Considers whether differences might emerge in writing quality when students wrote examinations by hand or on a computer, and whether raters differed in their evaluation of essays written by hand, on a computer, or by hand and then transcribed to typed form before scoring. Finds no statistically significant differences in ratings among the three…

Examines relationships among computer experience, attitudes, writing behaviors, and writing quality for advanced undergraduate students who have owned Macintosh computers for at least three years. Finds that writing attitudes and practices are fairly well ingrained for the less competent writers, and they need to become comfortable with the…

Reviews videotapes of three professional writers composing several essays from start to finish, both by hand and by computer. Discusses similarities and differences among the completed essays. Finds that writing appears to be governed by deep cognitive models that are little influenced by the mode of text production or by the writer's preference…

Proposes that for students to gain the maximum benefits from the computer as an education and composition tool, teachers should incorporate the computer throughout the composing process. Describes the adaptation of computers in a specialized business and technical persuasive writing course. (MS)