This study investigates the effects of a scenario-based assessment design on students' writing processes. An experimental data set consisting of four design conditions was used in which the number of scenarios (one or two) and the placement of the essay task with respect to the lead-in tasks (first vs. last) were varied. Students' writing…

Previous research has shown that when students are required to submit a draft and a revision of their writing, large proportions of students do not improve across drafts. We implemented a writing assignment in which students were permitted to submit up to four optional drafts. To encourage substantive revisions, students were awarded additional…

In this article, the author relates the history of one of the first two-year college writing laboratories in the country, the University of Minnesota General College Writing Laboratory, created in 1932. This writing laboratory was a setting in which a student could write "things which he wishes to write in answer to natural demands"…

In this issue of "NetNews," the focus is on dysgraphia, a form of writing disability. Both dyslexia and dysgraphia fall under the category of specific learning disability. They may be related because significant language processing problems can impact both reading and spelling--although there is less incidence of dysgraphia. Dysgraphia…