on how journaling can improve writing skills for…

  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. Overcoming Fear and Loathing in Advertising Copywriting Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pearce, R. Charles

    Writing techniques espoused by Peter Elbow, applied to the teaching of writing in advertising copywriting classes can help students develop into better writers, generating better copy ideas. The shift of focus from writing a finished piece the first time to concentrating on the process of writing allows for a freer flow of ideas and creativity.…

  15. Career Writing as a Dialogue about Work Experience: A Recipe for Luck Readiness?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lengelle, Reinekke; Meijers, Frans; Poell, Rob; Geijsel, Femke; Post, Mijke

    2016-01-01

    In this article, we examined whether career writing--creative, expressive, and reflective writing--can increase luck readiness, which is the ability to respond and make use of (career) opportunities. Two 2-day writing courses were taught to third-year bachelor students, one before and one after work placements. In this exploratory study, results…

  16. Writing Plays Using Creative Problem-Solving.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raiser, Lynne; Hinson, Shirley

    1995-01-01

    This article describes a project which involved inner city elementary grade children with disabilities in writing and performing their own plays. A four-step playwriting process focuses on theme and character development, problem finding, and writing dialogue. The project has led to improved reading skills, attention, memory skills,…

  17. 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…

  18. 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

  19. Using Improvisational Exercises in General Education to Advance Creativity, Inventiveness and Innovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hackbert, Peter H.

    2010-01-01

    Creativity is the process of generating something new or original that has value to an individual, a group, an organization, an industry or a society. Improvisational theater techniques are used to enhance creative thinking and action in a variety of disciplines as broad as education, theater, dance, painting, writing and music, law, business, and…

  20. The voices of neurosurgeons: doctors' non-medical writing.

    PubMed

    Bernstein, Mark

    2007-05-01

    Biomedical publishing is an integral part of medicine--both to those who produce it and those who consume it to improve the care of their patients. Non-medical writing by surgeons usually takes the form of creative non-fiction, generally reflective essays on moving and emotionally charged situations such as working in the trenches in war-time or in natural disasters, or dealing with individual patients. Such writing is both creative and cathartic for neurosurgeons, and can help educate patients thus improving the doctor-patient relationship. The purpose of this article is to encourage fellow neurosurgeons to pursue this enjoyable and valuable endeavour, to utter a call to arms so to speak.

  1. Let's Tell the Good News about Reading and Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corbett, William D.

    1989-01-01

    Since the media seldom feature good news about education, principals need to highlight elementary school children's reading and writing accomplishments. Principals can hear students read aloud in the hallway, send interesting compositions to the superintendent's office, and post creative writing efforts on the walls of local banks, pizza parlors,…

  2. Archibabel: Tracing the Writing Architecture Project in Architectural Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lappin, Sarah A.; Erk, Gül Kaçmaz; Martire, Agustina

    2015-01-01

    Though much recent scholarship has investigated the potential of writing in creative practice (including visual arts, drama, even choreography), there are few models in the literature which discuss writing in the context of architectural education. This article aims to address this dearth of pedagogical research, analysing the cross-disciplinary…

  3. Teaching Math Is All Write

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staal, Nancy; Wells, Pamela J.

    2011-01-01

    Both writing and math require purposeful teaching. This article describes how one teacher discovered that she could teach math in a way that paralleled how she taught writing by researching what students know and then nudging them ahead to the next level of understanding. Just as effective writers employ creativity, perseverance, and revising,…

  4. Purpose and Process in Exemplary Teen Writings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Olthouse, Jill M.; Sauder, Adrienne E.

    2016-01-01

    Exemplary adolescent creative writers' stories and poems demonstrate a connection between personal purposes for writing and the development of advanced technical skills. This hermeneutic analysis of 33 student texts (which were chosen because of their relation to the topic of literacy) reveals three main reasons for writing (remembrance,…

  5. Investigating Connections among Reading, Writing, and Language Development: A Multiliteracies Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paesani, Kate

    2016-01-01

    This study explores relationships among reading literature, creative writing, and language development in a university-level advanced French grammar course through the theoretical lens of the multiliteracies framework. The goal is to investigate reading-writing connections and whether these literacy practices facilitate students' understanding and…

  6. Vanilla Fudge Beer and Poetic Inspiration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hlavsa, Virginia V. James

    1993-01-01

    Offers a narrative on the therapeutic benefits of writing poetry which examines the creative process in relation to reading misperceptions and to useful delays in word retrieval. Suggests that a particular learning disability may signal a creative capability. (SR)

  7. 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…

  8. Creative Writing and Promoting Understanding in Science: Alternative Ways to Interest Students in Writing about Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akcay, Hakan; Hand, Brian; Norton-Meier, Lori

    2010-01-01

    Science writing opportunities are used as a resource to enable students to understand science concepts. This study represents three different writing-to-learn tasks that enable students to learn science and to demonstrate their developing understanding about the human body system. The teacher and students engaged in a variety of science enquiries…

  9. A Study of 3rd and 5th Grade Students' Oral Language during the Writing Process in Elementary Classrooms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kasten, Wendy C.; Clarke, Barbara K.

    Using ethnographic techniques to observe seven fifth grade and seven third grade students, a study examined the function of children's oral language during creative writing sessions in typical classroom situations. Findings indicated that oral language plays an important role in the writing process; specifically, that it (1) accompanies writing as…

  10. Those Who Do, Can: Teachers Writing, Writers Teaching. A Sourcebook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Root, Robert L., Jr.; Steinberg, Michael

    Based on a series of seven summer workshops on creative writing and pedagogy, this book offers an "inside-out" approach to teaching and writing, an approach that teachers can use for personal growth and self-enrichment as well as for application and inspiration in their public school classrooms. Essays in the book are: (1) "'The Writing's for Us':…

  11. Emotional Life: Exploring Contradictions in Health Behavior Through Creative Writing in Public Health Education.

    PubMed

    Saffran, Lise

    2017-09-01

    Weaving personal experience with literature on social determinants and health humanities, the author argues that including art and literature in public health education will benefit efforts to integrate health care and public health by reminding practitioners that communities are composed of individuals with complicated and often contradictory impulses. She argues that those whose work involves planning interventions and reviewing population data also need to perform the tasks of mental flexibility, of imagination, to think about the people behind the numbers. Together with colleagues at the University of Missouri, the author researches the role of creative writing and imagination in reducing HIV stigma and finds hopeful signs in student responses that they are prepared to consider the contradictions present in human behavior if they are given the opportunity to reflect deeply upon them. Creative writing, literature, and art belong in public health education, she argues, because that is how we make space for emotion in our lives and how we connect with the emotional lives of others.

  12. Writing that Excites and Educates: A Class Novel

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nobles, Susanne

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the author shares how she envisioned and created a writing assignment for a ninth-grade English course. The writing project is a class novel comprised of short stories, one written by each student. In the writing assignment, seniors compile their favorite writings from any class in any year of high school and write reflections…

  13. De-Coding Writing Assignments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simon, Linda

    1991-01-01

    Argues that understanding assignments is the first step toward successful college writing. Urges instructors to support students by helping them to decode assignments. Breaks down instructions into individual tasks including (1) writing an essay, (2) examining an issue, (3) reviewing articles and books, and (4) focusing on some texts. Defines each…

  14. The Authored Voice: Emerging Approaches to Exegesis Design in Creative Practice PhDs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ings, Welby

    2015-01-01

    In 2004, Robert Nelson noted in creative, practice-led research degrees that the exegesis had been reconceptualised as a cultural contribution to scholarship. He suggested that the challenge this posed was the need for writing to interface effectively with the nature and calibre of the creative work. A decade on from his observation, this article…

  15. Technical writing in America: A historical perspective

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Connaughton, M. E.

    1981-01-01

    The standard distinction between poetic and referential language, the gulf between science and the humanities, and the distress many teachers of English feel when faced for the first time with the prospect of teaching technical writing are discussed. In the introduction of many technical writing textbooks. Technical communication is divorced from other forms of linguistic experience by making language limiting and reductive rather than creative and expansive. The emphasis on technical/scientific writing as radically different had blinded people to those traits it has in common with all species of composition and has led to a neglect of research, on fundamental rhetorical issues. A complete rhetorical theory of technical discourse should include information about the attitudes and motives of writers, the situations which motivate (or coerce) them to write, definitive features of technical style and form, interrelationship of expression and creativity, and functions of communication in shaping and preserving scientific networds and institutions. The previous areas should be explored with respect to contemporary practice and within an historical perspective.

  16. Producing an Online Undergraduate Literary Magazine: A Guide to Using Problem-Based Learning in the Writing and Publishing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Persichetti, Amy L.

    2016-01-01

    This article will illustrate how a problem-based learning (PBL) course (Savery, 2006) can be used in a writing program as a vehicle for both creative and preprofessional learning. English 420: Writing, Publishing, and Editing is offered every fall, and its counterpart, English 423: Writing, Publishing, and Editing is offered each spring. The…

  17. Craft So Hard to Learn: Conversations with Poets and Novelists about the Teaching of Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, John, Ed.; Garrett, George, Ed.

    This collection of interviews on the subjects of teaching and learning writing comes from eleven writers who were also college teachers of writing. The writers were on a staff of poets and novelists at the Hollins Conference in Creative Writing and Cinema, which took place in June 1970. John Graham, a member of the conference staff, taped 110…

  18. 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…

  19. North Carolina Tales Fly with Fourth Grade Tellers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westman, Gretchen Daub

    2008-01-01

    In fourth grade, North Carolina students are required to write their own personal narratives. The teachers felt that telling a story would be a great stepping stone toward writing one. Rather than focusing on grammar and the mechanics of writing, students could focus on story development and creativity. In this article, the author describes how…

  20. Creativity and the Composing Process: Making Thought Visible.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perl, Sondra

    Observing writers in isolation, pulling them into research settings in neatly designed studies will reveal nothing about the circumstances that enable people to write. Context, or the setting in which writing actually takes place, may be the most enabling circumstance. Many first grade teachers believe their students cannot write or even spell.…

  1. "Make It New": Introducing Poetry Through Writing Poetry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lim, Shirley

    One approach to introducing students to poetry is to have them write and analyze their own poems. Although this approach has some disadvantages, it does serve to tap students' experiences and expressive potential with creative projects and to give them an immediate and direct relationship with the traditional published works. By writing poems…

  2. Classes of Discourse, Acts of Discourse, Writers, and Readers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larson, Richard L.

    1992-01-01

    Argues that a prevalent mistake made by teachers preparing writing curricula and assignments is dividing writing into classes or modes. Suggests alternatives to classifying writing. Envisions writing as a discourse act and assignments as performance of such acts. (HB)

  3. Writing a Movie.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoffner, Helen

    2003-01-01

    Explains a reading and writing assignment called "Writing a Movie" in which students view a short film segment and write a script in which they describe the scene. Notes that this assignment uses films to develop fluency and helps students understand the reading and writing connections. Concludes that students learn to summarize a scene from film,…

  4. A Mother Re-Envisions Her Daughter's Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hardymon, Betsy L.

    1991-01-01

    Examines several pieces of writing (class assignments as well as writing done outside of school) by the author's 10-year-old daughter. Notes the different kinds of learning promoted in them, and maintains that school writing assignments should be as "real" as possible. (SR)

  5. Wage Slavery or Creative Work?

    PubMed Central

    Mirowsky, John

    2013-01-01

    Western philosophical and scientific traditions often view human work as inherently onerous, wearisome, and degrading. Adam Smith, writing in the eighteenth century, saw work as the toil and trouble that is the real price humans pay for everything they need or want. Karl Marx, writing in the nineteenth century, considered wage labor alienating, but saw the possibility of self-expressive work. Dupré and Gagnier, a philosopher and a critic writing near the end of the twentieth century, agreed that work could be self-fulfilling, but only for an elite minority. This article summarizes the Western philosophical views of work from ancient to modern times. It reframes the philosophical positions as empirical questions and addresses them with statistics and models drawn from a 1995 U.S. survey. Observations suggest that work, in modern America, is not usually alienated. The great majority of Americans rate their paid work or other main daily activities (mostly unpaid work) as more autonomous and creative than not. Emotional well-being and the sense of control over one’s own life increase with the degree of autonomy and creativity. The employed report less autonomous but more creative activity than do the nonemployed. Emotional well-being and perceived control correlate more strongly with creativity than with autonomy. The overall association thus favors employment, especially for the poorly educated, even though they give up more autonomy when employed. On the whole, work in modern America seems more self-fulfilling than onerous, alienating, or degrading. PMID:24156083

  6. Wage Slavery or Creative Work?

    PubMed

    Mirowsky, John

    2011-07-01

    Western philosophical and scientific traditions often view human work as inherently onerous, wearisome, and degrading. Adam Smith, writing in the eighteenth century, saw work as the toil and trouble that is the real price humans pay for everything they need or want. Karl Marx, writing in the nineteenth century, considered wage labor alienating, but saw the possibility of self-expressive work. Dupré and Gagnier, a philosopher and a critic writing near the end of the twentieth century, agreed that work could be self-fulfilling, but only for an elite minority. This article summarizes the Western philosophical views of work from ancient to modern times. It reframes the philosophical positions as empirical questions and addresses them with statistics and models drawn from a 1995 U.S. survey. Observations suggest that work, in modern America, is not usually alienated. The great majority of Americans rate their paid work or other main daily activities (mostly unpaid work) as more autonomous and creative than not. Emotional well-being and the sense of control over one's own life increase with the degree of autonomy and creativity. The employed report less autonomous but more creative activity than do the nonemployed. Emotional well-being and perceived control correlate more strongly with creativity than with autonomy. The overall association thus favors employment, especially for the poorly educated, even though they give up more autonomy when employed. On the whole, work in modern America seems more self-fulfilling than onerous, alienating, or degrading.

  7. Organic Chemistry YouTube Writing Assignment for Large Lecture Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Franz, Annaliese K.

    2012-01-01

    This work describes efforts to incorporate and evaluate the use of a YouTube writing assignment in large lecture classes to personalize learning and improve conceptual understanding of chemistry through peer- and self-explanation strategies. Although writing assignments can be a method to incorporate peer- and self-explanation strategies, this…

  8. Creative and Computational Thinking in the Context of New Literacies: Working with Teachers to Scaffold Complex Technology-Mediated Approaches to Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeSchryver, Michael D.; Yadav, Aman

    2015-01-01

    For too long, creativity in schools has been almost solely associated with art, music, and writing classes. Now, creative thinking skills are increasingly emphasized across the disciplines. At the same time, technological progress has brought about calls for the integration of new literacies and computational thinking to prepare students as…

  9. Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bowkett, Steve

    2011-01-01

    "Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing" uses children's interest in pictures, comics and graphic novels as a way of developing their creative writing abilities, reading skills and oracy. The book's underpinning strategy is the use of comic art images as a visual analogue to help children generate, organise and refine their ideas…

  10. Fun While Showing, Not Telling: Crafting Vivid Detail in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Del Nero, Jennifer Renner

    2017-01-01

    This teaching tip highlights three writing minilessons that help students construct vivid sensory detail (textual detail related to the five senses) in their fiction and creative nonfiction writing. Learning to show, not tell, is a difficult task for novice writers. The author explores reasons why this is the case and provides directions for the…

  11. THE ADVENTURES OF BROWN SUGAR, ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE WRITING.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    STEGALL, CARRIE

    A TEACHER'S EXPERIENCE IN GUIDING A GROUP OF 40 FOURTH-GRADERS IN WRITING A BOOK IS REPORTED, AND THE BOOK IS INCLUDED. PROVIDED ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF--(1) THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS OF WRITING EACH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, (2) THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS'"OWN ENGLISH BOOK"--RULES FOR USAGE, SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, AND CAPITALIZATION,…

  12. The Adventures of Brown Sugar; Adventures in Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stegall, Carrie

    A teacher's experience in guiding a group of 40 fourth-graders in writing a book is reported, and the book is included. Provided are descriptions of--(1) the step-by-step process of writing each chapter of the book, (2) the development of the students'"own English book"--rules for usage, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, discovered by the…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Viebahn, Peter; Hilton, Gillian

    2006-01-01

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

  14. The Writing Notebook: Creative Word Processing in the Classroom--November/December 1986, January/February 1987, and April/May 1987.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Franklin, Sharon, Ed.; Madian, Jon, Ed.

    1986-01-01

    Produced using a Macintosh Plus and LaserWriter Printer, these journals present articles relating to word processing in the classroom. Articles and their authors for the November/December 1986 issue include: "Computer Assisted Instruction: Western Europe" (Owen and Irene Thomas); "FrEd Writing" (B. Fleury); "Writing Up a…

  15. Priceless Conceptual Thresholds: Beyond the "Stuck Place" in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wisker, Gina; Savin-Baden, Maggi

    2009-01-01

    This paper explores the idea of conceptual threshold crossing in the writing process and in particular stuck moments and the process of moving on, valuing the pricelessness of preliminality, the vision of a possible movement through a portal and the creative learning leap into focused, formed writing. Our work to date is based on formal and less…

  16. Writing on Riding: The Value of Experiential Learning and Multidisciplinary Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Mollison

    2017-01-01

    Mollison Ryan served as the undergraduate intern for "About Campus" during the 2016-2017 academic year. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2017 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in Creative Writing and Professional and Technical Writing. She also holds a 2016 United States Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year title…

  17. Chuck out the Chintz? "Stripped Floor" Writing and the Catalogue of Convention: Alternative Perspectives on Management Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harvey, Brendon

    2004-01-01

    Contends that the conventions of writing about management inquiry limit the choices for creativity, and potential wider audiences. Using examples taken from teaching and PhD research, critical incidents are explored to demonstrate different forms of writing that offer the potential for alternative ways of sense making. Research indicates the…

  18. Technology in the Service of Creativity: Computer Assisted Writing Project--Stetson Middle School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bender, Evelyn

    The American Library Association's Carroll Preston Baber Research Award supported this project on the use, impact and feasibility of a computer assisted writing facility located in the library of Stetson Middle School in Philadelphia, an inner city school with a population of minority, "at risk" students. The writing facility consisted…

  19. Repeatable Writing Assignments to Enhance Student Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiebold, W. J.; And Others

    1990-01-01

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

  20. Forced Incubation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wells, Donald H.

    1996-01-01

    A survey of 98 college professors regarding their creative writing habits and productivity found that creative productivity was significantly correlated with the use of forced incubation (deliberate time delay to allow naturally unenhanced incubation of ideas to occur). Professors who intentionally set aside manuscripts for a period of time to…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Diana

    2014-01-01

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

  2. Enhancing Undergraduate Students' Research and Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lumpkin, Angela

    2015-01-01

    Concern about the research and writing abilities of undergraduate students led to the development, implementation and enhancement of four sequential writing assignments in an introductory course. These writing assignments--which included a report on an interview of a professional in the field, a research paper on an aspirational career, a research…

  3. Advanced Math? Write!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brandenburg, Sister M. Luka

    2002-01-01

    High-school mathematics teacher in Rock Island, Illinois, describes plan for using writing assignment to improve student understanding of advanced mathematics. Plan includes the following elements: Start small, be firm with students, make writing assignments count, and inform colleagues. (PKP)

  4. Software Reviews: "Pow! Zap! Ker-plunk! The Comic Book Maker" (Pelican Software).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Bernajean

    1990-01-01

    Reviews the newest addition to Pelican's Creative Writing Series of instructional software, which uses the comic book format to provide a unique writing environment for satire, symbolism, sequencing, and combining text and graphics to communicate ideas. (SR)

  5. Where Creativity Meets Technology: A Library-Led, Multi-Disciplinary Online Showcase for Artworks, Creative Writings, and Movies Displayed with 3D and HTML5 Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wong, Shun Han Rebekah

    2015-01-01

    This article introduces the Hong Kong Baptist University's Heritage project (http://heritage.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/), a multi-disciplinary online showcase for curriculum-related creative outputs that were produced by faculty and students of the university. Initiated and led by the University Library, this project was a collaborative effort with six…

  6. Creative Writing in the Language Arts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ediger, Marlow

    Pupils need to express themselves in creative processes and products in the language arts curriculum. Too frequently, teachers require behavior which involves conformity on the part of learners. Specific objectives many times delimit pupils' opportunities to express original ideas that come from within the involved learners. Many activities can…

  7. 5 CFR 551.209 - Creative professionals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... performance of work requiring invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work. The work..., writing, acting, and the graphic arts. The exemption does not apply to work which can be produced by a...

  8. 5 CFR 551.209 - Creative professionals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... performance of work requiring invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work. The work..., writing, acting, and the graphic arts. The exemption does not apply to work which can be produced by a...

  9. 5 CFR 551.209 - Creative professionals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... performance of work requiring invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work. The work..., writing, acting, and the graphic arts. The exemption does not apply to work which can be produced by a...

  10. A Future Fair: Building Tomorrow Today.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weatherly, Myra S.

    1992-01-01

    Gifted intermediate-level students in Greenville, South Carolina, held a Future Fair in which students completed projects and developed critical and creative thinking skills as they investigated real problems. Projects such as models, inventions, photo essays, and creative writing focused on future schools, art, fashions, space travel, and other…

  11. Suicide and creativity: the case of Sylvia Plath.

    PubMed

    Runco, M A

    1998-01-01

    This article explores the idea that although much can be learned by viewing Sylvia Plath's poetry as an expression of her thinking and affect, additional insights are afforded by reversing the typical direction of effect and by viewing Plath's affect, and in particular her depression, as a result of her writing. Consistent with this interpretation is Plath's huge investment in writing. This may have contributed to the sensitivity that predisposed her to stress and depression. This perspective is tied to the existing creativity literature and interwoven and contrasted with existing descriptions of Plath's work and tragic death.

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

    PubMed

    Kolb, Patricia

    2013-01-01

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

  13. Writing from Within: A Guide to Creativity and Life Story Writing. Third Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Selling, Bernard

    Based on the idea that telling personal life stories can be a voyage of self discovery, freeing up images and memories that have long remained hidden, this book explains techniques to help individuals learn to write vivid autobiographical stories and life narratives. Whether used at home, in a classroom, or in a therapy environment, the techniques…

  14. Letters from the Future: The Use of Therapeutic Letter Writing in Counseling Sexual Abuse Survivors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kress, Victoria E.; Hoffman, Rachel; Thomas, Amanda M.

    2008-01-01

    In the context of counseling sexual abuse survivors, the creative counseling technique of having clients write letters--to themselves or others--from a future context is described. A theoretical framework for writing letters to oneself from the future is presented. Specific types of letters from the future are explained, and case examples and…

  15. Story Sparks! How to Kindle Your Young Writers' Imaginations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Traver, Warren

    2004-01-01

    Make writing less of a task and more of an adventure through this creative and imaginative collection of writing prompts, targeted at grade levels 2 to 5. It provides not only ideas and inspiration, but also motivation. This book includes: (1) Story Headers: single pictures with story titles that kids write about; (2) Every Picture Tells a Story:…

  16. A Heart of Wisdom: Life Writing as Empathetic Inquiry. Complicated Conversation: A Book Series of Curriculum Studies. Volume 39

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chambers, Cynthia M., Ed.; Hasebe-Ludt, Erika, Ed.; Leggo, Carl, Ed.; Sinner, Anita, Ed.

    2012-01-01

    This anthology explores life writing as a mode of educational inquiry, one where students and teachers may get a "heart of wisdom" as they struggle with the tensions and complexities of learning and teaching in challenging contemporary circumstances. Contributors write first-person creative non-fiction in a variety of life-writing…

  17. Persuasive Writing, A Curriculum Design: K-12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bennett, Susan G., Ed.

    In the spirit of the Texas Hill Country Writing Project and in response to the requirements of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, this guide presents writing assignments reflecting a commitment to a unified writing program for kindergarten through grade twelve. The framework for the assignments is adopted from the discourse theory of James…

  18. Show, Don't Tell: Using Photographic "Snapsignments" to Advance and Assess Creative Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Machin, Jane E.

    2016-01-01

    Traditional assignments that aim to develop and evaluate creative problem solving skills are frequently foregone in large marketing classes due to the daunting grading prospect they present. Here, a new assessment method is introduced: the "snapsignment." Through photography, individual projects can be assigned that promote higher order…

  19. Mind, Machine, and Creativity: An Artist's Perspective.

    PubMed

    Sundararajan, Louise

    2014-06-01

    Harold Cohen is a renowned painter who has developed a computer program, AARON, to create art. While AARON has been hailed as one of the most creative AI programs, Cohen consistently rejects the claims of machine creativity. Questioning the possibility for AI to model human creativity, Cohen suggests in so many words that the human mind takes a different route to creativity, a route that privileges the relational, rather than the computational, dimension of cognition. This unique perspective on the tangled web of mind, machine, and creativity is explored by an application of three relational models of the mind to an analysis of Cohen's talks and writings, which are available on his website: www.aaronshome.com.

  20. Mind, Machine, and Creativity: An Artist's Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Sundararajan, Louise

    2014-01-01

    Harold Cohen is a renowned painter who has developed a computer program, AARON, to create art. While AARON has been hailed as one of the most creative AI programs, Cohen consistently rejects the claims of machine creativity. Questioning the possibility for AI to model human creativity, Cohen suggests in so many words that the human mind takes a different route to creativity, a route that privileges the relational, rather than the computational, dimension of cognition. This unique perspective on the tangled web of mind, machine, and creativity is explored by an application of three relational models of the mind to an analysis of Cohen's talks and writings, which are available on his website: www.aaronshome.com. PMID:25541564

  1. Supporting Creativity, Inclusion and Collaborative Multi-Professional Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davis, John M.

    2013-01-01

    This article connects arguments in the field of integrated and multi-professional working concerning the need to promote a strengths-based approach to children, childhood and children's services with writing about creativity in schooling. It utilizes strength-based and social justice approaches to encourage professionals who work with children and…

  2. Developing Critical Thinking Skills and Improving Expressive Language through Creative Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodman, Harriet E.

    A practicum was conducted to develop critical thinking and improve expression through creative written language utilizing precision teaching as an evaluation of student performance. Six students (grades second through sixth) with low idea generation and few organization skills were trained by three teachers and a teacher advisor using…

  3. Poetry: It's Not Just for English Class Anymore

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connor-Greene, Patricia A.; Young, Art; Paul, Catherine; Murdoch, Janice W.

    2005-01-01

    Higher level thought involves both critical and creative thinking skills. Although the psychological literature is rich with research on teaching critical thinking, relatively little published work addresses ways of promoting creative thinking. In this article we describe the use of poetry writing in an abnormal psychology class to encourage…

  4. Case Study: A Step-by-Step Guide to Students Writing Case Studies (and Tools for Novice Case Authors)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prud'homme-Genereux, Annie

    2015-01-01

    In experimenting with ways of structuring the assignment and providing guidance to students, the author developed a series of tools that may be of interest to instructors wishing to implement a case-writing assignment in their course. This assignment is more suited for instructors experienced in case writing, as their knowledge of how to design a…

  5. Re-Theorizing the Role of Creative Writing in Composition Studies: Cautionary Notes towards Re-Thinking the Essay in the Teaching of Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Julier, Laura

    An essay, often called a personal essay, familiar essay, lyric essay, the disjunctive or spiral essay, is a piece of writing which takes its form in the shifts and turns of a particular mind at work. The essay is a piece of writing which pays attention to and sometimes plays with form; often uses images and figures that are familiar with poetry;…

  6. Selling the Home Territory: Assignments for International MBA Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reep, Diana C.

    2000-01-01

    Describes the author's approach to a MBA writing course functioning to connect the writing and oral presentation assignments to the students' current jobs. Notes that most international students lack an understanding of American business practices. Develops the assignments around what the students do know. Notes three assignments including a…

  7. Teaching with Technology. Software That's Right for You.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Denise

    1995-01-01

    Recommends software to help teachers plan curriculum in the areas of comprehensive language arts ("Cornerstone"); writing and information ("Keroppi Day Hopper"); creative writing and imagination ("Imagination Express"); reading ("Jo-Jo's Reading Circus"); math ("Careers in Math: From Architects to Astronauts") and nature ("Eyewitness"). Provides…

  8. Making Stories, Making Sense.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rubin, Andee

    1980-01-01

    Describes a set of tools (called Story Maker, Pre-Fab Story Maker, and Story Maker Maker) for teaching creative writing that takes advantage of the potential power of the social situation in the classroom, focuses on higher-level structures in text, and integrates reading and writing in school. (AEA)

  9. 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,…

  10. Fostering creativity in nursing students: a blending of nursing and the arts.

    PubMed

    Pavill, Brenda

    2011-01-01

    Integrating nursing and fine arts can evoke a more holistic view of clients as well as foster creativity in students. Presented is an overview of The Creative Project assignment that culminates with nursing students developing a creative self-expression of a clinical experience through the lens of liberal arts and nursing.

  11. Five Lines for Sixth Grade. (A Lesson Model for Teaching the Writing of the Cinquain Poem to Sixth Grade Students.).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burgess, Carol A.

    Sixth grade students can use cinquain poems to explore language, learn grammar, and write creatively. Before learning about cinquains, students should be introduced to simpler poetic forms. To introduce cinquains, the teacher writes a simple example on the board and has the students informally figure out the parts of speech and grammatical…

  12. What Is on Our Children's Minds? An Analysis of Children's Writings as Reflections of Group-Specific Socialisation Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Denessen, Eddie; Hornstra, Lisette; van den Bergh, Linda

    2010-01-01

    In the present study it has been examined how children's creative writing tasks may contribute to teachers' understanding of children's values. Writings of 300 elementary school children about what they would do if they were the boss of The Netherlands were obtained and seemed to reflect different types of values. Most children were concerned with…

  13. A History of Professional Writing Instruction in American Colleges: Years of Acceptance, Growth, and Doubt. SMU Studies in Composition and Rhetoric Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Katherine H.

    In addition to providing a chronicle of the history of college writing programs in America, this book recognizes their common beginnings, their respective strengths, and the collaboration necessary to train students to be effective writers. The book examines the common roots of courses in creative writing, journalism, technical and business…

  14. Rap and Technology Teach the Art of Argument

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fink, Rosalie

    2017-01-01

    How can teachers integrate rap and technology strategies to teach students with learning disabilities the art of persuasive argument writing? This teacher research study presents creative new approaches for teaching argument writing. Strategies used in the study helped college freshmen with learning disabilities (LD) succeed in developing…

  15. Is There a Hemingway in the House?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmidt, Laurel

    2004-01-01

    Creative warm-up activities help most of the articulate students who hate writing and unblock the most reluctant writers. Some of the warm-up activities for students in elementary grades that help in taking the fright out of writing, or just reduce the initial resistance are described.

  16. Byte-Size Ideas.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peng, John; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Discusses four applications of the microcomputer to the classroom: (1) a program listing of how to draw circles on the Apple II computers; (2) using a database to help write stories; (3) switching computers with others while writing stories to encourage creativity; and (4) a listing of a LOGO kaleidoscope program. (MVL)

  17. 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…

  18. Investigation of the Influence of a Writing-to-Learn Assignment on Student Understanding of Polymer Properties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Solaire A.; Halim, Audrey S.; Chambers, Timothy G.; Moon, Alena; Goldman, R. S.; Gere, Anne Ruggles; Shultz, Ginger V.

    2017-01-01

    We conducted a study to examine how a writing-to-learn assignment influenced student learning of polymer behavior. In particular, we examined the role of specific content and a rhetorical framework as well as a structured writing process including peer review and revision. The student-generated writing was analyzed via a content-directed rubric.…

  19. "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,…

  20. Epileptic Hypergraphia: The Impact of Prolific Writing on Language Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ammari, Elham H.

    2012-01-01

    Catalyzed academic concerns have been shown so far to tackle the issue of temporal lobe epileptic hypergraphia and the extent of its creativity. Temporal lobe epilepsy hence, (TLE) as a neurological brain disorder, has captured the attention of concerned scholars ever since. A constellation of TLE and its cohorts have baffled scientists,…

  1. Creative Writing, Problem-Based Learning, and Game-Based Learning Principles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trekles, Anastasia M.

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines how virtual worlds and other advanced social media can be married with problem-based learning to encourage creativity and critical thinking in the English/Language Arts classroom, particularly for middle school, high school, and undergraduate college education. Virtual world experiences such as "Second Life," Jumpstart.com, and…

  2. Practice Makes Perfect.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vail, Kathleen

    1997-01-01

    Describes curriculum at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), a public high school that offers a rigorous fine-arts curriculum in music, dance, visual arts, theater, and creative writing. A total of 260 students attend home schools half of the day and take classes at NOCCA the second half. Although not founded as a magnet school, the…

  3. Collaboration, Creativity and the Co-Construction of Oral and Written Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rojas-Drummond, S. M.; Albarran, C. D.; Littleton, K. S.

    2008-01-01

    In this paper we explore how primary school children "learn to collaborate" and "collaborate to learn" on creative writing projects by using diverse cultural artefacts--including oracy, literacy and ICT. We begin by reviewing some key sociocultural concepts which serve as a theoretical framework for the research reported. Secondly, we describe the…

  4. The Chronotopes of Technology-Mediated Creative Learning Practices in an Elementary School Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kumpulainen, Kristiina; Mikkola, Anna; Jaatinen, Anna-Mari

    2014-01-01

    This socioculturally informed study examines space-time configurations of students' technology-mediated creative learning practices in a Finnish elementary school over a school musical project. This study focuses on the social practices of 21 students who worked with personal laptops, wireless internet access, and a collaborative writing service,…

  5. Using Popular Culture in Developmental Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnes, Sharon L.

    2006-01-01

    Using popular culture in my developmental writing course has prompted me to reconsider what it means to create successful developmental writing assignments. Having slipped into the questionable habit of assuming that removing complexity makes an assignment appropriate for developing writers, I pared down a fairly open-ended "media…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wyatt-Brown, Anne M.

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

  7. Software Reviews: Programs Worth a Second Look.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Classroom Computer Learning, 1989

    1989-01-01

    Reviews three computer software programs: (1) "The Children's Writing and Publishing Center"--writing and creative arts, grades 2-8, Apple II; (2) "Slide Shop"--graphics and desktop presentations, grades 4-12, Apple II and IBM; and (3) "Solve It"--problem solving and language arts, grades 4-12, Apple II. (MVL)

  8. Neglected Genres of Creative Writing: Why Care Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beene, LynnDianne

    Arriving college students find themselves unprepared for the demands of academic writing. Despite the sometimes condescending critical attitudes of its literary worth and the pressures of composition specialists to use nonfiction texts as instructional aids, detective fiction, like any fiction, favors the underlying characteristics students…

  9. Down the Yellow Chip Road: Hypertext Portfolios in Oz.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fischer, Katherine M.

    1996-01-01

    Describes a creative writing class in which students used hypertext to develop their writing portfolios. Suggests that, much like "Kansas Dorothy" who ventured into Oz, a "tornado" carried these students and their teacher from the safe Paperland to the yellow chip road of electronic portfolios. Notes that students' portfolios…

  10. A Two-Process Model of Paragraph Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodson, Linda

    Paragraph writing mediated by imagery is richer, more flexible, and more creative than that produced by the somewhat impoverished, predictable, one-process model usually taught in composition classes. Since the writing advice given students differs considerably from the practice of professional writers, students should be given exercises that not…

  11. Writing the Right Contract: Getting What You Want.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finkel, Karen E.

    1998-01-01

    Outsourcing of school services creates a need for educators to learn how best to select a contractor. Contracted student transportation is used to illustrate flexibility and creativity in writing a request for proposal, the evaluation process, and the importance of contractors' willingness to work alongside the district as a genuine business…

  12. Top Ten Strategies for Teachers of Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miholic, Vincent, Comp.

    2004-01-01

    This volume presents a compilation of approaches, theory, processes, and experiences for teachers of writing and, by extension, student writers at all levels. The following mixture of theory and consistent applications amply answer this criticism and provide a generous blend of cognitive, metacognitive and affective realms of creativity as well as…

  13. Linguistic Audacity: Shakespeare's Language and Student Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodman, Barbara A.

    2011-01-01

    Shakespeare molded language to meet his needs. Can students learn from his example? In this article, the author suggests studying Shakespeare's creative use of functional shift, spelling, and vocabulary to help students develop greater control of their own writing. The author is advocating that teachers approach Shakespeare as descriptive…

  14. Connellys' Classroom Cutaway

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connelly, John; Connelly, Marilyn

    2008-01-01

    This article aims to help teachers looking for an exciting major unit designed to help their students meet educational standards in these areas: (1) library research skills, (2) preparing and writing a standard, (3) research paper, in this case on a significant figure in world history, (4) writing a creative story, including adaptation of…

  15. A Key to Creativity: Children Write for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caulfield, Jane

    1984-01-01

    A program in which very able older (14- to 15-year-olds) students write for younger ones (5- to 7-year-olds) features six-phase approach that includes composition of an idea, illustrations, the manufacturing process, optional animation, preview and publishing, and presentation of the final product. (CL)

  16. Textbook Writing and Creativity: The Case of Mendeleev.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Loren R.

    1983-01-01

    Historical reconstruction of Dmitrii Mendeleev's part in the creation of the Periodic Table of Elements illustrates how important the process of textbook writing was in this scientific development. A clear difference is seen between logical reconstruction of the discovery process and the insights provided by historical reconstruction of the same…

  17. The Views of Turkish Pre-Service Teachers about Effectiveness of Cluster Method as a Teaching Writing Method

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kitis, Emine; Türkel, Ali

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to find out Turkish pre-service teachers' views on effectiveness of cluster method as a writing teaching method. The Cluster Method can be defined as a connotative creative writing method. The way the method works is that the person who brainstorms on connotations of a word or a concept in abscence of any kind of…

  18. Writing Invention: Sometimes an Anti-Social Act, or the Relationship of Anger and the Impulse To Write. [Revised.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corso, Gail S.

    Writing teachers notice how students who succeed with their written projects often do so after they have moved to a kind of anger either with themselves or the project, with external stimuli, or with a general sense of injustice. They are stimulated by the emotion to creative problem solving, and as an effect, they may succeed at eliminating the…

  19. 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…

  20. The Well-Tempered Mathematics Assignment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rishel, Thomas W.

    Mathematics faculty around the United States are using writing assignments in a variety of ways. A mathematics teacher at Alma College, Michigan, has students write mathematical autobiographies, keep a reading logbook, and write letters to other students about the course, letters to instructors about the topics, or about what they do not…

  1. An Introduction to "Re-search" Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duke, Charles R.

    To change the perceptions that research writing is somehow different from other writing, teachers need to place more emphasis on the "search" in student research papers. An intermediate assignment can help bridge the gap between the totally personal search and the more formal and traditional research paper approach. The assignment asks students to…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carson, Robert James; Sadd, James Lester

    1991-01-01

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

  3. Incorporating A Structured Writing Process into Existing CLS Curricula.

    PubMed

    Honeycutt, Karen; Latshaw, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    Good communication and critical thinking are essential skills for all successful professionals, including Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Laboratory Science (CLS/MLS) practitioners. Professional programs can incorporate writing assignments into their curricula to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Clearly defined, scenario-focused writing assignments provide student practice in clearly articulating responses to proposed problems or situations, researching and utilizing informational resources, and applying and synthesizing relevant information. Assessment rubrics, structured feedback, and revision writing methodologies help guide students through the writing process. This article describes how a CLS Program in a public academic medical center, located in the central United States (US) serving five centrally-located US states has incorporated writing intensive assignments into an existing 11-month academic year using formal, informal and reflective writing to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Faculty members and employers of graduates assert that incorporating writing intensive requirements have better prepared students for their professional role to effectively communicate and think critically.

  4. Integrating writing into an introductory environmental science curriculum: Perspectives from biology and physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Selkin, P. A.; Cline, E. T.; Beaufort, A.

    2008-12-01

    In the University of Washington, Tacoma's Environmental Science program, we are implementing a curriculum-wide, scaffolded strategy to teach scientific writing. Writing in an introductory science course is a powerful means to make students feel part of the scientific community, an important goal in our environmental science curriculum. Writing is already an important component of the UW Tacoma environmental science program at the upper levels: our approach is designed to prepare students for the writing-intensive junior- and senior-level seminars. The approach is currently being tested in introductory biology and physics before it is incorporated in the rest of the introductory environmental science curriculum. The centerpiece of our approach is a set of research and writing assignments woven throughout the biology and physics course sequences. The assignments progress in their degree of complexity and freedom through the sequence of introductory science courses. Each assignment is supported by a number of worksheets and short written exercises designed to teach writing and critical thought skills. The worksheets are focused on skills identified both by research in science writing and the instructors' experience with student writing. Students see the assignments as a way to personalize their understanding of basic science concepts, and to think critically about ideas that interest them. We find that these assignments provide a good way to assess student comprehension of some of the more difficult ideas in the basic sciences, as well as a means to engage students with the challenging concepts of introductory science courses. Our experience designing these courses can inform efforts to integrate writing throughout a geoscience or environmental science curriculum, as opposed to on a course-by-course basis.

  5. Easing Your Pain: A Method for Evaluating Research Writing from Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jensen, Barbara E.; Martin, Kathleen A.; Mann, Betty L.; Fogarty, Tracey

    2004-01-01

    Throughout their undergraduate and graduate careers, students are assigned various types of papers that require scientific writing style. The scope of these assignments include laboratory reports that require only graphing and statements of findings; abstract assignments with critical summaries included; abbreviated research papers, including…

  6. Creativity and Learning Jazz: The Practice of "Listening"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Black, Steven P.

    2008-01-01

    This article is about interaction, culture, and creativity. The ethnographic setting is a set of jazz performance classes at a California university. Although I write about jazz music, the reader need not have a background in studying or performing jazz (or music in general) to understand this article. In the title of the article, the term…

  7. The Intensities and High Sensitivity of a Gifted Creative Genius: Sylvia Ashton-Warner

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Sonia

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the inner world of Sylvia Ashton-Warner, a gifted woman whose writing and teaching pedagogy earned her national and international acclaim. However, the acknowledged genius of her work is not explored herein. Rather, the inner world of a creatively gifted adult is examined, with particular reference to Dabrowski's…

  8. Assessment of Creative Writing: The Case of Singapore Secondary Chinese Language Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tung, Chan Kwong

    2015-01-01

    In Singapore and in elsewhere alike, educators nowadays are paying much more attention on the set of teaching and assessment recommendations called the 21st century skills that include creativity at the policy, programmatic, school and classroom levels. As these education systems develop and respond to the demands of the new century, educators are…

  9. Increasing the Writing Performance of Urban Seniors Placed At-Risk through Goal-Setting in a Culturally Responsive and Creativity-Centered Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Estrada, Brittany; Warren, Susan

    2014-01-01

    Efforts to support marginalized students require not only identifying systemic inequities, but providing a classroom infrastructure that supports the academic achievement of all students. This action research study examined the effects of implementing goal-setting strategies and emphasizing creativity in a culturally responsive classroom (CRC) on…

  10. Creativity and Self-Exploration in Projective Drawings of Abused Women: Evaluating the inside Me-outside Me Workshop

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dollinger, Stephen J.; Kazmierczak, Elzbieta; Storkerson, Peter K.

    2011-01-01

    This study evaluated a creative workshop where college students (N = 300) devised self-expressive products to explore their inner and outer worlds. Participants devised products with drawing and writing components to examine their relationships with negative life events, self-concepts, and worldviews. Participants then evaluated the workshop.…

  11. A Creative Model for a Post-Treatment Group for Women with Cancer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slakov, June; Leslie, Mary

    2003-01-01

    A four-week experiential group for women at the British Columbia Cancer Agency offers the creative tools of art, meditation, and journal writing to help focus the inner work of healing in the presence of others. Using comments from the participants, a brief history, framework, and overview are outlined. (Contains 24 references.) (GCP)

  12. The Effect of Observational Learning on Students' Performance, Processes, and Motivation in Two Creative Domains

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Groenendijk, Talita; Janssen, Tanja; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; van den Bergh, Huub

    2013-01-01

    Background. Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for example, argumentative writing and mathematics. The question in this paper is whether observational learning can also be beneficial when learning to perform creative tasks in visual and verbal arts. Aims. We hypothesized that observation…

  13. Investigating the Use of ICT-Based Concept Mapping Techniques on Creativity in Literacy Tasks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riley, Nigel R.; Ahlberg, Mauri

    2004-01-01

    The key research question in this small-scale study focuses on the effects that an ICT (information and communications technologies)-based concept mapping intervention has on creativity and writing achievement in 10-11-year-old primary age pupils. The data shows that pupils using a concept mapping intervention significantly improve their NFER…

  14. Lesson Play Tasks as a Creative Venture for Teachers and Teacher Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zazkis, Rina

    2017-01-01

    This study focuses on instances of creativity in the design of Lesson Play tasks and in prospective teachers' responses to the tasks. A Lesson Play task assumes a theatrical interpretation of the word "play" and requires teachers to write a script for an imaginary interaction between a teacher-character and student-characters, attending…

  15. Daisaku Ikeda and Value-Creative Dialogue: A New Current in Interculturalism and Educational Philosophy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goulah, Jason

    2012-01-01

    This article focuses on Daisaku Ikeda's (1928- ) philosophy and practice of intercultural dialogue--what I call "value-creative dialogue"--as a new current in interculturalism and educational philosophy and theory. I use excerpts from Ikeda's writings to consider two aspects of his approach to dialogue. First, I locate his approach…

  16. Expanding Views of Creative Science: A Response to Ghassib's Productivist Industrial Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ambrose, Don

    2010-01-01

    It was refreshing to read Hisham Ghassib's (2010) article outlining his model of scientific knowledge production. Too few scholarly writings in creative studies and gifted education deal with issues at the large-scale, panoramic level of analysis. Ghassib (2010) would not disappoint Albert Einstein who lamented that "I have little patience with…

  17. The Utility of Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Bioscience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    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…

  18. Emotional Disclosure through Writing or Speaking Modulates Latent Epstein-Barr Virus Antibody Titers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Esterling, Brian A.; And Others

    1994-01-01

    Healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates (n=57) completed personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write/talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events. Those assigned to verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune…

  19. Building Intercultural Empathy through Writing: Reflections on Teaching Alternatives to Argumentation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peirce, Karen P.

    2007-01-01

    Writing assignments that focus on nonargumentative discourse can take many forms. Such assignments can prompt students to produce individually constructed writing, or they can be more collaborative in nature. They can focus on traditional formats, following MLA citation guidelines, using Times New Roman 12-point font, maintaining one-inch margins,…

  20. Rewards: Knowledge and Liberation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Logan, Carolyn

    Part of the reward for expository college English papers is, of course, letter grades, but careful writing offers two greater rewards: knowledge and liberation. Teachers can best motivate students to write by seeing to it that the writing they assign teaches and challenges, and by assigning topics that are important to students but ones that they…

  1. A Poster Assignment Connects Information Literacy and Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waters, Natalie

    2015-01-01

    This paper describes the implementation of a poster assignment in a writing and information literacy course required for undergraduate Life Sciences and Environmental Biology majors with the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University. The assignment was introduced in response to weaknesses identified through course…

  2. 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…

  3. The Writing Process: Effects of Life-Span Development on Imaging.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shock, Diane Hahn

    A qualitative study focused on incubation and illumination within the act of writing to determine if life-span development affects image production during these creative, cognitive acts. Sixteen subjects of both sexes from four age groups represented major developmental stages in the life cycle. The research design provided two 90-minute sessions…

  4. The Story of Ourselves: Teaching History through Children's Literature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tunnell, Michael O.; Ammon, Richard

    This collection of writings by trade book authors, public school teachers, and college-faculty offers support for using children's literature in history education. Divided into three parts, the Introduction asks "Why Teach History to the Young?" (Terrie L. Epstein). Part 1, "The Creative Process," addresses the process of writing and illustrating…

  5. The Elephants Teach: Creative Writing since 1880

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Myers, David Gershom

    2006-01-01

    When Vladimir Nabokov was up for a chair in literature at Harvard, the linguist Roman Jakobson protested: "What's next? Shall we appoint elephants to teach zoology?" That anecdote, with which D. G. Myers begins "The Elephants Teach", perfectly frames the issues this book tackles. Myers explores more than a century of debate over how writing should…

  6. Poetic Voices: Writing, Reading, and Responding to Poetry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandre, Patricia E.

    2012-01-01

    "Poetic Voices: Writing, Reading, and Responding to Poetry" was the title of the 2011 Master Class in Children's Literature. Woven into this session were the insights of poets Joyce Sidman and Pat Mora who shared their creative processes and the voices that inspire their poetry. In addition, Barbara Kiefer provided advice regarding how to connect…

  7. U. of Iowa Writing Students Quash Planned Open Access

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foster, Andrea L.

    2008-01-01

    The University of Iowa has reversed course on a plan to make some students' theses freely available online, following protests from students in the university's writing programs. The students said the plan could have threatened the potential commercial value of their novels, plays, and other creative works. The controversy began in late winter,…

  8. 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).…

  9. Improving Student Writing through a Language Rich Environment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corona, Cathy; Spangenberger, Sandra; Venet, Iris

    A program developed interventions for improving student writing in the areas of technique and creativity. The targeted population consisted of students in the first through fourth grades in three different school sites, all being similar upper-middle class communities, located in the suburbs of a mid-western city. The problems that some students…

  10. Motivating Primary Students to Write Using Writer's Workshop

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conroy, Michelle; Marchand, Trisha; Webster, Matt

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this action research project is to motivate elementary students in writing, specifically in the areas of creativity, detail, and accuracy. The teacher researchers wanted to develop self-motivated and knowledgeable writers. This project was conducted from September 2nd, 2008 to January 30th, 2009. The targeted students enjoyed…

  11. Visual Literacy Connections to Thinking, Reading and Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sinatra, Richard

    Providing both rationale and technique for practitioners, this book emphasizes the influence of visual literacy upon the reading, writing, and creative development of learners. The nine chapters of the book are arranged into three sections, with the first setting forth the basic components of visual literacy and how they manifest themselves in…

  12. Zen and Writing: Anglo-American Interpretations, Revolutionary Possibilities: A Review Article.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hum, Sue

    1996-01-01

    Discusses three books on Zen and writing that (1) question assumptions of Western discourse and literacy practices; (2) offer ideas to help individual writers unearth their creative energy and potential; (3) advocate alternative discursive practices; (4) discuss possibilities of an embodied literacy predicated on kindness and compassion; and (5)…

  13. How to Handle the Paper Load. Classroom Practices in Teaching English, 1979-1980.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stanford, Gene; And Others

    This collection of 27 articles written by educators suggests to classroom teachers creative ways of teaching writing well even when confronted with unreasonably large classes. The articles are presented under six main headings: ungraded writing, teacher involvement--not evaluation, student self-editing, practice with parts, focused feedback, and…

  14. Exploring "Magic Cottage": A Virtual Reality Environment for Stimulating Children's Imaginative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patera, Marianne; Draper, Steve; Naef, Martin

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents an exploratory study that created a virtual reality environment (VRE) to stimulate motivation and creativity in imaginative writing at primary school level. The main aim of the study was to investigate if an interactive, semi-immersive virtual reality world could increase motivation and stimulate pupils' imagination in the…

  15. Breathing Words Slowly: Creative Writing and Counselor Self-Care--The Writing Workout

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warren, Jane; Morgan, Michael M.; Morris, Lay-Nah Blue; Morris, Tanaya Moon

    2010-01-01

    Professional counselors work daily with compassion and connection, yet must also manage trauma and pain. Clients' stories of loneliness, fear, abuse, and anger frequently fill the landscape of a counselor's work. Counselors may experience burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma by failing to recognize and adequately address the negative…

  16. Why Historical Fiction Writing? Helping Students Think Rigorously and Creatively

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hughes, Ryan

    2013-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) lays out "a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century." Among educators, conversations about reading and writing have shifted to reflect the CCSS emphasis on informational, technical, opinion, and other non-narrative forms. Yet, these standards also demand that…

  17. Monologue Writing as Social Education: Applying Creative Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welsh, Scott

    2017-01-01

    This paper explores an example of applied theatre and praxis learning in an Australian classroom with drama students aged 16-17 years which took the form of "real fiction" or social theatre monologue writing. It presents monologue responses from nine participants, altered by the researcher to protect identities and to tease out issues…

  18. My Galaxy of Memories, Feelings, and Dreams.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tomek, George; Tomek, Marilee

    Young people are encouraged to use this writing journal for kids as a means to think, write, and be creative. The journal helps children to explore their worlds, learn about their families, and record their memories, feelings, and dreams. Following explanatory sections for parents, teachers, and the writer, the journal contains these sections:…

  19. Keeping Black Poetry Alive

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mehta, Diane

    2006-01-01

    Thomas Sayers Ellis, assistant professor of creative writing at New York's Sarah Lawrence College, is one of many scholars fighting for the soul of Black poetry, a struggle that takes place largely off-campus. Unless one is accepted into a top-level graduate poetry program, such as Boston University's program or the Iowa Writing Workshop, a poet's…

  20. Engaging Communities: Encouraging Faculty to Teach in an Interdisciplinary Community Engagement Core Curriculum with an Emphasis on Writing Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Persichetti, Amy Lee

    2011-01-01

    Over the past several decades, interdisciplinary programming, community engagement courses, and Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives have proliferated as colleges and universities seek to enhance student learning outcomes, prepare students for a global economy, and seek creative solutions to emergent social and scientific problems…

  1. Measuring Voice in Poetry Written by Second Language Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hanauer, David I.

    2015-01-01

    There is increasing usage of creative writing in the ESL/EFL classroom based on the argument that this pedagogy develops writer's voice, emotional engagement, and ownership. Within the context of teaching poetry writing to second language learners, the current article develops a scientific approach to ways in which voice can be measured and then…

  2. When Lightning Strikes: Reexamining Creativity in Psychotherapy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carson, David K.; Becker, Kent W.

    2004-01-01

    Creativity is paramount to the therapeutic process. This article explored the role of creativity in counseling and psychotherapy through a critical analysis of several key articles in a special issue of The Journal of Clinical Activities, Assignments, & Handouts in Psychotherapy Practice (L. L. Hecker, 2002). Implications for counselors/therapists…

  3. Writing and Computing across the USM Chemistry Curriculum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gordon, Nancy R.; Newton, Thomas A.; Rhodes, Gale; Ricci, John S.; Stebbins, Richard G.; Tracy, Henry J.

    2001-01-01

    The faculty of the University of Southern Maine believes the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important skills required of successful chemists. To help students achieve that goal, the faculty has developed a Writing and Computer Program consisting of writing and computer assignments of gradually increasing sophistication for all our laboratory courses. The assignments build in complexity until, at the junior level, students are writing full journal-quality laboratory reports. Computer assignments also increase in difficulty as students attack more complicated subjects. We have found the program easy to initiate and our part-time faculty concurs as well. The Writing and Computing across the Curriculum Program also serves to unite the entire chemistry curriculum. We believe the program is helping to reverse what the USM chemistry faculty and other educators have found to be a steady deterioration in the writing skills of many of today's students.

  4. Ways of Research: The Status of the Traditional Research Paper Assignment in First-Year Writing/Composition Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hood, Carra Leah

    2010-01-01

    I created my Exploratory Survey on the Status of the Research Paper Assignment in First-year Writing/Composition Courses to learn whether the traditional research paper remained as common an assignment in 2009 as it had been in the past. My survey updates results from two previous surveys on the status of this assignment. Ambrose N. Manning's…

  5. Design and Assessment of an Assignment-Based Curriculum to Teach Scientific Writing and Scientific Peer Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glaser, Rainer E.

    2014-01-01

    A writing-intensive, upper-level undergraduate course which integrates content, context, collaboration, and communication in a unique fashion, is described. The topic of the seminar is "Scientific Writing in Chemistry" and an assignment-based curriculum was developed to instruct students on best practices in all aspects of science…

  6. The Challenges of Assignment Design in Discipline-Based Freshman Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilner, Arlene

    2005-01-01

    In this author's research, the question of whether it makes sense to think of writing primarily as a generic skill acquired increasing urgency as she gathered qualitative data for a study of the relationship between instructors' expectations in the design of writing assignments and the students' thinking as evidenced both in their essay responses…

  7. Darmok & Jalad at Tannagra: A Lesson in Cultural Communication and Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staten, Karen A.

    1996-01-01

    Describes a writing assignment based on a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode in which an alien sacrifices his life so two cultures can come together. Provides questions for students to answer during the viewing of the episode. Suggests a writing assignment (and several variations) in which students create their own alien. (TB)

  8. Application of Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Writing Assignments to Enhance Experiments with an Environmental Chemistry Focus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Margerum, Lawrence D.; Gulsrud, Maren; Manlapez, Ronald; Rebong, Rachelle; Love, Austin

    2007-01-01

    The browser-based software program, Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) developed by the Molecular Science Project enables instructors to create structured writing assignments in which students learn by writing and reading for content. Though the CPR project covers only one experiment in general chemistry, it might provide lab instructors with a method…

  9. Fairy-tale planet: creative science writing for children

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lanza, Tiziana; D'Addezio, Giuliana

    2017-04-01

    During public events organized by our Institute sometimes we have predisposed a corner to entertain primary school children with fairy-tales about the planet. In that occasion we realized that even if children could take part in other activities more in fashion such as laboratories, theatre performances, exhibits, they were very attracted by fairy tales, such an "ancient" tradition. This year within the projects "alternanza scuola-lavoro" we are planning to involve also the students of the secondary schools to learn themselves how to animate a fairy-tale corner for children. The "alternanza scuola lavoro" (interchange school/work) has been recently introduced in the Italian school as a methodology for implementing the second cycle teaching. The general purpose is to ensure that 15 to 18 years old students, beside the access to basic knowledge, can acquire skills in the employment and real work environments experiencing other teaching methods based both on knowledge and know-how. We will then start a new adventure by investigating what will be the best way to introduce children to creative science writing for the planet. The aim would be that of creating a format suitable for children either for writing all together a planet fairy-tale in class, or individually. The final goal is to raise awareness about the environmental problems by stimulating in scholars their own creativity.

  10. Graduate Writing Assignments across Faculties in a Canadian University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shi, Ling; Dong, Yanning

    2015-01-01

    This study examines 143 graduate assignments across 12 faculties or schools in a Canadian university in order to identify types of writing tasks. Based on the descriptions provided by the instructors, we identified nine types of assignments, with scholarly essay being the most common, followed by summary and response, literature review, project,…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Theoret, Julie M.; Luna, Andrea

    2009-01-01

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

  12. The Effects of Intertextual Reading Approach on the Development of Creative Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akdal, Deniz; Sahin, Ayfer

    2014-01-01

    Problem Statement: The aim of the first five years of primary school is to teach and help the students develop basic skills as stated in the Primary School Language Program and Guide. Creative thinking and intertextual reading are among these skills, and it is important to give these to the students during language courses. Purpose of Study: The…

  13. Dance and Literacy Hand in Hand: Using Uncommon Practices to Meet the Common Core

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Janet H.

    2016-01-01

    As a dance teacher in public elementary schools for the last 25 years, Janet Adams has always recognized the creative link between dance and writing, and offered her students structured opportunities to combine the two. She has also honed her management skills and kept a pretty tight ship. Creative expression, though, be it through dancing or…

  14. Deconstructing Religion in Jeanette Winterson's "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit": A Metacritical Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Shara, Zaydun

    2015-01-01

    The last few decades have witnessed an interesting new dimension in creative writing as a number of novelists have addressed literary theory in their literary texts, thus acting as creative metacritics. One intriguing writer who addresses theory in her fiction is the British novelist Jeanette Winterson. In this paper I intend to present Winterson…

  15. Creative Exercises in General Chemistry: A Student-Centered Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Scott E.; Shaw, Janet L.; Freeman, Kathryn A.

    2010-01-01

    Creative exercises (CEs) are a form of assessment in which students are given a prompt and asked to write down as many distinct, correct, and relevant facts about the prompt as they can. Students receive credit for each fact that they include that is related to the prompt and distinct from the other facts they list. With CEs, students have an…

  16. Writing Trojan Horses and War Machines: The Creative Political in Music Education Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gould, Elizabeth

    2011-01-01

    North American music education is a commodity sold to pre-service and in-service music teachers. Like all mass-produced consumables, it is valuable to the extent that it is not creative, that is, to the extent that it is reproducible. This is demonstrated in curricular materials, notably general music series textbook and music scores available…

  17. Increasing Creativity with the Self-Studies in Basic English Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yagcioglu, Ozlem

    2016-01-01

    There are many materials, books and resources for the self-studies which can be useful in the ESL and in the EFL classrooms. Choosing the ones which can make learners more creative and happier will help our students to develop their language skills in speaking, reading, writing and listening. This paper deals with the methods and approaches to…

  18. "Who Soy Yo?": The Creative Use of "Spanglish" to Express a Hybrid Identity in Chicana/o Heritage Language Learners of Spanish

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanchez-Munoz, Ana

    2013-01-01

    This study explores various linguistic strategies that characterize what is commonly referred to as "Spanglish"; namely, code-switching, code-mixing, borrowings and other language contact phenomena commonly employed by Chicana/o bilinguals. The analysis of linguistic features is based on creative pieces of writing produced by Chicana/o…

  19. "I Know Down to My Ribs": A Narrative Research Study on the Embodied Adult Learning of Creative Writers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tobin, Jennifer A.; Tisdell, Elizabeth J.

    2015-01-01

    This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that used narrative analysis to explore the role of embodied learning in the writing processes of creative writers. From a theoretical framework that draws on Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of the body, Gendlin's concepts of felt sense and focusing, and Jordi's analysis of reflection for…

  20. Experiential Learning in the Age of Web 2.0: The Rap Video Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Mark

    2018-01-01

    The following experiential-learning innovation for Web 2.0 allows students to engage in creativity that is focused on writing poetry about a course-related topic and then recording a three-minute rap video based on this poetry. The rap video project described in this article offers students an opportunity to apply critical- and creative-thinking…

  1. Creativity Processes of Students in the Design Studio

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huber, Amy Mattingly; Leigh, Katharine E.; Tremblay, Kenneth R., Jr.

    2012-01-01

    The creative process is a multifaceted and dynamic path of thinking required to execute a project in design-based disciplines. The goal of this research was to test a model outlining the creative design process by investigating student experiences in a design project assignment. The study used an exploratory design to collect data from student…

  2. Integrating Assessment into Teaching Practices: Using Checklists for Business Writing Assignments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vice, Janna P.; Carnes, Lana W.

    2002-01-01

    Explains how to use checklists as a tool for developing, implementing, and evaluating business writing assignments. Gives an example of their use with memoranda, short reports, and analytical field reports. (SK)

  3. Teaching cultural competence using an exemplar from literary journalism.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Kathryn L

    2004-06-01

    Fadiman's work of literary journalism, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, was used as a case study to teach transcultural and other nursing concepts to undergraduate nursing students. Campinha-Bacote's model of cultural competence was used to organize transcultural nursing concepts in the course. Before and after the course, students completed assessments consisting of two cultural attitude questionnaires and a paper describing a personal experience with adherence and failure to adhere by a Mexican American client. After reading Fadiman's book and completing several short writing assignments examining key course concepts, student scores on the questionnaires were mostly unchanged. However, students demonstrated growth in cultural awareness and skill in their "after" papers. Results suggest that valid, reliable tools are needed to detect changes in cultural competence. Qualitative data suggest that students can begin the process of becoming culturally competent through the creative use of literature in nursing education.

  4. Using literature to help physician-learners understand and manage "difficult" patients.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, J; Lie, D

    2000-07-01

    Despite significant clinical and research efforts aimed at recognizing and managing "difficult" patients, such patients remain a frustrating experience for many clinicians. This is especially true for primary care residents, who are required to see a significant volume of patients with diverse and complex problems, but who may not have adequate training and life experience to enable them to deal with problematic doctor-patient situations. Literature--short stories, poems, and patient narratives--is a little-explored educational tool to help residents in understanding and working with difficult patients. In this report, the authors examine the mechanics of using literature to teach about difficult patients, including structuring the learning environment, establishing learning objectives, identifying teaching resources and appropriate pedagogic methods, and incorporating creative writing assignments. They also present an illustrative progression of a typical literature-based teaching session about a difficult patient.

  5. The Evolution of a Writing Program.

    PubMed

    White, Bonnie J; Lamson, Karen S

    2017-07-01

    Scholarly writing is required in nursing, and some students are unable to communicate effectively through writing. Faculty members may struggle with the grading of written assignments. A writing team, consisting of a nursing faculty member, the school of nursing library liaison, and members from academic support services, implemented strategies including workshops, handouts, and use of exemplars to improve student writing and to provide support to faculty. Few students sought help from the writing team. An online writing center within the existing learning management system was developed to address nursing students' and faculty's scholarly writing needs. The writing center includes guides, tutorials, and exemplars. Anecdotal evidence indicates the use of the writing center during afternoons and evenings and prior to due dates of written assignments. Online writing resources were used more frequently than face-to-face support. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):443-445.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  6. The Openhearted Audience: Ten Authors Talk about Writing for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haviland, Virginia, Ed.

    This book contains comments by ten authors of children's literature concerning the influences they feel account for the particular qualities that define their books and about creative writing and children's literature in general. In the first article, P. L. Travers stresses the importance of fairy tales, myths, and legends in shaping her work,…

  7. Integrating Reading and Writing: One Professor's Story

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DuBrowa, Melissa

    2011-01-01

    In these austere and uncertain financial times, colleges are caught in a quandary: they need to admit a certain number of students each term in order to make budget, yet many of the students they admit are developmental in nature by virtue of their critical thinking, writing and/or math scores on their entrance exams. Creative colleges are…

  8. Letting the Boundaries Draw Themselves: What Theory and Practice Have Been Trying To Tell Us.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ostrom, Hans; Bishop, Wendy

    Two colleagues in the field of composition studies speak to each other during a panel discussion titled, "Writing, Rhetoric, and 'Creative' Writing: Refiguring the Undergrduate Curriculum." The first respondent posits that academic department boundaries are out of date; they block the way to many useful collaborations. The same can be…

  9. Enhancing Students' Creative Writing Skills: An Action Research Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nasir, Laraib; Naqvi, Syeda Meenoo; Bhamani, Shelina

    2013-01-01

    This research aimed to improve written expression (composition) skills of 5th grade students of an elite private school. The research was designed under the paradigm of action research. A total sample of 39 students' from the same grade was chosen for the study. The baseline assessment was carried out to explore the pre-intervention writing skill…

  10. The Mad Genie in the Attic: Performances of Identity in Year 6 Boys' Creative Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dobson, Tom

    2015-01-01

    Identity studies relating to writing in educational setting have tended to focus on the analysis of non-fiction texts. Aligning a Bakhtinian view of language with the concept of identity as participation in "figured worlds" [Holland et al. 1998, "Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds". London: Harvard University Press], this…

  11. Right along the Border: Mexican-American Students Write Themselves into The(ir) World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zwerling, Philip

    2009-01-01

    Hidalgo County, Texas, is one of the poorest in the country. The population in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is 85% Mexican-American. Underprepared for college and juggling full time jobs, their own children, and sometimes dysfunctional extended families, students often do not expect to succeed. I recently taught a Creative Writing course which…

  12. Teaching with Your Librarian: Reading About Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meagher, Sandy

    2005-01-01

    This document contains some book suggestions to help introduce all the various parts of writing. Helping students understand figures of speech takes more than a book ? it takes a creative teacher and interested students. One book that teachers and students have had a great time with is Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards, (Kids Can Press, 2004,…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halbritter, Bump; Blon, Noah; Creighton, Caron

    2011-01-01

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

  14. An Analysis of Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) in a Science Lecture Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walvoord, Mark E.; Hoefnagels, Marielle H.; Gaffin, Douglas D.; Chumchal, Matthew M.; Long, David A.

    2008-01-01

    Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is an online tool being used to integrate a writing component in classrooms. In an introductory zoology lecture class, the authors found that CPR-assigned scores were significantly higher than instructor-assigned scores on two of three essay assignments. They also found that neither students' technical-writing skills…

  15. A picture's worth a thousand words: engaging youth in CBPR using the creative arts.

    PubMed

    Yonas, Michael A; Burke, Jessica G; Rak, Kimberly; Bennett, Antoine; Kelly, Vera; Gielen, Andrea C

    2009-01-01

    Engaging youth and incorporating their unique expertise into the research process is important when addressing issues related to their health. Visual Voices is an arts-based participatory data collection method designed to work together with young people and communities to collaboratively elicit, examine, and celebrate the perspectives of youth. To present a process for using the creative arts with young people as a participatory data collection method and to give examples of their perspectives on safety and violence. Using the creative arts, this study examined and illustrates the perspectives of how community factors influence safety and violence. Visual Voices was conducted with a total of 22 African-American youth in two urban neighborhoods. This method included creative arts-based writing, drawing, and painting activities designed to yield culturally relevant data generated and explored by youth. Qualitative data were captured through the creative content of writings, drawings, and paintings created by the youths as well as transcripts from audio recorded group discussion. Data was analyzed for thematic content and triangulated across traditional and nontraditional mediums. Findings were interpreted with participants and shared publicly for further reflection and utilization. The youth participants identified a range of issues related to community factors, community safety, and violence. Such topics included the role of schools and social networks within the community as safe places and corner stores and abandoned houses as unsafe places. Visual Voices is a creative research method that provides a unique opportunity for youth to generate a range of ideas through access to the multiple creative methods provided. It is an innovative process that generates rich and valuable data about topics of interest and the lived experiences of young community members.

  16. A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: Engaging Youth in CBPR Using the Creative Arts

    PubMed Central

    Yonas, Michael A.; Burke, Jessica G.; Rak, Kimberly; Bennett, Antoine; Kelly, Vera; Gielen, Andrea C.

    2010-01-01

    Background Engaging youth and incorporating their unique expertise into the research process is important when addressing issues related to their health. Visual Voices is an arts-based participatory data collection method designed to work together with young people and communities to collaboratively elicit, examine, and celebrate the perspectives of youth. Objectives To present a process for using the creative arts with young people as a participatory data collection method and to give examples of their perspectives on safety and violence. Methods Using the creative arts, this study examined and illustrates the perspectives of how community factors influence safety and violence. Visual Voices was conducted with a total of 22 African-American youth in two urban neighborhoods. This method included creative arts-based writing, drawing, and painting activities designed to yield culturally relevant data generated and explored by youth. Qualitative data were captured through the creative content of writings, drawings, and paintings created by the youths as well as transcripts from audio recorded group discussion. Data was analyzed for thematic content and triangulated across traditional and nontraditional mediums. Findings were interpreted with participants and shared publicly for further reflection and utilization. Conclusion The youth participants identified a range of issues related to community factors, community safety, and violence. Such topics included the role of schools and social networks within the community as safe places and corner stores and abandoned houses as unsafe places. Visual Voices is a creative research method that provides a unique opportunity for youth to generate a range of ideas through access to the multiple creative methods provided. It is an innovative process that generates rich and valuable data about topics of interest and the lived experiences of young community members. PMID:20097996

  17. Where love flies free: women, home, and writing in Cook County Jail.

    PubMed

    Stanford, Ann Folwell

    2005-01-01

    Several definitions of "home," drawn from dozens provided by the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, underscore how a large urban county jail becomes many forms of home for the women detainees there. Drawing on the women's poetry and the mechanics of creative writing workshops facilitated by the author for the last seven years at Cook County Jail, this essay describes some of the realities of the criminal (in)justice system and how the women's writing becomes a way of writing against the grain of official discourse, thus altering certain definitions of this "home."

  18. How Do the "Real Housewives" Get to History Class? A Multimodal Twist on a Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Caswell

    2016-01-01

    When eighth-grade students tire of writing, their history teacher must get creative to keep their attention for the next project. By applying a multimodal design to an old project, the teacher creates a new one that appeals to various learners and creative minds. The result is not only historical learning but also an opportunity to see how…

  19. Connecting the Dots: Linking Creativity, Synthesis Skills, and the Students' Anxiety about the Future

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Susnea, Ioan; Pecheanu, Emilia; Dumitriu, Luminita; Cocu, Adina

    2017-01-01

    In the past few years we have participated in several EU funded projects, aimed to create the educational content and auxiliary ICT tools to support the development of some essential soft skills of the students: the creativity, and the ability to write syntheses of the ideas extracted from various sources. In this context, we produced an easy to…

  20. Design and development of an intelligent nursing bed - a pilot project of "joint assignment".

    PubMed

    Jiehui Jiang; Tingwei Liu; Yuting Zhang; Yu Song; Mi Zhou; Xiaosong Zheng; Zhuangzhi Yan

    2017-07-01

    The "joint assignment" is a creative bachelor education project for Biomedical Engineering (BME) in Shanghai University (SHU), China. The objective of this project is to improve students' capabilities in design thinking and teamwork through practices in the process of the design and development of complex medical product. As the first step, a pilot project "design and development of intelligent nursing bed" was set up in May 2015. This paper describes details of how project organization and management, various teaching methods and scientific evaluation approaches were achieved in this pilot project. For example, a method containing one main line and four branches is taken to manage the project and "prototyping model" was used as the main research approach. As a result a multi-win situation was achieved. The results showed, firstly, 62 bachelor students including 16 BME students were well trained. They improved themselves in use of practical tools, communication skills and scientific writing; Secondly, commercial companies received a nice product design on intelligent nursing bed, and have been working on industrializing it; Thirdly, the university and associated schools obtained an excellent practical education experience to supplement traditional class education; Fourthly and most importantly, requirements from end-users will be met. The results also showed that the "joint assignment" task could become a significant component in BME bachelor education.

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

    PubMed Central

    Adams, Joyce

    2011-01-01

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

  2. Personal Finance and Communication: A Natural Duo.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harmon, Gary P.

    1990-01-01

    Describes a personal finance course which uses special assignments designed to improve oral and written communication skills. Discusses assignments such as journal writing, letter writing, discussions with guest speakers, researching major household purchases, and managing a personal investment portfolio. (RS)

  3. My Favorite Assignment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hebert, Margaret; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Contains seven brief articles which offer assignments designed to help students perform job searches, write job application letters, answer difficult questions, write letters of resignation, alleviate fears of public speaking, use the interview effectively in the business communication, and develop listening skills. (PRA)

  4. Implementing a Grant Proposal Writing Exercise in Undergraduate Science Courses to Incorporate Real-World Applications and Critical Analysis of Current Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cole, Kathryn E.; Inada, Maki; Smith, Andrew M.; Haaf, Michael P.

    2013-01-01

    Writing is an essential part of a successful career in science. As such, many undergraduate science courses have begun to implement writing assignments that reflect "real-world" applications and focus on a critical analysis of current literature; these assignments are often in the form of a review or a research proposal. The…

  5. Do It Right! Requiring Multiple Submissions of Math and NMR Analysis Assignments in the Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slade, David J.

    2017-01-01

    The first-semester introductory organic chemistry laboratory has been adapted to include mini postlab assignments that students must complete correctly, through as many attempts as prove to be necessary. The use of multiple drafts of writing assignments is a standard approach to improving writing, so the system was designed to require drafts for…

  6. The Personal Response: A Novel Writing Assignment to Engage First Year Students in Large Human Biology Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moni, Roger W.; Moni, Karen B.; Poronnik, Philip

    2007-01-01

    The teaching of highly valued scientific writing skills in the first year of university is challenging. This report describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel written assignment, "The Personal Response" and accompanying Peer Review, in the course, Human Biology (BIOL1015) at The University of Queensland. These assignments were…

  7. Selections from the ABC 2014 Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Let Favorite Assignments Ring: Sharpening Communication Tools and Self and Career Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whalen, D. Joel; Crenshaw, Cheri; Ortiz, Lorelei A.; Vik, Gretchen N.; Meredith, Michael J.; Deambrosi, Alfredo; Luck, Susan L.; Rausch, Georgi; Canas, Kathryn; Hicks, Nancy; Newman, Amy; Hofacker, Cynthia M.; Webb, Susan Hall; Zizik, Catherine H.

    2015-01-01

    This article, the first of a two-part series, catalogs teaching innovations from the 2014 Association for Business Communication Annual Conference. These 12 assignments debuted during two "My Favorite Assignment" sessions. Learning experiences included job-seeking skills--résumé writing, writing job applications, sharpening interview…

  8. Inside English: Journal of the English Council of California Two Year Colleges, Volume 17, Numbers 1-4, October 1989-May 1990.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodruff, Barbara Bilson, Ed.; And Others

    1990-01-01

    With each issue focusing on different themes, volume 17 of "Inside English" looks at the writing process, literature and literacy, composition and creativity, and pedagogical alternatives and classroom writing. In addition to regular columns on the English Council of California Two-Year Colleges (ECCTYC) and legislative concerns, the following…

  9. Teaching of Writing: Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations Published in "Dissertation Abstracts International," January through June 1979 (Vol. 39 Nos. 7 through 12).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Urbana, IL.

    This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with the following topics: the dynamics of creative expression, modular scheduling and student success in freshman composition, growth in writing ability through immersion in a university discipline, massed and…

  10. Story Starters on the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas. A Creative Writing Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henrich, Steve; Henrich, Jean

    Designed to supplement an established language arts and social studies program, this books deals with the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas of Latin America. All of the "Story Starter" books are intended to give a variety of vocabulary and story ideas to help with the writing process. Each of the books is divided into four main sections: (1) an…

  11. A Voice of Her Own: Women and the Journal-Writing Journey.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schiwy, Marlene A.

    Since many women writers in the past have known that keeping a journal is a powerful tool of creative expression and self-healing, this book shows that journal writing is the ideal way for an individual to find her voice, an opportunity for women to explore feelings, intuitions, perceptions, and ideas often suppressed in society, and to record the…

  12. Using student writing assignments to assess critical thinking skills: a holistic approach.

    PubMed

    Niedringhaus, L K

    2001-04-01

    This work offers an example of one school's holistic approach to the evaluation of critical thinking by using student writing assignments. Faculty developed tools to assess achievement of critical thinking competencies, such as analysis, synthesis, insight, reflection, open mindedness, and depth, breadth, and appropriateness of clinical interventions. Faculty created a model for the development of program-specific critical thinking competencies, selected appropriate writing assignments that demonstrate critical thinking, and implemented a holistic assessment plan for data collection and analysis. Holistic assessment involves the identification of shared values and practices, and the use of concepts and language important to nursing.

  13. Writing Assignments with a Metacognitive Component Enhance Learning in a Large Introductory Biology Course

    PubMed Central

    Mynlieff, Michelle; Manogaran, Anita L.; St. Maurice, Martin

    2014-01-01

    Writing assignments, including note taking and written recall, should enhance retention of knowledge, whereas analytical writing tasks with metacognitive aspects should enhance higher-order thinking. In this study, we assessed how certain writing-intensive “interventions,” such as written exam corrections and peer-reviewed writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review and including a metacognitive component, improve student learning. We designed and tested the possible benefits of these approaches using control and experimental variables across and between our three-section introductory biology course. Based on assessment, students who corrected exam questions showed significant improvement on postexam assessment compared with their nonparticipating peers. Differences were also observed between students participating in written and discussion-based exercises. Students with low ACT scores benefited equally from written and discussion-based exam corrections, whereas students with midrange to high ACT scores benefited more from written than discussion-based exam corrections. Students scored higher on topics learned via peer-reviewed writing assignments relative to learning in an active classroom discussion or traditional lecture. However, students with low ACT scores (17–23) did not show the same benefit from peer-reviewed written essays as the other students. These changes offer significant student learning benefits with minimal additional effort by the instructors. PMID:26086661

  14. Government Projects and Teaching the Technical Proposal.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butler, Douglas R.

    1987-01-01

    Describes a technical proposal writing assignment modeled after the conditions in industry. Provides a paradigm of government project proposals and then outlines the stages of the assignment that allow student to rework and revise, thereby discouraging students from writing formulaic and superficial proposals. (SRT)

  15. Teaching Poetry in TESOL Teacher Education: Heightened Attention to Language as Well as to Cultural and Political Critique through Poetry Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cahnmann-Taylor, Melisa; Bleyle, Susan; Hwang, Yohan; Zhang, Kuo

    2017-01-01

    Teachers of World English are no longer charged with teaching a fixed set of grammar rules and lexical choices but with teaching creative ways to navigate varieties of English and other world languages according to a wide set of contextual variables. Although there is a great deal of advocacy for teaching creativity and strategy in TESOL…

  16. Creative Activities for String Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stabley, Nola Campbell

    2001-01-01

    Discusses how to teach improvisation, creativity, and movement to beginning music classroom students. Includes background information on teaching each concept and lesson plans to be used with beginning string students. Provides rhythm patterns, exercises, and an assignment used in the lessons. (CMK)

  17. Assigning Places: The Function of Introductory Composition as a Cultural Discourse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    France, Alan W.

    1993-01-01

    Argues for a broadening of the range of rhetorical positions to which writing students are presently assigned. Envisions current practices of composition from the political left. Proposes a rhetorical position from which writing might become a means of cultural transformation. (HB)

  18. Writing Down the Days: 365 Creative Journaling Ideas for Young People.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dahlstrom, Lorraine M.; Espeland, Pamela, Ed.

    This book offers an entire year of journaling ideas--some serious, some "silly," but all tied to the calendar year. In fact, the book's sections are the months of the year. Each idea in the book comes with a fact-filled introduction and aims to prove that writing does not have to be boring or dull. As a special feature, many entries in…

  19. Be Creative and Collaborative: Strategies and Implications of Blogging in EFL Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roy, Catherine Karen

    2016-01-01

    The 21st century has seen the emergence of blogs as an authentic writing practice that provides students with a sense of immediacy by allowing them to document their lives as stories or to engage their classmates with real or imaginary tales. In this study, Saudi EFL students were asked to post their writing in a blog and collaborate with their…

  20. An Interview with Stephen King.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Janeczko, Paul

    1980-01-01

    The author of five best-selling novels, including "Carrie,""Salem's Lot,""The Shining,""The Stand," and "The Dead Zone," discusses the teaching of creative writing at high school and college levels. (DF)

  1. Evil genius? How dishonesty can lead to greater creativity.

    PubMed

    Gino, Francesca; Wiltermuth, Scott S

    2014-04-01

    We propose that dishonest and creative behavior have something in common: They both involve breaking rules. Because of this shared feature, creativity may lead to dishonesty (as shown in prior work), and dishonesty may lead to creativity (the hypothesis we tested in this research). In five experiments, participants had the opportunity to behave dishonestly by overreporting their performance on various tasks. They then completed one or more tasks designed to measure creativity. Those who cheated were subsequently more creative than noncheaters, even when we accounted for individual differences in their creative ability (Experiment 1). Using random assignment, we confirmed that acting dishonestly leads to greater creativity in subsequent tasks (Experiments 2 and 3). The link between dishonesty and creativity is explained by a heightened feeling of being unconstrained by rules, as indicated by both mediation (Experiment 4) and moderation (Experiment 5).

  2. A Multidisciplinary First-Year Seminar about Tuberculosis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fluck, Richard A.

    2001-01-01

    Describes a writing intensive seminar for college freshman. Includes goals, reading assignments, writing assignments, and group projects. Provides web-based resources on tuberculosis along with an evaluation sheet for web site reviews. Concludes that students exhibited great interest in the topic and course feedback was positive. (DLH)

  3. Can Students Write Their Own Textbooks? Thoughts on a New Type of Writing Assignment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frye, David

    1999-01-01

    Describes an assignment in an undergraduate course on Roman history for junior and senior history majors in which students create their own 15-page textbook using primary sources. Explains how each class session developed student analysis of primary sources. (CMK)

  4. Service Learning on Campus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Judge, Therese M.

    2006-01-01

    One of the challenges with advanced writing courses, such as business writing, is developing assignments and projects that approximate writing in the workplace. Many instructors and learning theorists believe that giving students authentic writing practice is the best preparation for the writing they will do in their chosen careers. The author…

  5. Reading Strategies to Improve Writing Instruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bulakowski, Carole

    Reading instructors have valuable expertise to share with writing instructors to improve the writing ability of students. Writing instructors often give reading assignments to provide topics for students' essays or discussion, without understanding the reading process. A reading teacher can (1) show the writing instructor how to determine the…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Cynthia M.

    2001-01-01

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

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

    PubMed

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

    2018-02-01

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

  8. 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)

  9. 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.…

  10. (Explain It) x 3

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGuire, Linda

    2014-01-01

    This article will describe a writing assignment designed for use in a liberal arts college whose mission stresses effective written communication both within and across disciplines. In this assignment, students write three separate solutions to the same mathematics problem: one for a mathematical peer, a second for a contemporary that does not…

  11. Improving Preservice Elementary Teachers' Writing in a Science Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Everett, Susan; Luera, Gail; Otto, Charlotte

    2008-01-01

    The authors investigated whether a series of mini prewriting assignments linked to a formal paper describing an original research project would improve preservice elementary teachers' writing abilities in a science context. They compared 38 final reports from students who completed the prewriting assignments with 38 reports randomly selected from…

  12. The Orthographic Norm in Secondary School Students' Written Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ðordev, Ivana

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents the results of research conducted with the primary objective to determine in which areas secondary school students usually make orthographic mistakes when writing (official) written assignments. Starting from the hypothesis that the punctuation writing of whole and split words are areas in which secondary school students…

  13. Using Portfolio Assignments to Assess Students' Mathematical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fukawa-Connelly, Timothy; Buck, Stephen

    2010-01-01

    Writing in mathematics can improve procedural knowledge and communication skills and may also help students better understand and then remember problems. The majority of mathematics teachers know that they ought to include some writing assignments in their instructional plans, but the challenge of covering the curriculum and the time required to…

  14. Writing Assignments Based on Literary Works.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Dorothy, Ed.

    1985-01-01

    The literature selections serving as the basis for writing assignments in the articles in this journal issue range from time-honored English classics ("Beowulf,""Sir Gawain and the Green Knight") and American standards ("A Farewell to Arms,""The Scarlet Letter") to contemporary fiction. The articles deal with works by women writers (Shirley…

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paulson, Donald R.

    2001-08-01

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

  16. Project Soar.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Austin, Marion

    1982-01-01

    Project Soar, a Saturday enrichment program for gifted students (6-14 years old), allows students to work intensively in a single area of interest. Examples are cited of students' work in crewel embroidery, creative writing, and biochemistry. (CL)

  17. Shaw on Hamlet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dukore, Bernard F.

    1971-01-01

    Shaw's preoccupation with Hamlet resonates in his creative writing. Article documents this statement not only by examining his novels and plays but by searching through prefaces, postscripts, reviews, letters, speeches, etc. that span Shaw's lifetime. (Author/RB)

  18. Coping with Grief: Life After Loss

    MedlinePlus

    ... a walk or swimming, or by doing something creative like writing or painting. For others, it may ... to get caught up in certain kinds of thinking, says Shear, who studies complicated grief. They may ...

  19. Plagiarism-Proofing Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Doug

    2004-01-01

    Mr. Johnson has discovered that the higher the level of student engagement and creativity, the lower the probability of plagiarism. For teachers who would like to see such desirable results, he describes the characteristics of assignments that are most likely to produce them. Two scenarios of types of assignments that avoid plagiarism are…

  20. Scaffolding Assignments and Activities for Undergraduate Research Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Sarah; Justwan, Florian

    2018-01-01

    This article details assignments and lessons created for and tested in research methods courses at two different universities, a large state school and a small liberal arts college. Each assignment or activity utilized scaffolding. Students were asked to push beyond their comfort zone while utilizing concrete and/or creative examples,…

  1. 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…

  2. Supporting Students' Assignment Writing: What Lecturers Do in a Master of Education Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yongyan; Hu, Guangwei

    2018-01-01

    Teachers' instructional practices surrounding written assignments have been little researched, despite writing remaining the primary means of assessment in higher education, including postgraduate professional development programmes. In this paper, we report a study that explored what a sample of lecturers in a Master of Education programme at an…

  3. Developing Team Skills through a Collaborative Writing Assignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Theda Ann

    2014-01-01

    Employers want students who are able to work effectively as members of a team, and expect universities to develop this ability in their graduates. This paper proposes a framework for a collaborative writing assignment that specifically develops students' ability to work in teams. The framework has been tested using two iterations of an action…

  4. Written Work in Psychology. 4th Edition, 1988-1989.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bell, James

    Designed for students in a community college introductory psychology course, this booklet provides course assignments and ideas to improve students' writing. The booklet covers the following topics: (1) course writing assignments and the steps in preparing summaries of readings; (2) academic honesty and ways to avoid plagiarism; (3) the use of…

  5. International Students in the Scientific and Technical Writing Class.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Constantinides, Janet C.

    A course sequence for teaching the forms and formats of scientific and technical writing to English as a second language (ESL) learners is described. The first assignment, a letter of application, serves as a diagnostic indication of the student's ability. The second assignment, a narrative, is designed to define the importance of audience and…

  6. Thinking Like a Psychologist Introductory Psychology Writing Assignments: Encouraging Critical Thinking and Resisting Plagiarism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wentworth, Diane Keyser; Whitmarsh, Lona

    2017-01-01

    Teaching the general psychology course provides instructors with the opportunity to invite students to explore the dynamics of behavior and mental processes through the lens of theory and research. Three innovative writing assignments were developed to teach students to think like a psychologist, operationalized as enhancing critical thinking,…

  7. 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.

  8. Improving Language Acquisition through Journal Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chanthalangsy, Sonevilay; Moskalis, Stan

    This study examined how journal writing could improve language minority students' language acquisition. Participants were Serbo-Croatian and Laotian second and third graders from two elementary schools. Initial student surveys and writing assignments, conducted in September to document the problem, found that students lacked writing skills,…

  9. The Creative Deliverable: A Short Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartel, Jenna; Noone, Rebecca; Oh, Christie

    2017-01-01

    This paper encourages educators in library and information science (LIS) to adopt the "creative deliverable," that is, an assignment that gives students the freedom to display their understanding of course material in an almost unrestricted range of alternative formats and genres, while retaining some key features of traditional…

  10. Storying Selves in Conventional and Creative Resumes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harter, Lynn M.; Quinlan, Margaret M.

    2008-01-01

    This article presents an activity in which students use narrative theory as a conceptual canvas for understanding resumes as autobiographical performances shaped by social and material forces. By asking students to story their lives in both conventional and creative resumes, this assignment invites students to produce autobiographical discourse…

  11. The State, Not the Trait, of Nostalgia Increases Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ye, Shengquan; Ngan, Rose Ying Lam; Hui, Anna N. N.

    2013-01-01

    Nostalgic experience evokes emotions and activates the cognitive process of recalling and reconstructing information in memory. This study investigated the effects of nostalgia on creativity using experiments and questionnaires. Two-hundred-and-eighty university students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, in which…

  12. Autoethnography: Exploring Gender Diversity.

    PubMed

    Merryfeather, Lyn; Bruce, Anne

    2016-01-01

    Academic discourse proscribes a particular way of writing that may leave the reader informed but uninspired. There are three intentions for this paper: to create a counter-discourse for academic writing, to illustrate autoethnograpy as a compelling approach to nursing inquiry, and to demonstrate how autoethnography is well suited to research the experience of people who identify as transgender or transsexual. The setting is a doctoral nursing seminar where the student is introducing autoethnography to fellow students. All characters are fictionalized compositions. The writing is in the style of creative non-fiction and illustrates the use of evocative prose and poetry. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. Writing: Keeping It Real. Teacher to Teacher.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kist, Bill

    When teaching writing to adult learners, teachers must achieve a balance between "content" and "mechanics." The first step is to assign "real" writing for "real" purposes. The next step is to teach the writing process more than the product and teach the place that correct "mechanics" (spelling,…

  14. Prompting Kids To Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mathena, Traci Johnson

    2000-01-01

    Middle school teacher describes a framework that gives inexperienced, anxious writers the confidence to write. The process, called doing prompts, stems from analyzing prompts or writing assignments that outline the topic for a piece of writing. The process involves analyzing the prompt being called for, completing a graphic organizer, composing…

  15. Undergraduate Psychological Writing: A Best Practices Guide and National Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ishak, Shaziela; Salter, Nicholas P.

    2017-01-01

    There is no comprehensive guide for teaching psychological writing, and little is known about how often instructors teach the topic. We present a best practices guide for teaching psychological writing beyond just American Psychological Association style, discuss psychology-specific writing assignments, and examine psychological writing…

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin, A. M.

    2010-08-01

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

  17. Why Assign Themes and Topics To Teach Writing? A Reply to Tony Silva.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Nathan B.

    Responds to Tony Silva's 1997 article, which asserted that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing teachers should prevent themes and topics from dominating or controlling the curriculum. This paper argues that it is sometimes helpful for writing teachers to control why and what students write, focusing on university-level English writing in…

  18. Contextualize Technical Writing Assessment to Better Prepare Students for Workplace Writing: Student-Centered Assessment Instruments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yu, Han

    2008-01-01

    To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better…

  19. Write to Read: Investigating the Reading-Writing Relationship of Code-Level Early Literacy Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Cindy D.; Reutzel, D. Ray

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine whether the code-related features used in current methods of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms transfer reading outcomes for kindergarten students. We randomly assigned kindergarten students to 3 instructional groups: a writing workshop group, an interactive writing group, and a control group.…

  20. 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.…

  1. Word Processing and the Writing Process: Enhancement or Distraction?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dalton, David W.; Watson, James F.

    This study examined the effects of a year-long word processing program on learners' holistic writing skills. Based on results of a writing pretest, 80 seventh grade students were designated as relatively high or low in prior writing achievement and assigned to one of two groups: a word processing treatment and a conventional writing process…

  2. Using the Creative Cognition Approach in Essay Assignments in Leadership Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Atkinson, Tim

    2018-01-01

    This application brief covers, "The Final Question," an alternative essay design that encourages the learner to think creatively in Ph.D. Organization Theory or Leadership courses. "The Final Question" asks, "Do leaders change organizations or do organizations change leaders?" It is a simple question, but only the…

  3. Enhancing Classroom Creativity. Premier PD

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luna, Elizabeth; Ernst, Jeremy; Clark, Aaron; DeLuca, V. William; Kelly, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    Educators often hear about the need for students to be more creative, more free-thinking, and more exploratory throughout projects and class assignments. This article will highlight the importance of creating and implementing an open-classroom environment where students are confident in their ability to ask questions and capable of exploring a…

  4. Growing up as a Young Artist

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Szekely, George

    2012-01-01

    "Growing Up as a Young Artist" is an illustrated book assignment that involves researching family scrapbooks, photo albums and films, and inquiring about family anecdotes for clues to one's artistic roots. Students creatively reflect on their early memories of imaginative events, as each page is filled with memories of creative activities they…

  5. The Kitchen Is Your Laboratory: A Research-Based Term-Paper Assignment in a Science Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Clinton D.

    2011-01-01

    A term-paper assignment that encompasses the full scientific method has been developed and implemented in an undergraduate science writing and communication course with no laboratory component. Students are required to develop their own hypotheses, design experiments to test their hypotheses, and collect empirical data as independent scientists in…

  6. Effects of Expressive Writing Effects on Disgust and Anxiety in a Subsequent Dissection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Randler, Christoph; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter; im Kampe, Viola Otte; Meyer-Ahrens, Inga H.; Tempel, Benjamin J.; Vollmer, Christian

    2015-01-01

    Emotions influence motivation and achievement, but negative emotions have rarely been assessed in science education. In this study, we assessed the influence of two different expressive writing assignments on disgust and anxiety in university students prior to the dissection of a trout. We randomly assigned students to one of two expressive…

  7. Writing Across the Curriculum: Writing Assignments. TWI Resource File.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rish, Shirley; Lapidus-Saltz, Wendy

    1982-01-01

    THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: If you teach a composition class which is affiliated with a subject-matter course, one of the following assignments may be appropriate for your students. If, on the other hand, you teach a traditionallly constituted composition class, you might give your students the entire list with instructions to…

  8. The "Mentor Paper" Writing Assignment in One Community College Puente Class: Preliminary Report from a Participant Observer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cazden, Courtney B.

    An educator participating in a community college Puente class as both participant and observer analyzes the structure and experience of one writing assignment representative of the program's objectives. The Puente program combines teaching, counseling, and mentoring to California community college students as a means of promoting learning,…

  9. Effects of Higher and Lower Level Writing-To-Learn Assignments on Higher and Lower Level Examination Questions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nevid, Jeffrey S.; Ambrose, Michael A.; Pyun, Yea Seul

    2017-01-01

    Our study examined whether brief writing-to-learn assignments linked to lower and higher levels in Bloom's taxonomy affected performance differentially on examination performance in assessing these skill levels. Using a quasi-random design, 91 undergraduate students in an introductory psychology class completed eight lower level and eight higher…

  10. Scaffolding Assignments: Analysis of Assignmentor as a Tool to Support First Year Students' Academic Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silva, Pedro

    2017-01-01

    There are several technological tools which aim to support first year students' challenges, especially when it comes to academic writing. This paper analyses one of these tools, Wiley's AssignMentor. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework was used to systematise this analysis. The paper showed an alignment between the tools'…

  11. Student Perceptions of the Benefits of a Learner-Based Writing Assignment in Organic Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ablin, Lois

    2008-01-01

    A writing assignment to increase student understanding of and interest in practical applications of organic chemistry is described. Students were required to study a pharmaceutical or other organic compound and perform a qualitative risk assessment on the chemical. Student perceptions of the benefits of the paper were generally positive. (Contains…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braine, George

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

  13. Identifying and Remediating Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology via Writing-to-Learn Assignments and Peer Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halim, Audrey S.; Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Solaire A.; Olsen, Laura J.; Gere, Anne Ruggles; Shultz, Ginger V.

    2018-01-01

    Student misconceptions are an obstacle in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses and unless remediated may continue causing difficulties in learning as students advance in their studies. Writing-to-learn assignments (WTL) are characterized by their ability to promote in-depth conceptual learning by allowing students to explore…

  14. 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)

  15. Communicating Science through Editorial Cartoons in Microbiology Classrooms †

    PubMed Central

    dela Cruz, Thomas Edison E.; Aril-dela Cruz, Jeane V.

    2018-01-01

    The use of graphical illustration in lecture presentations can make a seemingly boring lesson more attractive and enticing to students. Creating science-themed illustrations and science-based narratives can also lead to creative and critical thinking among students. We used writing editorials and creating editorial cartoons as a learning activity to promote critical thinking and creative skills that are essential in communicating scientific information. This activity can be used with a range of audiences, at various educational levels and in basic to advanced courses. PMID:29904513

  16. Orchestrating Authorship: Teaching Writing across the Psychology Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soysa, Champika K.; Dunn, Dana S.; Dottolo, Andrea L.; Burns-Glover, Alyson L.; Gurung, Regan A. R.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the kinds of writing that could be introduced at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced course levels in the psychology major. We present exemplars of writing assignments across three institutions, including textual analysis, integrating intratext and intertext writing, and a capstone thesis project, where the skills…

  17. Playwriting: Not Just for Dramatists.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robbins, Bruce

    Playwriting gives students focused experience with dialogue, which is useful in many kinds of writing, and provides an avenue for process-based writing instruction. The assignment of writing plays allows students to try out various personae without risking direct self-identification. Students write more for one another than for the teacher,…

  18. Writing for the Whole Person: A Transpersonal Approach to Freshman Composition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pellettiri, Leonard

    This text, written for students and teachers of English Composition, incorporates writing instruction with concepts of transpersonal psychology in a holistic and cosmic approach to writing. The text comprises nine units, which include teaching materials, group and individual exercises, and writing assignments. Unit I presents techniques of…

  19. The Art of Science Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Worsley, Dale; Mayer, Bernadette

    Aimed at secondary school science and English teachers, this book presents practical advice for developing good student writing in science and mathematics. Five main sections cover: (1) an essay development workshop; (2) 47 specific writing assignments; (3) over 30 questions teachers ask about science writing, and the answers; (4) an anthology of…

  20. Using the Science Writing Heuristic to Improve Undergraduate Writing in Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cronje, Ruth; Murray, Kelly; Rohlinger, Spencer; Wellnitz, Todd

    2013-01-01

    Our objective was to investigate the impact of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) on undergraduates' ability to express logical conclusions and include appropriate evidence in formal writing assignments. Students in three laboratory sections were randomly allocated to the SWH treatment ("n"?=?51 students) with another three sections…

  1. A Progressive Reading, Writing, and Artistic Module to Support Scientific Literacy.

    PubMed

    Stockwell, Stephanie B

    2016-03-01

    Scientific literacy, marked by the ability and willingness to engage with scientific information, is supported through a new genre of citizen science-course-based research in association with undergraduate laboratories. A three-phased progressive learning module was developed to enhance student engagement in such contexts while supporting three learning outcomes: I) present an argument based on evidence, II) analyze science and scientists within a social context, and III) experience, reflect upon, and communicate the nature of scientific discovery. Phase I entails guided reading and reflection of citizen science-themed texts. In Phase II, students write, peer-review, and edit position and counterpoint papers inspired by the following prompt, "Nonscientists should do scientific research." Phase III involves two creative assignments intended to communicate the true nature of science. Students work collaboratively to develop public service announcement-like poster campaigns to debunk a common misconception about the nature of science or scientists. Individually, they create a work of art to communicate a specific message about the raw experience of performing scientific research. Suggestions for implementation and modifications are provided. Strengths of the module include the development of transferable skills, temporal distribution of grading demands, minimal in-class time needed for implementation, and the inclusion of artistic projects to support affective learning domains. This citizen science-themed learning module is an excellent complement to laboratory coursework, as it serves to surprise, challenge, and inspire students while promoting disciplinary values.

  2. Demystifying values-affirmation interventions: writing about social belonging is a key to buffering against identity threat.

    PubMed

    Shnabel, Nurit; Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie; Cook, Jonathan E; Garcia, Julio; Cohen, Geoffrey L

    2013-05-01

    Two experiments examined for the first time whether the specific content of participant-generated affirmation essays-in particular, writing about social belonging-facilitated an affirmation intervention's ability to reduce identity threat among negatively stereotyped students. Study 1, a field experiment, revealed that seventh graders assigned to a values-affirmation condition wrote about social belonging more than those assigned to a control condition. Writing about belonging, in turn, improved the grade point average (GPA) of Black, but not White students. In Study 2, using a modified "belonging-affirmation" intervention, we directly manipulated writing about social belonging before a math test described as diagnostic of math ability. The more female participants wrote about belonging, the better they performed, while there was no effect of writing about belonging for males. Writing about social belonging improved performance only for members of negatively stereotyped groups. Implications for self-affirmation theory and practice are discussed.

  3. A Discussion with Suzanne Fisher Staples: The Author as Writer and Cultural Observer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawyer, Walter E.; Sawyer, Jean C.

    1993-01-01

    Presents an interview with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the children's novel, "Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind." Discusses Staples' creative writing process, background, and the writer's role as cultural observer. (HB)

  4. Clustering: An Interactive Technique to Enhance Learning in Biology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ambron, Joanna

    1988-01-01

    Explains an interdisciplinary approach to biology and writing which increases students' mastery of vocabulary, scientific concepts, creativity, and expression. Describes modifications of the clustering technique used to summarize lectures, integrate reading and understand textbook material. (RT)

  5. Can You Make an Artist?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Hagan, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    The novelist Andrew O'Hagan remembers his own early days and suggests writers are both born and made. Now the university--creative writing courses, in particular--may become the clearing houses for new literary talent as book publishing shrinks.

  6. Improving Achievement Via Essay Exams.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milton, Ohmer

    1979-01-01

    The benefits of using essay tests rather than objective tests in professional education programs are discussed. Essay tests offer practice in writing, creativity and formal communications. Guidelines for using and scoring a sample essay test in biology are presented. (BH)

  7. Integrated Assessment for an Integrated Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mockrish, Rob

    1989-01-01

    In a sixth grade science classroom for able students, major grades are broken down into four categories: lab reports, projects, creative writing, and written tests. These four components of assessment structure how the curriculum content is presented. (JDD)

  8. Teaching the Handicapped Imagination.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sloane, Sarah

    1983-01-01

    The article describes exercises in drama and creative writing to broaden the imaginations of visually handicapped children through stories and poems with a nonvisual imagery. Examples of stories and poems written specifically for the visually handicapped are included. (Author/CL)

  9. "Almost the copy of my child that's dead": Shakespeare and the loss of Hamnet.

    PubMed

    Smith, Keverne

    This article emphasizes the importance of studies which look at changes and similarities in mourning over time. It argues that relevant evidence can come from creative fiction as well as from other sources, provided that this is analyzed rigorously in terms of structures and patterns. As an illustration of this approach, it examines the evidence in recurring features of Shakespeare's plays that his writing was deeply and lastingly affected by the death of his only son Hamnet, a twin, at the age of 11, and identifies five motifs which support this interpretation: the resurrected child or sibling; androgynous and twin-like figures; a growing emphasis on father-daughter relationships; paternal guilt; family division and reunion. The article suggests that this approach could be applied to other instances where a body of creative writing shows traces of overt or buried grief.

  10. The use of writing assignments to help students synthesize content in upper-level undergraduate biology courses.

    PubMed

    Sparks-Thissen, Rebecca L

    2017-02-01

    Biology education is undergoing a transformation toward a more student-centered, inquiry-driven classroom. Many educators have designed engaging assignments that are designed to help undergraduate students gain exposure to the scientific process and data analysis. One of these types of assignments is use of a grant proposal assignment. Many instructors have used these assignments in lecture-based courses to help students process information in the literature and apply that information to a novel problem such as design of an antiviral drug or a vaccine. These assignments have been helpful in engaging students in the scientific process in the absence of an inquiry-driven laboratory. This commentary discusses the application of these grant proposal writing assignments to undergraduate biology courses. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Point-of-view writing: A method for increasing medical students' empathy, identification and expression of emotion, and insight.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, Johanna; Rucker, Lloyd; Boker, John; Lie, Desiree

    2006-03-01

    Although interest exists among medical educators in using writing that reflects on clinical experience to enhance medical students' communication skills, empathy, and overall professionalism, little empirical research documents the value of this approach. This study explored whether students trained in one type of writing would first demonstrate increased awareness of emotional aspects of a clinical encounter in their writing; and second, be evaluated more positively in an OSCE situation by standardized patients. Ninety-two students were assigned to either a point-of-view writing or a clinical reasoning condition as part of a second year doctoring course. At the end of the year, students were evaluated in an OSCE format on 3 cases, and completed a writing assignment about an ER death from cardiac arrest. Student essays were scored according to presence or absence of various themes. A linguistic analysis of the essays was also performed. Point-of-view and clinical reasoning group scores were compared on both measures, as well as on the standardized patient OSCE ratings. Students trained in point-of-view writing demonstrated significantly more awareness of emotional and spiritual aspects of a paper case in a writing assignment than did students trained in clinical reasoning. By contrast, students in the clinical reasoning group were more likely to distance from the scenario. The two groups did not differ on SP OSCE ratings. Training in point-of-view writing can improve medical students' written skills on certain affective dimensions. It is not clear that these skills can translate into clinical behavior.

  12. Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Beyond Language--The Grammar of Document Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bush, Jonathan; Zuidema, Leah A.

    2011-01-01

    As teachers of writing, the authors know that choices matter: the more choices they can give their students, the better their writing will be--and the better writers they'll become. Many teachers design their courses as writing workshops, so that students make choices about the genres they compose in. They structure writing assignments so that…

  13. Re(Place) Your Typical Writing Assignment: An Argument for Place-Based Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobs, Elliot

    2011-01-01

    Place-based writing affords students an opportunity to write meaningfully about themselves, grounded in a place that they know. Place-based writing is versatile and can be additive--taking just a week or two within a semester of different projects--or transformative, if positioned as the theme for an entire course. If students can learn to write…

  14. The therapeutic value of adolescents' blogging about social-emotional difficulties.

    PubMed

    Boniel-Nissim, Meyran; Barak, Azy

    2013-08-01

    Research shows that writing a personal diary is a valuable therapeutic means for relieving emotional distress and promoting well-being, and that diary writing during adolescence helps in coping with developmental challenges. Current technologies and cultural trends make it possible and normative to publish personal diaries on the Internet through blogs--interactive, online forms of the traditional personal diary. We examined the therapeutic value of blogging for adolescents who experience social-emotional difficulties. The field experiment included randomly assigned adolescents, preassessed as having social-emotional difficulties, to 6 groups (26-28 participants in each): Four groups were assigned to blogging (writing about their difficulties or free writing; either open or closed to responses), a group assigned to writing a diary on personal computers, and a no-treatment control group. Participants in the 5 writing groups were instructed to post messages at least twice a week over 10 weeks. Outcome measures included scales of social-emotional difficulties and self-esteem, a social activities checklist, and textual analyses of participants' posts. Measurement took place at pre- and postintervention and at follow-up 2 months later. Results showed that participants maintaining a blog significantly improved on all measures. Participants writing about their difficulties in blogs open to responses gained the most. These results were consistent in the follow-up evaluation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  15. "Visual Learning Is the Best Learning--It Lets You Be Creative while Learning": Exploring Ways to Begin Guided Writing in Second Language Learning through the Use of Comics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rossetto, Marietta; Chiera-Macchia, Antonella

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the use of comics (Cary, 2004) in a guided writing experience in secondary school Italian language learning. The main focus of the peer group interaction task included the exploration of visual sequencing and visual integration (Bailey, O'Grady-Jones, & McGown, 1995) using image and text to create a comic strip narrative in…

  16. Building a scholar in writing (BSW): A model for developing students' critical writing skills.

    PubMed

    Bailey, Annette; Zanchetta, Margareth; Velasco, Divine; Pon, Gordon; Hassan, Aafreen

    2015-11-01

    Several authors have highlighted the importance of writing in developing reflective thinking skills, transforming knowledge, communicating expressions, and filling knowledge gaps. However, difficulties with higher order processing and critical analysis affect students' ability to write critical and thoughtful essays. The Building a Scholar in Writing (BSW) model is a 6-step process of increasing intricacies in critical writing development. Development of critical writing is proposed to occur in a processed manner that transitions from presenting simple ideas (just bones) in writing, to connecting ideas (connecting bones), to formulating a thesis and connecting key components (constructing a skeleton), to supporting ideas with evidence (adding muscle), to building creativity and originality (adding essential organs), and finally, developing strong, integrated, critical arguments (adding brain). This process symbolically represents the building of a scholar. The idea of building a scholar equates to progressively giving life and meaning to a piece of writing with unique scholarly characteristics. This progression involves a transformation in awareness, thinking, and understanding, as well as advancement in students' level of critical appraisal skills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Calibrated Peer Review Assignments in Science Courses: Are They Designed to Promote Critical Thinking and Writing Skills?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reynolds, Julie; Moskovitz, Cary

    2008-01-01

    Calibrated Peer Review (CPR), an online program that purportedly helps students develop as writers and critical thinkers, is being increasingly used by science educators. CPR is an enticing tool since it does not require instructors to grade student writing, and instructors can adopt assignments directly from a library. To determine the extent to…

  18. Progress Feedback Effects on Students' Writing Mastery Goal, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duijnhouwer, Hendrien; Prins, Frans J.; Stokking, Karel M.

    2010-01-01

    The effects of progress feedback on university students' writing mastery goal, self-efficacy beliefs, and writing performance were examined in this experiment. Students in the experimental condition (n = 42) received progress feedback on their writing assignment, whereas students in the control condition (n = 44) received feedback without progress…

  19. Framework for Disciplinary Writing in Science Grades 6-12: A National Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Drew, Sally Valentino; Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Faggella-Luby, Michael; Welsh, Megan E.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the current state of writing instruction in science classes (Grades 6-12). A random sample of certified science teachers from the United States (N = 287) was electronically surveyed. Participants reported on their purposes for teaching writing, the writing assignments most often given to students, use of evidence-based…

  20. Writing Instruction and Assignments in an Honors Curriculum: Perceptions of Effectiveness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caropreso, Edward J.; Haggerty, Mark; Ladenheim, Melissa

    2016-01-01

    Learning to write well is a significant outcome of higher education, as confirmed and illustrated in the Written Communication VALUE Rubric of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Scholars agree that writing and thinking are linked. Thinking about this relationship between writing and thinking in the context of…

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