The value of reflective journaling as an effective strategy to enhance learning has been explored by several writers. Many see it as a way of approaching learning to enhance the understanding of factors influencing or hindering the learning process and the development of meaning through critical thinking skills. The underlying purpose of the study…

In this study, we analyzed the quality of students' written scientific explanations found in notebooks and explored the link between the quality of the explanations and students' learning. We propose an approach to systematically analyzing and scoring the quality of students' explanations based on three components: claim, evidence to support it,…

Textbook assertions about the use and placement of topic sentences are contradicted by analyses of professionally-written prose. (JH)

Describes an exercise in which students must compare Congreve and Shakespeare and suggests that it is ultimately unfair to the student to remove the quotes from their context and pass judgment on them. (CRH)

One difference between articles published in general interest magazines and those that journalism students write for class assignments is the number of quotations used; too often students tell about some situation or person instead of letting their sources relate the information and opinions. In support of this observation are the results of an…