Introductory biology courses are supposed to serve as gateways for many majors, but too often they serve instead as gatekeepers. Reliance on lectures, large classes, and multiple-choice tests results in high drop and failure rates. Critiques of undergraduate science education are clear about the problems with conventional introductory science…

A detailed account of how a high school playwriting course was developed, with a list of 20 exercises. (RL)

Describes a system for arranging assignments in a composition course that aims to prepare students for academic writing, by focusing entirely on exposition and its conceptual demands. (HTH)

Examined is the successful grant proposal by Bush School of Salem, Oregon, in which fifth and sixth graders researched, wrote, edited, and published a book about Chief Quinaby. The project bolstered student self-esteem and made learning come alive through real-life experience. An excerpt from the book is included. (SI)

Duquesne's "Saturday College" program in the Greater Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) area began in the spring of 1992. This is a program designed specifically for the working adult who wants to complete a bachelor's degree in 4 years by attending classes on Saturday. The format of the program and the concerns of the adults in it required…

A field of study sequence designed at the University of Iowa to introduce the research paper to freshman rhetoric students encourages them to view themselves as interpretive anthropologists entering a strange culture and exploring their declared majors or areas of special interest. Each student is responsible for (1) writing an essay in response…

Responding to the increasing use of the DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) process as a means of meeting industry demands for relevant curricula, this paper describes an approach supplementing DACUM with direct contact with industry. Following introductory material on the increasing emphasis on meeting industry's needs for training, discussions are…

English courses should help students recognize the interrelationships among creative and expository writing, literature, and language. By helping students understand literary elements such as point of view, for example, creative writing courses can produce better student narratives. Required composition courses should replace sterile exercises in…

Noting that teachers must devise writing situations that help students see possibilities for revision beyond mechanics and usage, this paper describes several exercises that will help students use the computer or word processor as a tool for assisting them when they write. The exercises, which can be done with or without a microcomputer, with a…

The question of what to do "after the workshop" has been treated only in passing by writing across the curriculum experts. When planning the writing across the curriculum program at La Salle University (Philadelphia), the writing faculty decided to make continued "after the workshop" interaction with the writing specialist an integral part of the…

This article discusses a program that used holistic literacy instruction to foster literacy growth, self-expression, and communication skills in children with developmental disabilities. Strategies are highlighted for providing writing opportunities in the classroom, and recommendations are made to guide teachers in planning curricula and…

The New Center for Learning is an experimental program at East Texas State University which offers students an alternative, interdisciplinary general education curriculum which can improve student writing more than traditional programs do. Students in the program take 36 hours of courses throughout their college careers which are offered by a…

The integration of content area writing instruction into the history curriculum has been a slow process. A history course at Ohio University (Athens) offers students experience in writing the type of materials written by practicing historians: book reviews, journal articles, and articles for encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries. Such short…

Most educational computer software currently available severely restricts the kinds of interaction that can take place between the student and the computer. In fact, an examination of 317 language arts programs listed in a directory of educational software shows that 60% of the programs were of the drill and practice type. In response to this…

Research indicates that writing can be an important vehicle for integrating all the learning that occurs in a foreign language. However, a number of factors have conspired to displace foreign language writing as a critical skill: the push for oral proficiency, departmental fragmentation, larger class sizes, and heavier faculty loads. Second…