Analyzes the research process by examining student journals from a research paper course in which volunteers recorded their reactions to articles, how they were developing their topic, and problems they encountered. Concludes that the blocks encountered in the research process are more complex than and different from those encountered in other…

Presents specific implications of writing research for teachers who work with gifted youngsters in elementary school writing. Supports the use of derived plot patterns and point of view as two types of literature-based writing assignments that work especially well with gifted students. (MS)

Studies five peer-response groups in a freshman composition class before and after a semester of reading and responding to literature. Examines how the reading of literature affects the quality of responses to student written texts. Demonstrates the potential that the reading of and responding to literary texts holds for peer response. (MG)

Investigates students' evaluations of their best and worst papers. Finds that: researching and writing processes dominated evaluations; grades did not play a significant role in their judgment; interest in the topic was a factor in their evaluations; and their written texts lost impact by the time of the retrospective evaluation. (RS)

Explores ways in which students read, think, and write about divergent points of view by analyzing transcripts of interviews with students. Finds three broad categories: "dogmatic,""noncommittal," and "analytical" approaches. Discusses pedagogical implications. (SR)

Reports on the gender-related difference in out-of-school writing experience of adult students returning to college. Discusses implications for teaching, maintaining that the differing writing backgrounds such students bring are resources to be utilized rather than deficits to be remedied. (SR)

Describes, in a case study-like format, a cognitive strategy that might be helpful to the learning-disabled (LD) college student who must organize and write a longer text. Presents a brief description of an LD student and an actual writing assignment. Describes how the student completed the task. Discusses educational implications. (RS)

Examines how teacher evaluation effects students' willingness and motivation and hence the writing process. Analyzes results of a survey measuring student responses to several kinds of evaluation of their essays. Concludes that informal evaluation (e.g. peer evaluation, conferences, ungraded writing) improves students' attitudes. (JG)

Compares the rhetorical context of essay exams with that of assignments written outside of class. Reports differences in pedagogical function, prompts, rhetorical function, mechanics, style, and organization. Refutes two common assumptions: that essay exams are not a genre and that they work against students' mastery of writing process skills.…

Three high school students present findings of their survey of professional writers' training, influences, and writing processes conducted to judge whether secondary school writing programs adequately prepare high schoolers for writing in the future. Comments from writers emphasized prewriting, inspiration, reader feedback, and sequential drafts.…