Asserts that most technical writing textbooks are artificial as they do not force students to deal with writing problems in the same way as in the workplace. Maintains that technical writing instructors can provide their students with realistic writing alternatives. Discusses realistic alternatives for writing instruction and definitions. (PRA)

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)

After several years in academic public relations, a professional writer returned to teaching composition. After her first attendance at the annual meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, she experienced a turning point in her view of "the essay." Following the conference, she changed her assignments from…

Argues that understanding assignments is the first step toward successful college writing. Urges instructors to support students by helping them to decode assignments. Breaks down instructions into individual tasks including (1) writing an essay, (2) examining an issue, (3) reviewing articles and books, and (4) focusing on some texts. Defines each…

Two papers presented at two different conferences and both discussing issues related to writing across the curriculum, are presented in this document. The first paper, "Wanted: Guidelines for Teaching Writing in Non-Writing Courses," (Jan Keessen), presented at the 1992 "four C's" conference, discusses the need to gather data…

A case study examined one college student's poor performances during timed-writing sessions to develop a method to allow students to maintain the quality and ease in writing they achieve in other writing situations. The student, assigned to write a movie review, volunteered to participate in two 90 minute talk-aloud protocol sessions to examine…

A faculty member at the University of Toronto (Ontario) developed an informal survey designed to assess her undergraduate students' views of the writing they did during the course of their university studies. The survey consisted of a 2-page questionnaire that could be completed in 5 to 10 minutes; it was administered to 722 students during the…

The cognitive skills associated with the writing of fiction and poetry are equally important in analytical and evaluative writing. Excluding them from freshman composition in particular discourages the students from developing a genuine mastery of critical writing skills. Teachers of college freshmen should not define "creative" as the…

High school students in Venezuela study English grammar and vocabulary for 5 years, but, because theirs is an oral culture, they do very little reading or writing either in their native language or in English. When students reach the university and begin to study composition, they are unmotivated to write essays on teacher assigned topics for a…

First year writing students were asked which kinds of writing they enjoyed, and why. Their responses indicate a preference for "creative" writing, where "creative" is defined as "personal." The students in the research sample reacted against a form of knowing that requires them to place more emphasis on objects (human…

Examines the effectiveness of two writing-to-learn formats in helping developmental students master biological information and in decreasing writing anxiety. Objective measures showed a small but significant decrease in writing anxiety over the quarter, unrelated to writing format. Writing format also had little effect on content knowledge, based…

Research has suggested that students have difficulty completing content area writing assignments if the teacher's written instructions are not clear. Students' written work is more likely to be of higher quality if teachers specify the assignment's audience and purpose and offer prewriting instruction. Controversy exists over how explicit the…