A practicum was designed to help 40 students enrolled in creative writing classes at a suburban high school develop criteria with which to evaluate the aesthetic qualities of what they read. They were able to discern the differences between good and bad literature. Students were active participants in the process, performing skits, writing prose…

A clinical peer review of client treatment at the Weber Mental Health Center, a facility serving two Utah counties, was conducted. Gathered from 25 randomly selected charts of clients 8 years of age and younger who were seen during the period 1978-1982 and whose treatment was terminated, data indicated that 28 percent of the sample was improperly…

A practicum addressed the failure of 85% of tenth-graders in an urban school to complete the research paper required by the Palm Beach County (Florida) curriculum. The target population consisted of 28 students from each of two classes. The practicum's three main objectives were to: (1) encourage students to work in teams and utilize peer…

A practicum was developed to determine whether the motivation of a private school's ninth grade English class (18 students) could be increased by gearing the course toward a specified, authentic public audience and whether an increase in motivation would positively affect the quality of and attitude toward writing assignments and the use of…

A practicum addressed the problem of students' lack of fluency in standard English despite the traditional paradigm for formal grammar instruction and the emphasis on process writing in most English classrooms. Nineteen (English 2) high school students participated in peer editing groups in a collaborative learning environment. The solution…

In response to a California legislative mandate and in the absence of agreed upon procedures for peer evaluation, Vista College undertook a survey of instruments utilized by other colleges and institutions for faculty evaluation. Evaluation forms were requested from 12 colleges and a total of 18 forms were received. These forms, and two obtained…

A 12-week practicum testing a method for improving writing skills and self-esteem among secondary school students learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) is reported. Thirteen students in a larger class at one school were identified for participation, and placed in small heterogeneous groups by skill level. Groups selected writing…

In an effort to improve the writing performance of non-native English-speaking students in a college preparatory composition course, a project was undertaken to reduce problems of self-esteem caused by communication apprehension through a speech assignment involving critical thinking and peer reviews. To evaluate the effect of the assignment, the…

This practicum project was designed to increase student ownership of learning through student-kept assignment calendars and portfolios. The subjects, 63 junior high school students at a private Christian school, were also involved in frequent, cooperative sessions in which they checked each other's work and offered suggestions, with reports to the…