Discusses ways to integrate computers effectively into the freshman English course. Addresses some objections to using computers in the composition classroom. (MM)

Investigates the effects of word processing on student's compositions to untangle the seemingly contradictory findings of earlier research. Finds that students are increasing their fluidity and fluency while simultaneously failing to organize and focus their increased verbiage. (RS)

This paper reports the results and educational implications of an experimental, comparative study evaluating the gains in overall writing quality in two groups of college freshmen composition students. The experimental group of 45 students learned to compose their first four of eight essays on the computer, while their professor intervened with…

Relates the story of a teacher research project, a case study designed to consider how word processing affected an undergraduate student's writing process, especially in terms of revising and of detecting basic surface errors. Describes research articles that substantiated what were originally thought to be idiosyncratic writing techniques. (PRA)

This project/study introduced the use of computers in one freshman composition course to determine whether the instructor and the students could accomplish more in a computer-based rather than a traditionally structured course. The assumption was that students would produce better essays on the word-processor and printer, and that the instructor…

To learn more about the initial effects of word processing on essay-writing performance and on writing apprehension, eight English instructors at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, conducted a one-semester controlled experiment with freshmen in eight randomly selected college writing classes. Eighty students wrote essays using terminals…

Discusses revision as a growth-through-change process occurring continuously through all stages of drafting. Describes several ways in which word processing facilitates invention, substitution, reordering, adding, cutting and other aspects of this kind of composing. Offers guidelines for using computers in the writing classroom. (JG)

Studies the effects of word processing on the composing processes of six basic writers. Concludes that quantity and quality of revisions are not likely to increase, that word processing initially causes many interventions in composing, and that better writers are more likely to use word processing programs in advantageous ways. (RS)

A protocol study investigated whether computer tutors (programs that interactively guide writers while they freewrite with a word processing program) promote or hinder a richer understanding of the composing process. The analysis focused on writers' attitudes toward computer tutors in the invention process. Data were collected by tape recording a…

Writers who compose on computers have often complained of the difficulty they have in evaluating and correcting their work on the screen, particularly if the changes necessary are large, structural ones. A study of six freshman composition students and five writers experienced with computer writing examined how each used hard copy printouts of…

Describes study that examined the effect of the use of microcomputers as word processors in a college freshman English composition course. Treatments for the experimental and control groups are described, dependent and independent variables are explained, and results based on pretest and posttest writing samples are analyzed. (21 references) (LRW)

A case study examined the writing problems of Jay, a freshman composition student at the University of Massachusetts, to determine how teachers should handle students whose composing styles are not suited to writing with word processors. Interviews, classroom observation, and careful analyses of Jay's essays in progress and logsheets were…