Reviews recent complex and somewhat confusing evidence on writing-to-learn. Draws on the field of cognitive psychology to offer a way to reconceptualize how researchers might approach the study of the impact of writing on learning. Considers five methods for assessing structural changes in knowledge due to writing. (MG)

Reports a study of teachers' and writers' interpretations of scenario assignments. Finds that, among the three groups tested (graduate students trained to teach rhetoric, academically successful undergraduate students trained as tutors, and entering freshmen) experienced writers' interpretations adhered most closely to the interpretive community's…

Considers the effectiveness of using prose modeling in the composition classroom. Studies the differences in response between expert and novice writers who were asked to write essays in an unfamiliar form based on a prose model. Indicates that use of a prose model affects student response. (HB)

Analyzes writing samples of 22 first graders and 13 second graders to determine how children learn the rules of punctuation. Finds they develop necessary hypotheses which are alternative to the standard end-sentence period placement rule. Suggests young "language scientists" need opportunities to practice this innate trade: rule formation. (NH)

Considers the written genres of a group of six children in a first-grade classroom. Reveals the children to be active participants in the social dialogue of their classrooms. Outlines their use of genres and describes where these genres may have come from. (HB)

Examines how school writing tasks (notetaking, answering study questions, and essay writing) interact with three measures of learning (recall, concept application, and gain in passage-specific knowledge). (HOD)

Based on data gathered in a participant observation project that focused on young children's behaviors during school structured literacy tasks, a study examined the relationship between learning to write and learning to perform school writing tasks. (HOD)

Examines the relationship between writing and learning in a college-level writing-across-the-curriculum class in philosophy. Results provide a basis for speculation about the conception of the writing/learning relationship and about the viability of further hermeneutical study of student writing. (SRT)

Analyzes and compares transcriptions of ten one-to-one conferences between teacher and student. Concludes that successful conferences focus on criteria for successful writing, evaluating students' work, and on the work itself; unsuccessful conferences are characterized by repeated requests for explanation, and by tutor dominance that excludes…