Wikipedia-based assignments have been adopted successfully in classrooms to improve learning outcomes. However, although this teaching method has been adopted regularly in Western higher education settings, more is needed in an international learning environment. Therefore, this research investigates how employing technology-mediated…

If students are to accurately model how scientists use written communication, they must be given opportunities to use creative means to describe science in the classroom. Scientists often integrate pictures, diagrams, charts, and other modes within text and students should also be encouraged to use multiple modes of communication. This article…

Over the years, educators have noted how writing can support mathematical learning; however, little research has been done examining how mathematics teachers respond to writing. In this study, I followed the experiences of six teachers as they took a graduate class which required that they explore mathematical concepts with technology and post…

Students often attain memorable experiences from cadaver dissections through reflective writing. For many, facing a dissection for the first time elicits a wide range of emotions. These may include thoughts of their own mortality to the sheer admiration of knowing that someone cared enough to help others learn about the body, even in death. Poems…

Studies report that U.S. students rank among the lowest in the area of mathematical knowledge of all industrialized countries. Schools in the United States are producing graduates ill-prepared to be successful at jobs which require mathematical competency. To increase mathematical understanding, this study examined the inclusion of writing in…

Teaching mathematics in real-word contexts is a strategy to make math relevant for undergraduate students. However, very little research exists on students' methods of integrating contextual and mathematical knowledge through writing. This study uses an interdisciplinary writing assignment to investigate the relationship between students' written…

Describes how to initiate research projects by having students work with a grid, or QUAD (questions, answers, details). Notes that this approach helps students learn that research stems from asking clear questions about the world around them. (MG)

Describes an approach to composition instruction in which the students are given a body of real or fictional evidence about a particular case and asked to interpret or explain it by means of a closely-reasoned argument. (HTH)

One of the best ways to enrich students' social studies experience is to include assignments in which students interact with social studies content and skills. In this article, the author explains how teachers can use writing exercises to encourage such interaction. She describes the following writing activities: (1) acrostics; (2) haiku; (3)…

Describes a philosophy course with an expanded writing component. Includes samples of writing assignments. (HTH)

Discusses various ways that writing can facilitate learning in a developmental psychology course. Argues that writing assignments are valuable because they promote active learning and provide another way to teach psychology. (Author/GEA)

Provides ideas on how to use the Bayeux Tapestry as an inspiration for writing in the areas of art, communications, English and the language arts, history and social studies, home economics, physical education and health, psychology, and science and mathematics. (SRT)

Domain-specific knowledge can be processed so that analytical/critical thinking in verbal and written discourse is encouraged in the classroom by using a guided design strategy intended to solve open-ended problems. Each of the four operations in the strategy (state the goal, generate ideas, prepare a plan, and take action) make use of the…

Explains how group journals can be used in literature classes to encourage students to respond to each others' ideas, by having students write entries on assigned or free-choice topics on odd-numbered pages, leaving even-numbered pages for other students' responses, disagreements, clarifications, and questions. Includes samples of student journal…

Explores the difficulties writing teachers and students encounter with content area writing assignments, using observations and interviews from two social science classes. (HTH)