A study examined specific word- and sentence-level features most frequently used in the expository writing of 87 college students with learning disabilities, 50 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 58 with both disabilities, and 92 controls. Very high correlations were found between verbosity, quality, and lexical complexity. (Contains…

Many at-risk students and students with learning problems struggle to understand social studies textbooks. Textbooks have been described as being "inconsiderate" of their readers (B. B. Armbruster & T. H. Anderson, 1988) because their authors have relied on an expository, rather than narrative, approach. In this article, the authors…

This study focuses on the influence of high school students' (10th and 11th grade) epistemological understanding and topic interest on their interpretation of a dual-position expository text about genetically modified food, as well as on the change in their beliefs about the topic. After reading, students were given different tasks: (1) to write…

This article presents findings from a questionnaire survey of 136 male students, 62 with dyslexia and 74 without dyslexia, from 17 British higher education institutions. The students with dyslexia reported difficulties with a wide range of skills and academic tasks, notably note taking, organization of essays and expressing ideas in writing. They…

Recent results from the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO)'s grade 9 applied mathematics assessment found that students are experiencing difficulty with the Ontario curriculum, specifically with written communication. Action research was conducted during the second semester of 2003/04 in a grade 10 applied mathematics class to…

This study investigated the score exchangeability of concept maps with problem-solving essays. Of interest was whether sixth-grade students' concept maps predicted their scores on essay responses that used concept map content. Concept maps were hypothesized to be alternatives to performance assessments for content-area domain knowledge in science.…

CraftPlus[R] is an integrated learning package that consists of a K-8 spiraling, core writing curriculum based on explicit Target-Skills instruction; professional books; grade-level Curriculum Guides; sixteen workshop and classroom demonstration DVDs; and a CD with student samples and other classroom support materials. The grade-level Curriculum…

This paper considers students' attitudes toward research and writing about research and discusses methods used to help students overcome their largely negative attitudes toward research. The paper first states that at Illinois State University in Normal, the course that follows freshman composition is one on academic discourse. The paper reports…

This paper considers the relationship between the "context of a situation" and the "metaphorically construed" reality within the transitivity paradigm of Systemic Functional Grammar. The research employed the transitivity model advanced by K. Davidse (1992) to examine the discourse of Japanese wartime (World War II) reporting…

Describing the "I-Search" as an approach to research that uses the power of student interests, builds a personal understanding of the research process, and encourages stronger student writing, this manual puts forward the I-Search process as the best tool which exists for connecting students effectively to the research process. The…

Secondary school teachers can present the process of writing compositions simply and effectively by adopting three tools: the positive approach, the easy three-step analysis process, and the brainstorm outline. Using the positive approach, teachers first convince students that writing effectively is important to them--it gives them the power to…

The guide provides enrichment suggestions for teaching personal writing skills to gifted and talented intermediate students. The unit is organized according to objectives, entry skills, teacher's approaches, student activities, resources, and followup/evaluation. Topics covered include the following: formal and informal diction; sentences to…

This paper connects recent research with common student problems in writing research papers and offers an analysis of the range of synthesis tasks and some reasons why students have difficulty with the demands of these tasks. The paper focuses on the student's problem of not knowing how to think about material in ways that allow him or her to say…

The North Carolina Annual Testing Program assessed the writing skills of students in Grade 6 and Grade 8 in the 1989-90 school year. Sixth-grade students were asked to write a clarification composition focusing on a special day and explaining to the reader why the day is special, and eighth-grade students were asked to write a letter to their…

Implications of two studies conducted by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) at the University of West Florida (Pensacola) regarding electrophysiological determinants of cognitive style (CS) are discussed. Most of the IHMC's research focuses on bimodal processing theory, according to which the human brain has at least two…