Proposes that technical writing teachers ask their students to analyze the ethos--the revelation of a writer's character through the rhetorical choices a writer makes--of the profession they are preparing to enter. Provides examples of such analysis. (RL)

Presents a set of writing assignments and class activities for helping students to define their own writing problems, set their own goals, and evaluate their own progress. (RL)

Describes a physical geology assignment in which students are required to keep a journal of their daily observations, impressions, and questions which come to mind about the Earth. Presents the role of the journal, outlines the criteria for evaluation, and provides samples of student reaction to the assignment. (GS)

Notes that English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers have been carefully nurturing student ability to produce language, while neglecting the receptive side of learning. Proposes that increased amounts of reading should be assigned at all levels of ESL programs. Suggests ways to restructure programs and to teach reading and vocabulary…

Discusses the use of assignments that require students to write about works of literature as a substitute for taking literature examinations; reports results of a study of the types of literature-related writing tasks assigned in four schools in England. (GT)

Describes a summer reading program that requires each high school student to read one carefully chosen background work, not a textbook, for each course to be taken in the fall. Sample titles in mathematics, science, and art are provided. (SJL)

Describes an inter-university graduate library and information science course developed at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois to investigate cost-effective distance independent learning. Highlights include technology/task fit; instruction and assignments; course evaluation; and student and faculty course evaluations. (LRW)

Focuses on improving grading efficiency and compatibility by using computer-aided evaluation that is especially useful for grading performance assignments in basic communication courses. (PA)

Describes how students in an upper division college sociology class wrote draft essays, received and gave peer reviews, received instructors' reviews, and revised their essays. Reports that those students who participated more often in the peer review process showed improved peer reviews and essays. (DAJ)

Describes an art lesson that focuses on developing second-grade students' basic computer drawing skills. Explains that the students created a picture using shapes and copied their artworks onto the computer using a stylus. States that the students also wrote a story to accompany their computer pictures. (CMK)

Describes the author's experiences with fifth-grade students who were English Language Learners in a social studies class. Explains how the teacher used photography within the social studies classroom and took the children on a field trip to see historic sites. Discusses the outcomes of the project for the students involved. (CMK)

Describes a self-instructional assignment approach to the teaching of advanced enzymology. Presents an assignment that offers a means of teaching enzymology to students that exposes them to modern computer-based techniques of analyzing protein structure and relates structure to enzyme function. (JRH)

Shows how to make room in the first-year composition course for unusual writings using collective research. Contains a narrative explaining how students devise their own topics and conduct their research in groups. (TB)

Ponders whether adolescents can be guided by teachers to some understanding about the relationship between war and language. Describes a three-week unit consisting of two parts: students first read a variety of materials about war, then each student assumes a character--soldier, doctor, or soldier's spouse--and writes about that character's…

Describes the rewards and challenges of using the Patchwork Text to teach Greek Tragedy to Cambridge University English final-year students. The article uses close reading of the students' texts, analysis and reflection to discuss both the products and the process of Patchwork writing. (Author/AEF)