Argues that students can use electronic bulletin boards to create a single shared text that can be added to as personal time allows. Notes that use of electronic bulletin boards allows valuable class time to be set aside for other instructional strategies. (RS)

Students can benefit from collaboration long before they are ready for draft feedback. By analyzing writing assignments, anticipating and diagnosing student problems, and introducing necessary skills through appropriate exercises, students can be provided with cognitive and social supports that help them address the challenges of academic writing.…

Outlines the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program, a sequenced and structured reading/language arts program used by elementary level students at Bracher School in Santa Clara, California. Describes several cooperative reading and writing activities used in this program. (MM)

Discusses how gender studies reveal psychological and cultural sources of interpersonal conflict during collaboration. Notes that an awareness of these conflict sources enables scholars and teachers in technical communication to predict and ease interpersonal conflict among collaborators. (MM)

Teachers often view basic writers as manifestations of three different problems: problems with usage forms, problems with discourse forms, and problems with thought. The first type consists of problems of standard versus nonstandard English usage, and is concerned with error. Others see basic writers' problems as ones of discourse forms and…

Contends that the collaborative learning occurring in a writing center is ethical. Argues that educating young writers is more important than certifying their ability; that research demonstrates the efficacy of collaborative learning; and that inexperienced writers are entitled to the same collaborative help that professional writers expect and…

A demonstration of a classroom writing group in action, this 35-minute interactive video and instructional booklet focus on writing as a shared act of communication. The videotape models structure and process rather than any particular kind of writing, and the group process can be adapted to a variety of writing tasks and requirements. The…

Explores how word processing affects thinking and writing. Examines two myths surrounding word processors and invention in technical writing. Describes how word processing can enhance invention through collaborative writing, templates, and on-screen outlining. (MM)

Offers research-based advice on how to promote effective collaboration in writing projects: (1) delaying consensus; (2) engaging in substantive conflict while avoiding affective and procedural conflict; and (3) operating in a cooperative rather than competitive climate. Notes three strategies for students and professionals to delay consensus:…

Uses a study of a high school writing center program to illustrate and explain the different forms and skills needed for collaborative writing in both classroom and writing center contexts. (MM)

Discusses the Young Authors Program, a program sponsored by the Greater Boston Reading Council, which encourages teachers to help students create original illustrated bound books. (MM)

Discusses how collaborative writing can be a tool for activating students' multiple voices and multiple versions of self and the world within the classroom. Describes three collaborative writing projects in which special education students discussed and wrote about important knowledge that was formed in their own contradictory moments. (MM)

Describes two models for using the Electronic Networks for Interaction (ENFI) systems in writing instruction. Identifies the aims as (1) advancing traditional interests of the English department; (2) encouraging collaborative writing; and (3) increasing student freedom. Provides examples of student writings resulting from the traditional teacher…

Describes a collaborative-writing assessment system that rewards each student both for the group's performance and for individual participation. Presents a survey of student attitudes toward an assignment incorporating the assessment system, and reveals that students perceived the assessment as fair and effective. (MM)

Describes a collaborative reading and writing project matching preservice student teachers with eighth-grade students. Provides analysis of participant reactions to the program, including specific comments by both students and teachers about the readings and the subsequent writing assignments. (HB)