Over the years, a number of interventions aimed at increasing student engagement and performance have been implemented in higher education. Some of these, labeled high-impact practices (HIPs), when done well, have led to documented evidence of student success. Two approaches that have been identified as HIPs--first-year seminars and learning…

Discusses ways journalism faculty can contribute to the goals of Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) programs, including: speaking at WAC teacher training seminars and publishing student writing. (MS)

A practical guide to establish an early writing program begins in kindergarten with children dictating a story that a teacher or parent volunteer records on paper. In first grade, 30 minutes are set aside for writing. Additional ways are suggested to infuse writing activities into every subject in a child's schooling. (MLF)

Notebooks have been used to document scientific discovery and are considered effective tools in the classroom. They make science experiences more meaningful and authentic for students as they observe, record, and reflect upon what they have learned. Notebook writing also offers a natural way to integrate science and language arts. This book…

Presents sample writing assignments that enable students to practice social studies skills. Suggests that the use of creative writing assignments allows students to make a jump in time or place to the era and area being studied. Argues that using the imagination is a better approach to learning than memorizing facts. (DK)

Provides an overview of the "social constructionist" approach to teaching composition in sociology courses. Describes a course that is team taught by the authors and is based on the social constructionist paradigm. Stresses that sociological writing is a special type of discourse that can be taught most effectively by sociologists who…

Discusses the concept of writing across the curriculum and how it is used in a university level geography class. Suggests that writing as a resource for learning benefits students by encouraging critical thinking, the organization of bodies of information, and increased memory. Includes specific reading and writing assignments. (DK)

Presents an activity in which students create posters by interviewing someone who uses mathematics in his or her job, writing down an actual problem that person would have to solve, and writing a paragraph explaining the problem. The posters are then used in future lessons. Includes instructions for students. (MKR)

Suggests ways to teach college students basic skills in reading, presentation/oral communication, and writing/publication skills in the context of content courses. Suggestions include guiding and monitoring reading, encouraging frequent student presentations, assigning a variety of writing tasks, and requiring graduate students to write term…

Describes how teachers can make writing an important part of everyday life within the school community by: conferring with students about purpose and audience; elevating genres particular to schools; designing community service assignments; expecting that artwork will be accompanied by text; weaving writing into student government; creating…

Writing can provide opportunities for students to construct their own knowledge of mathematics. The student work that appears in this book shows learners interpreting unfamiliar texts, constructing arguments, struggling to understand complex systems, and developing new approaches to problems. The chapters are entitled: (1) "Writing to Learn"; (2)…

The purpose of this book is to provide a wide range of examples of writing across the curriculum (WAC) activities in order to encourage teachers to use writing in their classes regularly as a way of stimulating critical thinking in their students and providing variety in their teaching methods. The book is presented in three sections. The first…

This 27-minute videotape joins a third-grade class as they discover local history by looking into the community for ideas, by exploring their families and neighborhoods for oral history, and by writing as a way of recording what they learn. It shows how teachers think about how to use language skills for learning and how to make use of local…

Heeding the call of noted rhetoric scholar Richard E. Young to engage in serious, scholarly investigations of the assumptions that underlie established practices and habits about writing, the contributors to this critical volume study a diverse array of disciplinary issues, situate their work in a wide matrix of theoretical perspectives, and…

These four issues of the CSSEDC Quarterly (Conference for Secondary School English Department Chairpersons) represent the quarterly for 1989. Articles in number 1 deal with professional development, and include: "Sharing Expertise within a Department" (Martha R. Dolly); "Empowerment Develops a Computer Writing Center" (Norman…