Undergraduate writing fellows play an important role in administering writing assignments in writing-intensive courses. At the University of Michigan, the MWrite program was designed to support the implementation of writing-to-learn (WTL) assignments in STEM courses. Within MWrite, writing fellows are a primary instructional resource for students…

Asking students to explain why phenomena occur at a molecular level is vital to increasing their understanding of chemistry concepts. One way to elicit students' mechanistic reasoning and guide construction of knowledge is through Writing-to-Learn (WTL), which is a promising approach for students in organic chemistry courses. In the design of WTL…

An understanding of biological variation is important for understanding ecological interactions, ecosystem function, and species' response to environmental change. Biological variation is essential to species survival because natural selection acts upon the phenotypic variation within a population: the more varied the population's genetic…

An important topic in writing research has been the use of cohesive features. Much of this research has focused on local and text cohesion. The few studies that have studied global cohesion have been restricted to first language writing. This study investigates the development of local, global, and text cohesion in the writing of 57 language (L2)…

In physiological education, blended course formats (integration of face-to-face and online instruction) can facilitate increased student learning, performance, and satisfaction in classroom settings. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of using blending course formats in laboratory settings. We evaluated the impact of blended learning…

The purpose of this study is to describe the impact of implementing different strategies on fifth grade academically gifted students in order to motivate them to perform to their full potential. My research project is based on the motivation of gifted students in the general education classroom. I will study eight academically gifted fifth…

The use of technology such as laptop computers in the classroom has long been recognized as destructive behavior since it diverts a student's attention from course topics. However, it is conceivable that every student will be using some form of technology in the near future. Determining the effects of interactive software on students' learning…

Twenty-two students in a business communications course engaged in a collaborative project with several Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, business enterprises. After the students had acquired introductory skills that would enable them to perform effectively, they were divided into six groups and began working with representatives from local businesses…