Sample records for teaching writing skills

  1. Teaching Writing Skills with Children's Literature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dierking, Connie Campbell; Anderson-McElveen, Susan

    Intended for teachers, this workbook uses 20 well-known children's books as models to teach expository and narrative writing skills. The workbook teaches students about brainstorming, focus, organization, elaboration, and writing conventions with readily-available quality children's literature, such as "When I Was Young in the…

  2. Factors influencing pre-service physics teachers' skills of writing teaching materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sinaga, Parlindungan

    2016-02-01

    Writing teaching materials is one of the generic pedagogical skills. Teachers and pre-service teachers should be trained to have the skills of writing teaching materials. This study examines the factors that influence the skills of writing in the disciplines among pre-service physics teachers. This study in particular aims to contribute to the development of science writing in the disciplines and to the organization of workshops on writing teaching materials for pre-service teachers. The problems of this research are formulated in the question of what are the factors that influence the skills of pre-service physics teachers in writing teaching materials. The research adopted mixed methods with embedded experimental design. The research subjects were 18 students enrolled in the school physics course. The instruments used consisted of conceptual understanding tests, learning strategy questionnaire, tests of the multiple representation skills, and one-on-one semi- structured interview. Results of data analysis show that the ability and skills of writing physics teaching materials of the pre- service physics teachers are determined by the factors of conceptual understanding of the subject matter with a contribution of 20%, the skills of making multiple representations of concepts with a contribution of 9.8% and students' self-regulation and learning strategy with a contribution of 33.5%. There are other factors that have not been investigated in this study; therefore, it is recommended that future research conduct further investigation on other factors that influence pre-service teachers' skills in writing physics teaching materials.

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benegar, John

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

  4. The Effectiveness of Scaffolding Design in Training Writing Skills Physics Teaching Materials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sinaga, Parlindungan; Suhandi, Andi; Liliasari

    2015-01-01

    Result of field studies showed low writing skill of teachers in teaching material. The root of the problem lies in their inability on translating description of teaching material into writing. This research focused on the effectiveness of scaffolding design. The scaffolding design was tested in the selected topics of physics courses for…

  5. Going Beyond the Sentence: Implications of Discourse Analysis for the Teaching of the Writing Skill.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghadessy, Mohsen

    1984-01-01

    Questions the prevalent attitude of English as a second language teachers regarding the teaching of writing skills. Weaknesses in syllabi and teaching strategies are cited, indicating deficiencies in the teaching of discourse analysis--the manipulation of words, structures, and ideas--all skills necessary for the development and production of a…

  6. Trait Based Assessment on Teaching Writing Skill for EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Asrobi, Maman; Prasetyaningrum, Ari

    2017-01-01

    This study was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of trait based assessment on teaching writing skill for EFL learners. Designed as pre-experimental study with one group pretest and posttest design, it examined 20 students of the second semester of English Department of "Hamzanwadi University" in the academic year…

  7. Essential Skills: Writing Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kentucky State Dept. of Education, Frankfort.

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

  8. The Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Teaching ESL Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yunus, Melor Md; Nordin, Norazah; Salehi, Hadi; Embi, Mohamed Amin; Salehi, Zeinab

    2013-01-01

    Despite the existence of many studies showing positive effects of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning process in general, the use of ICT in teaching writing skills in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms is still not very encouraging. This study attempts to seek findings on the use of ICT in…

  9. 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…

  10. Using Literature-Based Prompts To Teach Writing Competencies: Directed Reading and Writing Lessons.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gelsinger, Barry D.

    Intended to help teachers integrate writing instruction with the study of literature, this teaching guide offers a philosophy of writing instruction, describes a procedure for teaching reading and writing lessons, and provides a sequence of writing skills. For various literature selections, the guide defines vocabulary, provides topic discussion…

  11. The Writing Skill in the Contemporary Society: The Kenyan Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Okari, Florence Mokeira

    2016-01-01

    This paper is an overview of the writing skill in the lower levels of learning in the contemporary society. The following areas of writing are highlighted: the writing programme and its goals, the basic methodology for writing tasks, broad groups of writing skills, the teaching of the writing skills in pre-primary and primary schools where…

  12. An Introduction to the Process-Conference Approach to the Teaching of Writing Skills in ABE Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rutledge, George E.

    Writing is an important tool in teaching skills to adult basic education (ABE) students. To be a successful teacher of writing, teachers must be successful writers. They must be aware of the writing process and willing to use it daily in their own lives in order to convey its importance and its usefulness to their students. One method of teaching…

  13. The Opinions of Instructors Teaching Turkish to Foreigners about the Writing Skills of Syrian Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sengül, Murat

    2015-01-01

    This study focuses on the difficulties experienced by the instructors while teaching writing skill to Arabians from Syria, and how these difficulties could be overcome. The study group of the research includes 11 instructors working in Turkish Teaching Centers (TTCs) of Cukurova University and Adana Science and Technology University. The data…

  14. Writing as a Survival Skill: How Neuroscience Can Improve Writing in Organizations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Douglas, Yellowlees

    2012-01-01

    This article looks at the apparent paradox between the demand for strong writing skills and the lack of colleges of business that require their MBA students to complete writing courses. In the past, most approaches to teaching writing proved inadequate in producing graduates with the ability to write clearly, effectively, and efficiently. This…

  15. The Computer-Based Writing Program: A Clinical Teaching Experience for Education Interns to Develop Professional Knowledge and Skills in Effective Instructional Writing Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Painter, Diane D.

    2016-01-01

    The four-week university-sponsored summer Computer-based Writing (CBW) Program directed by the head of a special education initial teacher licensure program gave teaching interns opportunities to work with young struggling writers in a supervised clinical setting to address keyboarding skills, writing conventions and knowledge and application of…

  16. Coherence in the Assessment of Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker, Robin; Riu, Carmen Perez

    2008-01-01

    Unhappy with the contradiction of teaching writing skills through a process-genre approach and testing them by means of a timed essay, the authors devised the Extended Writing Project (EWP) as an alternative evaluation mechanism. This requires students to write an extended text in consecutive sections that are drafted and revised with external…

  17. Which Factor, Teaching or Writing, Contributes More to Faculty Development?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boice, Robert

    The effect of a highly-structured faculty development program that focused on improving teaching skills and writing productivity through weekly individual sessions was studied with 16 social sciences faculty. Participants were alternatively assigned to one of four groups that emphasized development in teaching skills, writing productivity, or a…

  18. Teaching Process Writing in an Online Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carolan, Fergal; Kyppö, Anna

    2015-01-01

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

  19. Cognitive Components of Developmental Writing Skill

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Decker, Scott L.; Roberts, Alycia M.; Roberts, Kristin L.; Stafford, Allison L.; Eckert, Mark A.

    2016-01-01

    A significant number of studies have examined the cognitive components of basic academic skills, which has led to major changes in both teaching and early identification assessment practices. However, the majority of previous research has focused solely on reading. This study examines the cognitive components of academic writing skills across…

  20. Acquisition of Expository Writing Skills. Technical Report No. 421.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raphael, Taffy E.; And Others

    Four studies by the Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing project at the Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University, examined the acquisition of expository writing skills in fifth and sixth grade students. The first study examined the effects of teaching sixth grade students about comparison/contrast text structure. Results…

  1. Teaching Writing: Craft, Art, Genre

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Claggett, Fran

    2005-01-01

    In today's educational climate, it is more important than ever that teachers prepare their students to be effective and competent writers who can write for a variety of purposes. How can teachers teach their students the skills they need to be successful while also fostering an appreciation for the process, craft, and art of writing? Drawing from…

  2. Integrating Effective Writing Skills in the Accounting Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    May, Gordon S.; Arevalo, Claire

    1983-01-01

    The J. M. Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia has developed a program that integrates the teaching of writing skills with the regular accounting courses. Students in a three-course sequence write a total of eight papers--technical, memos, or reports--in assignments that resemble writing tasks encountered by professional…

  3. Teaching Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tomas, Z.; Kostka, I.; Mott-Smith, J. A.

    2013-01-01

    The authors of "Teaching Writing" draw on their years of teaching and their knowledge of theory and research to present major concepts in teaching L2 writing. These concepts encompass how cultural differences affect the writing class, planning instruction, text-based writing, writing strategies, modeling, and responding to student…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zaki, Arlina Ahmad; Yunus, Melor Md

    2015-01-01

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

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kyouno, Noboru

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

  6. Improving Marketing Students' Writing Skills Using a One-Page Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Newell D.; Larsen, Val

    2016-01-01

    Employers of marketing graduates view good writing as a core marketing skill, but many marketing students are weak writers. The improvement of student writing should therefore be an important objective in a well-designed marketing curriculum. One-page papers combine the effective teaching of marketing concepts with writing instruction while…

  7. Developing Critical Thinking Skills Using the Science Writing Heuristic in the Chemistry Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephenson, N. S.; Sadler-McKnight, N. P.

    2016-01-01

    The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) laboratory approach is a teaching and learning tool which combines writing, inquiry, collaboration and reflection, and provides scaffolding for the development of critical thinking skills. In this study, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) was used to measure the critical thinking skills of…

  8. Getting Past "Just Because": Teaching Writing in Science Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grymonpre, Kris; Cohn, Allison; Solomon, Stacey

    2012-01-01

    How many times do teachers assign writing in science class only to be exasperated by their students' lack of writing skills? They often have difficulty making claims and using evidence; instead of explaining their reasoning, they state, "Just because." But teaching writing isn't just for English/language arts (ELA) class. Over the past two years,…

  9. Teaching good communication/proposal-writing skills: Overcoming one deficit of our educational system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reif-Lehrer, Liane

    1992-09-01

    Good communication skills require: (1) an understanding of one's audience and the subtle interactions between writer and reader, (2) organizational skills to methodically progress through the necessary stages of a project (e.g., writing a proposal), and (3) certain basic communication (writing/speaking) skills, i.e., a facility with the basic elements of transmitting information clearly. The task of writing a grant proposal in response to a specific set of instructions is used to illustrate the analysis and responses necessary to complete a major written communication project. The concept of focusing on—and writing for—the reader (in this case, the proposal reviewer) is emphasized. Although good communication skills affect life-styles, productivity, and economics in our society, the communication skills of the American pubic are sorely lacking—even among people with high levels of education—because students receive little training in these skills in the United States educational system. However, such skills can be taught to younger students as well as to adults.

  10. The problems inherent in teaching technical writing and report writing to native Americans

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zukowski/faust, J.

    1981-01-01

    Teaching technical writing to Native Americans contending with a second language and culture is addressed. Learning difficulties arising from differences between native and acquired language and cultural systems are examined. Compartmentalized teaching, which presents the ideals of technical writing in minimal units, and skills development are considered. Rhetorical problems treated include logic of arrangement, selection of support and scope of detail, and time and space. Specific problems selected include the concept of promptness, the contextualization of purpose, interpersonal relationships, wordiness, mixture of registers, and the problem of abstracting. Four inductive procedures for students having writing and perception problems are included. Four sample exercises and a bibliography of 13 references are also included.

  11. Use of Web-Based Student Extension Publications to Improve Undergraduate Student Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Motavalli, P. P.; Patton, M. D.; Miles, R. J.

    2007-01-01

    Increased opportunities for undergraduate students in agricultural and natural resource disciplines to write for diverse audiences besides their instructor may increase motivation to write and improve student writing skills. The objectives of this teaching research were to determine and compare the initial writing experience of students enrolled…

  12. An Approach to the Teaching of Academic Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnston, Sue Ann

    1985-01-01

    Discusses solutions to problems in teaching research paper writing skills to English as a second language students in developing countries where library resources are inadequate. Suggests the use of interviews as an alternative research source and shows how an oral report on research results can help to develop synthesizing skills. (SED)

  13. The Power of Photography as a Catalyst for Teaching Informational Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lilly, Elizabeth; Fields, Charla

    2014-01-01

    Writing and photography are composition processes that help develop children's linguistic and visual competencies, respectively. Using photography in teaching writing has been found to enhance students' literacy skills by naturally invoking their interest and motivation, and eventually strengthening the reading-writing relationship. Children can…

  14. Using Simulation to Teach Project Management in the Professional Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krause, Tim

    2010-01-01

    It hardly bears noting that when writing instructors teach professional writing they focus on helping students learn to analyze complex communication scenarios, conduct careful research to support their position, and to responsibly and succinctly apply the process of writing any number of supporting documents. Developing these skills are essential…

  15. The Effect of Digital Storytelling in Improving the Third Graders' Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yamac, Ahmet; Ulusoy, Mustafa

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this action research was to investigate the effects of digital storytelling in improving the writing skills of third grade students enrolled in rural primary schools. The writing performances of the students were measured before and after the teaching procedures of digital storytelling. Then, the process of narrative writing with…

  16. A Team of Equals: Teaching Writing in the Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Emerson, Lisa; MacKay, Bruce R.; MacKay, Marion B.; Funnell, Keith A.

    2006-01-01

    Writing across the curriculum (WAC) is a way of integrating the teaching of writing into specific academic disciplines. A problem faced in the WAC literature is how to develop a process that integrates the skills of multi-disciplinary teams. In this project, action research was used to develop a team comprising faculty from the applied sciences…

  17. Helping Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Express Their Thoughts and Knowledge in Writing: Tips and Exercises for Developing Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geither, Elise; Meeks, Lisa

    2014-01-01

    When it comes to academic work, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have the required knowledge but struggle to get their thoughts down in writing. This is a practical guide to teaching and improving writing skills in students with ASD to meet academic writing standards and prepare for the increased expectations of higher education.…

  18. Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Persuasive Writing to Increase the Writing and Self-Efficacy Skills of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Health Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ennis, Robin Parks; Jolivette, Kristine

    2014-01-01

    The Common Core State Standards Initiative includes an emphasis on teaching writing and related skills in all subject areas. This study sought to improve the persuasive writing skills and self-efficacy skills of students with emotional and behavioral disorders by implementing self-regulated strategy development with pairs of students in a high…

  19. A Review of Teaching Sentence-Level Writing Skills to Students with Writing Difficulties and Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Datchuk, Shawn M.; Kubina, Richard M.

    2013-01-01

    Students with writing difficulties and learning disabilities struggle with many aspects of the writing process, including use of sentence-level skills. This literature review summarizes results from 19 published articles that used single-case or group-experimental and quasi-experimental designs to investigate effects of intervention on the…

  20. Voice and Dialogue in Teaching Reading/Writing to Qatari Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golkowska, Krystyna U.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes an attempt to improve the reading comprehension and writing skills of students coming from an oral culture. The proposed approach involves using voice and dialogue--understood literally and metaphorically--as a tool in teaching students how to engage texts and write with a reader in mind. The author discusses a pilot study…

  1. The Effect of Using Writer's Workshop Approach on Developing Basic Writing Skills (Mechanics of Writing) of Prospective Teachers of English in Egypt

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salem, Ashraf Atta M. S.

    2013-01-01

    The present study aimed at investigating the effects of using a program based on the writing workshop approach on developing basic writing skills of prospective teachers of English in Hurgada faculty of Education. For that purpose, the researcher constructed and validated a teaching program based on the writing workshop approach, checklist of the…

  2. Teaching High School Students How to Write: The Importance of Direct Explicit Instruction and Teacher Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soiferman, L. Karen

    2017-01-01

    Learning how to teach writing is a skill just as learning how to write is a skill. Without a dedicated composition course in Education faculties pre-service teachers are not getting the training they require to be effective teachers of writing. In this report, a case is made for why teachers have to be more aware of how students learn to write and…

  3. Using Popular Magazine Articles to Teach the Art of Writing for Nontechnical Audiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sivey, John D.; Lee, Cindy M.

    2008-01-01

    Many undergraduate chemistry curricula are devoting increasing amounts of time to teaching technical writing skills. Significantly less attention, however, is given toward training students in nontechnical writing strategies. The ability of chemistry students to communicate effectively in writing to a wide variety of audiences is an essential (and…

  4. Impact of Web Based Learning on EFL: Using On-Line Discussion Forum (ODF) to Enhance Students' Writing Skill

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akmal

    2017-01-01

    Web based learning is considered as a breakthrough in the teaching of writing skill to the pre-service teachers at University of PGRI Semarang, Indonesia. The students should write argumentative, persuasive, and descriptive essays. This research offers significant contribution in term of the impact of web based learning on writing skill of English…

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

    PubMed

    Geithner, Christina A; Pollastro, Alexandria N

    2016-03-01

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

  6. Enhancing Argumentative Writing Skill through Contextual Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hasani, Aceng

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to describe the influence of contextual learning model and critical thinking ability toward argumentative writing skill on university students. The population of the research was 147 university students, and 52 university students were used as sample with multi stage sampling. The results of the research indicate that; group of…

  7. 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…

  8. Influence of Writing Ability and Computation Skill on Mathematics Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powell, Sarah R.; Hebert, Michael A.

    2016-01-01

    Mathematics standards expect students to communicate about mathematics using oral and written methods, and some high-stakes assessments ask students to answer mathematics questions by writing. Assumptions about mathematics communication via writing include (a) students possess writing skill, (b) students can transfer this writing skill to…

  9. The Challenge of Writing for Publication: Implications for Teaching-Learning Nursing.

    PubMed

    Yancey, Nan Russell

    2016-10-01

    Disseminating new scientific knowledge through publication is critical for any discipline, including nursing. The challenge for nurse faculty is preparing emerging nurses with the skills, enthusiasm, and disposition to fully assume professional roles as nurse scientists and scholars, including that of author. Exploring how students learn to write for publication and barriers to writing for publication, recommendations are offered for teaching-learning as a guide to faculty in planning programs, developing curriculum, and identifying teaching-learning strategies. © The Author(s) 2016.

  10. Writing with a Byte. Computers: An Effective Teaching Methodology To Improve Freshman Writing Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williamson, Barbara L.

    A study was conducted at Florida's Brevard Community College (BCC) to determine the effectiveness of using artificial intelligence software to teach Freshman Composition. At BCC, Freshman Composition is taught in the computer lab, with student using WordPerfect to type their essays and Writer's Helper to flag various writing deficiencies. The…

  11. The ABC Approach to Teaching Letter Writing (Instructional Note).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chin, Susan Ho

    1994-01-01

    Describes how one English teacher used a method of teaching letter writing to foster students' communication and thinking skills. Outlines a method which involves students dually as both consumer complainant and company representative responding to the complaints. Claims that such a process enhances student learning. (HB)

  12. Contributions of Emergent Literacy Skills to Name Writing, Letter Writing, and Spelling in Preschool Children

    PubMed Central

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Kim, Young-Suk

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine which emergent literacy skills contribute to preschool children’s emergent writing (name-writing, letter-writing, and spelling) skills. Emergent reading and writing tasks were administered to 296 preschool children aged 4–5 years. Print knowledge and letter-writing skills made positive contributions to name writing; whereas alphabet knowledge, print knowledge, and name writing made positive contributions to letter writing. Both name-writing and letter-writing skills made significant contributions to the prediction of spelling after controlling for age, parental education, print knowledge, phonological awareness, and letter-name and letter-sound knowledge; however, only letter-writing abilities made a significant unique contribution to the prediction of spelling when both letter-writing and name-writing skills were considered together. Name writing reflects knowledge of some letters rather than a broader knowledge of letters that may be needed to support early spelling. Children’s letter-writing skills may be a better indicator of children’s emergent literacy and developing spelling skills than are their name-writing skills at the end of the preschool year. Spelling is a developmentally complex skill beginning in preschool and includes letter writing and blending skills, print knowledge, and letter-name and letter-sound knowledge. PMID:21927537

  13. The Writing Skills Workbook--In Preparation for the GED Test. Test I: The Writing Skills Test. Revised Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, Marilyn; And Others

    Intended for students preparing for the General Educational Development (GED) test, this workbook enables them to complete lessons in writing and spelling skills and to take the simulated writing skills tests. The first section contains worksheets on basic writing skills, such as sentence structure, capitalization, and punctuation and the use of…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eberly, Charlene; Trand, Patsy A. Self

    2010-01-01

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

  15. Teaching CSD Graduate Students to Think Critically, Apply Evidence, and Write Professionally

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grillo, Elizabeth U.; Koenig, Mareile A.; Gunter, Cheryl D.; Kim, Sojung

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching modules designed to enhance the use of critical thinking (CT), evidence-based practice (EBP), and professional writing (PW) skills by graduate students in communication sciences and disorders. Three single-session teaching modules were developed to highlight key features of CT,…

  16. Tips on Teaching Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Today's Education, 1982

    1982-01-01

    Techniques for stirring students' interest in writing include: (1) exposing them to eloquent language use; (2) group poetry-writing (each student writes one line of a class poem); and (3) adapting why-and-because outlines intended for teaching college writing for use by younger students. Suggestions for obtaining writing quantity and quality are…

  17. Componential skills of beginning writing: An exploratory study

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Young-Suk; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Puranik, Cynthia; Folsom, Jessica Sidler; Greulich, Luana; Wagner, Richard K.

    2011-01-01

    The present study examined the components of end of kindergarten writing, using data from 242 kindergartners. Specifically of interest was the importance of spelling, letter writing fluency, reading, and word- and syntax-level oral language skills in writing. The results from structural equation modeling revealed that oral language, spelling, and letter writing fluency were positively and uniquely related to writing skill after accounting for reading skills. Reading skill was not uniquely related to writing once oral language, spelling, and letter writing fluency were taken into account. These findings are discussed from a developmental perspective. PMID:22267897

  18. Writing Self-Efficacy and Written Communication Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mascle, Deanna DeBrine

    2013-01-01

    Writing is an essential professional skill. The goal of writing instruction in business communication classes is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully meet future writing challenges. However, many writers struggle to transfer skills and knowledge from one context to another. The primary reason for this struggle is that…

  19. Writing, Teaching, Learning: A Sourcebook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graves, Richard L., Ed.

    More than a sourcebook, this fourth (and retitled) edition of "Rhetoric and Composition" celebrates the writing-teaching process, reflecting the best writing about the teaching of writing published during the 1990s. Of the 32 essays in the book, only 7 appeared in the earlier editions; 25 of the essays are new to this sourcebook. All essays were…

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

    PubMed

    Borglin, Gunilla

    2012-07-01

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

  1. ACCESS! Teaching Writing Skills to Students with Intellectual Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cannella-Malone, Helen I.; Konrad, Moira; Pennington, Robert C.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with tools that they can use to teach written expression to school-age students with intellectual disabilities. These tools are presented around the mnemonic ACCESS: accommodations and assistive technologies, concrete topics, critical skills, explicit instruction, strategy instruction, systematic…

  2. 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…

  3. Contributions of Morphological Skill to Children's Essay Writing

    PubMed Central

    Northey, Mary; McCutchen, Deborah; Sanders, Elizabeth A.

    2015-01-01

    Morphological skills have previously been found to reliably predict reading skill, including word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. However, less is known about how morphological skills might contribute to writing skill, aside from its well-documented role in the development of spelling. This correlational study examines whether morphological skill, as measured by a sentence generation task tapping both derivational morphology and meta-syntactic skills, predicts performance on a standardized essay writing task for fifth- and eighth-grade U.S. students (N = 233), after controlling for grade level, comprehension, and writing fluency. Multilevel analyses indicated that morphological skill and writing fluency were each uniquely predictive of essay quality, and this finding was consistent regardless of whether accurate spelling was required in the morphological task. Our results suggest that morphological skills play an important role in writing, as has been previously documented in reading and spelling. PMID:26957783

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grabe, William; Zhang, Cui

    2013-01-01

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

  5. Contributions of Emergent Literacy Skills to Name Writing, Letter Writing, and Spelling in Preschool Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.; Kim, Young-Suk

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine which emergent literacy skills contribute to preschool children's emergent writing (name-writing, letter-writing, and spelling) skills. Emergent reading and writing tasks were administered to 296 preschool children aged 4-5 years. Print knowledge and letter-writing skills made positive contributions to name…

  6. A Money Planner. Teaching Budgeting Skills to Low-Income Consumers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shurtz, Mary Ann; LeFlore, Ann Becker

    This module, one of six on teaching consumer matters to low-income groups, focuses on budgeting and managing money. Budgeting is examined in two contexts: skills which apply to everyone at every income level and skills which specifically apply to low-income people. Topics include how to write a budget (starting a group workshop, small group work,…

  7. The Dynamics of Motivation in Teaching Literacy Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stanchfield, Jo M.

    Basic emotional and intellectual factors in motivation can help to stimulate the learner to acquire the five major literacy skills: listening, speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. Contagion, or the spread effect in psychology, is reflected in the readily communicated attitude of the teacher toward students and teaching itself. Similarly,…

  8. Teaching Directional Skills to Preschool and Kindergarten Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sterritt, Graham M.; And Others

    1976-01-01

    Studied a new device and training procedure for teaching the directional orientation and sentence tracking skills used in reading and writing western languages. Left-right and up-down directional confusion were shown to be rapidly corrected in normal children by the use of a simple electronic device providing clear feedback. (Author)

  9. Teaching the Writing Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keen, John

    2017-01-01

    This article outlines some cognitive process models of writing composition. Possible reasons why students' writing capabilities do not match their abilities in some other school subjects are explored. Research findings on the efficacy of process approaches to teaching writing are presented and potential shortcomings are discussed. Product-based…

  10. Write Now! Using Reflective Writing beyond the Humanities and Social Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cannady, Rachel E.; Gallo, Kasia Z.

    2016-01-01

    Writing is an important teaching and learning tool that fosters active and critical thinking. There are multiple pressures for disciplines outside the humanities and social sciences to integrate writing in their courses. The shift from teaching solely discipline-specific skills to including writing in a meaningful way can be a daunting process. An…

  11. Group Writing: How Writing Teaches Reading

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell-Rush, Peggy

    2006-01-01

    What do Slinky toys, sign language, clipboards, golf pencils, and a house icon have in common? They all are a part of the author's writing and reading program, which teaches children how to write, and then read what they have written. This book includes: effective strategies that address multiple learning styles; a ready-to-use form for ongoing…

  12. The Role of Grammar and the Teaching of Writing. Learning Package No. 39.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Norma, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on the role of grammar and the teaching of writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC…

  13. Teaching Argumentative Writing through Film.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fluitt-Dupuy, Jan

    2001-01-01

    Discusses how watching and discussing feature films and writing reviews of these films in the English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language classroom can be instrumental in teaching the principles of good argumentative writing within the confines of the simple movie review. Six steps for teaching a film review unit are provided. (Author/VWL)

  14. Using a Collaborative Critiquing Technique to Develop Chemistry Students' Technical Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carr, Jeremy M.

    2013-01-01

    The technique, termed "collaborative critiquing", was developed to teach fundamental technical writing skills to analytical chemistry students for the preparation of laboratory reports. This exercise, which can be completed prior to peer-review activities, is novel, highly interactive, and allows students to take responsibility for their…

  15. 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,…

  16. Use of a journal club and letter-writing exercise to teach critical appraisal to medical undergraduates.

    PubMed

    Edwards, R; White, M; Gray, J; Fischbacher, C

    2001-07-01

    There is growing interest in methods of teaching critical appraisal skills at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We describe an approach using a journal club and subsequent letter writing to teach critical appraisal and writing skills to medical undergraduates. The exercise occurs during a 3-week public health medicine attachment in the third year of the undergraduate curriculum. Students work in small groups to appraise a recently published research paper, present their findings to their peers in a journal club, and draft a letter to the journal editor. Evaluation took place through: informal and formal feedback from students; number of letters written, submitted and published, and a comparison of marks obtained by students submitting a literature review assignment with and without critical appraisal teaching during the public health attachment. Feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive. In the first 3(1/2) years, 26 letters have been published or accepted for publication, and 58 letters published on the Internet. There were no significant differences in overall marks or marks for the critical appraisal component of the literature review assignments between the two student groups. We believe our approach is an innovative and enjoyable method for teaching critical appraisal and writing skills to medical students. Lack of difference in marks in the literature review between the student groups may reflect its insensitivity as an outcome measure, contamination by other critical appraisal teaching, or true ineffectiveness.

  17. 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Art, Comp.

    2003-01-01

    The National Writing Project's (NWP) "30 Ideas for Teaching Writing" discusses making grammar lessons dynamic, using casual student conversation as a source for writing, home language as an assisting tool to attain standard English and other topics by presenting strategies contributed by experienced writing project teachers. NWP does not promote a…

  18. Teaching Writing in Graduate School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sallee, Margaret; Hallett, Ronald; Tierney, William

    2011-01-01

    Graduate students are typically expected to know how to write. Those who write poorly are occasionally penalized, but little in-class attention is given to help students continue to develop and refine their writing skills. More often than not, writing courses at the graduate level are remedial programs designed for international students and…

  19. Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Professional Collaborative Writing--Teaching, Writing, and Learning--Together.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bush, Jonathan; Zuidema, Leah

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the authors report the importance of teaching students about collaborative writing. When teachers are effective in helping students to learn processes for collaborative writing, everyone involved needs to speak, listen, write, and read about how to write well and what makes writing good. Students are forced to "go meta"…

  20. Collaboration through Blogging: The Development of Writing and Speaking Skills in ESP Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kleanthous, Angela; Cardoso, Walcir

    2016-01-01

    There has been a growing interest in incorporating social media in education and in language teaching in general. From a pedagogical perspective, as mentioned in Kleanthous (2016), blogs (or weblogs) appear to be effective in enhancing writing and/or reading skills, as their interactive platforms enable learners to exchange comments and offer…

  1. Genre-Based Approach: What and How to Teach and to Learn Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dirgeyasa, I Wy.

    2016-01-01

    In Indonesian education context, recently the word "genre" seems to gain its most popular and hot issue to teaching and learning English, particularly writing skill. However, many of them the students, teachers, or university students, or even lecturers in universities apparently are not good at understanding and are not truly well…

  2. Foreign Language Writing Fellows Programs: A Model for Improving Advanced Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snyder, Delys Waite; Nielson, Rex P.; Kurzer, Kendon

    2016-01-01

    Within the growing field of scholarly literature on foreign language (FL) writing pedagogy, few studies have addressed pedagogical questions regarding the teaching of writing to advanced language learners. Writing fellows peer tutoring programs, although typically associated with first language writing instruction, likely can benefit and support…

  3. The Teaching of EFL Writing in Indonesia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ariyanti

    2016-01-01

    Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing has its own challenges since there are some steps and requirements that teachers should prepare to undertake in the classroom. This article is aimed to discuss teaching and learning writing in the classroom based on theoretical conceptualisation. In…

  4. 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

  5. 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.

  6. Assessing Text-Based Writing of Low-Skilled College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perin, Dolores; Lauterbach, Mark

    2018-01-01

    The problem of poor writing skills at the postsecondary level is a large and troubling one. This study investigated the writing skills of low-skilled adults attending college developmental education courses by determining whether variables from an automated scoring system were predictive of human scores on writing quality rubrics. The human-scored…

  7. Teaching Writing in Economics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmeiser, Katherine

    2017-01-01

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

  8. Do L2 Writing Courses Affect the Improvement of L1 Writing Skills via Skills Transfer from L2 to L1?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonca, Altmisdort

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the relationship of second language (L2) writing skills proficiency with the first language (L1) writing skills, in light of the language transfer. The study aims to analyze the positive effects of L2 writing proficiency on L1 writing proficiency. Forty native Turkish-speaking university students participated in the study.…

  9. A Tool to Teach Communication Skills to Pharmacy Students

    PubMed Central

    2008-01-01

    Objective To develop a tool to teach pharmacy students assertive communication skills to use when talking with physicians over the telephone. Design As an assignment for their Communication Skills and Counseling course, students were asked to write a script involving a patient care issue or problem covering 3 different communication styles that could be used when contacting a prescriber by telephone: passive, aggressive, and assertive. Students worked in groups to write and act out the scripts for the class. Assessment Eight scripts were developed by students and rated by peers and faculty members. The script that received the highest ratings was used in the development of a multimedia educational CD. Conclusion The development of hypothetical scripts describing a drug therapy problem and illustrating the types of interactions between physicians and pharmacists while discussing the problem allowed pharmacy students to explore different communication techniques and improve their communication skills. PMID:18698394

  10. Assessing Elementary Students' Writing Skills. Publication No. 78.74.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friedman, Myron; Fowler, Elaine

    An instrument was developed for use in the evaluation of a pilot program to improve the writing skills of elementary school students in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Called the "Assessment of Writing Skills" (AWS), the instrument assesses writing maturity, productivity, and writing mechanics by collecting a holistic evaluation…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2013-01-01

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

  12. Writing Skills for Technical Students. Fourth Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlisle, Vicky; Smith, Harriet; Baker, Fred; Ellegood, George; Kopay, Carol; Tanzer, Ward; Young, Diana; Dujordan, Jerome; Webster, Ron; Lewis, Sara Drew

    This self-paced text/workbook is designed for the adult learner who needs a review of grammar and writing skills in order to write clearly and concisely on the job. It offers career-minded students 14 individualized instructional modules on grammar, paragraph writing, report writing, letter writing, and spelling. It is designed for both self-paced…

  13. A Program for Improving Undergraduate Psychology Students' Basic Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fallahi, Carolyn R.; Wood, Rebecca M.; Austad, Carol Shaw; Fallahi, Hamid

    2006-01-01

    We examined the effects of in-class writing instruction, practice, peer review, and feedback on writing skills of undergraduates enrolled in a general psychology course. We rated writing for grammar, writing style, mechanics, and American Psychological Association referencing style. Significant differences emerged on the 4 writing skill domains (p…

  14. 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);…

  15. Teaching and Assessing Writing Skills at University Level: A Comparison of Practices in French and Colombian Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Escorcia, Dyanne

    2015-01-01

    Background: The analysis of teachers' conceptions about writing at university level allows the study of teaching practices associated with academic writing. At the same time, it is important to consider the context (disciplines, culture, institution, pedagogical organisation, etc.) where these practices take place. Purpose: The present article…

  16. Mirror man: a case of skilled deliberate mirror writing.

    PubMed

    McIntosh, Robert D; De Lucia, Natascia; Della Sala, Sergio

    2014-01-01

    Mirror writing is a striking behaviour that is common in children and can reemerge in adults following brain damage. Skilled deliberate mirror writing has also been reported, but only anecdotally. We provide the first quantitative study of skilled deliberate mirror writing. K.B. can write forward or backward, vertically upright or inverted, with the hands acting alone or simultaneously. K.B. is predominantly left handed, but writes habitually with his right hand. Of his writing formats, his left hand mirror writing is by far the most similar in style to his normal handwriting. When writing bimanually, he performs better when his two hands make mirror-symmetrical movements to write opposite scripts than if they move in the same direction to write similar scripts. He has no special facility for reading mirrored text. These features are consistent with prior anecdotal cases and support a motor basis for K.B.'s ability, according to which his skilled mirror writing results from the left hand execution of a low-level motor program for a right hand abductive writing action. Our methods offer a novel framework for investigating the sharing of motor representations across effectors.

  17. Teaching Spelling, Writing, and Reading for Writing; Powerful Evidence Based Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Karen R.; Graham, Steve; Aitken, A. Angelique; Barkel, Ashley; Houston, Julia; Ray, Amber

    2017-01-01

    Students with disabilities often find writing extremely challenging (Harris & Graham, 2016). Special educators can, however, promote tremendous gains in students' ability to write by understanding common challenges students face and mastering specific teaching techniques. Students' writing success depends on reducing how much attention and…

  18. Writing Partners: Expanding the Audiences for Student Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillis, Candida

    1994-01-01

    Describes how one English teacher developed an approach to teaching writing that pairs student writers with writers in the community outside the school. Outlines the features of this writing partners project, including the responsibilities of each partner. Argues that such programs foster writer skill and self-esteem. (HB)

  19. Relationship between the Phonological Awareness Skills and Writing Skills of the First Year Students at Primary School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erdogan, Ozge

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the phonological awareness skills and writing skills of the first year students at primary school. In the study, the phonological awareness skills and writing skills of the students were measured at the beginning of the term. Students' writing skills were measured in the middle of…

  20. Teaching Strategies for Developing Students' Argumentation Skills About Socioscientific Issues in High School Genetics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dawson, Vaille Maree; Venville, Grady

    2010-03-01

    An outcome of science education is that young people have the understandings and skills to participate in public debate and make informed decisions about science issues that influence their lives. Toulmin’s argumentation skills are emerging as an effective strategy to enhance the quality of evidence based decision making in science classrooms. In this case study, an Australian science teacher participated in a one-on-one professional learning session on argumentation before explicitly teaching argumentation skills to two year 10 classes studying genetics. Over two lessons, the teacher used whole class discussion and writing frames of two socioscientific issues to teach students about argumentation. An analysis of classroom observation field notes, audiotaped lesson transcripts, writing frames and student interviews indicate that four factors promoted student argumentation. The factors are: the role of the teacher in facilitating whole class discussion; the use of writing frames; the context of the socioscientific issue; and the role of the students. It is recommended that professional learning to promote student argumentation may need to be tailored to individual teachers and that extensive classroom based research is required to determine the impact of classroom factors on students’ argumentation.

  1. Singaporean Kindergartners' Phonological Awareness and English Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixon, L. Quentin

    2011-01-01

    This article describes the phonological awareness and English writing skills among a sample of 297 Singaporean kindergarten children, stratified by ethnicity (Chinese, Malay, and Indian), and examines the relationship between oral language and writing skills in this multilingual population. Overall, Singaporean kindergartners, nearly all of whom…

  2. The Relationships among Writing Skills, Writing Anxiety and Metacognitive Awareness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balta, Elif Emine

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among students' argumentative text writing skills, writing anxiety, and metacognitive awareness. The participants were composed of 375 8th graders in six middle schools in Sivas. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (B Form) which was adapted in to Turkish by Karakelle & Saraç (2007)…

  3. Teaching Writing for the "Real World": Community and Workplace Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cox, Michelle; Ortmeier-Hooper, Christina; Tirabassi, Katherine E.

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the authors offer an approach to teaching that can help students prepare to write for the workplace and in the community: a case study of community-based writing. In this case-study project, students work in groups to study the writing needs and practices of a community-based group or organization, such as a local public library,…

  4. A PBLT Approach to Teaching ESL Speaking, Writing, and Thinking Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shahini, Gholamhossein; Riazi, A. Mehdi

    2011-01-01

    This paper introduces Philosophy-based Language Teaching (PBLT) as a new approach to developing productive language and thinking skills in students. The approach involves posing philosophical questions and engaging students in dialogues within a community of enquiry context. To substantiate the approach, the paper reports a study in which 34…

  5. Writing Is Not Just a Basic Skill

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richardson, Mark

    2008-01-01

    At many colleges, professors trained in the discipline of rhetoric and composition are finding that the specialized knowledge they bring to teaching writing is held in thrall to older notions of how students learn to write--what Linda Brodkey, an author and director of the Warren College Writing Program at the University of California at San…

  6. 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…

  7. Some technical writing skills industry needs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, F. R.

    1981-01-01

    It is suggested that engineers and other technical students be taught three classes of skills in technical writing. First, "Big Picture Things", which includes: the importance of clear writing, the wide scope of writing, the wide scope of writing tasks that will be faced in industry, and the principles of organization of technical materials such as; how to analyze, classify, partition, and interpret. Second, "Writing Procedures", which encompasses: how to get words on paper efficiently and team-write. Third, "Writing Details", in which two considerations are important: how to achieve precision in the use of language and the aspects of style. Three problems in style are cited: the problem of sentence transition, overuse of attributive adjectives, and verbosity in paragraph structure. The most important thing in technical writing is considered to be functionality, economy and clarity.

  8. Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficiency Students: Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP 1988-89. OREA Evaluation Section Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berney, Tomi D.; Keyes, Jose L.

    The Computer Writing Skills for Limited English Proficient Students (Project COMPUGRAFIA.LEP), bilingual special education classes totalling 375 Spanish-speaking students at 10 elementary schools in the Bronx, is evaluated. The project proposed to assist site teachers in developing appropriate lesson plans and effective teaching techniques and…

  9. 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…

  10. Investigating the Relationship between Critical Thinking Skills and the Quality of Iranian Intermediate TEFL Students' Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nikou, Farahnaz Rimani; Bonyadi, Alireza; Amirikar, Negin

    2015-01-01

    The current study intended to find out the relationship between critical thinking skills and the quality of Iranian TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) students' writing. One-hundred forty students who were homogeneous in their language proficiency were selected non-randomly. The researcher asked students to take part in a proficiency…

  11. Lesson Study: Developing a Knowledge Base for Elementary Writing Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McQuitty, Vicki

    2011-01-01

    Concern about students' writing skills has led to recommendations that elementary teachers receive more professional development in how to teach writing (National Commission on Writing, 2006). However, there is currently little evidence about the knowledge teachers need to teach writing well, and it is therefore difficult for teacher…

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

    PubMed

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

    2014-06-01

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

  13. Word Processors and the Teaching of Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crozier, D. S. R.

    1986-01-01

    Word processors can assist teachers and students by focusing on writing as a process, rather than a product. Word processing breaks writing up into manageable chunks that permit writing skills to develop in an integraged manner. (10 references) (CJH)

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johannessen, Larry R.

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

  15. Re-Framing Race in Teaching Writing across the Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poe, Mya

    2013-01-01

    Although faculty across the curriculum are often faced with issues of racial identity in the teaching of writing, WAC has offered little support for addressing race in assignment design, classroom interactions, and assessment. Through examples from teaching workshops, I offer specific ways that we can engage discussions about teaching writing and…

  16. An Annotated Bibliography of Materials for Teaching Advanced Written Skills in English as a Second Language.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macha, Dyne; Angelis, Paul

    This bibliography includes textbooks useful for the teaching of written skills in English as a second language to college and university students. The major emphasis of the texts listed is the teaching of writing but some contain material on reading as well. The first section contains only texts designed specifically for second language use. The…

  17. Exploring Teacher Strategies in Teaching Descriptive Writing in Indonesia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Suriyanti, Sufatmi; Yaacob, Aizan

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: This paper is the outcome of a study which examined teacher strategies in teaching descriptive writing to junior high school students in Delitua, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The study was based on two questions: 1) What are the teaching strategies used by EFL teachers in teaching descriptive writing? 2) To what extent did the descriptive…

  18. Effects of Teaching Strategies in Annotated Bibliography Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan-de Ramos, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    The study examines the effect of teaching strategies to improved writing of students in the tertiary level. Specifically, three teaching approaches--the use of modelling, grammar-based, and information element-focused--were tested on their effect on the writing of annotated bibliography in three research classes at a university in Manila.…

  19. Neuroplasticity-Based Cognitive and Linguistic Skills Training Improves Reading and Writing Skills in College Students

    PubMed Central

    Rogowsky, Beth A.; Papamichalis, Pericles; Villa, Laura; Heim, Sabine; Tallal, Paula

    2013-01-01

    This study reports an evaluation of the effect of computer-based cognitive and linguistic training on college students’ reading and writing skills. The computer-based training included a series of increasingly challenging software programs that were designed to strengthen students’ foundational cognitive skills (memory, attention span, processing speed, and sequencing) in the context of listening and higher level reading tasks. Twenty-five college students (12 native English language; 13 English Second Language), who demonstrated poor writing skills, participated in the training group. The training group received daily training during the spring semester (11 weeks) with the Fast ForWord Literacy (FFW-L) and upper levels of the Fast ForWord Reading series (Levels 3–5). The comparison group (n = 28) selected from the general college population did not receive training. Both the training and comparison groups attended the same university. All students took the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT) and the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) Written Expression Scale at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the spring college semester. Results from this study showed that the training group made a statistically greater improvement from Time 1 to Time 2 in both their reading skills and their writing skills than the comparison group. The group who received training began with statistically lower writing skills before training, but exceeded the writing skills of the comparison group after training. PMID:23533100

  20. Learning to care: medical students' reported value and evaluation of palliative care teaching involving meeting patients and reflective writing.

    PubMed

    Borgstrom, Erica; Morris, Rachel; Wood, Diana; Cohn, Simon; Barclay, Stephen

    2016-11-25

    Over recent years there has been an increase in teaching of both palliative care and reflective practice in UK medical schools. The palliative care teaching at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine is multi-faceted and involves students writing reflective essays after individually meeting patients approaching the end of life during their final year general practice and hospital medicine placements. This paper draws on two studies examining this teaching element to analyse what the students found valuable about it and to comment on the practice of meeting patients and subsequent reflective writing. Two studies have explored students' perceptions of these course components. The first was a thematic analysis of 234 reflective essays from 123 students written in 2007-2008, including examining what students wrote about the exercise itself. The second project involved a semi-structured questionnaire that students completed anonymously; this paper reports on the free text elements of that study [sample size =107]. Since similar themes were found in both studies, the coding structures from each project were compared and combined, enabling triangulation of the findings around what the students found valuable from the palliative care teaching involving meeting patients and reflective writing. Overall, students reported that these components of the palliative care teaching are valuable. Four main themes were identified as aspects that students valued: (1) dedicated time with patients, (2) learning about wider elements of treatment and holistic care, (3) practicing communication skills, and (4) learning about themselves through reflective writing. Some students expressed a dislike for having to formally write a reflective essay. It is possible to arrange for all of the medical students to individually meet at least two patients receiving palliative or end of life care. Students found these encounters valuable and many wrote about the benefit of formally

  1. Contributions of Morphological Skill to Children's Essay Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Northey, Mary; McCutchen, Deborah; Sanders, Elizabeth A.

    2016-01-01

    Morphological skills have previously been found to reliably predict reading skill, including word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. However, less is known about how morphological skills might contribute to writing skill, aside from its well-documented role in the development of spelling. This correlational study examines whether…

  2. 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.

  3. Using Tracking Software for Writing Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yagi, Sane M.; Al-Salman, Saleh

    2011-01-01

    Writing is a complex skill that is hard to teach. Although the written product is what is often evaluated in the context of language teaching, the process of giving thought to linguistic form is fascinating. For almost forty years, language teachers have found it more effective to help learners in the writing process than in the written product;…

  4. Writing Apprehension and the Writing Process. Learning Package No. 32.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Norma, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on writing apprehension and the writing process is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC…

  5. Influence of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition Technique on Foreign Students' Reading and Writing Skills in Turkish

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Varisoglu, Behice

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to reveal whether the technique of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) in Turkish Language teaching had influence on students' skills in reading and writing. In the study, the mixed method, which included quantitative and qualitative dimensions together, was used. The study group was made up of 16…

  6. Write Angles: Strategies for Teaching Composition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

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

  7. How I Have Improved My English Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kosaka, Megumi

    2016-01-01

    Writing a journal is a good way to improve one's English skills. The author, although she did not feel good at writing in English at all, discovered that, once she began keeping a journal in English, she progressively became able to write longer, more accurate, and more detailed sentences. Through keeping a journal she became aware of errors she…

  8. Reflective Thinking on Communicative Teaching in Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xin, Zhuang

    2007-01-01

    For second language learners, English writing as one of the forms of communication is particularly tough. In order to help learners to write correctly and fluently, teachers could guide learners to integrate genre and content reasonably to meet their communicative needs, to motivate their interest and to improve their writing skills. The paper…

  9. Enhancing EFL Learners' Writing Skill via Journal Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuan, Luu Trong

    2010-01-01

    "Frequently accepted as being the last language skill to be acquired for native speakers of the language as well as for foreign/second language learners" (Hamp-Lyons and Heasly, 2006: 2), English writing, for a number of EFL learners, appears to be challenging. This paper sought to investigate if learners can grow out of the writing…

  10. Implementing Keyword and Question Generation Approaches in Teaching EFL Summary Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chou, Mu-hsuan

    2012-01-01

    Summary writing has been considered an important aspect of academic writing. However, writing summaries can be a challenging task for the majority of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Research into teaching summary writing has focused on different processes to teach EFL learners. The present study adopted two methods--keyword and…

  11. Teaching Writing through Communicative Approach in Military English

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Likaj, Manjola

    2015-01-01

    The paper speaks about teaching writing through communicative approach in English for Specific Purposes, especially in Military English. There are presented three different approaches regarding writing in ESP: product, process and social-constructionist approach. The recent developments in ESP writing consider the social-constructionist approach…

  12. What Writing Skills Should Accounting Students Be Taught?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Douglas C.; Nelson, Sandra J.; Moncada, Susan M.

    1998-01-01

    Responses from 150 public accountants and 108 management accountants identified communication skills needed in accounting. Top writing skills areas included working papers, memoranda, business letters, instructions and procedures, and systems documentation. (SK)

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

    PubMed Central

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

    2018-01-01

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

  14. Teaching Composition Skills with Weekly Multiple Choice Tests in Lieu of Theme Writing. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scannell, Dale P.; Haugh, Oscar M.

    The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness with which composition skills could be taught by the traditional theme-assignment approach and by an experimental method using weekly multiple-choice composition tests in lieu of theme writing. The weekly tests were based on original but typical first-draft compositions and covered problems…

  15. Teaching Writing in the Shadow of Standardized Writing Assessment: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brimi, Hunter

    2012-01-01

    This exploratory study results from interviews with five high school English teachers regarding their writing instruction. The researcher sought to answer these questions: (1) How had the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program's (TCAP) Writing Assessment affected their teaching as gauged by the teachers' statements regarding the assessment,…

  16. Teachers' reported practices for teaching writing in England.

    PubMed

    Dockrell, Julie E; Marshall, Chloë R; Wyse, Dominic

    To date there have been no systematic studies examining the ways in which teachers in England focus and adapt their teaching of writing. The current study addresses this gap by investigating the nature and frequency of teachers' approaches to the teaching of writing in a sample of English primary schools, using the 'simple view of writing' as a framework to examine the extent to which different aspects of the writing process are addressed. One hundred and eighty-eight staff from ten different schools responded to an online questionnaire. Only the data from class teachers (n = 88) who responded to all items on the questionnaire were included in the final analyses. Respondents enjoyed teaching writing and felt prepared to teach it. However, despite feeling that they were effective in identifying approaches to support students' writing, nearly half reported that supporting struggling writers was problematic for them. Overall teachers reported more work at word level, occurring several times a week, than with transcription, sentence or text levels, which were reported to occur weekly. Planning, reviewing and revising occurred least often, only monthly. For these variables no differences were found between teachers of younger (age 4-7) and older students (age 8-11). By contrast, an examination of specific aspects of each component revealed differences between the teachers of the two age groups. Teachers of younger students focused more frequently on phonic activities related to spelling, whereas teachers of older students focussed more on word roots, punctuation, word classes and the grammatical function of words, sentence-level work, and paragraph construction.

  17. The Use of Podcasts to Enhance Narrative Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Qaddour, Kinana

    2017-01-01

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

  18. 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…

  19. Embedding the Teaching of Academic Writing into Anthropology Lectures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mostert, Linda Ann; Townsend, Rodwell

    2018-01-01

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

  20. Improving Narrative Writing Skills, Composition Skills, and Related Attitudes among Second Grade Students by Integrating Word Processing, Graphic Organizers, and Art into a Process Approach to Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallick-Jackson, Sheryl A.

    A practicum program was developed and implemented to improve narrative writing skills, composition skills, and related attitudes among the targeted second grade students. Objectives for the program were for: 75% of the students to increase their narrative writing skills by at least one proficiency level; 75% of the students to increase their…

  1. Instruction of Keyboarding Skills: A Whole Language Approach to Teaching Functional Literacy Skills to Students Who are Blind and Have Additional Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stauffer, Mary

    2008-01-01

    This article describes an unconventional method to teach un-contracted braille reading and writing skills to students who are blind and have additional disabilities. It includes a keyboarding curriculum that focuses on the whole language approach to literacy. A special feature is the keyboard that is adapted with braille symbols. Un-contracted…

  2. Teaching Technical and Business Writing: Strategies and Evaluation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alexander, Clara

    1985-01-01

    Describes a course that gives students the kinds of writing and oral communication experiences they will need on the job. The course gives students information about effective speaking and teaches them how to write business letters, prepare simple visuals for written and oral reports, and write formal proposals. (EL)

  3. Developing Business Writing Skills and Reducing Writing Anxiety of EFL Learners through Wikis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassem, Mohamed Ali Mohamed

    2017-01-01

    The present study aimed at investigating the effect of using wikis on developing business writing skills and reducing writing anxiety of Business Administration students at Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz University, KSA. Sixty students, who were randomly chosen and divided into two equivalent groups: control and experimental, participated in the…

  4. Writing for Manufacturing Personnel.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mercer County Community Coll., Trenton, NJ.

    This document, developed by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners, offers lists of topics covered in each day of a 24-day course designed to teach General Motors employees the following skills: document information; write clear directions and instructions; outline and organize thoughts and ideas; write memos and business…

  5. 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…

  6. Grant Writing Skill Building: A Business Administration Curriculum Proposal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blankenship, Dianna; Jones, Irma; Lovett, Marvin

    2010-01-01

    This paper reviews the need for grant writing skills within various types of organizations and the resulting proposal for including grant writing within business administration curriculum at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels. An introduction precedes the results of a survey regarding current grant writing courses within AACSB schools of…

  7. Using spaced education to teach interns about teaching skills.

    PubMed

    Pernar, Luise I M; Corso, Katherine; Lipsitz, Stuart R; Breen, Elizabeth

    2013-07-01

    Despite limited preparation and knowledge base, surgical interns have important teaching responsibilities. Nevertheless, few faculty development programs are aimed at interns. Succinct teaching skill content was electronically distributed over time (spaced education) to interns in academic year 2010/2011. The interns in the previous year served as historic controls. Electronic surveys were distributed for program evaluation. Fifteen of 24 (62.5%) interns and 35 of 49 (71.4%) students responded to the surveys in academic year 2009/2010 and 16 of 27 (59.3%) interns and 38 of 52 (73%) students responded in academic year 2010/2011. Surveys showed improved attitudes toward teaching by interns as well as a higher estimation of interns' teaching skills as rated by students for those interns who received the spaced education program. Using spaced education to improve interns' teaching skills is a potentially powerful intervention that improves interns' enthusiasm for teaching and teaching effectiveness. The changes are mirrored in students' ratings of interns' teaching skills and interns' attitudes toward teaching. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Write Makes Might: A Case for the Neglected Skill.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duncan, Annelise M.

    Of all the language skills, writing is the most difficult challenge for language teachers because students have less experience with written expression. Stimulated by audio-visual materials throughout their lives, students are novices in the discipline of writing. Making writing an ongoing part of foreign language acquisition from the first day in…

  9. Collaborative Writing Support Tools on the Cloud

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calvo, R. A.; O'Rourke, S. T.; Jones, J.; Yacef, K.; Reimann, P.

    2011-01-01

    Academic writing, individual or collaborative, is an essential skill for today's graduates. Unfortunately, managing writing activities and providing feedback to students is very labor intensive and academics often opt out of including such learning experiences in their teaching. We describe the architecture for a new collaborative writing support…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Barbara

    1990-01-01

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

  11. Brokering Disciplinary Writing: TAs and the Teaching of Writing across the Disciplines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winzenried, Misty Anne

    2016-01-01

    Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) and the general education yet discipline-specific courses they often teach occupy a complex peripheral position in the university. This qualitative comparative case study investigated disciplinary TAs' identities and pedagogical strategies as they taught writing courses linked with disciplinary lecture courses at…

  12. 5 CFR 7301.102 - Prior approval for outside teaching, speaking and writing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Prior approval for outside teaching... approval for outside teaching, speaking and writing. (a) Before engaging in outside teaching, speaking or... that the outside teaching, speaking or writing is not expected to involve conduct prohibited by statute...

  13. What Is Happening in the Teaching of Writing?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Applebee, Arthur N.; Langer, Judith A.

    2009-01-01

    It has been almost 30 years since the last systematic look at writing instruction in middle schools and high schools in the United States (Applebee, Writing). Since that report, there have been a number of significant changes in the contexts in which teachers teach and in which their students learn to write. Stretching back to the 1969-70 school…

  14. Toulmin and the Ethics of Argument Fields: Teaching Writing and Argument.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stygall, Gail

    Writing instructors who teach argument are familiar with the dilemma of conflicting metaphors: those who teach writing with a process approach may structure their teaching through a growth or benevolent nature metaphor, but cannot deny the tenacity of the "argument as war" metaphor. Breaking this war metaphor requires that ethics become…

  15. Experiments with Writing to Teach Microbiology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cannon, Robert E.

    1990-01-01

    Described are the experiences of one teacher with the teaching of writing in college level microbiology, virology, and immunology courses. Assignments, methods, evaluation, and student responses are discussed. (CW)

  16. Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers’ Language and Literacy Skills

    PubMed Central

    Bindman, Samantha W.; Hindman, Annemarie H.; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J.

    2013-01-01

    Parental writing support was examined over time and in relation to children’s language and literacy skills. Seventy-seven parents and their preschoolers were videotaped writing an invitation together twice during one year. Parental writing support was coded at the level of the letter to document parents’ graphophonemic support (letter–sound correspondence), print support (letter formation), and demand for precision (expectation for correcting writing errors). Parents primarily relied on only a couple print (i.e., parent writing the letter alone) and graphophonemic (i.e., saying the word as a whole, dictating letters as children write) strategies. Graphophonemic and print support in preschool predicted children’s decoding skills, and graphophonemic support also predicted children’s future phonological awareness. Neither type of support predicted children’s vocabulary scores. Demand for precision occurred infrequently and was unrelated to children’s outcomes. Findings demonstrate the importance of parental writing support for augmenting children’s literacy skills. PMID:25045186

  17. Civic Writing in Education for Democratic Citizenship. ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stotsky, Sandra

    Civic writing is an intellectual skill that is needed for effective and responsible participation in civil society and government. This Digest examines the concept of civic writing, identifies its purposes in democratic citizenship, and discusses how to teach it. Civic writing includes formal legal writing (speeches, petitions, resolutions),…

  18. Evaluation of Secondary School Students' Writing Fluency Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Atasoy, Arzu; Temizkan, Mehmet

    2016-01-01

    Developed to evaluate secondary school students' writing fluency skills, this study is descriptive in nature and uses a mixed method approach. During the research, the researcher attempted to identify students' abilities to write in terms of quantity and complexity, on the one hand, and also attempted to identify findings on accuracy, the…

  19. Teaching Cardiac Examination Skills

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Christopher A; Hart, Avery S; Sadowski, Laura S; Riddle, Janet; Evans, Arthur T; Clarke, Peter M; Ganschow, Pamela S; Mason, Ellen; Sequeira, Winston; Wang, Yue

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVE To determine if structured teaching of bedside cardiac examination skills improves medical residents' examination technique and their identification of key clinical findings. DESIGN Firm-based single-blinded controlled trial. SETTING Inpatient service at a university-affiliated public teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Eighty Internal Medicine residents. METHODS The study assessed 2 intervention groups that received 3-hour bedside teaching sessions during their 4-week rotation using either: (1) a traditional teaching method, “demonstration and practice” (DP) (n=26) or (2) an innovative method, “collaborative discovery” (CD) (n=24). The control group received their usual ward teaching sessions (n=25). The main outcome measures were scores on examination technique and correct identification of key clinical findings on an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). RESULTS All 3 groups had similar scores for both their examination technique and identification of key findings in the preintervention OSCE. After teaching, both intervention groups significantly improved their technical examination skills compared with the control group. The increase was 10% (95% confidence interval [CI] 4% to 17%) for CD versus control and 12% (95% CI 6% to 19%) for DP versus control (both P<.005) equivalent to an additional 3 to 4 examination skills being correctly performed. Improvement in key findings was limited to a 5% (95% CI 2% to 9%) increase for the CD teaching method, CD versus control P=.046, equivalent to the identification of an additional 2 key clinical findings. CONCLUSIONS Both programs of bedside teaching increase the technical examination skills of residents but improvements in the identification of key clinical findings were modest and only demonstrated with a new method of teaching. PMID:16423116

  20. Teaching the Use of Metaphor in Science Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Philip M.; Sunstein, Bonnie S.

    A freshman writing assignment sequence encouraged students to use metaphors to think their way through scientific topics, improving their writing skills in the process. The students were all women, aged 18 to 48 years, who had been journal writing for several months but who did not consider themselves competent readers or writers. Reading material…

  1. Teaching Writing in the Social Sciences: A Comparison and Critique of Three Models

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hansen, Kristine; Adams, Joyce

    2010-01-01

    This article describes and evaluates three approaches to teaching writing in the social sciences, particularly psychology: an English department-based course for all social science majors; a team-teaching model that embeds writing in core courses in psychology; and a stand-alone course dedicated to teaching writing in psychology, often taken…

  2. 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…

  3. Integrating "Writing To Learn" and Foreign Language Proficiency Concepts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andra-Miller, Jean

    This report describes an approach to third-year college-level French literature instruction that used a more informal approach to student writing than that traditionally used in such a course. The approach evolved from a comparison of students' formal writing skills with the skills defined in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign…

  4. Thematic Progression Analysis in Teaching Explanation Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Xueqian

    2008-01-01

    Thematic Progression theory explains textual meanings of how experiential and interpersonal meanings are organized in a linear and coherent way. Employing the rationale of T-P theory, this article analyses a lesson plan of teaching Explanation, and shows that T-P analysis can be employed in teaching writing.

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maclachlan, J. C.; Feist, S.

    2016-12-01

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

  6. Family Connections: Promoting Early Literacy Skills--Ages Birth to 5

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huisman, Sarah

    2012-01-01

    Reading, writing, and communicating, also known as literacy, are important cognitive skills to teach within society. Early literacy is knowledge about reading and writing before actually being able to read and write and is the foundation to future reading and writing skills (Ghoting & Martin-Diaz, 2006). The role of families in developing early…

  7. AWE-Based Corrective Feedback on Developing EFL Learners' Writing Skill

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lu, Zhihong; Li, Xiaowei; Li, Zhenxiao

    2015-01-01

    The effective design and use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' writing skill and learner autonomy have remained great challenges for system designers, developers, and EFL instructors compared with that of the pencil-paper writing in the context of regular teacher-fronted…

  8. The Student Writing Toolkit: Enhancing Undergraduate Teaching of Scientific Writing in the Biological Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dirrigl, Frank J., Jr.; Noe, Mark

    2014-01-01

    Teaching scientific writing in biology classes is challenging for both students and instructors. This article offers and reviews several useful "toolkit" items that improve student writing. These include sentence and paper-length templates, funnelling and compartmentalisation, and preparing compendiums of corrections. In addition,…

  9. Self-Efficacy of Teacher Candidates for Teaching First Reading and Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gündogmus, Hatice Degirmenci

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine by different variables the self-efficacy of a teacher candidate for teaching first reading and writing in their 3rd and 4th year in the department of primary school teaching. In line with the purpose of the study, the self-efficacy levels of teacher candidates for teaching first reading and writing were…

  10. Teaching Students How to Write a Description with Photos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chong, Ivan

    2017-01-01

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

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lichtinger, Einat

    2018-01-01

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

  12. "Thinking-for-Writing": A Prolegomenon on Writing Signed Languages.

    PubMed

    Rosen, Russell S; Hartman, Maria C; Wang, Ye

    2017-01-01

    In his article in this American Annals of the Deaf special issue that also includes the present article, Grushkin argues that the writing difficulties of many deaf and hard of hearing children result primarily from the orthographic nature of the writing system; he proposes a new system based on features found in signed languages. In response, the present authors review the literature on D/HH children's writing difficulties, outline the main percepts of and assumptions about writing signed languages, discuss "thinking-for-writing" as a process in developing writing skills, offer research designs to test the effectiveness of writing signed language systems, and provide strategies for adopting "thinking-for-writing" in education. They conclude that until empirical studies show that writing signed languages effectively reflects writers' "thinking-for-writing," the alphabetic orthographic system of English should still be used, and ways should be found to teach D/HH children to use English writing to express their thoughts.

  13. Drawing on Technical Writing Scholarship for the Teaching of Writing to Advanced ESL Students--A Writing Tutorial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zielinska, Dorota

    2003-01-01

    The article outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that preceded an advanced ESL writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University. Having assessed the English skills of those students at the end of the semester, we found a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the…

  14. 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…

  15. From Tyrannosaurus to Pokemon: Autonomy in the Teaching of Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, L.

    2001-01-01

    Discusses action research case studies of representative children and changes to classroom teaching. Notes that children were given the opportunity to: write about things that mattered to them; write as experts; hear their writing read aloud; and experience genuine response to this writing. Finds boys made most progress when given the opportunity…

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

    PubMed

    Wischgoll, Anke

    2016-01-01

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

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

    PubMed Central

    Wischgoll, Anke

    2016-01-01

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

  18. Bodies in Composition: Teaching Writing through Kinesthetic Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butler, Janine

    2017-01-01

    This article calls on composition instructors to reflect consciously on how we can use our bodies kinesthetically to perform multimodal writing processes through gestural, visual, and spatial modes. Teaching writing through kinesthetic performance can show students that our bodies are being constructed via interaction with audiences, akin to the…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dorsey, Carrie S.

    2014-01-01

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

  20. Teaching Writing and Communication in a Mathematical Modeling Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Linhart, Jean Marie

    2014-01-01

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

  1. A Meta-Analysis of Single Subject Design Writing Intervention Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rogers, Leslie Ann; Graham, Steve

    2008-01-01

    There is considerable concern that students do not develop the writing skills needed for school, occupational, or personal success. A frequent explanation for this is that schools do not do a good job of teaching this complex skill. A recent meta-analysis of true- and quasi-experimental writing intervention research (S. Graham & D. Perin,…

  2. Conversations with Technical Writing Teachers: Defining a Problem.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Selting, Bonita R.

    2002-01-01

    Considers if teaching technology is problematic for technical writing instructors. Presents ideas of 64 Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) members who were queried on their roles as teachers of technical writing in relation to the demands made upon them to also be teachers of technology skills. Concludes with a call for more…

  3. 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…

  4. 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.

  5. On Developing the Writing Skills Course for Accounting Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2010-01-01

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

  6. The development of writing skills in 4-year-old children with and without specific language impairment.

    PubMed

    Pavelko, Stacey L; Lieberman, R Jane; Schwartz, Jamie; Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie; Nye, Chad

    2017-01-01

    Research shows that many preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty acquiring literacy skills including phonological awareness, print concepts, and alphabet knowledge. Limited research suggests that preschool children with SLI also have difficulty with emergent writing tasks such as name writing and word writing. In typically developing children, research indicates that emergent writing skills are acquired in a developmental sequence: (1) linearity, (2) segmentation, (3) simple characters, (4) left-right orientation, (5) complex characters, (6) random letters, and (7) invented spelling. This study compared the emergent writing skills of 4-year-old children with SLI (n = 22) to their age- and gender-matched peers (n = 22). Results indicated that children with SLI demonstrate difficulty with a variety of writing tasks, including letter writing, name writing, word writing, and sentence writing when compared to their typically-developing peers. Children with SLI followed the same developmental sequence in acquiring writing skills as their typically-developing peers.

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

    PubMed

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

    2008-12-01

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

  8. The Wheel of Writing: A Model of the Writing Domain for the Teaching and Assessing of Writing as a Key Competency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berge, Kjell Lars; Evensen, Lars Sigfred; Thygesen, Ragnar

    2016-01-01

    The model presented in this article aspires to represent a theoretically valid and coherent definition and description of writing, as a basis for teaching and assessing writing as a key competency in school. It represents a critique as well as an extension of previous alternatives in that it views writing as a culturally and individually…

  9. Implementing and Evaluating a Writing Course for Psychology Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goddard, Perilou

    2003-01-01

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

  10. Teaching Argument Writing to ELLs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferlazzo, Larry; Hull-Sypnieski, Katie

    2014-01-01

    "How in the world are we supposed to apply the Common Core writing standards to teaching English language learners?" The authors propose a tentative answer to a question that has been troubling educators of late. Educators, they suggest, need to keep in mind three crucial elements: Students should (1) begin by reading more informational…

  11. Teaching clinical skills in developing countries: are clinical skills centres the answer?

    PubMed

    Stark, Patsy; Fortune, F

    2003-11-01

    There is growing international interest in teaching clinical skills in a variety of contexts, one of which is Clinical Skills Centres. The drivers for change making Skills Centres an important adjunct to ward and ambulatory teaching come both from within and outside medical education. Educationally, self-directed learning is becoming the accepted norm, encouraging students to seek and maximize learning opportunities. There are global changes in health care practice, increased consumerism and increasing student numbers. In some countries, professional recommendations influence what is taught. Increasingly, core skills curricula and outcome objectives are being defined. This explicit definition encourages assessment of the core skills. In turn, all students require equal opportunities to learn how to practise the skills safely and competently. The moves towards interprofessional education make joint learning in a"neutral" setting, like a Clinical Skills Centre, appear particularly attractive. To discuss the potential role of Clinical Skills Centres in skills training in developing countries and to consider alternative options. Many developing countries seek to establish Clinical Skills Centres to ensure effective and reliable skills teaching. However, the model may not be appropriate,because fully equipped Clinical Skills Centres are expensive to set up, staff; and run. They are not the only way to achieve high quality clinical teaching. Suggested options are based on the philosophy and teaching methods successfully developed in Clinical Skills Centres that may fulfil the local needs to achieve low cost and high quality clinical teaching which is reflective of the local health needs and cultural expectations.

  12. Training Advanced Writing Skills: The Case for Deliberate Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kellogg, Ronald T.; Whiteford, Alison P.

    2009-01-01

    The development of advanced writing skills has been neglected in schools of the United States, with even some college graduates lacking the level of ability required in the workplace (National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004). The core problem, we argue, is an insufficient degree of appropriate task practice distributed throughout the secondary…

  13. Written Language Bursts Mediate the Relationship between Transcription Skills and Writing Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Limpo, Teresa; Alves, Rui A.

    2017-01-01

    It is established that transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) constrain children's writing. Yet, little is known about the mechanism underlying this relationship. This study examined the mediating role of bursts and pauses on the link between transcription skills and writing fluency or text quality. For that, 174 second graders did the…

  14. Developing Teaching Skills in Physical Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siedentop, Daryl

    This textbook attempts to clarify the nature of teaching during the field experience or simulation of that experience for student teachers. The text takes a data-based approach to the development of teaching skills. It is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter, "Systematic Improvement of Teaching Skills," is a narrative…

  15. A Brief Overview of Key Issues in Second Language Writing Teaching and Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Javadi-Safa, Azim

    2018-01-01

    This paper briefly reviews the literature on writing skill in second language. It commences with a discussion on the importance of writing and its special characteristics. Then, it gives a brief account of the reasons for the weakness of students' writing skill as well as addressing some of the most important topics in L2 writing studies ranging…

  16. Can Japanese students embrace learner-centered methods for teaching medical interviewing skills? Focus groups.

    PubMed

    Saiki, Takuya; Mukohara, Kei; Otani, Takashi; Ban, Nobutaro

    2011-01-01

    Students' perceptions of learner-centered methods for teaching medical interviewing skills have not been fully explored. To explore Japanese students' perceptions of learner-centered methods for teaching medical interviewing skills such as role play with student-created scenarios, peer-assisted video reviews, and student-led small group debriefing. We conducted three focus groups with a total of 15 students who participated in the learner-centered seminars on medical interviewing skills at the Nagoya University School of Medicine. The transcripts were analyzed by two authors independently. Keywords and concepts were identified and a thematic framework was developed. Overall, students valued the experience of writing their own scenarios for role play, but some questioned their realism. Many students commented that peer-assisted video reviews provided them with more objective perspectives on their performance. However, some students expressed concerns about competitiveness during the video reviews. While students appreciated teachers' minimum involvement in the group debriefing, some criticized that teachers did not explain the objectives of the seminar clearly. Many students had difficulties in exchanging constructive feedback. We were able to gain new insights into positive and negative perceptions of students about learner-centered methods for teaching medical interviewing skills at one medical school in Japan.

  17. Writing-Based Teaching: Essential Practices and Enduring Questions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vilardi, Teresa, Ed.; Chang, Mary, Ed.

    2009-01-01

    Written by the team at Bard College's Institute for Writing and Thinking, this book is designed to provide practical guidance regarding the challenges and potential of writing-based teaching, and suggestions for how to adapt the practices to particular classroom situations. The contributors share candid, first-hand accounts of what it is like to…

  18. Teaching the Proposal in the Professional Writing Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wahlstrom, Ralph

    2002-01-01

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

  19. Improving Student Writing Skills through the Modeling of the Writing Process.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kapka, Dawn; Oberman, Dina A.

    This study describes a program designed to improve students' writing skills in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consists of third and fifth grade elementary students in two separate communities ranging from low to middle class, located in two midwestern suburbs of a large city. Evidence for the existence of the…

  20. Improvement of Writing at Grades 10 and 11: Does Automated Essay Scoring Software Help Students Improve Their Writing Skills?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gollnitz, Deborah-Lee

    2010-01-01

    Writing skills are considered essential to lifelong success, yet experts cannot agree on one model or set of traits that distinguishes good writing from poor writing. Instructional strategies in developing student writing at the high school level need to include a means by which students receive immediate, specific feedback that acts as a scaffold…

  1. Effect of Direct Grammar Instruction on Student Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robinson, Lisa; Feng, Jay

    2016-01-01

    Grammar Instruction has an important role to play in helping students to speak and write more effectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of direct grammar instruction on the quality of student's writing skills. The participants in this study included 18 fifth grade students and two fifth grade teachers. Based on the results…

  2. Improving Language Skills To Incorporate Detail in Student's Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McAvinney, Angie

    This report describes a program for enriching language use in writing. The targeted population consisted of one classroom of fourth grade students in a public elementary school. This school is in the small rural community near a large city in the Midwest. The problem of lack of language skills in writing was documented with teacher and student…

  3. 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…

  4. Teaching-skills training programs for family medicine residents

    PubMed Central

    Lacasse, Miriam; Ratnapalan, Savithiri

    2009-01-01

    ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To review the literature on teaching-skills training programs for family medicine residents and to identify formats and content of these programs and their effects. DATA SOURCES Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to mid-July 2008) and the Education Resources Information Center database (pre-1966 to mid-July 2008) were searched using and combining the MeSH terms teaching, internship and residency, and family practice; and teaching, graduate medical education, and family practice. STUDY SELECTION The initial MEDLINE and Education Resources Information Center database searches identified 362 and 33 references, respectively. Titles and abstracts were reviewed and studies were included if they described the format or content of a teaching-skills program or if they were primary studies of the effects of a teaching-skills program for family medicine residents or family medicine and other specialty trainees. The bibliographies of those articles were reviewed for unidentified studies. A total of 8 articles were identified for systematic review. Selection was limited to articles published in English. SYNTHESIS Teaching-skills training programs for family medicine residents vary from half-day curricula to a few months of training. Their content includes leadership skills, effective clinical teaching skills, technical teaching skills, as well as feedback and evaluation skills. Evaluations mainly assessed the programs’ effects on teaching behaviour, which was generally found to improve following participation in the programs. Evaluations of learner reactions and learning outcomes also suggested that the programs have positive effects. CONCLUSION Family medicine residency training programs differ from all other residency training programs in their shorter duration, usually 2 years, and the broader scope of learning within those 2 years. Few studies on teaching-skills training, however, were designed specifically for family medicine residents. Further studies assessing the

  5. Teaching Science Writing in an Introductory Lab Course

    PubMed Central

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

    2015-01-01

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

  6. Understanding Writing Problems in Young Children: Contributions of Cognitive Skills to the Development of Written Expression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Childress, Amy

    2011-01-01

    While several models of adult writing have been proposed and studied, the development of writing skills in young children has only recently garnered attention. Using measures of fine-motor, language, working memory, and attention/executive functions, the current study explored motor and cognitive skills that may contribute to writing skill in…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jameson, Daphne A.

    2009-01-01

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

  8. Using Genre Analysis To Teach Writing in Engineering. Report on a Pilot Video-Teleconference for Engineering Teaching Assistants and Writing Center Consultants.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alford, Elisabeth; And Others

    A pilot project tested and evaluated teleconferencing as a medium for training engineering teaching assistants in technical writing. The teleconference, which linked 15 participants in the engineering departments and writing centers of the University of South Carolina and Ohio State University, also included a training session on the use of genre…

  9. The Evaluation of a Teaching Intervention in Iranian EFL Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Naghdipour, Bakhtiar; Koç, Sabri

    2015-01-01

    The curriculum for teaching undergraduate university students in Iran majoring in English generally includes paragraph writing in the second year and essay writing (4-5 paragraphs) in the third year. The first-year course 'Grammar and Writing (I & II)' offered in two consecutive semesters covers grammar only, despite the inclusion of writing…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huffman, J. Michelle; Fortenberry, Callie

    2011-01-01

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

  11. Teaching Chinese College ESL Writing: A Genre-Based Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yilong

    2016-01-01

    College students' English writing plays a vital role in their language learning and further education. However, the current college English teaching falls far behind to resolve this issue, which includes insufficient writing ability compared with that of listening and speaking, inadequate teacher instruction and students' exercise, negative…

  12. Conspicuous Strategies in Teaching Expressive Writing: A Quantitative Study Comparing Two Approaches to Process Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fontenot, Jennifer; Carney, Karen J.; Hansen, Kay

    2015-01-01

    A process-writing approach (BW) with novel concepts was developed by the authors to teach writing to elementary-level students. They believed the BW approach was effective but was particularly effective for special-needs students. Consequently, they decided to quantitatively test these assertions. Instead of testing students taught using the BW…

  13. E-Story and Writing Skill among Second Language Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abd Rahim, Normaliza; Abdul Halim, Hazlina; Mansor, Nor Shahila

    2017-01-01

    The study focused on the use of e-story and writing skill among the second language Korean learners. The objectives of the study were to identify and discuss the students' writing in the second language by using e-story. The samples of the study involved all 21 participants from two classes of Malay language at one of the universities in South…

  14. Learning Strategy Instruction in the Foreign Language Classroom: Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chamot, Anna Uhl; And Others

    This resource guide is designed to provide foreign language teachers with suggestions for helping students learn how to become better language learners. The five chapters of the guide for teaching writing skills are as follows: (1) Teaching Learning Strategies (e.g., rationale for teaching, types, useful strategies, guidelines, instructional…

  15. On Method and Madness: Teaching Writers to Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mills, Pat

    1994-01-01

    Maintains that, in teaching and in teaching writing, methods matter if they are organic methods that grow out of real-life experiences. Notes that in another sense, all that matters is getting both teacher and student to wake up to their own lives and to what they know, absolutely, within themselves. (SR)

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

    PubMed

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

    2018-01-01

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

  17. Healing Classrooms: Therapeutic Possibilities in Academic Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Batzer, Benjamin

    2016-01-01

    This article asks us to consider what the process of healing and composition pedagogy have to learn from each other. More specifically, it identifies how the therapeutic potential of writing, which has been largely neglected in the academy in recent years, can influence the ways we teach transferable writing skills. The article considers how…

  18. A Collective Effort to Improve Sociology Students' Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burgess-Proctor, Amanda; Cassano, Graham; Condron, Dennis J.; Lyons, Heidi A.; Sanders, George

    2014-01-01

    Nationwide, academic sociologists at all types of higher education institutions face the challenge of working to improve students' writing skills. In this article, we describe a collective effort by a group of faculty members in one undergraduate sociology program to implement several effective writing-improvement strategies. We advocate…

  19. The Relationship between Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Writing Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howerton, Mary Lou P.; And Others

    The relationships of quantitative measures of writing skills to overall writing quality as measured by the E.T.S. Composition Evaluation Scale (CES) were examined. Quantitative measures included indices of language productivity, vocabulary diversity, spelling, and syntactic maturity. Power of specific indices to account for variation in overall…

  20. Writing for publication: institutional support provides an enabling environment.

    PubMed

    Kramer, Beverley; Libhaber, Elena

    2016-04-18

    Due to the excessive service delivery loads in public hospitals supported by academic institutions in developing environments, researchers at these institutions have little time to develop scientific writing skills or to write up their research. It is imperative to expand the writing skills of researchers and train the next generation of health sciences academics in order to disseminate research findings. This study reports on the implementation of approaches for writing and publication and the extent of support to staff suffering from the overload of service delivery and of heavy teaching duties. Workshops in scientific writing and writing retreats were initiated and were offered to all staff. Feedback from participants of the writing skills workshops indicated that the workshops provided an injection of confidence and proficiency. Protected writing time resulted in 132 papers submitted to journals and 95 in preparation from 230 participants of the writing retreats over a two year period. Staff commended the off-site, collegial environment, which also supported future collaboration with new-found colleagues. This enabling environment facilitates not only the development of writing skills per se, but also the dissemination of the generated scientific knowledge. In addition, the training in writing skills of this generation will be of value in the training of future cohorts in countries with similar health care deliverables.

  1. Improving Cover-Letter Writing Skills of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pennington, Robert; Delano, Monica; Scott, Renee

    2014-01-01

    We evaluated a multicomponent intervention for improving the cover-letter writing skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities. An intervention that included modeling, self-monitoring, prompting, and feedback increased correct performance for all participants. In addition, the skill was demonstrated across audiences.

  2. Writing an Independently Composed Sentence by Spanish-Speaking Children with and without Poor Transcription Skills: A Writing-Level Match Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garcia, Eduardo; Crespo, Patricia; Bermúdez, Ivana

    2017-01-01

    The main objective of this research was to analyze the impact of transcription skills of Spanish writers when writing an independently composed sentence within a writing-level design. The free-writing sentence task from the "Early Grade Writing Assessment" (Jiménez, in press) was used to examine the production, accuracy, speed, syntactic…

  3. 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':…

  4. Design-Build-Write: Increasing the Impact of English for Specific Purposes Learning and Teaching in Aeronautical Engineering Education through Multiple Intelligences Task Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tatzl, Dietmar

    2011-01-01

    This article presents an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) task developed for teaching aeronautical engineering students. The task Design-Build-Write rests on the assumption that engineering students are skilled at mathematical reasoning, problem solving, drawing and constructing. In Gardner's 1983 Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory, these…

  5. Development of research paper writing skills of poultry science undergraduate students studying food microbiology.

    PubMed

    Howard, Z R; Donalson, L M; Kim, W K; Li, X; Zabala Díaz, I; Landers, K L; Maciorowski, K G; Ricke, S C

    2006-02-01

    Because food and poultry industries are demanding an improvement in written communication skills among graduates, research paper writing should be an integral part of a senior undergraduate class. However, scientific writing assignments are often treated as secondary to developing the technical skills of the students. Scientific research paper writing has been emphasized in an undergraduate course on advanced food microbiology taught in the Poultry Science Department at Texas A& M University (College Station, TX). Students' opinions suggest that research paper writing as part of a senior course in Poultry Science provides students with scientific communication skills and useful training for their career, but more emphasis on reading and understanding scientific literature may be required.

  6. Teaching Writing in the Republic of Colombia, 1800-1850

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Meri L.

    2010-01-01

    This article examines the enduring importance of handwriting in the early republic of Colombia. Colonial practice informed writing instruction but Colombians re-established it in national terms from the 1820s onward. Teaching writing became a critical tool of state formation: an ideal republic of virtuous functionaries depended on uniform…

  7. Teaching information literacy skills to sophomore-level biology majors.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Leigh; Blankinship, Lisa Ann

    2015-05-01

    Many undergraduate students lack a sound understanding of information literacy. The skills that comprise information literacy are particularly important when combined with scientific writing for biology majors as they are the foundation skills necessary to complete upper-division biology course assignments, better train students for research projects, and prepare students for graduate and professional education. To help undergraduate biology students develop and practice information literacy and scientific writing skills, a series of three one-hour hands-on library sessions, discussions, and homework assignments were developed for Biological Literature, a one-credit, one-hour-per-week, required sophomore-level course. The embedded course librarian developed a learning exercise that reviewed how to conduct database and web searches, the difference between primary and secondary sources, source credibility, and how to access articles through the university's databases. Students used the skills gained in the library training sessions for later writing assignments including a formal lab report and annotated bibliography. By focusing on improving information literacy skills as well as providing practice in scientific writing, Biological Literature students are better able to meet the rigors of upper-division biology courses and communicate research findings in a more professional manner.

  8. Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Sophomore-Level Biology Majors

    PubMed Central

    Thompson, Leigh; Blankinship, Lisa Ann

    2015-01-01

    Many undergraduate students lack a sound understanding of information literacy. The skills that comprise information literacy are particularly important when combined with scientific writing for biology majors as they are the foundation skills necessary to complete upper-division biology course assignments, better train students for research projects, and prepare students for graduate and professional education. To help undergraduate biology students develop and practice information literacy and scientific writing skills, a series of three one-hour hands-on library sessions, discussions, and homework assignments were developed for Biological Literature, a one-credit, one-hour-per-week, required sophomore-level course. The embedded course librarian developed a learning exercise that reviewed how to conduct database and web searches, the difference between primary and secondary sources, source credibility, and how to access articles through the university’s databases. Students used the skills gained in the library training sessions for later writing assignments including a formal lab report and annotated bibliography. By focusing on improving information literacy skills as well as providing practice in scientific writing, Biological Literature students are better able to meet the rigors of upper-division biology courses and communicate research findings in a more professional manner. PMID:25949754

  9. Developing Technical Writing Skills in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory: A Progressive Approach Employing Peer Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gragson, Derek E.; Hagen, John P.

    2010-01-01

    Writing formal "journal-style" lab reports is often one of the requirements chemistry and biochemistry students encounter in the physical chemistry laboratory. Helping students improve their technical writing skills is the primary reason this type of writing is a requirement in the physical chemistry laboratory. Developing these skills is an…

  10. Material Teaching Aids: Enhancement Tool for Teaching Essay Writing in Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fidelia, Okonkwo Adaobi

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of material teaching aids as enhancement tool for teaching essay writing in secondary schools in Ebonyi State. A 4-point Likert-scale questionnaire was used as the instrument. A trial test was conducted and tested for reliability and a value of 0.75 was obtained from the test. The instrument was…

  11. Doing Peer Review and Receiving Feedback: Impact on Scientific Literacy and Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geithner, Christina A.; Pollastro, Alexandria N.

    2016-01-01

    Doing peer review has been effectively implemented to help students develop critical reading and writing skills; however, its application in Human Physiology programs is limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of peer review on Human Physiology majors' perceptions of their scientific literacy and writing skills.…

  12. Using Student Scholarship To Develop Student Research and Writing Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ware, Mark E.; Badura, Amy S.; Davis, Stephen F.

    2002-01-01

    Focuses on the use of student publications in journals as a teaching tool. Explores the use of this technique in three contexts: (1) enabling students to understand experimental methodology; (2) teaching students about statistics; and (3) helping students learn more about the American Psychological Association (APA) writing style. (CMK)

  13. Using Writing To Teach Mathematics. MAA Notes, Number 16.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sterrett, Andrew, Ed.

    Integrating mathematics with other disciplines is an important issue for mathematics education. Writing is one such discipline that can be usefully integrated with mathematics instruction. This collection of essays on the use of writing to teach mathematics is an outgrowth of sessions of contributed papers presented at the 1988 and 1989 Annual…

  14. Using Magazine Ads to Teach Sales Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halper, Cheryl A.

    1980-01-01

    Notes that using magazine advertisements to teach sales letter writing can help students understand sales techniques they see daily, but do not think much about. Presents a four-point strategy to help them put together effective sales letters. (FL)

  15. Reflective teaching practices: an approach to teaching communication skills in a small-group setting.

    PubMed

    Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Arnold, Robert M; Baile, Walter; Tulsky, James A; Petracca, Frances; Back, Anthony

    2006-07-01

    Small-group teaching is particularly suited for complex skills such as communication. Existing work has identified the basic elements of small-group teaching, but few descriptions of higher-order teaching practices exist in the medical literature. Thus the authors developed an empirically driven and theoretically grounded model for small-group communication-skills teaching. Between 2002 and 2005, teaching observations were collected over 100 hours of direct contact time between four expert facilitators and 120 medical oncology fellows participating in Oncotalk, a semiannual, four-day retreat focused on end-of-life communication skills. The authors conducted small-group teaching observations, semistructured interviews with faculty participants, video or audio recording with transcript review, and evaluation of results by faculty participants. Teaching skills observed during the retreats included a linked set of reflective, process-oriented teaching practices: identifying a learning edge, proposing and testing hypotheses, and calibrating learner self-assessments. Based on observations and debriefings with facilitators, the authors developed a conceptual model of teaching that illustrates an iterative loop of teaching practices aimed at enhancing learners' engagement and self-efficacy. Through longitudinal, empirical observations, this project identified a set of specific teaching skills for small-group settings with applicability to other clinical teaching settings. This study extends current theory and teaching practice prescriptions by describing specific teaching practices required for effective teaching. These reflective teaching practices, while developed for communication skills training, may be useful for teaching other challenging topics such as ethics and professionalism.

  16. Comparing Two Methods of Writing Instruction: Effects on Kindergarten Students' Reading Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Cindy D'on; Reutzel, D. Ray; Fargo, Jamison D.

    2010-01-01

    This experimental study directly compared the effects of two prevalent forms of classroom writing instruction, interactive writing and writing workshop, on kindergarten students' acquisition of early reading skills. Repeated measures data was collected at four points over 16 weeks to monitor growth of 151 kindergarten students in phonological…

  17. Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Maureen; Kisling, Eric; Hackworth, Robbie G.

    2014-01-01

    This study identifies the soft skills community colleges teach in an office technology course and determines whether the skills taught are congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work. A qualitative content analysis of a community college office technology soft skills course was performed using 23 soft skills…

  18. Software Writing Skills for Your Research - Lessons Learned from Workshops in the Geosciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hammitzsch, Martin

    2016-04-01

    reviews. This assumes that scientist learn to write and release code and software as they learn to write and publish papers. Having this in mind, software could be valued and assessed as a contribution to science. But this requires the relevant skills that can be passed to colleagues and followers. Therefore, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences performed three workshops in 2015 to address the passing of software writing skills to young scientists, the next generation of researchers in the Earth, planetary and space sciences. Experiences in running these workshops and the lessons learned will be summarized in this presentation. The workshops have received support and funding by Software Carpentry, a volunteer organization whose goal is to make scientists more productive, and their work more reliable, by teaching them basic computing skills, and by FOSTER (Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research), a two-year, EU-Funded (FP7) project, whose goal to produce a European-wide training programme that will help to incorporate Open Access approaches into existing research methodologies and to integrate Open Science principles and practice in the current research workflow by targeting the young researchers and other stakeholders.

  19. Sources of Writing Anxiety: A Study on French Language Teaching Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aslim Yetis, Veda

    2017-01-01

    Conducted on French Language Teaching students, this research aims to determine the causes of writing anxiety. Designed in accordance with the mixed method, a writing anxiety inventory, a language proficiency exam, a retrospective composing-process questionnaire, a writing attitude scale and semi-structured interviews were used. After identifying…

  20. Modeling the Relationships between Cognitive-Linguistic Skills and Writing in Chinese among Elementary Grades Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeung, Pui-sze; Ho, Connie Suk-han; Chan, David Wai-ock; Chung, Kevin Kien-hoa

    2013-01-01

    The present study is a four-year longitudinal study examining the important predictors of writing of 340 Chinese children in elementary grades. Children's transcription skills (handwriting skills and spelling), and syntactic skills in grade 1 were significant predictors of text writing in grade 1-4 while ideation in grade 1 only contributed to…

  1. Story Map: How to Improve Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sidekli, Sabri

    2013-01-01

    The aim of written expression studies is to have students explain their knowledge, feelings, ideas and imaginations in a correct and effective manner. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of story map on story writing skills of first grade teacher candidates who study at the Department of Elementary Education. The…

  2. Writing a bachelor thesis generates transferable knowledge and skills useable in nursing practice.

    PubMed

    Lundgren, Solveig M; Robertsson, Barbro

    2013-11-01

    Generic skills or transferable skills have been discussed in terms of whether or not skills learned in one context can be transferred into another context. The current study was aimed to explore nurses' self-perceptions of the knowledge and skills they had obtained while writing a Bachelor's thesis in nursing education, their experience of the extent of transfer and utilization in their current work. Responding nurses (N=42) had all worked from 1 to 1.5 years after their final examination and had completed a questionnaire that was structured with open-ended questions. Only five nurses reported that they were unable to use any of the knowledge and skills they had obtained from writing a thesis. A majority of the nurses (37/42) could give many examples of the practical application of the skills and knowledge they had obtained. Our findings indicate that writing a thesis as part of an undergraduate degree program plays a major role in the acquisition and development of knowledge and skills which can subsequently be transferred into and utilized in nursing practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Learning about Teaching: A Graduate Student's Perspective.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ambers, Rebecca K. R.

    2002-01-01

    Describes a seminar course on college science teaching that focuses on the importance of quality teaching, learning styles, teaching reading and writing skills, careers in science teaching, and female- and minority-friendly science. (Contains 14 references.) (YDS)

  4. Teaching Grammar

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crawford, William J.

    2013-01-01

    Grammar is a component in all language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Teachers need to know rules of grammar (teacher knowledge) as well as techniques that help students use grammar effectively and effortlessly (teaching knowledge). Using reflective practice to help teachers become comfortable with teaching grammar, this…

  5. Influences of Writing Project Involvement on the Professional Development of Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, Barbara Dondiego

    2009-01-01

    Writing is a powerful learning tool that allows students to connect critical thinking across the curriculum. Good writing skills are necessary for students to succeed in higher education and on the job. Teachers, however, are avoiding teaching writing, in part because it has not been included until recently in high stakes testing, and in part…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hood, Susan

    2008-01-01

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

  7. Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Safe Tackling Skills to Youth Football Players

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tai, Sharayah S. M.; Miltenberger, Raymond G.

    2017-01-01

    With concussion rates on the rise for football players, there is a need for further research to increase skills and decrease injuries. Behavioral skills training is effective in teaching a wide variety of skills but has yet to be studied in the sports setting. We evaluated behavioral skills training to teach safer tackling techniques to six…

  8. What Coaching Football Taught Me aAbout Teaching Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holt, Dan

    2000-01-01

    Relates how coaching football is like teaching writing to students. Both groups of students benefit from demonstrations by the teacher or coach and require practice and routine drills. Describes the KISS theory of "Keep it simple, stupid" and how teachers can utilize it as part of their teaching strategy. (VWC)

  9. Improving Writing Skills in the Elementary Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Debra; Mallo, Alison; Nee, Kari; Wear, Margaret

    The proposed study was designed to improve the writing skills of students in the targeted first and fifth grade classrooms in one elementary school located in a Midwestern suburb. The study was designed as an action research project and was conducted by four researchers during the months of September through December 2002 with 118 participants (40…

  10. 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…

  11. The Effects of Reading Short Stories in Improving Foreign Language Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bartan, Özgür Sen

    2017-01-01

    This study is an inquiry into the effects of reading short stories in improving foreign language writing skills through Read for Writing model, which is the adaptation of the approach called Talk for Writing (Corbett, 2013). It is a quasi-experimental 13-week field study which was implemented in a primary school. The purpose of this study is to…

  12. Enhancing the Quality of EAP Writing through Overt Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wee, Roselind; Sim, Jacqueline; Jusoff, Kamaruzaman

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines how overt teaching is instrumental in reducing subject-verb agreement (SVA) errors of Malaysian EAP learners which in turn improves the quality of their writing. The researchers used overt teaching of these grammatical items, that is, SVA and investigated how this method has significantly benefitted the learners who were second…

  13. [Low level auditory skills compared to writing skills in school children attending third and fourth grade: evidence for the rapid auditory processing deficit theory?].

    PubMed

    Ptok, M; Meisen, R

    2008-01-01

    The rapid auditory processing defi-cit theory holds that impaired reading/writing skills are not caused exclusively by a cognitive deficit specific to representation and processing of speech sounds but arise due to sensory, mainly auditory, deficits. To further explore this theory we compared different measures of auditory low level skills to writing skills in school children. prospective study. School children attending third and fourth grade. just noticeable differences for intensity and frequency (JNDI, JNDF), gap detection (GD) monaural and binaural temporal order judgement (TOJb and TOJm); grade in writing, language and mathematics. correlation analysis. No relevant correlation was found between any auditory low level processing variable and writing skills. These data do not support the rapid auditory processing deficit theory.

  14. Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension Strategies Improves EFL Learners' Writing Ability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghorbani, Mohammad Reza; Gangeraj, Atefeh Ardeshir; Alavi, Sahar Zahed

    2013-01-01

    Although the importance of reading in developing writing ability is undeniable, few competent readers in EFL contexts develop into competent writers. Since students are not aware that reading can assist them in writing, this study examined the effect of reciprocal teaching--which focuses on four reading comprehension strategies, namely…

  15. The Comparison of Fourth Grade Students' Essays Based on Free and Guided Writing Technique in Terms of the Quality of Written Expression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calp, Mehrali

    2015-01-01

    Writing exercises are more effective than grammar rules in terms of making children acquire language skills. Knowing the characteristics of text genres and the rules of writing are not enough to improve writing skills of teacher candidates and to acquire necessary strategies for teaching how to write. Teachers would be uncertain about assessment…

  16. Integrating Reading, Writing, and Thinking Skills into the Music Class.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duke, Charles R.

    Music education is uniquely suited to reinforce several basic skills that are part of the overall reading and writing processes of students. These skills include freedom of expression and the fluency of ideas, identifying a composer's purpose and message, and reasoning and comprehension. Musicians should develop the habit of using journals for…

  17. The Writer's Mind: Ethics in the Teaching of Technical Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rubens, Philip M.

    As opposed to being a "closed" text (tightly constrained by physical formats, corporate style, and specialized vocabulary), technical writing is actually "open" in the sense that such a text can be interpreted subjectively by an informed audience. Three ethical issues that should be explored in teaching technical writing include personality--the…

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Hsiu-Ting; Wang, Kuo-Hua

    2014-08-01

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

  19. Using Folklore Research to Improve Undergraduate Writing Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McClenon, James M.

    1991-01-01

    As a means of improving their writing skills, mostly African-American students from Elizabeth City State University gathered reports from African Americans in 16 northeastern North Carolina counties about extrasensory perception, contact with the dead, and other anomalous experiences and compared them to reports from Chinese students and students…

  20. Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills

    PubMed Central

    Bindman, Samantha W.; Skibbe, Lori E.; Hindman, Annemarie H.; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J.

    2014-01-01

    The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low–level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads (n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool. PMID:25284957

  1. Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Early Literacy, Language, and Fine Motor Skills.

    PubMed

    Bindman, Samantha W; Skibbe, Lori E; Hindman, Annemarie H; Aram, Dorit; Morrison, Frederick J

    2014-01-01

    The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low-level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads ( n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool.

  2. Embedding Academic Writing Instruction into Subject Teaching: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wingate, Ursula; Andon, Nick; Cogo, Alessia

    2011-01-01

    The benefits of embedding the teaching of writing into the curriculum have been advocated by educators and researchers. However, there is currently little evidence of embedded writing instruction in the UK's higher education context. In this article, we present a case study in which we report the design, implementation and evaluation of an…

  3. Using the Teaching Interactions Procedure to Teach Social Skills to Children With Autism and Intellectual Disability.

    PubMed

    Hui Shyuan Ng, Aubrey; Schulze, Kim; Rudrud, Eric; Leaf, Justin B

    2016-11-01

    This study implemented a modified teaching interaction procedure to teach social skills to 4 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with an intellectual disability. A multiple baseline design across social skills and replicated across participants was utilized to evaluate the effects of the modified teaching interaction procedure. The results demonstrated that the teaching interaction procedure resulted in all participants acquiring targeted social skills, maintaining the targeted social skills, and generalizing the targeted social skills.

  4. Let's Write It Right! A Student-Oriented Approach for Teaching Letterwriting Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Christensen, Judie

    In the student-oriented approach to writing business letters, students work in small groups to write a series of letters. For the first letter, the groups take the role of consumers, writing letters to order merchandise. The letters are written on overhead transparencies and are then critiqued by the other teams, with an emphasis on constructive…

  5. Effective Strategies for Improving Writing Skills of Elementary English Language Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cole, Jenny; Feng, Jay

    2015-01-01

    Reaching proficient levels of literacy is a universal goal for all children in the elementary classroom. This objective is especially challenging for English language learners particularly in the domain of writing. Writing has been identified as one of the most essential skills because the world has become so text-oriented. Due to this change,…

  6. A Meta-Analysis of Writing Instruction for Adolescent Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Steve; Perin, Dolores

    2007-01-01

    There is considerable concern that the majority of adolescents do not develop the competence in writing they need to be successful in school, the workplace, or their personal lives. A common explanation for why youngsters do not write well is that schools do not do a good job of teaching this complex skill. In an effort to identify effective…

  7. The Significance of Journal Writing in Improving Listening and Reading Comprehension in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saad, Inaam; Ahmed, Magdi

    2015-01-01

    This paper investigates the effect of daily journal writing on enhancing the listening and reading comprehension skills in a fifty-week Modern Standard Arabic course taught at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California. In the field of foreign language (FL) teaching, writing has long been considered a supporting skill for…

  8. Should Scientists Be Involved in Teaching Science Writing and If So, How?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodell, Rae

    Realizing the importance of writing skills in communicating with other professionals and in educating the public, scientists and scientific institutions have renewed their interest in the writing education of science students. Informal surveys show that technological and engineering schools are reinstituting writing requirements and staffing the…

  9. Teaching the process of science: faculty perceptions and an effective methodology.

    PubMed

    Coil, David; Wenderoth, Mary Pat; Cunningham, Matthew; Dirks, Clarissa

    2010-01-01

    Most scientific endeavors require science process skills such as data interpretation, problem solving, experimental design, scientific writing, oral communication, collaborative work, and critical analysis of primary literature. These are the fundamental skills upon which the conceptual framework of scientific expertise is built. Unfortunately, most college science departments lack a formalized curriculum for teaching undergraduates science process skills. However, evidence strongly suggests that explicitly teaching undergraduates skills early in their education may enhance their understanding of science content. Our research reveals that faculty overwhelming support teaching undergraduates science process skills but typically do not spend enough time teaching skills due to the perceived need to cover content. To encourage faculty to address this issue, we provide our pedagogical philosophies, methods, and materials for teaching science process skills to freshman pursuing life science majors. We build upon previous work, showing student learning gains in both reading primary literature and scientific writing, and share student perspectives about a course where teaching the process of science, not content, was the focus. We recommend a wider implementation of courses that teach undergraduates science process skills early in their studies with the goals of improving student success and retention in the sciences and enhancing general science literacy.

  10. Teaching the Process of Science: Faculty Perceptions and an Effective Methodology

    PubMed Central

    Coil, David; Wenderoth, Mary Pat; Cunningham, Matthew

    2010-01-01

    Most scientific endeavors require science process skills such as data interpretation, problem solving, experimental design, scientific writing, oral communication, collaborative work, and critical analysis of primary literature. These are the fundamental skills upon which the conceptual framework of scientific expertise is built. Unfortunately, most college science departments lack a formalized curriculum for teaching undergraduates science process skills. However, evidence strongly suggests that explicitly teaching undergraduates skills early in their education may enhance their understanding of science content. Our research reveals that faculty overwhelming support teaching undergraduates science process skills but typically do not spend enough time teaching skills due to the perceived need to cover content. To encourage faculty to address this issue, we provide our pedagogical philosophies, methods, and materials for teaching science process skills to freshman pursuing life science majors. We build upon previous work, showing student learning gains in both reading primary literature and scientific writing, and share student perspectives about a course where teaching the process of science, not content, was the focus. We recommend a wider implementation of courses that teach undergraduates science process skills early in their studies with the goals of improving student success and retention in the sciences and enhancing general science literacy. PMID:21123699

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Small, J. D.

    2007-12-01

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

  12. Teaching Basic Caregiver Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schenk, Susan, Ed.; Harrah, Doris, Ed.

    This instructor's guide provides materials for a nursing skills course designed to teach basic home nursing skills to families who plan to care for a chronically ill or elderly family member at home. It may be taught by a registered nurse with knowledge of all areas or by a team, with each instructor concentrating on his/her area of expertise.…

  13. The Effects of Accelerated Learning on Tertiary Students Learning To Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fretz, Barbara L.

    A study investigated how Accelerated Learning (AL), a teaching methodology that purports to increase the quantity and improve the quality of learning, affected tertiary students' knowledge of and skills in writing and their feelings towards writing. AL has its origins in G. Lozanov's "suggestopedia." Believing that formal teaching…

  14. 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…

  15. Teaching Psychological Report Writing: Content and Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiener, Judith; Costaris, Laurie

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to discuss the process of teaching graduate students in school psychology to write psychological reports that teachers and parents find readable and that guide intervention. The consensus from studies across four decades of research is that effective psychological reports connect to the client's context; have clear…

  16. Writing, Teaching, and Researching: An Interview with Rene Saldana, Jr.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saldana, Rene, Jr.; Moore, David W.

    2010-01-01

    Rene Saldana, Jr., an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, is a writer of short stories, poetry, and novels. In order to get his storytelling right, he has relied on his memory when writing memoirs and consulted popular culture and family when writing fiction. In order to get his university teaching right, he reads seminal texts on…

  17. Developmental Trajectories of Writing Skills in First Grade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Young-Suk; Puranik, Cynthia; Al Otaiba, Stephanie

    2015-01-01

    We examined growth trajectories of writing and the relation of children's socioeconomic status and language and/or speech impairment to the growth trajectories. First-grade children (N = 304) were assessed on their written composition in the fall, winter, and spring, and their vocabulary and literacy skills in the fall. Children's SES had a…

  18. Teaching pediatric communication skills to medical students

    PubMed Central

    Frost, Katherine A; Metcalf, Elizabeth P; Brooks, Rachel; Kinnersley, Paul; Greenwood, Stephen R; Powell, Colin VE

    2015-01-01

    Background Delivering effective clinical pediatric communication skills training to undergraduate medical students is a distinct and important challenge. Pediatric-specific communication skills teaching is complex and under-researched. We report on the development of a scenario-based pediatric clinical communication skills program as well as students’ assessment of this module. Methods We designed a pediatric clinical communication skills program and delivered it five times during one academic year via small-group teaching. Students were asked to score the workshop in eight domains (learning objectives, complexity, interest, competencies, confidence, tutors, feedback, and discussion) using 5-point Likert scales, along with free text comments that were grouped and analyzed thematically, identifying both the strengths of the workshop and changes suggested to improve future delivery. Results Two hundred and twenty-one of 275 (80%) student feedback forms were returned. Ninety-six percent of students’ comments were positive or very positive, highlighting themes such as the timing of teaching, relevance, group sizes, and the use of actors, tutors, and clinical scenarios. Conclusion Scenario-based teaching of clinical communication skills is positively received by students. Studies need to demonstrate an impact on practice, performance, development, and sustainability of communications training. PMID:25653569

  19. Teaching pediatric communication skills to medical students.

    PubMed

    Frost, Katherine A; Metcalf, Elizabeth P; Brooks, Rachel; Kinnersley, Paul; Greenwood, Stephen R; Powell, Colin Ve

    2015-01-01

    Delivering effective clinical pediatric communication skills training to undergraduate medical students is a distinct and important challenge. Pediatric-specific communication skills teaching is complex and under-researched. We report on the development of a scenario-based pediatric clinical communication skills program as well as students' assessment of this module. We designed a pediatric clinical communication skills program and delivered it five times during one academic year via small-group teaching. Students were asked to score the workshop in eight domains (learning objectives, complexity, interest, competencies, confidence, tutors, feedback, and discussion) using 5-point Likert scales, along with free text comments that were grouped and analyzed thematically, identifying both the strengths of the workshop and changes suggested to improve future delivery. Two hundred and twenty-one of 275 (80%) student feedback forms were returned. Ninety-six percent of students' comments were positive or very positive, highlighting themes such as the timing of teaching, relevance, group sizes, and the use of actors, tutors, and clinical scenarios. Scenario-based teaching of clinical communication skills is positively received by students. Studies need to demonstrate an impact on practice, performance, development, and sustainability of communications training.

  20. Teaching Documentation Writing: What Else Students--And Instructors--Should Know.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boiarsky, Carolyn; Dobberstein, Michael

    1998-01-01

    Discusses the knowledge, problem-solving strategies, and desktop publishing skills students need to learn about documentation writing. Describes a course developed by the authors that provides these skills, focusing on strategies for problem solving, user analysis, conventions, document design and desktop publishing, and using authentic…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cilliers, Charmain B.

    2012-01-01

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

  2. Towards an Eclectic Framework for Teaching EFL Writing in a Chinese Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yan, Yi

    2010-01-01

    The challenges of writing itself and lack of appropriate teaching methodology demotivate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in some Chinese universities to write more, especially as the only incentive for students to write is the compulsory tests. The main objectives of this article are: (1) to discuss the background of the EFL learners…

  3. Peer Assessment of Elementary Science Teaching Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kilic, Gulsen Bagci; Cakan, Mehtap

    2007-01-01

    In this study, peer assessment was applied in assessing elementary science teaching skills. Preservice teachers taught a science topic as a team to their peers in an elementary science methods course. The peers participating in the science lesson assessed teacher-groups' elementary science teaching skills on an assessment form provided by the…

  4. Teaching Materials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Early, Margaret; Searles, John R.

    1971-01-01

    A review of teaching materials, including filmstrips on writing skills, on Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe; and a review of paperback series on Black literature and contemporary literature--all geared primarily to grades seven through twelve. (JB)

  5. The Effect of Blogging and Electronic Journaling on Writing Skills Development in High School Freshmen

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Dianne Bruce

    2010-01-01

    Blogging and computerized journaling are effective tools for writing skill development; however, research has not revealed which specific populations of students are aided by blogging or journaling, nor has research revealed the specific writing skills that are most likely to be improved by these practices. The purpose of the study was to discover…

  6. Tutor-led teaching of procedural skills in the skills lab: Complexity, relevance and teaching competence from the medical teacher, tutor and student perspective.

    PubMed

    Lauter, Jan; Branchereau, Sylvie; Herzog, Wolfgang; Bugaj, Till Johannes; Nikendei, Christoph

    2017-05-01

    In current medical curricula, the transfer of procedural skills has received increasing attention. Skills lab learning and tutor-led teaching have become an inherent part of all medical curricula at German medical faculties. In 2011, the initial basis for the classification of clinical skills in medical school was created by the German Association for Medical Education (GMA) Committee's consensus statement on procedural skills. As a recommendation for medical curricula, the National Competency-based Catalogue of Learning Objectives (NKLM, 2015) lists procedural skills according to their curriculum integration and competency level. However, classification in regard to the perceived complexity, relevance, or teaching competency is still lacking. The present study aimed to investigate procedural skills taught at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg in regard to their complexity, relevance, and required teaching skills. To achieve this aim (1) the specific procedural skills in terms of complexity, that is, the degree of difficulty, and (2) the perceived relevance of taught procedural skills for studying and subsequent medical profession as well as (3) the personal preparation and required teaching skills were assessed in medical teachers, tutors and students. During the winter semester 2014/2015, the evaluations of all medical teachers, student tutors, and medical students in the skills lab teaching departments of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, gynecology, and otorhinolaryngology at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg were assessed via a quantitative cross-sectional questionnaire survey using 7-point Likert scales. The questionnaire comprised four item sets concerning 1) demographic details, 2) procedural skill complexity, 3) practical relevance, and 4) required preparation and teaching skills. Descriptive, quantitative analysis was used for questionnaire data. The survey included the data from 17 of 20 physicians (return rate: 85 %), 10 of 10 student tutors

  7. The Teaching of Writing: Illinois Teachers Report on Research & Practices. Sentence Combining as a Composition Technique.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Dorothy, Ed.

    1978-01-01

    The ten articles in this journal report on research and practice in the teaching of writing. Topics covered include sentence combining as a composition technique, peer evaluation in a technical writing class, a plan for teaching paragraph construction, the use of literary humor in a writing class, methods for setting the scene, how students view…

  8. Peer-assisted teaching of basic surgical skills.

    PubMed

    Preece, Ryan; Dickinson, Emily Clare; Sherif, Mohamed; Ibrahim, Yousef; Ninan, Ann Susan; Aildasani, Laxmi; Ahmed, Sartaj; Smith, Philip

    2015-01-01

    Basic surgical skills training is rarely emphasised in undergraduate medical curricula. However, the provision of skills tutorials requires significant commitment from time-constrained surgical faculty. We aimed to determine how a peer-assisted suturing workshop could enhance surgical skills competency among medical students and enthuse them towards a career in surgery. Senior student tutors delivered two suturing workshops to second- and third- year medical students. Suturing performance was assessed before and after teaching in a 10-min suturing exercise (variables measured included number of sutures completed, suture tension, and inter-suture distance). Following the workshop, students completed a questionnaire assessing the effect of the workshop on their suturing technique and their intention to pursue a surgical career. Thirty-five students attended. Eighty-one percent believed their medical school course provided insufficient basic surgical skills training. The mean number of sutures completed post-teaching increased significantly (p < 0.001), and the standard deviation of mean inter-suture distance halved from ± 4.7 mm pre-teaching, to ± 2.6 mm post-teaching. All students found the teaching environment to be relaxed, and all felt the workshop helped to improve their suturing technique and confidence; 87% found the peer-taught workshop had increased their desire to undertake a career in surgery. Peer-assisted learning suturing workshops can enhance medical students' competence with surgical skills and inspire them towards a career in surgery. With very little staff faculty contribution, it is a cheap and sustainable way to ensure ongoing undergraduate surgical skills exposure.

  9. Improving Narrative Writing Skills of Secondary Students with Disabilities Using Strategy Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foxworth, Lauren L.; Mason, Linda H.; Hughes, Charles A.

    2017-01-01

    Writing standards and objectives outline complex skills for narrative essay writing at the secondary level. Students with disabilities often produce disorganized narratives with fewer narrative elements than their peers without disabilities. A multiple-probe design was used to examine effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development for the Pick my…

  10. Teamwork: Effectively Teaching an Employability Skill

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riebe, Linda; Roepen, Dean; Santarelli, Bruno; Marchioro, Gary

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on improvements to professional teaching practice within an undergraduate university business programme to more effectively teach an employability skill and enhance the student experience of teamwork. Design/methodology/approach: A three-phase approach to teaching teamwork was…

  11. Writing the Learning Organization: A Framework for Teaching and Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amidon, Stevens R.

    2005-01-01

    The marginalization of business writing as a discipline has been traced to a lack of research and to the fact that many in the field teach in business departments that do not value the work of scholars in English studies. One way out of this position may be an act of disciplinary border crossing--aligning the field of business writing with…

  12. Using the Composing Process and Positive Reinforcement to Teach College Basic Students to Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milligan, Janice

    Following a literature review on the subjects of the decline in student writing abilities and increased student writing apprehension, this paper offers teachers information on a basic writing program that reduces writing anxiety and improves writing skills through large doses of positive reinforcement. The second section of the paper discusses the…

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

    PubMed

    Rathore, Farooq Azam; Mansoor, Sahibzada Nasir

    2015-06-01

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

  14. 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…

  15. Writeaerobics: 40 Workshop Exercises To Improve Your Writing Teaching. Bill Harp Professional Teachers Library.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomason, Tommy

    To teach writing well, teachers need three things: first, they have to understand writing itself, as well as writing pedagogy; second, they need to be writers themselves; and third, they need to know how to communicate their knowledge about writing effectively to their students. This book is based on the premise that writing ability--and teaching…

  16. Flights of Fancy: Imaginary Travels as Motivation for Reading, Writing, and Speaking German.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bryant, Keri L.; Pohl, Rosa Marie

    1994-01-01

    The article describes an innovative teaching project suitable for students at any age and all levels of German. The project, conducted entirely in German, includes writing, reading, and speaking, and promotes the skills of letter-writing, reading for content, note-taking, and oral presentation. (JL)

  17. The Use of Journals To Improve Writing Skills in Commercial Spanish: State of a Research Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alvarez-Ruf, Hersilia

    Recent writing theory, research, and pedagogy have aided in the development of several models for improving second language writing skills. Attention is focused more on writing as a process, the importance of practice in writing improvement, and the need to learn cognitive structures contributing to writing. Daily journal writing is one method of…

  18. Enhancing Critical Reflection and Writing Skills in the HBSE Classroom and beyond

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiener, Diane R.

    2012-01-01

    Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) is an ideal location in which graduate social work students can enhance their critical reflection and writing skills while integrating social work theories with practice, research, and policy. A writing-intensive, learner-centered model using specific strategies is described via a framework of…

  19. Culturally Responsive Writing Instruction for Secondary Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chiu, Calli Lewis; Carrero, Kelly M.; Lusk, Mandy E.

    2017-01-01

    Research suggests that teachers often do not adequately prepare students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) to utilize organizational structures and basic writing skills that are necessary to produce cohesive essays. Among the challenges of effectively teaching writing to secondary students with EBD is how to deliver culturally…

  20. The Graphic Novel Classroom: POWerful Teaching and Learning with Images

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bakis, Maureen

    2011-01-01

    Could you use a superhero to teach reading, writing, critical thinking, and problem solving? While seeking the answer, secondary language arts teacher Maureen Bakis discovered a powerful pedagogy that teaches those skills and more. The amazingly successful results prompted her to write this practical guide that shows middle and high school…

  1. Using Simultaneous Prompting to Teach Computer-Based Story Writing to a Student with Autism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pennington, Robert C.; Stenhoff, Donald M.; Gibson, Jason; Ballou, Kristina

    2012-01-01

    Writing is a critical skill because it is used to access reinforcement in a variety of contexts. Unfortunately, there has been little research on writing skills instruction for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects simultaneous prompting and computer-assisted…

  2. Improving Tenth-Grade Students' Five-Paragraph Essay Writing Skills Using Various Writing Strategies, Guided Assignments, and Portfolios for Growth.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hopkins, Carolyn

    This project was implemented and developed to assist low-achieving tenth grade students' essay writing skills. According to examinations administered during the first part of the 2002 school term, many tenth-grade students were not performing on their grade level in regards to the writing process. The overall goal was to have students be able to…

  3. "Not" Just Wanna Have Fun: Teaching Listening Skills with Songs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdullah, Amalia Qistina

    2013-01-01

    Teaching listening skills is very challenging to ESL teachers. It involves active participation from both teachers and students to ensure the objectives of teaching listening skills can be achieved. Hence, this presentation provides interesting and exciting strategies to teach listening skills using selected songs. It is hoped that this would…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2014-01-01

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

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

    2008-01-01

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

  6. Writing Skills of Hearing-Impaired Students Who Benefit from Support Services at Public Schools in Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karasu, H. Pelin

    2017-01-01

    Support services provide an essential role for hearing-impaired students attending public schools, in terms of improving their language and academic skills. In this study, the writing skills of hearing-impaired students enrolled in public schools were evaluated, and the relationship between the writing scores, audiological variables and…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marulanda Ángel, Nora Lucía; Martínez García, Juan Manuel

    2017-01-01

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

  8. Evaluating behavioral skills training to teach safe tackling skills to youth football players.

    PubMed

    Tai, Sharayah S M; Miltenberger, Raymond G

    2017-10-01

    With concussion rates on the rise for football players, there is a need for further research to increase skills and decrease injuries. Behavioral skills training is effective in teaching a wide variety of skills but has yet to be studied in the sports setting. We evaluated behavioral skills training to teach safer tackling techniques to six participants from a Pop Warner football team. Safer tackling techniques increased during practice and generalized to games for the two participants who had opportunities to tackle in games. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  9. 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…

  10. How to develop and write a case for technical writing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Couture, B.; Goldstein, J.

    1981-01-01

    Case of different sizes and shapes for teaching technical writing to engineers at Wayne State University have been developed. The case approach was adopted for some assignments because sophomores and juniors lacked technical expertise and professional knowledge of the engineering world. Cases were found to be good exercises, providing realistic practice in specific writing tasks or isolating particular skills in the composing process. A special kind of case which narrates the experiences of one technical person engaged in the problem-solving process in a professional rhetorical situation was developed. This type of long, realistic fiction is called a an "holistic" case. Rather than asking students to role-play a character, an holistic case realistically encompasses the whole of the technical writing process. It allows students to experience the total communication act in which the technical task and data are fully integrated into the rhetorical situation and gives an opportunity to perform in a realistic context, using skills and knowledge required in communication on the job. It is believed that the holistic case most fully exploits the advantages of the case method for students of professional communication.

  11. 10 Writing Opportunities to "Teach to the Test"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeFauw, Danielle L.

    2013-01-01

    Within the current political and educative context, where high-stakes standardized assessments create a pressure-filled experience for teachers to "teach to the test," time spent on writing instruction that supports students in transferring their learning between classroom and assessment contexts is crucial. Teachers who must use prompts to…

  12. Teaching Learning Concepts to Graduate Students through Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coberly-Holt, Patricia G.; Walton, S. Taylor

    2017-01-01

    Over a period of four years, the instructor of History and Theory of Adult Education monitored and recorded graduate students' reactions to the experiences of learning through writing assignments that incorporate diverse methods associated with stringent pedagogical and andragogical methods. After experiencing the two divergent teaching styles and…

  13. Do writing and storytelling skill influence assessment of reflective ability in medical students' written reflections?

    PubMed

    Aronson, Louise; Niehaus, Brian; DeVries, Charlie D; Siegel, Jennifer R; O'Sullivan, Patricia S

    2010-10-01

    Increasingly, students are asked to write reflections as part of their medical education, but some question the influence of other factors on the evaluation of these reflections. In this pilot study, the investigators determined whether scores from a validated rubric to measure reflective ability were affected by irrelevant variance resulting from writing or storytelling ability. Students in clerkships wrote reflections on professionalism. All were given identical prompts, with half receiving additional structured guidelines on reflection. Sixty reflections, 30 from each group, were randomly chosen and scored for reflection, writing, and storytelling by trained raters using validated rubrics. There was no correlation between reflection and either writing (r = 0.049, P = .35) or storytelling (r = 0.14, P = .13). The guidelines increased reflection, but not writing or storytelling scores. Reflection is a distinct construct unaffected by learners' writing or storytelling skills. These findings support reflective ability as a distinct skill.

  14. Relations between Early Reading and Writing Skills among Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodrich, J. Marc; Farrington, Amber L.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

    2016-01-01

    Although there is a growing body of literature on the development of reading skills of Spanish-speaking language minority children, little research has focused on the development of writing skills in this population. This study evaluated whether children's Spanish early reading skills (i.e., print knowledge, phonological awareness, oral language)…

  15. Context-Model-Based Instruction in Teaching EFL Writing: A Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Zheng

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to re-story the provision of the context-model-based instruction in teaching EFL writing, focusing especially on students' development of the context model and learning to guide EFL writing with the context model. The research data have been collected from the audio recordings of the classroom instruction, the teacher-researcher's…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bunn, Michael

    2013-01-01

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

  17. Fostering Writing in Upper Primary Grades: A Study into the Distinct and Combined Impact of Explicit Instruction and Peer Assistance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Smedt, Fien; Van Keer, Hilde

    2018-01-01

    As writing is a complex and resource demanding task, high-quality writing instruction is indispensable from primary grades on to support beginning writers in developing effective writing skills. Writing research should therefore provide teachers and schools with evidence-based guidelines for teaching writing in daily practice. In this respect, the…

  18. Teaching Effective Communication Skills with ACE: Analyzing, Composing, & Evaluating

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snyder, Lisa Gueldenzoph; Shwom, Barbara

    2011-01-01

    Most business communication classes teach students to use a writing process to compose effective documents. Students practice the process by applying it to various types of writing with various purposes-reports, presentations, bad news letters, persuasive memos, etc. However, unless students practice that process in other contexts outside of the…

  19. Retention of drug administration skills after intensive teaching.

    PubMed

    Wheeler, D W; Degnan, B A; Murray, L J; Dunling, C P; Whittlestone, K D; Wood, D F; Smith, H L; Gupta, A K

    2008-04-01

    We have identified deficiencies in medical students' drug administration skills, and we attempted to address them with interactive online teaching modules and simulated critical incident scenarios. Short-term improvements have been evident with this intensive effort, but medium-term retention of skills has not been measured. A drug administration lecture, an online module and a simulated emergency scenario were offered to final year clinical students. None of the teaching was compulsory but participation was recorded, along with students' simulator performances and marks in an objective structured practical examination 9 months later. A poor simulator score predicted a poor performance in the later examination. Participation in the simulated scenario only significantly improved examination scores when supplemented by online teaching (p = 0.002). Intensive drug administration teaching using an online module and high fidelity simulation improves drug administration skills in the medium term. Students found simulation much more engaging than online teaching.

  20. That, That, but Not That... Using a Cafeteria Plan to Enhance Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fields, Tina T.; Hatala, Jeffrey J.

    2014-01-01

    College students have difficulty in written communication, despite attempts by universities to place English courses in the "core curriculum." Although many companies indicate that writing is an expected competency, and many companies consider writing when they promote, students still enter the workforce with poor grammar skills. Clear…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Melissa G.

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

  2. Teaching Writing in Sociology: A Social Constructionist Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Leon; Holt, Mara

    1990-01-01

    Provides an overview of the "social constructionist" approach to teaching composition in sociology courses. Describes a course that is team taught by the authors and is based on the social constructionist paradigm. Stresses that sociological writing is a special type of discourse that can be taught most effectively by sociologists who…

  3. Comic Strips: A Study on the Teaching of Writing Narrative Texts to Indonesian EFL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Megawati, Fika; Anugerahwati, Mirjam

    2012-01-01

    Comic strips are proposed in the teaching of writing not only because of their appealing forms, but also due to their salient features as media to present content, organization and grammatical aspects of narrative texts. This study investigates the implementation of comic strips in teaching writing through a collaborative classroom action research…

  4. Best Practices in Writing Instruction. Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Steve, Ed.; MacArthur, Charles A., Ed.; Fitzgerald, Jill, Ed.

    2007-01-01

    Highly practical and accessible, this indispensable book provides clear-cut strategies for improving K-12 writing instruction. The contributors are leading authorities who demonstrate proven ways to teach different aspects of writing, with chapters on planning, revision, sentence construction, handwriting, spelling, and motivation. The use of the…

  5. The Effectiveness of Professional Development in Teaching Writing-to-Learn Strategies for Science: An Evaluative Case Study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kravchuk, Deborah A.

    With the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards and the release of the Next Generation Science Standards, New York State students are expected to write in science classes with science writing assessments becoming an indicator of grade level literacy proficiency. The introduction of these assessments raises questions concerning the readiness of teachers to help students learn the skills needed in order to be successful on standardized tests. While such mandates stress the need for incorporating writing into the classroom, few secondary science teachers receive content-specific training in how to teach writing strategies; rather, they often receive the same professional development as their non-science colleagues. This evaluative case study examined how eight secondary science teachers in the Hyde Park Central School District perceived student outcomes as they focused on identifying the challenges encountered and overcome by transferring writing-to-learn (WTL) strategies into the classroom. Targeted professional development (PD) allowed the group of eight secondary science teachers to research WTL strategies, practice them in the classroom, and assess their success through personal and collegial reflection. The results of this study showed a positive correlation between introducing low-stakes writing in the science classroom and increased student understanding of the content presented, that short low-stakes writing prompts helped the students focus on thinking and organizing their thoughts in the science settings (Totten, 2005), and that the secondary science teachers participating in this study perceived the inclusion writing in the classroom to have a positive effect on student outcomes.

  6. Technical writing versus technical writing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dillingham, J. W.

    1981-01-01

    Two terms, two job categories, 'technical writer' and 'technical author' are discussed in terms of industrial and business requirements and standards. A distinction between 'technical writing' and technical 'writing' is made. The term 'technical editor' is also considered. Problems inherent in the design of programs to prepare and train students for these jobs are discussed. A closer alliance between industry and academia is suggested as a means of preparing students with competent technical communication skills (especially writing and editing skills) and good technical skills.

  7. Managerial Skills Teaching: Ten Questions and Answers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McEnrue, Mary Pat

    2002-01-01

    Presents considerations for design and delivery of management skills courses as sets of questions in three categories: (1) preteaching (understanding and teaching skills, teacher qualities); (2) class (skills learning, learning barriers, cultural elements, learning assessment); and application/evaluation (lifelong learning, course evaluation,…

  8. "Things Fall Apart so They Can Fall Together": Uncovering the Hidden Side of Writing a Teaching Award Application

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCormack, Coralie; Vanags, Thea; Prior, Robyn

    2014-01-01

    Teaching awards are now common practice in higher education. However, few award applicants and their writing guides have investigated their experience of writing a teaching award application, a writing process recognised as different from that required in research publication. To systematically research and analyse their personal experiences two…

  9. Instructional Practices: An Evaluation of a K4-8 School's Writing Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacCudden, Renae Marie

    2010-01-01

    Teaching children to write successfully is an area of great concern to educators in the 21 st century. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, the writing skills of two-thirds of the students in elementary, middle, and high school are below grade level proficiency (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). In 2003, the…

  10. Writing to Learn by Learning to Write during the School Science Laboratory: Helping Middle and High School Students Develop Argumentative Writing Skills as They Learn Core Ideas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sampson, Victor; Enderle, Patrick; Grooms, Jonathon; Witte, Shelbie

    2013-01-01

    This study examined how students' science-specific argumentative writing skills and understanding of core ideas changed over the course of a school year as they participated in a series of science laboratories designed using the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional model. The ADI model is a student-centered and writing-intensive approach to…

  11. Analysis of Teacher Beliefs and Efficacy for Teaching Writing to Weak Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mohar, Tunku Mohani Tunku; Singh, Charajit Kaur Swaran; Kepol, Napisah; Ahmad, Ahmad Zainuri Loap; Moneyam, Sasigaran

    2017-01-01

    The present study investigated the beliefs and efficacy of a teacher teaching English to students who were weak at the language. The objective of the study was mainly to investigate the beliefs and efficacy of the ESL teacher for teaching writing to weak learners. The research was a case study of the English Language teacher teaching Form Three…

  12. Enhancing Writing Skills through Blogs in an EFL Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vurdien, Ruby

    2012-01-01

    Today Web 2.0 technologies, including blogs, are presenting both teachers and learners with new horizons in the field of language teaching and learning. A blog is an online journal which can be continuously updated by its users (Matheson, 2004). People can write their views at their own pace without space and time constraints. Blogs aid in the…

  13. Relationship between writing skills and visual-motor control in low-vision students.

    PubMed

    Atasavun Uysal, Songül; Aki, Esra

    2012-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between handwriting skills and visual motor control among students with low vision and to compare this with the performance of their normal sighted peers. 42 students with low vision and 26 normal sighted peers participated. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test-Short Form (BOTMP-SF), Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test's writing subtest, and a legibility assessment were administered. Significant differences were found between groups for students' writing speed, legibility, and visual motor control. Visual motor control was correlated both writing speed and legibility. Students with low vision had poorer handwriting performance, with lower legibility and slower writing speed. Writing performance time was related to visual motor control in students with low vision.

  14. Teaching All Children To Write: A Little Comprehensive Guide. Bill Harp Professional Teachers Library.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glazer, Susan Mandel

    Noting that all children need to write often and without criticism, this book aims to be a comprehensive guide for teaching all children to write. It proposes that the art of reading is the art of writing, and that the more students read, the more easily they will be able to write. After a "prelude" by the author, the chapters are: (1) Children…

  15. Five Portraits of Teachers' Experiences Teaching Writing: Negotiating Knowledge, Student Need, and Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wahleithner, Juliet Michelsen

    2018-01-01

    Background: Numerous reports have highlighted problems with writing instruction in American schools, yet few examine the interplay of teachers' preparation to teach writing, the instructional policies they must navigate, and the writing development of the students in their classrooms. Purpose: This study examines high school English teachers'…

  16. Teaching EFL Writing: An Approach Based on the Learner's Context Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Zheng

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to examine qualitatively a new approach to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) writing based on the learner's context model. It investigates the context model-based approach in class and identifies key characteristics of the approach delivered through a four-phase teaching and learning cycle. The model collects research…

  17. For the Sake of Argument: An Approach to Teaching Evidence-Based Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friedrich, Linda; Bear, Rachel; Fox, Tom

    2018-01-01

    The National Writing Project's (NWP) College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) aims to improve young people's ability to write thoughtful, evidence-based arguments. In an era where public discourse has become increasingly polarized, and "echo chambers" of narrow views populate people's social media feeds, teaching students to…

  18. Innovative integrative bedside teaching model improves tutors’ self-assessments of teaching skills and attitudes

    PubMed Central

    Gat, Itai; Pessach-Gelblum, Liat; Givati, Gili; Haim, Nadav; Paluch-Shimon, Shani; Unterman, Avraham; Bar-Shavit, Yochay; Grabler, Galit; Sagi, Doron; Achiron, Anat; Ziv, Amitai

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Patient bedside is the ideal setting for teaching physical examination, medical interviewing, and interpersonal skills. Herein we describe a novel model for bedside teaching (BST) practiced during tutor training workshop and its resulting effect on practitioners’ self assessment of teaching skills and perceptions. Methods One-day tutor training workshop included theoretical knowledge supplementation regarding tutors’ roles as well as implementing practical tools for clinical education, mainly BST model. The model, which emphasizes simultaneous clinical and communication teaching in a stepwise approach, was practiced by consecutive simulations with a gradual escalation of difficulty and adjusted instruction approaches. Pre- and post-workshop-adjusted questionnaires using a Likert scale of 1 to 4 were completed by participants and compared. Results Analysis was based on 25 out of 48 participants who completed both questionnaires. Significantly improved teaching skills were demonstrated upon workshop completion (mean 3.3, SD 0.5) compared with pre-training (mean 2.6, SD 0.6; p<0.001) with significant increase in most examined parameters. Significantly improved tutor's roles internalization was demonstrated after training completion (mean 3.7, SD 0.3) compared with pre-workshop (mean 3.5 SD 0.5; p=0.002). Discussion Successful BST involves combination of clinical and communication skills. BST model practiced during the workshop may contribute to improved teaching skills in this challenging environment. PMID:26894587

  19. Cultural Teaching: The Development of Teaching Skills in Maya Sibling Interactions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maynard, Ashley E.

    2002-01-01

    Examined the development of teaching skills in older siblings responsible for teaching their younger siblings to become competent members of their culture among children from a Zinacantec Maya village in Chiapas, Mexico. Found that by age 4, children took responsibility for initiating teaching situations with their younger siblings, and by 8,…

  20. Ways of Knowing: Implications of Writing Curriculum in an Early Childhood Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Furman, Cara Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Early childhood writing curriculums typically focus on skills and encouraging interest. What children are asked to write is rarely closely examined. Through a self-study of my first and second grade classroom, in this paper I look at the implications of genre when teaching young children. I first identify some of the problems of a popular personal…

  1. Journal Writing. Learning Package No. 34.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simic, Marge, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on journal writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an…

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

    PubMed

    Jackson, Debra

    2009-01-01

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

  3. Reflective Journal Writing as a Tool to Teach Aspects of Social Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-karasneh, Samih M.

    2014-01-01

    This article analyses the impact of a constructivist approach to learning in Jordan, where a traditional context of passive/receptive philosophy of teaching prevails. Student teachers were introduced to journal writing. It was expected that their experiences with journal writing would afford them a better understanding of how it would affect their…

  4. How Teachers Teach the Writing Process. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perl, Sondra; And Others

    Presented in this report are the results of a three-year case study designed (1) to document what happened in the classrooms of 10 teachers who were trained in a process approach to the teaching of writing, and (2) to provide those teachers with occasions to deepen their understanding of the process approach, by collaborating with them in the…

  5. 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…

  6. 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…

  7. Integrating Feedback into Prospective English Language Teachers' Writing Process via Blogs and Portfolios

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arslan, Recep Sahin

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of blogging and portfolio keeping on a group of pre-service teachers' writing skill in a compulsory writing course at a tertiary level English language teaching (ELT) programme in Turkey. The study specifically looked into to what extent receiving feedback from course instructor and peers…

  8. Teaching ESL Beginners Metacognitive Writing Strategies through Multimedia Software

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wei, Jing; Chen, Julian Chengchiang; Adawu, Anthony

    2014-01-01

    This case study explores how strategy-based instruction (SBI), assisted by multimedia software, can be incorporated to teach beginning-level ESL learners metacognitive writing strategies. Two beginning-level adult learners participated in a 10-session SBI on planning and organizing strategies. The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach…

  9. Mobile Learning to Improve Writing in ESL Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noriega, Heidy Selene Robles

    2016-01-01

    This article reports on the results of a study concerning the type of texts and their features produced by a student after using mobile technology as a support to improve the development of the students' writing skills in a second language. The Functional Systemic Linguistic (FSL), Genre Pedagogical Approach (GPA), and mobile learning concepts…

  10. Principled Eclecticism: Approach and Application in Teaching Writing to ESL/EFL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alharbi, Sultan H.

    2017-01-01

    The principal purpose of this paper is to critically examine and evaluate the efficacy of the principled eclectic approach to teaching English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) writing to undergraduate students. The paper illustrates that this new method adapts mainstream writing pedagogies to individual needs of learners of ESL/EFL in order to…

  11. Writing as a Tool in Teaching Sketching: Implications for Architectural Design Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soygenis, Sema; Soygenis, Murat; Erktin, Emine

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses the process of a study designed to develop university students' sketching skills in schools of architecture. Acknowledging the relationship between cognition and writing, it aims to investigate the role of writing in learning sketching among architecture students and to examine how students regulate their thoughts by writing…

  12. Teaching Writing Informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics: "I Never Would Have Thought of Doing That..."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hodgson-Drysdale, Tracy

    2013-01-01

    Writing is an essential tool for creating meaningful communication and as such it must be taught beginning in elementary school. Although in the past 100 years writing has become more common in our everyday lives, methods of teaching writing and teacher education have not kept pace with changes (National Commission on Writing, 2003). As a result,…

  13. Helping Faculty Develop Teaching Skills through Workshops.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Russell, James R.; Stafford, Carl W.

    This paper describes the teaching skills workshops at Purdue University (Indiana), which were originally developed in 1980 to train graduate assistants to teach college classes but are now being used by the faculty--instructors through full professors--to improve their teaching. It is noted that the workshops have been successfully modified for…

  14. An Evaluation of Computerized Behavioral Skills Training to Teach Safety Skills to Young Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vanselow, Nicholas R.; Hanley, Gregory P.

    2014-01-01

    Previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) for teaching children to protect themselves. However, BST may be resource intensive and difficult to implement on a large scale. We evaluated a computerized version of BST (CBST) to teach safety skills and determined the extent to which…

  15. Teaching Technical Writing and Editing -- In-House Programs That Work. Anthology Series No. 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shaw, James G., Ed.

    The 12 articles in this publication provide indepth treatment of important aspects of in-house training programs for technical writing and editing. The articles deal with the following topics: the value of an in-house writing course, teaching in industry, developing an in-house writing course for engineers and scientists, a new approach to…

  16. Using professional interpreters in undergraduate medical consultation skills teaching

    PubMed Central

    Bansal, Aarti; Swann, Jennifer; Smithson, William Henry

    2014-01-01

    The ability to work with interpreters is a core skill for UK medical graduates. At the University of Sheffield Medical School, this teaching was identified as a gap in the curriculum. Teaching was developed to use professional interpreters in role-play, based on evidence that professional interpreters improve health outcomes for patients with limited English proficiency. Other principles guiding the development of the teaching were an experiential learning format, integration to the core consultation skills curriculum, and sustainable delivery. The session was aligned with existing consultation skills teaching to retain the small-group experiential format and general practitioner (GP) tutor. Core curricular time was found through conversion of an existing consultation skills session. Language pairs of professional interpreters worked with each small group, with one playing patient and the other playing interpreter. These professional interpreters attended training in the scenarios so that they could learn to act as patient and family interpreter. GP tutors attended training sessions to help them facilitate the session. This enhanced the sustainability of the session by providing a cohort of tutors able to pass on their expertise to new staff through the existing shadowing process. Tutors felt that the involvement of professional interpreters improved student engagement. Student evaluation of the teaching suggests that the learning objectives were achieved. Faculty evaluation by GP tutors suggests that they perceived the teaching to be worthwhile and that the training they received had helped improve their own clinical practice in consulting through interpreters. We offer the following recommendations to others who may be interested in developing teaching on interpreted consultations within their core curriculum: 1) consider recruiting professional interpreters as a teaching resource; 2) align the teaching to existing consultation skills sessions to aid integration

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell-Rush, Peggy

    2007-01-01

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

  18. Generalizing Effective Teaching Skills: The Missing Link in Teacher Preparation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scheeler, Mary Catherine

    2008-01-01

    A clear need to teach preservice teachers to generalize newly acquired teaching skills across time and settings has been well established in the literature. Few empirical studies exist that inform teacher educators on ways to promote generalization of teaching skills with beginning teachers, however. Programming for generalization continues to be…

  19. Investigating the Practices of Assessment Methods in Amharic Language Writing Skill Context: The Case of Selected Higher Education in Ethiopia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tesfay, Hailay

    2017-01-01

    This study aims to investigate Ethiopian higher education Amharic language writing skills instructors' practices of Assessment Methods in writing skill context. It was also intended to look for their viewpoints about the practicality of implementing Assessment Methods in Amharic writing courses. In order to achieve the goals of this study,…

  20. Teaching the Writer's Craft

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kittle, Penny

    2014-01-01

    "Writing is a core skill for living, not just for school," writes high school English teacher Penny Kittle. Although it's important to teach students the conventions of grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, teachers don't need to approach this task "like scolds, red pens in hand, stamping out sin, and punishing…

  1. Using the Teaching Interactions Procedure to Teach Social Skills to Children with Autism and Intellectual Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ng, Aubrey Hui Shyuan; Schulze, Kim; Rudrud, Eric; Leaf, Justin B.

    2016-01-01

    This study implemented a modified teaching interaction procedure to teach social skills to 4 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with an intellectual disability. A multiple baseline design across social skills and replicated across participants was utilized to evaluate the effects of the modified teaching interaction procedure. The…

  2. Teaching Reading Comprehension Skills to a Child with Autism Using Behaviour Skills Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Binita D.; Moore, Dennis W.; Furlonger, Brett E.; Anderson, Angelika; Busacca, Margherita L.; English, Derek L.

    2017-01-01

    A multiple probe design across skills was used to examine the effects of behaviour skills training (BST) on teaching four reading comprehension skills (predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing) to a 7th grade student with autism. Following baseline, the student received 12 sessions of BST during which each skill was taught to…

  3. Teaching Writing to Middle School Students in Portugal and in Brazil: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Veiga Simão, Ana Margarida; Malpique, Anabela Abreu; Frison, Lourdes Maria Bragagnolo; Marques, André

    2016-01-01

    Learning how to write is a challenging process, typically developed in schools. Teachers' practices in teaching writing, however, have been under researched. The aim of this study was to survey a sample of teachers from Portugal (n = 96) and Brazil (n = 99) about their practices for and perceptions about writing instruction. Teachers reported on…

  4. Measurement of Employability Skills on Teaching Factory Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Subekti, S.; Ana, A.

    2018-02-01

    Vocational High Schools as one of the educational institutions that has the responsibility in preparing skilled labors has a challenge to improve the quality of human resources as a candidate for skilled labors, to compete and survive in a changing climate of work. BPS noted an increase in the number of non-worker population (BAK) in 2015-2017 on vocational graduates as many as 564,272 people. The ability to adapt and maintain jobs in a variety of conditions is called employability skills. This study purpose to measure the development of employability skills of communication skills, problem-solving skills and teamwork skills on the implementation of teaching factory learning in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, THPH Skills Program on bakery competency. This research uses mixed method, with concurrent triangulation mix methods research design. Data collection techniques used interviews and questionnaires. The result shows that there are increasing students’ employability skills in communication skills, problem solving skills, and teamwork skills in teaching factory learning. Principles of learning that apply learning by doing student centering and learning arrangements such as situations and conditions in the workplace have an impact on improving student employability skills.

  5. 5 CFR 5501.107 - Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government employees in the Public Health Service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government employees in the Public Health Service. 5501.107 Section 5501.107 Administrative Personnel... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES § 5501.107 Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government...

  6. 5 CFR 5501.107 - Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government employees in the Public Health Service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government employees in the Public Health Service. 5501.107 Section 5501.107 Administrative Personnel... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES § 5501.107 Teaching, speaking and writing by special Government...

  7. Parental Involvement and the Developmental Stages of Writing: Knowledge and Skills to Assist Children and Parent Perceptions on Their Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fernandez-Kaltenbach, Elena

    2009-01-01

    A kindergarten parent workshop series on the developmental stages of writing was created and assessed. The intended outcome was to empower parents with writing knowledge and writing skills so that they could apply this knowledge and skills at home with their child. The researcher developed the workshops from parent involvement research,…

  8. Stimulating Prewriting Skills with the Help of Pictorial Images

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Podobnik, Uršula

    2017-01-01

    Increasingly, children who start school have already acquired basic reading and writing skills provided by their parents or preschool teachers. However, even if we choose to accept the fact that by teaching preschool children how to read and write parents wish to help them integrate successfully into the school environment and methods of work, we…

  9. Using Blended Learning in Developing Student Teachers Teaching Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Isman, Aytekin; Abanmy, Fahad AbdulAziz; Hussein, Hisham Barakat; Al Saadany, Mohammed Abdelrahman

    2012-01-01

    The research aims to determine the effectiveness of using blended learning Approach in developing student teachers teaching skills, and defining teaching skills that confront students of teachers college at King Saud University need it. The research uses the Quasi- Experimental approach, with four experimental groups (Mathematics (21)--Science…

  10. Using Fan Fiction to Teach Critical Reading and Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kell, Tracey

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the author talks about fan fiction, which is defined by Jenkins (2008) as "original stories and novels which are set in the fictional universe of favorite television series, films, comics, games or other media properties." Fan fiction generally involves writing stories with a combination of established characters and established…

  11. Innovations in Teaching: How Novice Teaching Assistants Include LGBTQ Topics in the Writing Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaekel, Kathryn S.

    2016-01-01

    This article examines how three novice graduate teaching assistants included lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer topics in their first-year writing classrooms. Findings suggest that inclusion of these topics can be successfully done through attention to identity in the classroom, including current-day events, and structuring classroom…

  12. Teaching High School Students To Write for Life Outside of School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, Lorraine Rushing

    A practicum (which took place at a high school in an urban community in the Southeastern United States) was designed to give high school students the opportunity to gain writing skills that meet the challenge of real-world demands. Students need to be competent in basic skills, the use of computers, and applications that meet workplace challenges…

  13. Changes in Teachers' Beliefs after a Professional Development Project for Teaching Writing: Two Chinese Cases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Teng, Lin Sophie

    2016-01-01

    A plethora of research has found that teachers' beliefs directly influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. While numerous studies in second/foreign language writing have examined the effectiveness of different innovative approaches on students' learning to write, there is a paucity of research on writing teachers' beliefs about…

  14. A qualitative evaluation of scalpel skill teaching of podiatry students.

    PubMed

    Causby, Ryan S; McDonnell, Michelle N; Reed, Lloyd; Fryer, Caroline E; Hillier, Susan L

    2017-01-01

    Degrees in health disciplines need a balance of theoretical knowledge and sufficient clinical practice to meet registration requirements, in particular those requiring specialist skills such as the use of scalpels and other small instruments, such as podiatry. However, despite this requirement there is a scarcity of literature and research to inform teaching of these particular manual clinical skills. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the current approaches being used to teach manual skills, in particular scalpel skills, in university podiatry programs in Australia and New Zealand, and to explore what issues, challenges and innovations exist. A qualitative study, consisting of semi-structured interviews with staff at eight university podiatry programs in Australia and New Zealand was undertaken to determine how these skills are taught and evaluated, and how poor performers are managed. A conventional content analysis technique was used to analyse and code interview data, with the resultant categories reported. Approaches to teaching manual clinical skills, in particular scalpel skills, appear to be consistent between university programs in Australia and New Zealand in utilising didactic-style content, demonstration, physical practice on inanimate objects and real skin, and often the use of supplementary audio-visual material. The main reported differences between programs were in methods and processes of practice, with controversy regarding the use of inanimate objects versus real skin for practice. Despite a lack of research and literature surrounding this topic, the approach to teaching is relatively consistent between programs with greatest disparity being the structure and duration of practice. Key issues for teaching staff in teaching manual skills were students' clinical exposure, motivation, levels of anxiety and dexterity.

  15. Beyond the One-Hour Outreach Talk: Introducing a Reading and Writing Program into a High School Science Class

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ratay, Douglas L.; Schairer, Ashley; Garland, Catherine A.; Gomez-Martin, Cynthia

    We present a discussion of a newly implemented one-year program that brings high-level science reading and writing into a remedial high school science class. In the program, articles from publications such as Scientific American and Astronomy magazines are used to teach current science topics and to reinforce reading and writing skills. These skills are critical for general knowledge, literacy, and for passing state standardized tests. Members of the astronomy community act as "writing coaches" to help guide the students through the reading and writing process. This program illustrates one way that astronomers can become involved with underserved populations.

  16. Graduate students' teaching experiences improve their methodological research skills.

    PubMed

    Feldon, David F; Peugh, James; Timmerman, Briana E; Maher, Michelle A; Hurst, Melissa; Strickland, Denise; Gilmore, Joanna A; Stiegelmeyer, Cindy

    2011-08-19

    Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students are often encouraged to maximize their engagement with supervised research and minimize teaching obligations. However, the process of teaching students engaged in inquiry provides practice in the application of important research skills. Using a performance rubric, we compared the quality of methodological skills demonstrated in written research proposals for two groups of early career graduate students (those with both teaching and research responsibilities and those with only research responsibilities) at the beginning and end of an academic year. After statistically controlling for preexisting differences between groups, students who both taught and conducted research demonstrate significantly greater improvement in their abilities to generate testable hypotheses and design valid experiments. These results indicate that teaching experience can contribute substantially to the improvement of essential research skills.

  17. Student views on the effective teaching of physical examination skills: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Martens, Merel J C; Duvivier, Robbert J; van Dalen, Jan; Verwijnen, G Maarten; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

    2009-02-01

    The lack of published studies into effective skills teaching in clinical skills centres inspired this study of student views of the teaching behaviours of skills teachers. We organised focus group discussions with students from Years 1-3 of a 6-year undergraduate medical curriculum. A total of 30 randomly selected students, divided into three groups, took part in two sessions. They discussed what teaching skills helped them to acquire physical examination skills. Students' opinions related to didactic skills, interpersonal and communication skills and preconditions. Students appreciated didactic skills that stimulate deep and active learning. Another significant set of findings referred to teachers' attitudes towards students. Students wanted teachers to be considerate and to take them seriously. This was reflected in student descriptions of positive behaviours, such as: 'responding to students' questions'; 'not exposing students' weaknesses in front of the group', and '[not] putting students in an embarrassing position in skill demonstrations'. They also appreciated enthusiasm in teachers. Important preconditions included: the integration of skills training with basic science teaching; linking of skills training to clinical practice; the presence of clear goals and well-structured sessions; good time management; consistency of teaching, and the appropriate personal appearance of teachers and students. The teaching skills and behaviours that most facilitate student acquisition of physical examination skills are interpersonal and communication skills, followed by a number of didactic interventions, embedded in several preconditions. Findings related to interpersonal and communication skills are comparable with findings pertaining to the teaching roles of tutors and clinical teachers; however, the didactic skills merit separate attention as teaching skills for use in skills laboratories. The results of this study should be complemented by a study performed in a

  18. Refining scientific writing skills with feedback that works for students and instructors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kiani, Leily S.; Menke, Carrie

    2015-10-01

    Evaluation of student learning through assessment of communication skills is a generally important component of undergraduate education and particularly so for promotion of interdisciplinary research conducted by future scientists. To better build these skills we aim to quantify the effectiveness of feedback on student writing of technical reports in an upper-division physics lab course. In one implementation, feedback utilization - in the form of observing commented technical reports, attending office hours or emailing rough drafts of their reports was monitored then correlated with improvement in student writing. The improvement in student writing is quantified as the single-student normalized gain. A slight positive relationship was found between the number of times a student utilized feedback and the improvement in student writing. A subsequent study involved correlation of two complimentary assessments of student work. In the first assessment students received consistent feedback throughout the semester on all sections of a technical report in the form of highlighted bullet points in a detailed rubric. In the second assessment method students received varying amounts of feedback for each section of the technical paper throughout the semester with a focus on one section each week and follow-up feedback on previously covered sections. This approach provides focused feedback that can be scalable to larger classes. The number of highlighted bullet points in the rubric clearly decreases as a function of the focused feedback implementation. From this we conclude that student writing improves with the focused feedback method.

  19. Text-Based Writing of Low-Skilled Postsecondary Students: Relation to Comprehension, Self-Efficacy and Teacher Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perin, Dolores; Lauterbach, Mark; Raufman, Julia; Kalamkarian, Hoori Santikian

    2017-01-01

    Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of…

  20. A Preliminary Evaluation of Two Behavioral Skills Training Procedures for Teaching Abduction-Prevention Skills to Schoolchildren

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Brigitte M; Miltenberger, Raymond G; Knudson, Peter; Egemo-Helm, Kristin; Kelso, Pamela; Jostad, Candice; Langley, Linda

    2006-01-01

    Although child abduction is a low-rate event, it presents a serious threat to the safety of children. The victims of child abduction face the threat of physical and emotional injury, sexual abuse, and death. Previous research has shown that behavioral skills training (BST) is effective in teaching children abduction-prevention skills, although not all children learn the skills. This study compared BST only to BST with an added in situ training component to teach abduction-prevention skills in a small-group format to schoolchildren. Results showed that both programs were effective in teaching abduction-prevention skills. In addition, the scores for the group that received in situ training were significantly higher than scores for the group that received BST alone at the 3-month follow-up assessment. PMID:16602383

  1. Measuring Student Self-Perceptions of Writing Skills in Programs of Journalism and Mass Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lingwall, Andrew; Kuehn, Scott

    2013-01-01

    This study explored student self-perceptions of writing skills in journalism and mass communication programs at thirteen public state universities in the mid-Atlantic region. Factor analysis revealed seven sets of perceptions among 860 students. A Media Writing Self-Perception Scale was constructed and found to be reliable. The authors propose…

  2. Using Behavioral Skills Training and Video Rehearsal to Teach Blackjack Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Speelman, Ryan C.; Whiting, Seth W.; Dixon, Mark R.

    2015-01-01

    A behavioral skills training procedure that consisted of video instructions, video rehearsal, and video testing was used to teach 4 recreational gamblers a specific skill in playing blackjack (sometimes called "card counting"). A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate intervention effects on card-counting accuracy and chips won or…

  3. Relearning of Writing Skills in Parkinson's Disease After Intensive Amplitude Training.

    PubMed

    Nackaerts, Evelien; Heremans, Elke; Vervoort, Griet; Smits-Engelsman, Bouwien C M; Swinnen, Stephan P; Vandenberghe, Wim; Bergmans, Bruno; Nieuwboer, Alice

    2016-08-01

    Micrographia occurs in approximately 60% of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Although handwriting is an important task in daily life, it is not clear whether relearning and consolidation (ie the solid storage in motor memory) of this skill is possible in PD. The objective was to conduct for the first time a controlled study into the effects of intensive motor learning to improve micrographia in PD. In this placebo-controlled study, 38 right-handed people with PD were randomized into 2 groups, receiving 1 of 2 equally time-intensive training programs (30 min/day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks). The experimental group (n = 18) performed amplitude training focused at improving writing size. The placebo group (n = 20) received stretch and relaxation exercises. Participants' writing skills were assessed using a touch-sensitive writing tablet and a pen-and-paper test, pre- and posttraining, and after a 6-week retention period. The primary outcome was change in amplitude during several tests of consolidation: (1) transfer, using trained and untrained sequences performed with and without target zones; and (2) automatization, using single- and dual-task sequences. The group receiving amplitude training significantly improved in amplitude and variability of amplitude on the transfer and automatization task. Effect sizes varied between 7% and 17%, and these benefits were maintained after the 6-week retention period. Moreover, there was transfer to daily life writing. These results show automatization, transfer, and retention of increased writing size (diminished micrographia) after intensive amplitude training, indicating that consolidation of motor learning is possible in PD. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  4. Animated Agents Teaching Helping Skills in an Online Environment: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duggan, Molly H.; Adcock, Amy B.

    2007-01-01

    Human service educators constantly struggle with how to best teach students the communication skills required of entry-level human service professionals. While teaching such skills is easier in a traditional face-to-face environment, teaching communication skills via distance learning presents its own challenges. Developing interactive web-based…

  5. Making Writing Public. Learning Package No. 35.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simic, Marge, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on making writing public is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an…

  6. Computers and Writing. Learning Package No. 33.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simic, Marge, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on computers and writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an…

  7. The New Guide to Writing Research Papers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Callan, Stasia J.; Penwarden, Ann P.; Wendell, Carolyn

    The research paper teaches college students how to use basic research skills that are needed for gathering information and writing papers in a variety of courses as well as methods used for lifelong learning, both on and off the job. The last decade of technological development has resulted in new choices in resources for research, particularly…

  8. Writing as Exploration. Learning Package No. 31.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Norma, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on expressive writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an…

  9. The Application of "Three Dimensional" Model in the Teaching Design of EFL Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Xiping

    2013-01-01

    As an indispensable and most difficult part of language acquisition, the importance of English writing has been intensified by the economic globalization and internet revolution due to the special role of English as a universal language (Warshauer, 2000). However, writing teaching and learning has been long perplexing language teachers and…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matveeva, Natalia

    2008-01-01

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

  11. The writing process: A powerful approach for the language-disabled student.

    PubMed

    Moulton, J R; Bader, M S

    1985-01-01

    Our understanding of the writing process can be a powerful tool for teaching language-disabled students the "how" of writing. Direct, explicit instruction in writing process helps these students learn to explore their ideas and to manage the multiple demands of writing. A case study of one student, Jeff, demonstrates how we structure the stages of writing: prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, and proofreading. When these stages are clearly defined and involve specific skills, language-disabled students can reach beyond their limitations and strengthen their expression. The case study of Jeff reveals the development of his sense of control and his regard for himself as a writer.

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Michael O.

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

  13. Reading and Writing Skills of Deaf Pupils with Cochlear Implants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mayer, Connie; Watson, Linda; Archbold, Sue; Ng, Zheng Yen; Mulla, Imran

    2016-01-01

    Thirty-three young people with cochlear implants, aged between 9 and 16 years, were assessed for use of their implant system, cognitive abilities, vocabulary, reading, and writing skills. The group came from throughout England and included 26 born deaf, six deafened by meningitis, one with auditory neuropathy, and five with additional needs.…

  14. "Im Gonna Tell You All about It": Authorial Voice and Conventional Skills in Writing Assessment and Educational Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Humphrey, Regan C.; Walton, Marsha D.; Davidson, Alice J.

    2014-01-01

    Writing assessments have attended to the mechanics of writing, reflecting a value on the teaching of writing conventions. One quality of writing rarely assessed is authorial voice, a personal style that communicates the author's stance toward events reported and the author's relationship to the audience. The authors explore associations among…

  15. Report Writing for Technical Staff. P.R.I.D.E. People Retraining for Industry Excellence.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burt, Lorna

    This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in report writing skills for technical staff. The course has been designed to help new engineers with all aspects of report writing. It covers the outline and structure of reports, brainstorming,…

  16. Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study.

    PubMed

    Junod Perron, Noelle; Nendaz, Mathieu; Louis-Simonet, Martine; Sommer, Johanna; Gut, Anne; Cerutti, Bernard; van der Vleuten, Cees P; Dolmans, Diana

    2014-04-14

    Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors' perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors' ability to identify residents' good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents' communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching skills on achieving more effective communication

  17. Writing Marathons Help Build Middle School Students' College Aspirations and Strengthen Their Literacy Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Radcliffe, Rich A.; Stephens, Liz C.

    2010-01-01

    Young adolescents' low scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) force the question of whether these students will be ready for college in four years. Our efforts to build a college-going culture emphasize strengthening students' writing skills by using preservice teachers to lead writing marathons for at-risk middle school…

  18. Harmonizing the Writing Process with Music Training Techniques

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riecken, Nancy

    2009-01-01

    Can music help students become better thinkers and writers? Over the past three years, the author has incorporated some basic music training techniques in her classrooms to help her teach the writing process to students who would otherwise click her off. The students have developed clearer thinking and organizational skills, and have increased…

  19. Using Online Resources to Improve Writing Skills and Attitudes about Writing and Plagiarism of Criminal Justice Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grohe, B.; Schroeder, J.; Davis, S. R. B.

    2013-01-01

    Cheating and plagiarism are significant problems in higher education because they occur often and interfere with learning. Plagiarism creates shortcuts that bypass the time and effort required to develop the writing and analytical skills necessary to produce evidence of progress in mastering course content. The purpose of a two-semester writing…

  20. Teaching Skill Acquisition and Development in Dental Education.

    PubMed

    Lyon, Lucinda J; Hoover, Terry E; Giusti, Lola; Booth, Mark T; Mahdavi, Elham

    2016-08-01

    Development of dental faculty members is paramount to providing outstanding education and role modeling for students. With the large number of second career educators in dental schools, an efficient method of acquiring teaching skills is important for new faculty members. Knowing the skill progression and learning experiences identified by dental educators of varying rank may lead to more efficient, effective faculty development. The aims of this study were to identify the perceptions of a group of faculty members about the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and learning experiences that contribute to developing teaching expertise and to compare and contrast the perceptions of new and more senior faculty members on these subjects. The Dreyfus skill acquisition continuum of novice to expert performance was used as a construct reference. The study used a mixed-methods approach in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently in an electronic survey of faculty members at one U.S. dental school. Of the 492 total faculty members, 80 survey responses were received, for a 16% response rate. Open coding and analysis of responses revealed some common themes. Building rich content knowledge and learning varied methodologies for teaching and assessment, supported by an awareness of peer role models, were perceived to be features of early growth. Content prioritization, clarity, and customization appropriate for the learner characterized mid growth. As theorized in the Dreyfus model, more experienced faculty members described a fluid, less structured teaching process, increased reflection, and appreciation of the strength of the educational community. The results of this study may help increase dental educators' understanding of teaching skill acquisition and inform faculty development and support.

  1. Writing for Change: Engaging Juveniles through Alternative Literacy Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobi, Tobi

    2008-01-01

    Research on incarceration and educational access continues to reveal the stark reality for many adjudicated youth: without access to educational opportunities recidivism is probable. Yet conventional methods of teaching critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are not always successful for juveniles who have found little success (or hope) in…

  2. Preparing Language Teachers for Blended Teaching of Summary Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yu-Fen

    2014-01-01

    Research on preparing language teachers for blended teaching of summary writing, a mix of on-site and online instruction for college students to grasp the gist of the texts, is scarce in higher education. This study examined the problems encountered and solutions proposed by six language teachers, who altogether instructed 214 college students on…

  3. History as a Foreign Language: Can We Teach Year 11 Pupils to Write with Flair?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simmonds, Claire

    2016-01-01

    Disappointed that the use of the "PEEL" writing scaffold had led her Year 11 students to write some rather dreary essays, Claire Simmonds reflected that a lack of specific training on historical writing might be to blame. Drawing on genre theory and the work of the history teaching community, Simmonds attempted to theorise the…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chittum, Jessica R.; Bryant, Lauren H.

    2014-01-01

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

  5. An appraisal of the literature on teaching physical examination skills.

    PubMed

    Easton, Graham; Stratford-Martin, James; Atherton, Helen

    2012-07-01

    To discover which models for teaching physical examination skills have been proposed, and to appraise the evidence for each. We conducted a narrative review of relevant literature from 1990-2010. We searched the databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and ERIC (The Education Resource Information Centre) for the terms: 'physical examination' AND 'teaching' as both MESH terms and keyword searches. We excluded web-based or video teaching, non-physical examination skills (e.g. communication skills), and articles about simulated patients or models. We identified five relevant articles. These five studies outlined several approaches to teaching physical examination skills, including Peyton's 4-step model, an adaptation of his model to a 6-step model; the silent run through; and collaborative discovery. There was little evidence to support one method over others. One controlled trial suggested that silent run-through could improve performance of complex motor tasks, and another suggested that collaborative discovery improves students' ability to recognise key findings in cardiac examinations. There are several models for teaching physical examinations, but few are designed specifically for that purpose and there is little evidence to back any one model over another. We propose an approach which adopts several key features of these models. Future research could usefully evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed models, or develop innovative practical models for teaching examination skills.

  6. The Writing Journey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallagher, Kelly

    2017-01-01

    Kelly Gallagher writes that "wide swaths of students are not developing their writing skills--skills we know to be foundational to their literate lives." In this article, he explains how school districts can go about developing students' writing skills in all content-area classrooms. He highlights five reasons why students should write…

  7. Microcomputers and the Improvement of Revision Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balajthy, Ernest; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Discusses use of word processing software as an effective tool in writing and revision instruction, and describes the role of the teacher. Examples of exercises that encourage revision and of software designed to teach effective revision skills are reviewed. (MBR)

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perry, Merry G.

    2006-01-01

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

  9. First, Do No Harm: Teaching Writing in the Wake of Traumatic Events

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeBacher, Sarah; Harris-Moore, Deborah

    2016-01-01

    Sarah DeBacher and Deborah Harris-Moore offer their experiences with teaching in the aftermath of traumatic situations. DeBacher, who taught at the University of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and Harris-Moore, who taught at UC Santa Barbara following a mass shooting, explore the difficulty of teaching writing in the wake of…

  10. An "Odd Couple" for Teaching Writing: The Tutorial Takes in the Committee Meeting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williamson, Dugald; McDougall, Russell; Brien, Donna Lee

    2008-01-01

    Writing courses are increasingly popular in higher education. This paper presents a pedagogic approach that combines theory and practice, in an accessible way, to help students appreciate the interrelation of styles and contexts, and develop skills for writing in a range of genres. The approach is characterised as "adaptive application".…

  11. Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors’ perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors’ ability to identify residents’ good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. Methods We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents’ communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. Results 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. Conclusions The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching

  12. Utilizing Teaching Interactions to Facilitate Social Skills in the Natural Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kassardjian, Alyne; Taubman, Mitchell; Rudrud, Eric; Leaf, Justin B.; Edwards, Andrew; McEachin, John; Leaf, Ron; Schulze, Kim

    2013-01-01

    Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often display deficits in social skills. While research has shown behavioral interventions to be effective in teaching and/or increasing a variety of appropriate social skills, limited research has shown generalization of these skills to the natural setting. The Teaching Interaction procedure…

  13. See, Do, Teach? A Review of Contemporary Literature and Call to Action for Communication Skills Teaching in Urology.

    PubMed

    Kieran, Kathleen; Jensen, Norman M; Rosenbaum, Marcy

    2018-04-01

    To assess the current state of published literature on communication skills teaching in urology to inform future directions for research and teaching. Excellent patient-physician communication skills increase understanding of medical conditions, facilitate shared decision-making regarding treatment planning, improve clinical outcomes, and decrease lawsuits. Surgical and procedure-based subspecialties, including urology, have generally been slow to incorporate formal communication skills teaching into curricula for postgraduate trainees. We performed a PubMed literature search using multiple keywords, selecting and reviewing articles published in English, and addressing 1 of 3 domains (curriculum development, teaching methods, and assessment methods) of communication skills teaching. The distribution of articles within the urology-specific literature was compared with that of procedure-based specialties as a whole. Eight articles were found in the urology literature, and 24 articles were found in other procedure-based specialties. Within the urology-specific literature, all 8 articles (100%) acknowledged the need for communication curriculum development, 1 article (12.5%) described how communication skills were taught, and 1 article (12.5%) discussed how communication skills were assessed. Fewer articles in other procedure-based specialties acknowledged the need to develop curricula (29.2%, P = .0007) but were equally likely to discuss communication skills teaching (37.5%, P = .63) and assessment (33.3%, P = .73). Orthopedic surgery is the only surgical subspecialty with ongoing, adaptable, formal training for physicians. Most current publications addressing communication skills in procedure-based specialties are specialty specific and focus on only 1 of the 3 communication domains. Opportunities exist to share information and to create more integrated models to teach communication skills in urology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. 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…

  15. Elephants and Paradigms: Conversations about Teaching L2 Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blanton, Linda Lonon

    1995-01-01

    This article lays out a general scheme for looking at current competing theoretical bases for English as a Second Language. By focusing on only one arena of teaching, that of writing, the article emphasizes the systemic nature of some differing views. Some classroom implications of the social theory that factors in the reader of a text are…

  16. Validation and Application of the Survey of Teaching Beliefs and Practices for Undergraduates (STEP-U): Identifying Factors Associated with Valuing Important Workplace Skills among Biology Students

    PubMed Central

    Marbach-Ad, Gili; Rietschel, Carly; Thompson, Katerina V.

    2016-01-01

    We present a novel assessment tool for measuring biology students’ values and experiences across their undergraduate degree program. Our Survey of Teaching Beliefs and Practices for Undergraduates (STEP-U) assesses the extent to which students value skills needed for the workplace (e.g., ability to work in groups) and their experiences with teaching practices purported to promote such skills (e.g., group work). The survey was validated through factor analyses in a large sample of biology seniors (n = 1389) and through response process analyses (five interviewees). The STEP-U skills items were characterized by two underlying factors: retention (e.g., memorization) and transfer (e.g., knowledge application). Multiple linear regression models were used to examine relationships between classroom experiences, values, and student characteristics (e.g., gender, cumulative grade point average [GPA], and research experience). Student demographic and experiential factors predicted the extent to which students valued particular skills. Students with lower GPAs valued retention skills more than those with higher GPAs. Students with research experience placed greater value on scientific writing and interdisciplinary understanding. Greater experience with specific teaching practices was associated with valuing the corresponding skills more highly. The STEP-U can provide feedback vital for designing curricula that better prepare students for their intended postgraduate careers. PMID:27856547

  17. Introducing and Sustaining Close Reading and Writing through Poetry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Timmermans, Karren M.; Johnson, Angie

    2017-01-01

    Close reading of poetry scaffolds readers and writers as they come to understand the form and function of poetry and transfer those skills to writing. In this teaching tip, the authors explain a way in which primary teachers can introduce close reading and move young students toward composing and presenting poetry.

  18. Radiology resident teaching skills improvement: impact of a resident teacher training program.

    PubMed

    Donovan, Andrea

    2011-04-01

    Teaching is considered an essential competency for residents to achieve during their training. Instruction in teaching skills may assist radiology residents in becoming more effective teachers and increase their overall satisfaction with teaching. The purposes of this study were to survey radiology residents' teaching experiences during residency and to assess perceived benefits following participation in a teaching skills development course. Study participants were radiology residents with membership in the American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology or the Siemens AUR Radiology Resident Academic Development Program who participated in a 1.5-hour workshop on teaching skills development at the 2010 Association of University Radiologists meeting. Participants completed a self-administered, precourse questionnaire that addressed their current teaching strategies, as well as the prevalence and structure of teaching skills training opportunities at their institutions. A second postcourse questionnaire enabled residents to evaluate the seminar and assessed new knowledge and skill acquisition. Seventy-eight residents completed the precourse and postcourse questionnaires. The vast majority of respondents indicated that they taught medical students (72 of 78 [92.3%]). Approximately 20% of residency programs (17 of 78) provided residents with formal didactic programs on teaching skills. Fewer than half (46.8%) of the resident respondents indicated that they received feedback on their teaching from attending physicians (36 of 77), and only 18% (13 of 78) routinely gave feedback to their own learners. All of the course participants agreed or strongly agreed that this workshop was helpful to them as teachers. Few residency programs had instituted resident teacher training curricula. A resident teacher training workshop was perceived as beneficial by the residents, and they reported improvement in their teaching skills. Copyright © 2011 AUR. Published by

  19. Teaching Phenomenological Research and Writing.

    PubMed

    Adams, Catherine; van Manen, Michael Anders

    2017-05-01

    In this article, we describe our approach and philosophical methodology of teaching and doing phenomenology. The human science seminar that we offer involves participants in the primary phenomenological literature as well as in a variety of carefully engaged writing exercises. Each seminar participant selects a personal phenomenological project that aims at producing a publishable research paper. We show how the qualitative methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology requires of its practitioner a sensitivity and attitudinal disposition that has to be internalized and that cannot be captured in a procedural or step-by-step program. Our experience is that seminar participants become highly motivated and committed to their phenomenological project while involved in the rather intense progression of lectures, workshop activities, readings, and discussions.

  20. One Sentence at a Time: The Need for Explicit Instruction in Teaching Students to Write Well

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hochman, Judith C.; Wexler, Natalie

    2017-01-01

    Expository writing--the kind of writing that explains and informs--is essential for success in school and the workplace. Students who cannot write at a competent level struggle in college. With the advent of e-mail and the Internet, an increasing number of jobs require solid writing skills. No matter what path students choose in life, the ability…

  1. The Development of an Instructional Design Model on Facebook Based Collaborative Learning to Enhance EFL Students' Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Linh, Nguyen Duy; Suppasetseree, Suksan

    2016-01-01

    Writing is one of the essential skills that EFL students, specifically in Thailand, need to achieve while their learning English during tertiary education. However, Thai EFL students have few chances to practice writing skills while learning. This study was conducted to develop an instructional design model for assisting students in learning…

  2. Strategic Thinking through Writing. Learning Package No. 37.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hong, Zhang, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on strategic thinking through writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a…

  3. Writing across the Curriculum. Learning Package No. 50.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kelly, Dawn, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on writing across the curriculum is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture…

  4. Ways To Evaluate Writing. Learning Package No. 47.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hyslop, Nancy, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on ways to evaluate writing is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving…

  5. Medical students' essay-writing skills: criteria-based self- and tutor-evaluation and the role of language background.

    PubMed

    Chur-Hansen, A

    2000-03-01

    An exercise is described which aimed to make clear to first-year undergraduate medical students the expected writing skills required for an essay examination in one discipline. Many students were from a non-English speaking background and over one-third of students, regardless of language background, had limited experience in this type of essay writing. For this exercise, a practice essay was written by each student for formative assessment. The essay was rated by a tutor and by the student according to well-defined criteria. This allowed for comparisons to be made in a structured and objective way between the judgements of the student and the assessor. Students found the exercise to be very useful, although whether essay writing skills actually improved could not be established. Students from non-English speaking backgrounds tended to be most harsh in their self-evaluations, yet tutor-evaluations generally showed these students to have better writing skills than other students. Indeed, correlations between self- and tutor-evaluations were quite low. It is evident that students and their educators may be unclear about each others' expectations. By making explicit the requirements of an exercise, misunderstandings may be minimized and it is possible that student performance could improve, though further research is required to verify these hypotheses. It is suggested that students should be encouraged to evaluate their own work and should be instructed in writing skills throughout their medical degree education.

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2017-01-01

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

  7. Teaching and Assessing Communication Skills in Medical Undergraduate Training.

    PubMed

    Modi, Jyoti Nath; Anshu, -; Chhatwal, Jugesh; Gupta, Piyush; Singh, Tejinder

    2016-06-08

    Good communication skills are essential for an optimal doctor-patient relationship, and also contribute to improved health outcomes. Although the need for training in communication skills is stated as a requirement in the 1997 Graduate Medical Education Regulations of the Medical Council of India, formal training in these skills has been fragmentary and non-uniform in most Indian curricula. The Vision 2015 document of the Medical Council of India reaffirms the need to include training in communication skills in the MBBS curriculum. Training in communication skills needs approaches which are different from that of teaching other clinical subjects. It is also a challenge to ensure that students not only imbibe the nuances of communication and interpersonal skills, but adhere to them throughout their careers. This article addresses the possible ways of standardizing teaching and assessment of communication skills and integrating them into the existing curriculum.

  8. Creating Successful Campus Partnerships for Teaching Communication in Biology Courses and Labs.

    PubMed

    Hall, Susanne E; Birch, Christina

    2018-01-01

    Creating and teaching successful writing and communication assignments for biology undergraduate students can be challenging for faculty trying to balance the teaching of technical content. The growing body of published research and scholarship on effective teaching of writing and communication in biology can help inform such work, but there are also local resources available to support writing within biology courses that may be unfamiliar to science faculty and instructors. In this article, we discuss common on-campus resources biology faculty can make use of when incorporating writing and communication into their teaching. We present the missions, histories, and potential collaboration outcomes of three major on-campus writing resources: writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines initiatives (WAC/WID), writing programs, and writing centers. We explain some of the common misconceptions about these resources in order to help biology faculty understand their uses and limits, and we offer guiding questions faculty might ask the directors of these resources to start productive conversations. Collaboration with these resources will likely save faculty time and effort on curriculum development and, more importantly, will help biology students develop and improve their critical reading, writing, and communication skills.

  9. Creating Successful Campus Partnerships for Teaching Communication in Biology Courses and Labs

    PubMed Central

    Hall, Susanne E.; Birch, Christina

    2018-01-01

    Creating and teaching successful writing and communication assignments for biology undergraduate students can be challenging for faculty trying to balance the teaching of technical content. The growing body of published research and scholarship on effective teaching of writing and communication in biology can help inform such work, but there are also local resources available to support writing within biology courses that may be unfamiliar to science faculty and instructors. In this article, we discuss common on-campus resources biology faculty can make use of when incorporating writing and communication into their teaching. We present the missions, histories, and potential collaboration outcomes of three major on-campus writing resources: writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines initiatives (WAC/WID), writing programs, and writing centers. We explain some of the common misconceptions about these resources in order to help biology faculty understand their uses and limits, and we offer guiding questions faculty might ask the directors of these resources to start productive conversations. Collaboration with these resources will likely save faculty time and effort on curriculum development and, more importantly, will help biology students develop and improve their critical reading, writing, and communication skills. PMID:29904537

  10. Rhetorical Meta-Language to Promote the Development of Students' Writing Skills and Subject Matter Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pelger, Susanne; Sigrell, Anders

    2016-01-01

    Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students' development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language--a meta-language--for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2014-01-01

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

  12. Effects of Direct Instruction and Strategy Modeling on Upper-Primary Students’ Writing Development

    PubMed Central

    López, Paula; Torrance, Mark; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; Fidalgo, Raquel

    2017-01-01

    Strategy-focused instruction is one of the most effective approaches to improve writing skills. It aims to teach developing writers strategies that give them executive control over their writing processes. Programs under this kind of instruction tend to have multiple components that include direct instruction, modeling and scaffolded practice. This multi-component nature has two drawbacks: it makes implementation challenging due to the amount of time and training required to perform each stage, and it is difficult to determine the underlying mechanisms that contribute to its effectiveness. To unpack why strategy-focused instruction is effective, we explored the specific effects of two key components: direct teaching of writing strategies and modeling of strategy use. Six classes (133 students) of upper-primary education were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions, in which students received instruction aimed at developing effective strategies for planning and drafting, or control group with no strategy instruction: Direct Instruction (N = 46), Modeling (N = 45), and Control (N = 42). Writing performance was assessed before the intervention and immediately after the intervention with two tasks, one collaborative and the other one individual to explore whether differential effects resulted from students writing alone or in pairs. Writing performance was assessed through reader-based and text-based measures of text quality. Results at post-test showed similar improvement in both intervention conditions, relatively to controls, in all measures and in both the collaborative and the individual task. No statistically significant differences were observed between experimental conditions. These findings suggest that both components, direct teaching and modeling, are equally effective in improving writing skills in upper primary students, and these effects are present even after a short training. PMID:28713299

  13. The Construction of Teaching Model on College English Writing from the Perspective of Cognitive Genre

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wenjuan, Hao; Rui, Liang

    2016-01-01

    Teaching is a spiral rising process. A complete teaching should be composed of five parts: theoretical basis, goal orientation, operating procedures, implementation conditions and assessment. On the basis of the genre knowledge, content-based approach and process approach, this text constructs the Teaching Model of College Writing Instruction, in…

  14. Can We Succeed in Teaching Business Students to Write Effectively?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pittenger, Khushwant K. S.; Miller, Mary C.; Allison, Jesse

    2006-01-01

    This article presents the results of a study where business students' writing skills were assessed using an external objective measure in a business communication course. The student performance was disappointing before instructor intervention. After the intervention, student performance improved noticeably. The implications of the study are…

  15. Writing as decision-making

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Souther, J. W.

    1981-01-01

    The need to teach informational writing as a decision-making process is discussed. Situational analysis, its relationship to decisions in writing, and the need for relevant assignments are considered. Teaching students to ask the right questions is covered. The need to teach writing responsiveness is described. Three steps to get started and four teaching techniques are described. The information needs of the 'expert' and the 'manager' are contrasted.

  16. Beyond effective teaching: Enhancing students’ metacognitive skill through guided inquiry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adnan; Bahri, Arsad

    2018-01-01

    This research was quasi experimental with pretest posttes non-equivalent control group design. This research aimed to compare metacognitive skill of students between tought by guided inquiry and traditional teaching. Sample of this research was the students at even semester at the first year, Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia. The data of students’ metacognitive skill was measured by essay test. The data was analyzed by inferential statistic of ANCOVA test. The result of research showed that there was the effect of teaching model towards metacognitive skill of students. Students were tought by guided inquiry had higher metacognitive skill than tought by traditional teaching. The lecturer can use the guided inquiry model in others courses with considering the course materials and also student characteristics.

  17. The Meanings Attributed to Writing Skills in English by Turkish Children: A Concept Map Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erginer, Ergin; Yar, Veda

    2013-01-01

    One of the four basic language skills of children, writing, is central to expressing themselves and to developing high level thinking capabilities. Competence in writing is a rather complex learning structure in which cognitive and, especially, psycho-motor learning processes are intensively employed and it further needs to be fed by perceptive…

  18. Name-Writing Proficiency, Not Length of Name, Is Associated with Preschool Children's Emergent Literacy Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Lonigan, Christopher J.

    2012-01-01

    The goals of this study were twofold: first, to examine whether preschool children's name-writing proficiency differentiated them on other emergent reading and writing tasks, and second, to examine the effect of name length on preschool children's emergent literacy skills including alphabet knowledge and spelling. In Study 1, a range of emergent…

  19. Representing the "Other": Basic Writers and the Teaching of Basic Writing. Refiguring English Studies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horner, Bruce; Lu, Min-Zhan

    Intended for teachers of basic writing, this book contains a collection of new and updated essays addressing issues surrounding underprepared writers. It maps errors and expectations for basic writing and develops teaching approaches that will be effective in a social and political world. The book considers concepts such as the possibility of…

  20. Teaching sexual history-taking skills using the Sexual Events Classification System.

    PubMed

    Fidler, Donald C; Petri, Justin Daniel; Chapman, Mark

    2010-01-01

    The authors review the literature about educational programs for teaching sexual history-taking skills and describe novel techniques for teaching these skills. Psychiatric residents enrolled in a brief sexual history-taking course that included instruction on the Sexual Events Classification System, feedback on residents' video-recorded interviews with simulated patients, discussion of videos that simulated bad interviews, simulated patients, and a competency scoring form to score a video of a simulated interview. After the course, residents completed an anonymous survey to assess the usefulness of the experience. After the course, most residents felt more comfortable taking sexual histories. They described the Sexual Events Classification System and simulated interviews as practical methods for teaching sexual history-taking skills. The Sexual Events Classification System and simulated patient experiences may serve as a practical model for teaching sexual history-taking skills to general psychiatric residents.

  1. Stoma care: empowering patients through teaching practical skills.

    PubMed

    Metcalf, C

    Teaching patients practical skills in stoma care is a complex process and although, arguably, at the very heart of stoma care nursing practice, has been largely ignored in the literature. Teaching principles are based upon social learning theory and educationalists provide guidelines on the most effective way to teach a practical skill. These guidelines have been utilized by nurses when teaching patients with newly formed stomas how to change a pouch. The process of adapting to a stoma and its daily management takes time. Psychologically, however, some patients will adapt more easily than others and researchers have attempted to identify factors which may account for this. Studies have demonstrated that patients who are satisfied with the amount of preoperative information they receive are less likely to develop psychological problems. Psychological adjustment may be affected if patients feel that they have developed insufficient pouch changing skills or have problems with leakage from their pouch or sore skin around their stoma. Studies have also demonstrated that cognitive factors, such as patients feeling in control of their illness and stoma, have been found to play a role in psychological adaptation. Clinical nurse specialists in stoma care are in an ideal position to target these cognitive factors using a variety of strategies including effective practical teaching to empower patients, thus facilitating psychological adaptation following stoma surgery.

  2. Effectiveness of Mobile Skill Teaching Software for Parents of Individuals with Intellectual Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cankaya, Serkan; Kuzu, Abdullah

    2018-01-01

    Mobile skill teaching software has been developed for the parents of the children with intellectual disability to be used in teaching daily life skills. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of the mobile skill teaching software developed for the use of the parents of the children with intellectual disability. In…

  3. Extending the Flipped Classroom Model: Developing Second Language Writing Skills through Student-Created Digital Videos

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Engin, Marion

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes a project that aimed to leverage the students' interest and experience of technology and multimodal environments to develop their academic writing skills and second language learning. Students were expected to follow a model, research a topic, and craft a digital video tutorial on an aspect of academic writing which would form…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Albertus, Karen; And Others

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

  5. SRSD in Practice: Creating a Professional Development Experience for Teachers to Meet the Writing Needs of Students with EBD

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKeown, Debra; FitzPatrick, Erin; Sandmel, Karin

    2014-01-01

    Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is one of the most effective writing interventions (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhara, & Harris, 2012) and has improved the writing skills of students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD). Practice-based professional development (PBPD) has been effective for teaching participants how to implement SRSD…

  6. Cognitive task analysis for teaching technical skills in an inanimate surgical skills laboratory.

    PubMed

    Velmahos, George C; Toutouzas, Konstantinos G; Sillin, Lelan F; Chan, Linda; Clark, Richard E; Theodorou, Demetrios; Maupin, Fredric

    2004-01-01

    The teaching of surgical skills is based mostly on the traditional "see one, do one, teach one" resident-to-resident method. Surgical skills laboratories provide a new environment for teaching skills but their effectiveness has not been adequately tested. Cognitive task analysis is an innovative method to teach skills, used successfully in nonmedical fields. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 3-hour surgical skills laboratory course on central venous catheterization (CVC), taught by the principles of cognitive task analysis to surgical interns. Upon arrival to the Department of Surgery, 26 new interns were randomized to either receive a surgical skills laboratory course on CVC ("course" group, n = 12) or not ("traditional" group, n = 14). The course consisted mostly of hands-on training on inanimate CVC models. All interns took a 15-item multiple-choice question test on CVC at the beginning of the study. Within two and a half months all interns performed CVC on critically ill patients. The outcome measures were cognitive knowledge and technical-skill competence on CVC. These outcomes were assessed by a 14-item checklist evaluating the interns while performing CVC on a patient and by the 15-item multiple-choice-question test, which was repeated at that time. There were no differences between the two groups in the background characteristics of the interns or the patients having CVC. The scores at the initial multiple-choice test were similar (course: 7.33 +/- 1.07, traditional: 8 +/- 2.15, P = 0.944). However, the course interns scored significantly higher in the repeat test compared with the traditional interns (11 +/- 1.86 versus 8.64 +/- 1.82, P = 0.03). Also, the course interns achieved a higher score on the 14-item checklist (12.6 +/- 1.1 versus 7.5 +/- 2.2, P <0.001). They required fewer attempts to find the vein (3.3 +/- 2.2 versus 6.4 +/- 4.2, P = 0.046) and showed a trend toward less time to complete the procedure (15.4 +/- 9

  7. Directed Self-Inquiry: A Scaffold for Teaching Laboratory Report Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deiner, L. Jay; Newsome, Daniel; Samaroo, Diana

    2012-01-01

    A scaffold was created for the explicit instruction of laboratory report writing. The scaffold breaks the laboratory report into sections and teaches students to ask and answer questions in order to generate section-appropriate content and language. Implementation of the scaffold is done through a series of section-specific worksheets that are…

  8. Teaching Interdisciplinary Thematic Units in Language Arts. ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Naomi

    This Digest discusses teaching interdisciplinary thematic units in language arts, noting that such units typically integrate broad areas of knowledge, such as social studies, mathematics, or ecology with the teaching of the four major language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The Digest presents a definition and rationale for…

  9. Hand preference and skilled hand performance among individuals with successful rightward conversions of the writing hand.

    PubMed

    Porac, Clare

    2009-03-01

    Searleman and Porac (2001) studied lateral preference patterns among successfully switched left-hand writers, left-hand writers with no switch pressure history, and left-hand writers who did not switch when pressured. They concluded that left-handers who successfully shift to right-hand writing are following an inherent right-sided lateralisation pattern that they already possess. Searleman and Porac suggested that the neural mechanisms that control lateralisation in the successfully switched individuals are systematically different from those of other groups of left-handers. I examined patterns of skilled and less-skilled hand preference and skilled hand performance in a sample of 394 adults (ages 18-94 years). The sample contained successfully switched left-hand writers, left-handers pressured to shift who remained left-hand writers, left-handers who did not experience shift pressures, and right-handers. Both skilled hand preference and skilled hand performance were shifted towards the right side in successfully switched left-hand writers. This group also displayed mixed patterns of hand preference and skilled hand performance in that they were not as right-sided as "natural" right-handers nor were they as left-sided as the two left-hand writing groups, which did not differ from each other. The experience of being pressured to switch to right-hand writing was not sufficient to shift lateralisation patterns; the pressures must be experienced in the context of an underlying neural control mechanism that is amenable to change as a result of these external influences.

  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. A workshop series using peer-grading to build drug information, writing, critical-thinking, and constructive feedback skills.

    PubMed

    Davis, Lindsay E

    2014-12-15

    To utilize a skills-based workshop series to develop pharmacy students' drug information, writing, critical-thinking, and evaluation skills during the final didactic year of training. A workshop series was implemented to focus on written (researched) responses to drug information questions. These workshops used blinded peer-grading to facilitate timely feedback and strengthen assessment skills. Each workshop was aligned to the didactic coursework content to complement and extend learning, while bridging and advancing research, writing, and critical thinking skills. Attainment of knowledge and skills was assessed by rubric-facilitated peer grades, faculty member grading, peer critique, and faculty member-guided discussion of drug information responses. Annual instructor and course evaluations consistently revealed favorable student feedback regarding workshop value. A drug information workshop series using peer-grading as the primary assessment tool was successfully implemented and was well received by pharmacy students.

  12. Teaching Preschool Children with Autism and Developmental Delays to Write

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlson, Brittany; McLaughlin, T. F.; Derby, K. Mark; Blecher, Jessiana

    2009-01-01

    Introduction: "Handwriting Without Tears"[R] program (Olsen, 1998) has been suggested as an appropriate set of procedures to teach students with and without disabilities skills in written communication. Unfortunately, there has been little research in the peer reviewed literature where the program has been employed to teach children with…

  13. 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.

  14. Writing Readiness: Perspectives on Learning to Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stallard, Charles K.

    Writing readiness is defined in this paper as the skills and understandings necessary for minimum success in completing a writing task. The skills discussed are divided into three areas of need: to give students a clear, operational concept of the function and structure of composition that includes the concepts of paragraphs, sentences,…

  15. Learning to Read Spectra: Teaching Decomposition with Excel in a Scientific Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Muelleman, Andrew W.; Glaser, Rainer E.

    2018-01-01

    Literacy requires reading comprehension, and fostering reading skills is an essential prerequisite to and a synergistic enabler of the development of writing skills. Reading comprehension in the chemical sciences not only consists of the understanding of text but also includes the reading and processing of data tables, schemes, and graphs. Thus,…

  16. Expanding the Repertoire: An Anthology of Practical Approaches for the Teaching of Writing (Reading-to-Write Report No. 11). Technical Report No. 30.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCormick, Kathleen; And Others

    This study is the 11th and last report from the Reading-to-Write Project, a collaborative study of students' cognitive processes at one critical point of entry into academic performance. The report consists of an Introduction and seven essays, each of which discusses ways to teach a variety of aspects of reading and writing which have been tried…

  17. Walking the Line: Teaching Remedial Writing in a Correctional Facility.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crimmel, Henry Hays, III

    When teaching remedial writing in a correctional facility, a teacher may carry assumptions shaped by formal education that do not always translate to a prison context. These include the idea that the classroom will provide a sphere of intellectual activity, immune from heavy-handed institutional intrusions; that students will want to get to know…

  18. When You Do Whole Language Instruction, how Will You Keep Track of Reading and Writing Skills? (When the Principal Asks).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harp, Bill

    1988-01-01

    Discusses several ways to evaluate reading and writing skills in a whole language classroom, including evaluation checklists, holistic evaluation of writing, and miscue analysis. Provides a literacy development checklist for reading and writing. (MM)

  19. Writing Strategies for Gifted Children. Learning Package No. 45.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hyslop, Nancy; Smith, Carl, Comp.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on writing strategies for gifted children is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a…

  20. Spelling and the Writing Process. Learning Package No. 36.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simic, Marge, Comp.; Smith, Carl, Ed.

    Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on spelling and the writing process is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture…

  1. Reconfiguring the Role of the Research Paper: Collaborative Writing To Teach Basic Academic Research and Writing Strategies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fleming, Michelle M.

    Each year that the author of this paper, an English instructor at Moorhead College (Minnesota), teaches the first-year "research paper," one instructor turns more and more to collaborative writing work. And she admits that some of her motives in reshaping the research paper in collaborative ways can seem to be based in assisting herself…

  2. Leadership skills teaching in Yorkshire & the Humber - a survey: uncovering, sharing, developing, embedding.

    PubMed

    Fowler, Iolanthe; Gill, Andy

    2015-09-01

    Medical leadership is a hot topic, but it is not known yet how to teach this most effectively. A working party of educators in Yorkshire and the Humber (Y&H) studied the leadership domains, as set out in the Medical Leadership Competency Framework and from this distilled a set of 'trainable' leadership skills, which were felt to be important to teach during general practitioner (GP) training. A questionnaire was sent out to a large GP educational community (educators and trainees) within Y&H to establish the following: (i) whether the distilled skills were thought to have face validity when applied to the concept of leadership, (ii) what was the relative importance of these skills in relation to each other and (iii) the degree to which these skills were already being taught in practice placements and at General Practice Specialty Training Programme (GPSTP) teaching sessions.Educators reported more teaching and training occurring than trainees reported receiving, and the relative importance of the skills sets were different between educators and trainees. It was evident that leadership skills are currently being taught, but that making training explicitly 'leadership', and raising the importance of leadership skills in GP, may address some of these imbalances. Educators requested guidance on how to teach these skills effectively and commented that many existing opportunities for leadership teaching and training are not well recognised or used. Routinely and regularly offering the chance for trainees at all levels to be exposed to leadership skills by role modelling, making use of everyday opportunities in practice to teach and encouraging trainee involvement in projects and opportunities to practice new skills can facilitate the acquisition and celebration of mastery of generic leadership skills.

  3. Developmental trajectories of writing skills in first grade: Examining the effects of SES and language and/or speech impairments

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Young-Suk; Puranik, Cynthia; Otaiba, Stephanie Al

    2013-01-01

    We examined growth trajectories of writing and the relation of children's socio-economic status, and language and/or speech impairment to the growth trajectories. First grade children (N = 304) were assessed on their written composition in the fall, winter, and spring, and their vocabulary and literacy skills in the fall. Children's SES had a negative effect on writing quality and productivity. Children with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores than typically developing children in the quality and productivity of writing. Even after accounting for their vocabulary and literacy skills, students with language and/or speech impairment had lower scores in the quality and organization of writing. Growth rates in writing were not different as a function of children's SES and language/speech impairment status. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:26146410

  4. Task-Based EFL Language Teaching with Procedural Information Design in a Technical Writing Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roy, Debopriyo

    2017-01-01

    Task-based language learning (TBLL) has heavily influenced syllabus design, classroom teaching, and learner assessment in a foreign or second language teaching context. In this English as foreign language (EFL) learning environment, the paper discussed an innovative language learning pedagogy based on design education and technical writing. In…

  5. The Binder Method: A Spatial, Conceptual Approach to Teaching Business Report Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherman, Dean

    1985-01-01

    Discusses the binder method approach to teaching business report writing, explains its basic procedures, its organizational advantages, its time saving qualilty, and its adaptation to more than one user at different locations or different times. (EL)

  6. Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers. Practice Guide Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2017

    2017-01-01

    An early foundation in writing offers students a valuable tool for learning, communication, and self-expression. Authored by a panel of experts, the "Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers" practice guide presents four recommendations educators can use to help elementary students strengthen their writing skills. The…

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

    PubMed

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

    2016-03-01

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

  8. Teaching Technical Skills through Play.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gullion, Laurie

    The value of light-hearted play in teaching technical recreational sport skills is immense. Children as well as adults can learn more quickly and completely with a games-oriented approach. Often without realizing the hidden goal of excellent skiing or paddling, participants respond to intriguing tasks in a game, immerse themselves in good…

  9. A model to teach concomitant patient communication during psychomotor skill development.

    PubMed

    Nicholls, Delwyn; Sweet, Linda; Muller, Amanda; Hyett, Jon

    2018-01-01

    Many health professionals use psychomotor or task-based skills in clinical practice that require concomitant communication with a conscious patient. Verbally engaging with the patient requires highly developed verbal communication skills, enabling the delivery of patient-centred care. Historically, priority has been given to learning the psychomotor skills essential to clinical practice. However, there has been a shift towards also ensuring competent communication with the patient during skill performance. While there is literature outlining the steps to teach and learn verbal communication skills, little is known about the most appropriate instructional approach to teach how to verbally engage with the patient when also learning to perform a task. A literature review was performed and it identified that there was no model or proven approach which could be used to integrate the learning of both psychomotor and communication skills. This paper reviews the steps to teach a communication skill and provides a suggested model to guide the acquisition and development of the concomitant -communication skills required with a patient at the time a psychomotor skill is performed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Teaching and Learning English Functional Writing: Investigating Egyptian EFL Student Teachers' Currently-Needed Functional Writing Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdallah, Mahmoud M. S.

    2014-01-01

    At an age marked by the emergence of new literacies, vast technological developments, and social networking practices, language is currently approached from a pragmatic perspective that recognises its functional use to meet realistic communicative goals. Taking this into account, the present study sought to identify the functional writing skills…

  11. Using Systematic Feedback and Reflection to Improve Adventure Education Teaching Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richardson, Rick; Kalvaitis, Darius; Delparte, Donna

    2014-01-01

    This study examined how adventure educators could use systematic feedback to improve their teaching skills. Evaluative instruments demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in teaching skills when applied at an outdoor education center in Western Canada. Concurrent focus group interviews enabled instructors to reflect on student…

  12. The Development of a Project-Based Collaborative Technical Writing Model Founded on Learner Feedback in a Tertiary Aeronautical Engineering Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tatzl, Dietmar; Hassler, Wolfgang; Messnarz, Bernd; Fluhr, Holger

    2012-01-01

    The present article describes and evaluates collaborative interdisciplinary group projects initiated by content lecturers and an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) instructor for the purpose of teaching technical writing skills in an aeronautical engineering degree program. The proposed technical writing model is assessed against the results of a…

  13. 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).…

  14. Effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who were suspected of auditory processing difficulty.

    PubMed

    Yalçinkaya, Fulya; Muluk, Nuray Bayar; Sahin, Semra

    2009-08-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening ability on speaking, writing and reading skills of children who was suspected of auditory processing difficulty (APD). This research was conducted with 67 children in 1st or 2nd grade of primary school. The first group (Group I-control) was comprised of 41 children without APD. The second group (Group II-study group) was comprised of 26 children with APD. Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills were evaluated by Observational Rating Scale (ORS) and analyzed in both groups. Listening value of ORS in APD group was significantly lower; and, speaking, reading and writing values of ORS in APD group were significantly higher than control group (p=0.000). It was also found that, the main effect of listening skills was on speaking in normal childs, and on writing ability in children with APD. It was concluded that, for school-aged children, APD can lead to or is associated with difficulties in written language.

  15. A Virtual Room to Enhance Writing Skills in the EFL Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ochoa Alpala, Dayra Piedad; Medina Peña, Nieves

    2014-01-01

    This article reports an action research that intended to study to what extent students shape their writing skill in English through the use of a virtual room. As the study, we randomly selected six ninth graders in high school from thirty two students at a Colombian private institution. Three instruments were used, namely, interviews, students'…

  16. Rhetorical meta-language to promote the development of students' writing skills and subject matter understanding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pelger, Susanne; Sigrell, Anders

    2016-01-01

    Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students' development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language - a meta-language - for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and feedback-giving. Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore students' perception of teachers' feedback given on their texts in two genres, and to suggest how writing training and feedback-giving could become more efficient. Sample: In this study were included 44 degree project students in biology and molecular biology, and 21 supervising teachers at a Swedish university. Design and methods: The study concerned students' writing about their degree projects in two genres: scientific writing and popular science writing. The data consisted of documented teacher feedback on the students' popular science texts. It also included students' and teachers' answers to questionnaires about writing and feedback. All data were collected during the spring of 2012. Teachers' feedback, actual and recalled - by students and teachers, respectively - was analysed and compared using the so-called Canons of rhetoric. Results: While the teachers recalled the given feedback as mainly positive, most students recalled only negative feedback. According to the teachers, suggested improvements concerned firstly the content, and secondly the structure of the text. In contrast, the students mentioned language style first, followed by content. Conclusions: The disagreement between students and teachers regarding how and what feedback was given on the students texts confirm the need of improved strategies for writing training and feedback-giving in science education. We suggest that the rhetorical meta-language might play a crucial role in overcoming the difficulties observed in this study. We also discuss how training of writing skills may contribute to

  17. Negotiating Ideologies about Teaching Writing in a High School English Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vetter, Amy; Myers, Joy; Hester, Madison

    2014-01-01

    More research needs to examine how novice teachers successfully negotiate multiple ideologies with others in ways that allow them to construct preferred teaching identities. This qualitative study addressed that need by investigating how one high school English teacher negotiated contradictory ideologies related to writing instruction at her…

  18. Teaching Beginning Chess Skills to Students with Disabilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storey, Keith

    2000-01-01

    This article discusses teaching higher-level thinking skills and concentration to students with disabilities through chess instruction. Guidelines for chess instruction are provided, including: teaching ideas and strategy first rather than specific lines of play, using a variety of instructional modalities, and building in reinforcement for…

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

    PubMed

    Sahoo, Soumendra; Mohammed, Ciraj Ali

    2018-06-01

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

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

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

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

  1. Internal Structure and Development of Keyboard Skills in Spanish-Speaking Primary-School Children With and Without LD in Writing.

    PubMed

    Jiménez, Juan E; Marco, Isaac; Suárez, Natalia; González, Desirée

    This study had two purposes: examining the internal structure of the Test Estandarizado para la Evaluación Inicial de la Escritura con Teclado (TEVET; Spanish Keyboarding Writing Test), and analyzing the development of keyboarding skills in Spanish elementary school children with and without learning disabilities (LD) in writing. A group of 1,168 elementary school children carried out the following writing tasks: writing the alphabet in order from memory, allograph selection, word copying, writing dictated words with inconsistent spelling, writing pseudowords from dictation, and independent composition of sentence. For this purpose, exploratory factor analysis for the TEVET was conducted. Principal component analysis with a varimax rotation identified three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Based on factorial analysis, we analyzed the keyboarding skills across grades in Spanish elementary school children with and without LD (i.e., poor handwriters compared with poor spellers, who in turn were compared with mixed compared with typically achieving writers). The results indicated that poor handwriters did not differ from typically achieving writers in phonological processing, visual-orthographic processing, and sentence production components by keyboarding. The educational implications of the findings are analyzed with regard to acquisition of keyboarding skills in children with and without LD in transcription.

  2. Only Connect: How Literature Teaches Children To Read and Write.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sloan, Glenna Davis

    Memorable language that delights children, makes them laugh or gasp, or causes them to ponder and wonder is the literature that will begin the process of teaching them to read and write. Literature is meant to connect, not with reason primarily, but with readers' and listeners' imaginations and emotions, and in the case of poetry, with something…

  3. Add to Your Book: Teach a Pattern Approach to Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Quattrini, Joe

    Using the "pattern approach" is a means of teaching students to be confident and competent writers. In this method, the writer uses a device called a planning blank to establish purpose, audience, topic, and role as a writer. Then the overall structure can be planned. A good writing plan should suggest not only a beginning, middle, and…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumann, Michelle M.; Neumann, David L.

    2010-01-01

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

  5. Understanding Sociocognitive Space of Written Discourse: Implications for Teaching Business Writing to Chinese Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Yunxia

    2006-01-01

    Confronted with various issues in teaching business writing to Chinese students in New Zealand, this paper sees the need for bridging the gap between genre-based research and teaching in an intercultural context. Specifically, it develops an intercultural reflective model in the light of Bhatia's sociocognitive genre study as well as…

  6. Teaching Sexual History-Taking Skills Using the Sexual Events Classification System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fidler, Donald C.; Petri, Justin Daniel; Chapman, Mark

    2010-01-01

    Objective: The authors review the literature about educational programs for teaching sexual history-taking skills and describe novel techniques for teaching these skills. Methods: Psychiatric residents enrolled in a brief sexual history-taking course that included instruction on the Sexual Events Classification System, feedback on residents'…

  7. Rational Behavior Skills: A Teaching Sequence for Students with Emotional Disabilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patton, Patricia Lucey

    1995-01-01

    Rational behavior training is a proactive teaching model concerned with helping students with behavior disorders or serious emotional disturbances develop rational thinking and appropriate social skills. Describes a seven-session sequence for teaching rational behavior skills in a middle school setting. Pre- and posttest data revealed significant…

  8. Expanding Writing Opportunities for Elementary School Children and Assisting Teachers' Knowledge of the Writing Process.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brand, Wendy

    A practicum was designed to place the teaching of writing as a high priority in an elementary school; allow children more opportunities to share their writing; and assist teachers in their knowledge of teaching writing, especially through the writing process. Children's writing was given high visibility through the use of monthly "young…

  9. Writing with Computers in ESL Classroom: Enhancing ESL Learners' Motivation, Confidence and Writing Proficiency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hadi, Marham Jupri

    2013-01-01

    Researcher's observation on his ESL class indicates the main issues concerning the writing skills: learners' low motivation to write, minimum interaction in writing, and poor writing skills. These limitations have led them to be less confidence to write in English. This article discusses how computers can be used for the purpose of increasing…

  10. Teaching interpersonal skills in family practice: results of a national survey.

    PubMed

    Kahn, G; Cohen, B; Jason, H

    1979-02-01

    The increasing recognition of the importance of a well-developed set of interpersonal skills to the competent family physician has resulted in a rapid growth in the formal teaching of interpersonal skills within family practice residencies. Of the 168 programs responding to a national survey of family practice residencies, 88 percent indicated that they have formal programs in interpersonal skills. It is estimated that there are well over 500 family practice faculty members who have special responsibilities in teaching interpersonal skills. While most programs address the component skills of the interpersonal process (eg, demonstrating empathy, information gathering, information giving, and psychological intervention), it is of concern that only about half offer explicit training in patient education (53 percent), specific types of counseling (eg, family counseling, 55 percent), or some of the specific interpersonal skills important in team practice and practice management (eg, supervisory skills). One of the most striking findings was that 88 percent of the reporting programs use videotechnology, with 77 percent of these planning to increase their use. Although most programs evaluate their interpersonal skills training using both indirect and direct assessment methods, only 25 percent attempt to use patient outcome as a measure of teaching effectiveness.

  11. Using writing as a vehicle to promote and develop scientific concepts and process skills in fourth-grade students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Disimoni, Katherine Cecilia

    The development of conceptual knowledge, particularly at the elementary level, is one area in which researchers and educators have noted remarkable deficiencies. The purpose of this descriptive study was to observe the impact of the use of writing as a thinking tool on the promotion and development of scientific concepts and science process skills in elementary students in the discipline of science. Reports from some of the publications for science research and educational progress cited the direct links of writing effectiveness to the development of skills in critical thinking. The study consisted of 12 fourth-grade students in the control group and their 12 fourth-grade counterparts in the experimental group. The treatment for the study was the use of learning logs by the experimental group to record their written responses to predesigned prompts related to hands-on science experiences during the intervention period. Their counterparts did no writing. Statistical measures used were Student's t tests to determine if significance was present. A pretest and posttest were given that involved written responses to the same prompt. Three judges used a specially designed rubric to evaluate and score the writing. Significant differences were found when the scores of the experimental group were analyzed between pretest and posttest. Also, a standardized test to assess basic process skills was administered prior to and after the intervention. There were no statistical differences found in either group to demonstrate that writing effected the development of process skills. The researcher determined that perhaps writing is not the best way to promote process skills. Rather, engaging in science is the best way. These skills are built separately but used in tandem, particularly when learning about science and mathematics. The implications of this study impact upon several areas of education which make up paradigms leading to good practice based on sound theory. These components

  12. Texas English Teachers' Perception of Entering Freshmen's Writing Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harris, Maverick Marvin

    A questionnaire was sent to English instructors in 134 Texas colleges and universities to ascertain their perceptions of entering freshmen's skills in written composition. The variables were type of institution, admission policy, enrollment, and teaching experience. Respondents were asked to indicate their perceptions of the number of entering…

  13. Teaching Pedestrian Skills to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Batu, Sema; Ergenekon, Yasemin; Erbas, Dilek; Akmanoglu, Nurgul

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of most to least prompting on teaching pedestrian skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Five individuals with developmental disabilities were taught three different pedestrian skills, all related to crossing the streets, using simulation activities on a road model…

  14. Classrooms that Work: Teaching and Learning Generic Skills.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stasz, Cathleen

    1994-01-01

    Eight vocational and academic classes taught by four different teachers at three comprehensive high schools were studied to identify classroom practices that facilitate teaching and learning generic skills. The teachers studied had a mix of instructional goals for students, including subject matter knowledge and skills, complex reasoning skills…

  15. Using Gagne's theory to teach procedural skills.

    PubMed

    Buscombe, Charlotte

    2013-10-01

    Many key medical procedures are performed every day in clinical practice to yield important diagnostic information and to help determine the disease response to intensive treatments. Training clinicians to perform procedures competently and confidently thus carries considerable weight, helping to assure patient safety, the obtainment of adequate samples and minimising patient discomfort. This article considers how Robert Gagne's instructional design model may be effectively used to design lesson plans and teach procedural skills in small group settings. Gagne's model is based upon the information-processing model of mental events that occur when adults are presented with various stimuli. It highlights nine specific instructional events, which correlate with crucial conditions of learning, and are arranged to maximally enhance the learning process, improve session flow and, ultimately, ensure lesson objectives are comprehensively addressed. This article uses the nine points described by Gagne to outline a comprehensive lesson guide for teaching psychomotor skills, using a bone-marrow aspirate procedure as an example. Each of Gagne's instructional events is considered with specific activities for each, and with the variety of activities delineated to meet diverse learning styles. Gagne's instructional events can produce an effective and comprehensive lesson plan for teaching procedural skills, preparing learners with various preferred learning styles to perform psychomotor skills competently in clinical practice. This lesson plan can be of use for both teachers and students across clinical specialties, encouragingly outlining how Gagne's systematic and widely referenced theory can be creatively and practically used. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills. Third Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birsh, Judith R., Ed.

    2011-01-01

    As new research shows how effective systematic and explicit teaching of language-based skills is for students with learning disabilities--along with the added benefits of multisensory techniques--discover the latest on this popular teaching approach with the third edition of this bestselling textbook. Adopted by colleges and universities across…

  17. [A new teaching mode improves the effect of comprehensive experimental teaching of genetics].

    PubMed

    Fenghua, He; Jieqiang, Li; Biyan, Zhu; Feng, Gao

    2015-04-01

    To improve the research atmosphere in genetics experimental teaching and develop students' creativity in research, we carried out a reform in comprehensive experimental teaching which is one of important modules for genetics practice. In our new student-centered teaching mode, they chose research topics, performed experiments and took innovative approaches independently. With the open laboratory and technical platform in our experimental teaching center, students finished their experiments and were required to write a mini-research article. Comprehensive experimental teaching is a scientific research practice before they complete their thesis. Through this teaching practice, students' research skills in experimental design and operation, data analysis and results presentation, as well as their collaboration spirit and innovation consciousness are strengthened.

  18. MBA Students' Workplace Writing: Implications for Business Writing Pedagogy and Workplace Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lentz, Paula

    2013-01-01

    Employers frequently complain about the state of their employees' writing skills. Much of the current research on this subject explores workplace writing skills from the employer's perspective. However, this article examines workplace writing from the employees' perspective. Specifically, it analyzes MBA students' responses to a course assignment…

  19. Writing for Science Literacy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chamberlin, Shannon Marie

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

  20. Writing Inservice Guide for English Language Arts and TAAS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Education Agency, Austin.

    This guide, made up of transparencies and text, offers a basis for a 2-day interactive inservice presentation on how to teach writing, to help a school district ensure that its English language arts program addresses the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. In addition to sections on the use of the guide and the format of the TAAS…