A study investigated the composing process to examine why different types of instruction have different effects on composing products. The study contrasted three treatments: (1) presenting students with models (the traditional method); (2) the general procedures approach stressing freethinking process; and (3) a method stressing task-specific…

Though popular in the late 70s and early 80s, the instructional technique of sentence combining attracts little support today, even though practice has proven that teaching the processes of combining and expanding sentences can enhance syntactic maturity. A student writer who is made aware of the expectations of form will be prompted to generate…

An analysis was conducted of 12 fourth-grade science and social studies lessons in which a textbook was used as a focus of instruction. The purpose was to determine how the textbook was used by teachers and students, and in particular, to determine what kinds of questions the teachers asked during the textbook-based lessons. The results replicate…

The idea behind this project created by two teachers of different age groups was that providing students with penpals would give students a real audience to write to and change their attitudes about writing. Seventh graders and college students exchanged letters and were required to send working drafts of some class assignments to each other to…

Ethical bases of the informed consent doctrine are explored relative to how much information students need before they take a course. Such information includes content, grading policies, assignments, course goals, teaching philosophy, and techniques. The major justification of informed consent is autonomy; individuals need adequate information to…

A broadcast internship program at the University of Missouri at St. Louis has established prerequisites such as a declared major in speech, a resume, and a transcript of all previous college work. For the course, students must write their own learning objectives before the internship begins and a projected calendar of their working hours. They…

Two assignments used in a commercial French course are modeled after case studies often required in business courses. They serve three functions for commercial French students: (1) to increase awareness of foreign investments and business in the United States as well as American business activities abroad, (2) to give students valuable experience…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether homework affects second grade mathematics achievement. The study involved two classes of on-grade-level students and involved a unit on place value. The results indicated that the achievement of the experimental group, which was given homework, was better than the achievement of the control…

The teaching activities presented in this paper introduce elementary pupils to illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, and, in doing so, integrate art and language and also provoke interest in history. The paper provides references, tells how to produce an illuminated calendar page (including getting background information on the history of…

A distinction can be made between the term "creativity" and creative thinking skills. Creativity typically refers to a talent for original and masterful production in the arts and sciences, and there is scant evidence that teachers have any influence on creativity of this kind. Creative thinking refers to a group of six thinking skills that if…

As part of a series of documents providing language arts materials adapted for use by children in refugee populations, this list offers 200 topics for creative and expository writing based on the Haitian culture. These topics, which can also be used as stimuli for writing activities by children from the Antilles and students interested in…

The growing number of part-time instructors teaching in community colleges poses both disadvantages and advantages for the teachers and students involved. Part-time teachers complain that the pay is low, fringe benefits denied, and there is no security in assignment or permanent employment. There is a lack of status with the full-time faculty…

The development of a self-instruction package on making notes from reading which was designed for new students at Newcastle Polytechnic in the United Kingdom is described. Notemaking skills involve recognition of topics and topic sentences in a written text, picking out key content words in the text, recognition of key relationships and…

A review of the literature indicates that instructional differences exist between the instruction given to good and poor readers. A study was conducted to examine the amount of actual reading of connected text, orally or silently, assigned during classroom reading instruction. Twenty-four first and second grade teachers from four school districts…

AN OUTLINE IS PROVIDED FOR A TEXTLESS RHETORIC 101 COURSE TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. BECAUSE THE IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE IS TO PROMOTE THE STUDENTS' AWARENESS OF THEIR OWN WRITING, THE SEMESTER IS ORGANIZED AROUND WHAT THE STUDENTS WRITE, NOT WHAT THEY READ OR MODELS WHICH THEY OUGHT TO IMITATE. AN INTRODUCTION, A SET OF ASSIGNMENTS ON…