Teaching scientific writing in biology classes is challenging for both teachers and students. This article offers and reviews several useful 'toolkit' items that instructors of science writing can use to improve college student success. The tools in this kit are both conceptual and practical, and include: (1) Understanding the role of student…

Writing is considered a very important learning tool for all content areas. There is no doubt that writing skill is essential for any kind of learning either at the school or the university level. Therefore, the present study attempted to explore the possibility of improving university students' one of writing sub-skills, known as coherence…

Peer review is an established strategy for improving the quality of students' writing. This study moves beyond the focus on outcomes to assess the peer-review process. In particular, this study focuses on the timing of the peer review, a highly structured feedback form, and student writers' revisions after engaging in peer review. This study draws…

This article reports on a study that suggests ways that Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) programs can increase the effectiveness of their efforts, including implementation of writingintensive courses, which are one of the Association of American Colleges and Universities' High-Impact Educational Practices. The…

While much attention has been paid to the borders between those within and beyond the discipline of composition, the primary goal of this project is to examine the discourses which exist within composition and, subsequently, how these discourses might work to undermine pedagogy and scholarship. I take the position that even those working directly…

Disappointed that the use of the "PEEL" writing scaffold had led her Year 11 students to write some rather dreary essays, Claire Simmonds reflected that a lack of specific training on historical writing might be to blame. Drawing on genre theory and the work of the history teaching community, Simmonds attempted to theorise the…

This article describes and analyses a specific mechanism, the writing consultation, designed to help academics to prioritise, reconceptualise and improve their writing practices. It makes the case for its potential to stimulate consideration of writing practices and motivations, a possible precondition for creating time for writing in academic…

Peer review can be a valuable tool in the writing development of high school sophomores. Specifically, this research study explores the use of peer review to improve writing skills and to build content knowledge in a social studies high school classroom through the use of peer interaction. The problem in social studies high school instruction is…

Argues that sociology, as a discipline, has much to offer and much to gain from participation in the writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) movement. Suggests a modified version of WAC principles which minimizes the amount of grading required and allows students to discover the sociological perspective as they apply writing to their course…

At the intersection of teaching and learning, this guide is intended to introduce and update disciplinary faculty on contemporary writing principles and pedagogy. In addition, it is designed to: alert faculty to the ways in which effective writing helps students not only show what they have learned but also to learn, generate, and communicate…

Using the "pattern approach" is a means of teaching students to be confident and competent writers. In this method, the writer uses a device called a planning blank to establish purpose, audience, topic, and role as a writer. Then the overall structure can be planned. A good writing plan should suggest not only a beginning, middle, and…

Concerned with improving text readability in the content areas, this report first draws upon Linda Flower's writing steps and strategies in its description of writing as moving from planning to generating ideas in words, designing for a reader, and editing for effectiveness. It also presents nine more precise steps in the writing process along…

A recent study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) directly links writing effectiveness to development of skills in critical thinking. This ERIC Digest discusses: (1) recent research on the linkage between writing and learning; (2) successful approaches to teaching writing; and (3) suggestions for including an effective…

Reviews major themes in recent research on writing. Identifies problems that remain in the application of theory to practice, focusing specifically on writing in the content areas. (BSR)

Discusses the use of holistic evaluation, the use of rubrics and checklists, peer evaluation, and small group peer evaluation as means of making writing evaluation effective while keeping the paper load manageable. (FL)