In this article, the author shares how efficient and effective Google Documents is for faculty seeking to engage students in inquiry-based, emergent, and primary research in first-year composition courses. The specific appeal of Google Documents is that it occupies a space between "open source"--defined by the Open Source Initiative as "free,…

Discusses how computer programing and expository writing are both based on the ability to (1) recognize that a complex whole is composed of manageable parts, and (2) identify the necessary steps for achieving a goal or supporting a generality, and (3) concentrate on and summarize a large amount of information into an abbreviated, succinct…

A study examined the influence of the computer management feature of a commercially prepared speed reading software package on the reading rate and attitudes of college students towards computers as instructional tools. Subjects, 66 college freshman from lower-middle to middle socio-economic brackets (and divided into control and experimental…

Presents the history of the development of computer-assisted composition (CAC) software and notes the problems with reserving some software for "basic" students while "brighter" students can use more complex modeling or simulation software. Concludes that, from experience with basic writers' success with the programs, there are some benefits to…

Assesses the utility of the analyses within the "Writer's Workbench" (an advanced text editor) range. Compares professional prose with first-year college student essays, using readability, sentence variety, sentence structure, parts of speech, vocabulary, and usage. (MS)

A research project aimed to show the rationale, procedure, and implications of an interdisciplinary multimedia-hypertext for composition research. The project, undertaken for 2 semesters, was for an English 102 "Writing about Literature" course which also looked to improve students' writing and critical thinking skills. In a classroom…

This paper discusses "Comments," a computer tool developed to study computer support for response to writing. The paper presents two primary theoretical perspectives to support the use of response to writing in learning to write: (1) writing is a social act; and (2) writing is a skill whose acquisition requires more than one reader so…

The impact of word processing on students' attitudes and grades was studied using 235 students in 15 sections of freshmen composition at a large midwestern university. Students in the word-processing sections wrote and revised their papers on the Macintosh Plus using the software MacWrite. Students in the traditional sections used paper, pencils,…

Noting that computers have fascinated teachers looking for new and better ways of teaching writing, not because the machines make students into better writers, but because they are useful tools that make editing and revising much easier, this paper explores the use of computers to teach writing, based on the experiences of a writing laboratory…

Computer networking has made many new activities available to language learners. While these innovations are practical, they are also grounded in theory and justifiable on sound principles of language learning. Computers make possible classroom activities maximizing the benefit drawn from complex and otherwise unmanageable communicative…

To determine how much electronic writing-analysis programs can offer college students and how valuable computerized text actually is, nine college student essays and nine professional essays were analyzed using text editors. The student essays (three each rated "superior,""average," and "failed") and the professional…

Poetry was used in a college English class to teach figurative language, connotation, denotation, and the need for close attention to vocabulary. However, students were often bored by traditional poetry. Using computer programs like "Compupoem,""Poetrywriter,""Lifesongs," and "Haikuku," students were introduced to computer poetry and created their…

The report details a study to identify vocabulary needed by Japanese students of English as a Second Language to function successfully in college computer science courses and research laboratory apprenticeships. The vocabulary was then to be taught in the first two semesters of freshman English composition. The study involved development of simple…

Although there are many retrospective accounts from teachers and professional writers concerning the effect of computers on their writing, there are few real-time accounts of students struggling to simultaneously develop as writers and cope with computers. To fill this void in "testimonial data," a study examining talking-aloud protocols from a…

This report describes the Learning Disabled College Writer's Project, implemented at the University of Minnesota during the 1985-86 school year and designed to aid learning disabled college students master composition skills through training in the use of microcomputer word processors. Following an executive summary, an introduction states the…