The COVID-19 pandemic forced many instructors to find new ways to achieve learning outcomes and connect to students within a hybrid or online teaching landscape. However, some of the creative ways instructors connected with students can now be used both in online classes and as we adapt back into full-time in-person instruction. Virtual notebooks…

Reflection is a necessary component of learning. Through reflective assignments and tasks, students are given opportunities to evaluate their learning and analyze strategies they use while acquiring and applying course material. Reflections also help students assess and think deeply about the information presented in class and thus better retain…

Since writing in the disciplines (WID) is focused on learning how to write formal documents of a professional register, it is important to note that each field or discipline has its own style, structure, and format when it comes to writing, and most composition courses seldom facilitate the transfer of these specialized skills in the classroom.…

The use of personal, reflective writing exercises is well documented in the disciplines of composition and management, and each discipline has been highly influential in establishing pedagogical practices in the business communication classroom. However, we see little evidence of the pedagogical practice, the use of personal reflective writing…

This article explores the beneficial and sometimes unpredictable implications of a daily reflective writing exercise for introductory literature courses: the learning log. Pseudonymous samples of student writing, coupled with instructor commentary, gesture toward ways in which the learning log's continual implementation and modification foster a…

"Revision: Who, Why? How?" is a four-part article consisting of a "test" on revision, an explanation of revision tactics, three forms for writing revision, and five sample papers for classroom use. (Author)

Describes two experiments carried out with a class of foreign language learners in the Department of French studies at the University of Sydney. The first experiment involved keeping a learner's diary, and the second experiment focused on learner's self-assessment of their writing performances. (CB)

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

Math and science instruction now often includes more brief, informal writing exercises, sometimes completed in class, as a means of helping college students think more clearly. While writing skills are not emphasized, student writing often improves as a by-product. (MSE)

Suggest some ways in which computer assisted instruction can be designed to help freshman college students learn the conventions and grammatical forms of standard written English. Some specific instructional design considerations are discussed and the advantages of computer assisted instruction are outlined. Six figures and a reference list are…

Engineering students can use a humanistic research project on the poetry of Walt Whitman as the basis for a technical report. Students must first become familiar with the scientific method so that they will have a general procedure for gathering and analyzing data for the project. To use the scientific method, students isolate the problem, observe…

Describes a classroom project at Lehigh University which integrates both academics and career development. Freshmen English students wrote letters to alumni requesting career information and prepared a publication called Alumni Career Profiles which became a career development resource. Student and alumni comments are included. (JAC)

When college courses and classrooms are consciously designed to foster self-evaluation, critical shifts occur in student autonomy and responsibility. Three elements that transform the school experience into meaningful learning include encouraging student "ownership" of their work; promoting reflection on that work; and creating a sense…

Self-evaluation is a learning strategy that can help college students, particularly nontraditional students, build coherence through their educational experiences. Faculty need to approach students' reflective, self-evaluative writing as learners, listening to what students say and using it as a guide to aid student development. (MSE)

This report defines and describes audiotaped dialogue journals produced by fourth year, Chilean university students in their English class. The taped journals were used as a way for students to obtain additional practice in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in an environment where school was the only place they practiced their English. The…