This book summarizes new directions in mathematics education research on proving at the university level, thereby providing contemporary extensions of the sub-fields of proof that Annie and John Selden introduced to the field. The chapters each describe an emerging new area of proof research, review the relevant findings in this area, present open…

In this article, I demonstrate how the use of reflective writing assignments in first-year composition facilitated students' understanding of their own writing process strategies. I first discuss the theoretical roots from which reflective practice among student writers grows. Next, I employ my students' voices to demonstrate that reflection…

Presents a procedural model for use as a prewriting strategy to help students "decenter" or distance themselves from their writing and avoid the generalities that characterize egocentric writing. The model provides opposing viewpoints in a student's analysis of problems or issues. (HTH)

Describes a procedure technical writing students can use to test how concerns like segmentation, defining criteria, and paragraph structure may apply to finding an organization for their own texts. Essentially a heuristic, the procedure assumes that a number like three (a control number) is useful in organizing information for any kind of…

Describes method in which students write a draft requiring some writing skill before learning about that skill. Concludes that predrafting (1) enforces first-drafting; (2) shows students their natural writing abilities; (3) emphasizes discovery of substance first, rules and form second; (4) promotes an active student role; (5) arranges learning in…

Discusses how film offers a vehicle for observation and imitation, providing writers with a more accurate image of how they perform. Refers to three films: "Before the First Word", "Telling an Old Story", and "Pieces of a Puzzle" that have become the basis for insightful and fruitful discussions about writing. (JK)

Uses a single language system--technical description--to illustrate how language systems can now be used as the basis for instruction in technical writing. Provides sample exercises in progressive teaching from simple description to complex continuity devices, showing how they can be used at all stages of the writing process. (HTH)

Describes a teacher's presentation in the classroom of the drafts, notes, outlines, and other artifacts from his own papers. Recommends that teachers show their students evidence of their own struggle with the writing process in order to encourage them and convince them that all writers hesitatingly begin with a mess. (JG)

Discusses how computer programing and expository writing are both based on the ability to (1) recognize that a complex whole is composed of manageable parts, and (2) identify the necessary steps for achieving a goal or supporting a generality, and (3) concentrate on and summarize a large amount of information into an abbreviated, succinct…

Adapts Edward de Bono's "Intermediate Impossible" strategy--for considering ideas that normally would be discarded as stepping-stones to new ideas--for use as a prewriting activity to enhance creative problem solving. (HTH)

Through a series of nine narrative essays, this book explores the stories that writing center directors and tutors encounter in their work with students. The essays in the book look at various aspects of the writing center, including how tutors meet and work with students; how tutors interact with students whose opinions and political beliefs are…

Discusses the positive and negative aspects of textbook writing, noting common pitfalls that will be encountered by new authors. The article also suggests how to become better educated about the process of textbook writing and enhance the chances of producing a quality finished product. (SM)

A student was able to overcome flatness in his writing when he focused on the process of writing rather than the product. The student's draft of an essay about a symbol the student found meaningful contained spelling and grammatical errors and was also "flat." The essay had no apparent thesis, demonstrated lack of success in issues of…

An alternative to the often artificial writing workshop model focuses on learning through imitation and on the writing process rather than the product. This alternative model also involves considerably more reading than a typical workshop class, requiring students to read the way writers do, with a critical understanding and an awareness of the…

Rather than giving basic writing students handbook and workbook exercises to direct their proofreading, teachers can use a monitoring system that teaches the students to recognize problems and to systematically monitor and eliminate the difficulties. After completing two or three assignments that include several drafts, students copy out all the…