Describes a classroom activity in which a group of five students compose an essay together which meets the following academic objectives: (1) awareness of what constitutes a thesis; (2) understanding of evidence which can be used to support such a thesis; and (3) a conception of a conventionally developed five-paragraph essay. (RAE)

The effects on essay scores of intermingling handwritten and word-processed student essays were studied with 32 students who produced handwritten and word-processed essays. Essays were converted to the other format and rescored. Results reveal higher average scores for handwritten essays. Implications for scoring are considered. (SLD)

A study of 240 student teachers and teacher trainees found that students using word processing rather than typing or handwriting on essays received significantly higher grades on their writing assignments. Further analysis found that the extent of revision rather than method of presentation accounted for the difference. (Author/MSE)

A study was undertaken to determine the effects on essay scores of intermingling handwritten and word-processed versions of student essays. A sample of 32 examinees, each of whom had produced both a handwritten and a word-processed essay, was drawn from a larger group who had participated in a pilot study of item types for The Praxis Series:…

Describes a study conducted at a large west coast state university, comparing holistic scores on developmental writing program final essays when the same essays were handwritten and computer typed. Reveals a bias against typed final essays, especially in essays which received high scores in the handwritten form. (DMM)

To learn more about the initial effects of word processing on essay-writing performance and on writing apprehension, eight English instructors at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, conducted a one-semester controlled experiment with freshmen in eight randomly selected college writing classes. Eighty students wrote essays using terminals…

Studies of text comprehension have suggested that readers focus on different levels of ideational unit while reading, thereby affecting the quality of their comprehension of the text. A study examined the viability of the deep-surface categorization with regard to essay-writing and the relation of different approaches to writing to the quality of…

The goal of this guidebook is to help writers activate their brains to stir up more and better ideas and details. The guide's thesis is that "good writing combines fresh ideas energized by vivid details." Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are devoted to providing thinking options for writers. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss options for paragraphing and…

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)

Examines a sample of conventionally composed and word-processing-assisted essays to assess the computer's effect on progress and competence by determining how students used the computer resources available to them to write their papers in both standard English classes and across the curriculum. (MS)

This practical book integrates coverage of the writing process and various types of academic and professional documents with explanations and examples of using computers to enhance the process and produce effective documents. The book's four parts move from the individual writer who is using a computer to create a document to exchanges of data and…