Although outcomes assessment (OA) has become "common sense" in higher education, this article shows that the concept of "outcomes" tends to limit and compromise teaching and learning while serving the interests of institutional management. By contrast, the pragmatic concept of consequences tends to expand our view of teaching and learning, and…

Drawing on the case of a student of his who, like Herman Melville's Bartleby, simply preferred not to write, the author argues that current celebration of technology encourages passive resistance. He emphasizes that authentic, productive classroom experiences derive from in-person interactions that directly connect in relevant ways to students'…

The author discusses his experience in a university project that led to the creation of a first-year writing text based on interviews with members of a local neighborhood. In particular, he analyzes the negative reaction that many of the community's residents expressed toward the text's portrayals of them. From the tensions that developed, the…

Many students occupy a minimal space between the profession of composition studies and larger social and institutional constructions of composition, writing, and literacy. For most people outside the field, writing is viewed as a set of skills, rather than a substantive area of study. If students would only learn the rules--and if composition…

Describes how rhetoric replaced literature as the prevalent focus for teaching composition. Questions why teachers neglect the use of literature in composition classrooms. Argues for the inclusion of literature into composition courses as a means of inspiring conversations beyond the realm of academia. (HB)

Questions whether literature should have a role in first-year composition courses. Argues that this question cannot be discussed without deciding on the objectives for such a course. Claims that first-year composition should eliminate the use of literature and focus on practicing the discourse of the academy. (HB)

Relates autobiographically the author's experiences learning to write as an inventor, in the process exemplifying personal writing as a mode to be fostered in composition courses. Argues for a presentation of writing as a constant discovery and construction of knowledge rather than an accumulation of facts. (HB)

Discusses and compares two recent books on American higher education: "The Closing of the American Mind" by Allan Bloom, and "Lives on the Boundary" by Mike Rose. Develops a view which synthesizes those of Bloom and Rose. Considers this view as comparable to that of Paul Goodman. (HB)

Considers the wide variation of first-year composition programs and if they do indeed vary so widely. Considers what the programs have in common. Asks if it would be possible to articulate a general curricular framework for first-year composition, regardless of institutional home, student demographics, and instructor characteristics. Presents a…

Explores the place of faculty and faculty values in the process of assessing the work of higher education. Searches to find better ways to put the intellectual work of faculty and students at the center of the educational concerns and at the center of assessment models. Suggests that faculty should devote themselves to teaching the first-year…

Describes one student who resists personal writing. Explores reasons why some students resist personal writing. Considers how providing the conditions for students to speak surely entails that educators become engaged readers and interlocutors of their students' writing, that they regard their writing as ongoing cultural and constitutive teachings…

Provides discussion and critical analysis of three key models for teaching freshman composition courses. Discusses approaches centered on writing as product, writing as process, and writing as system. Considers what might be the common ground that these three approaches to writing instruction share. (HB)

Provides responses by various scholars to two articles on teaching conflict and struggle and its relevance to the field of basic writing published in the December 1992 issue of "College English." (HB)

Argues for a broadening of the range of rhetorical positions to which writing students are presently assigned. Envisions current practices of composition from the political left. Proposes a rhetorical position from which writing might become a means of cultural transformation. (HB)

Explores the relation of essays to canon theory, explains why the only essay canon to be publicly identified in the 20th century is a powerful teaching canon. Shows "where essays live," how they arrive in the teaching canon, and why they stay there. Examines how essays are taught. Looks at the future of the essay canon. (SR)