Student resistance to critical thinking emblematic of a liberal arts curriculum is often painfully obvious in freshman writing classes that impose a process-based approach to writing and thinking. Criminal justice students, like their peers in other majors with strong vocational orientations, often resist taking any more than the required liberal…

The margins of college students' writing are the ideal site for teacher-student conversations about the writing, but most of these conversations misfire, largely for reasons that are avoidable. Suggestions are made for responding so students can understand, respond to, and learn from teachers' written comments. Examples from several…

International students who have learned English in the classroom have different writing problems than U.S. resident language minority students who have learned English primarily by listening. Non-native speakers need information and practice in specific areas of academic prose such as content and organization. Many language minority residents also…

College courses which use writing across the curriculum (WAC) principles encourage students to write about assigned readings and to respond to each other's writings, resulting in better learning of course concepts and the experience of participating in a discipline's ongoing conversation. Guidelines for setting up peer response groups in both…

Tape-recorded commentaries on student writing can tell students in detail how a reader responds to their writing. Computers that can record and/or play back voice recordings can also help improve the way teachers annotate students' drafts. Strategies for using the method are presented, with excerpts from students' discipline-based writing and…

Five techniques used for college writing assignments to heighten student thinking and involvement in class discussion are described: study questions; class notes; triple-entry notetaking; freewriting; and class response logs. These assignments balance personal/constructive writing and academic/critical writing to develop active learning. Examples…

Argues that developing writing activities, consulting with students as they work on a major writing project, and responding are important vehicles for teaching that fosters engaged learning. Central principles are to make assignments inquiry- or issue-based, to keep them focused but open enough for students to develop their own angle or interest,…