In the past few years, the number of students placing into developmental or remedial college courses has grown considerably. Research is needed to explore the learning dynamics of underprepared students and to offer insights for practice. However research in the developmental field so far has lacked a scholarly, rigorous approach, and research in…

Writing processes and writing skills are highly compatible, but only if "writing skills" are defined as genuinely helpful learning strategies rather than prescriptive techniques or isolated forms and rules. Increased skill is a product of meaningful practice, not prescriptive instructions or isolated drills. In the present context, the…

An instructor of a composition and computers writing course (designed for economically and culturally disadvantaged students) at the State University of New York at Buffalo, developed electronic conferences which combine the capabilities of the computer with the conference approach. The instructor reads students' papers while sitting at the…

While many factors contribute to success and/or failure in ABE (Adult Basic Education) and ASE (Adult Secondary Education) activities, ABE and ASE writers will succeed or fail in direct correlation to what is happening to their self-esteem in the context of writing instruction. The first guideline for teaching writing to adults is telling the…

This book provides students with the kind of extra help they will need to meet the demands of their first-year writing course as well as their other courses. Through its highly visual, student-centered approach, the book teaches basic skills and engages students immediately in the thinking-writing process, guiding them through the writing…

Offering developmental students comprehensive, step-by-step instruction for writing expressive, informative, and persuasive essays, this book showcases the writing process and presents a wide variety of engaging assignments. It strengthens students' reading, thinking, and writing skills; validates their diverse and unique cultural experiences; and…

Describes the visual arts as a means of helping remedial reading and writing students to "see" the process of writing. Discusses the use of clay sculpting to demonstrate free-writing techniques, Venn-mobiles to demonstrate compare/contrast techniques, and wraps (felt "tortillas" and fillings) to demonstrate summary writing. (Contains 10…

Stretch 107 is a version of English 107 (a first-year composition course for international students at Arizona State University), designed to provide those with low proficiency in English with various strategies for writing acceptable prose in English. Since it is a 2-semester course, Stretch 107 gives students more time to work on their…

Presents results from a study of eight college freshman to determine differences between revising essays on-screen and on-paper. Eighty-one percent of on-screen changes were above the mechanical or word level, often related to meaning and content. Students working on-screen tended to add more information and recreate paragraphs, but sometimes…