A study compared the effects of two writing tasks (short answer exercises and analytic essay writing) with no writing on high school students' understanding of concepts from prose passages. Baseline data on typical patterns of instruction and students' approaches to writing were obtained using observation and case studies in two history classes,…

In order to determine whether an alternative teaching strategy would improve student motivation in freshman composition, two sections of freshman composition were studied. The experimental group spent the majority of a term concentrating on individualized projects which were chosen, planned, carried out, and presented by each student. Students…