Two studies of influences on self-regulated performance were conducted. The purpose of the first was to determine if the level of performance of college students would be higher if the allowable length of the assignment was greater or smaller. Subjects were 126 education majors at a large state university participating in an extra-credit program…

In an effort to promote computer literacy among advertising students, an assignment was devised that required the use of online database search techniques to find secondary research materials. The search program, chosen for economical reasons, was "Classroom Instruction Program" offered by Dialog Information Services. Available for a…

Bringing popular culture into the composition classroom is useful not because it erases the conflict between student and academic discourses, but rather because it serves to heighten this already extant conflict, thereby allowing it to become one of the subjects of study. Writing samples by two students early in the semester and class discussion…

To make introducing logic to college students in speech and expository writing classes more interesting, letters to the editor can be used to teach logical fallacies. Letters to the editor are particularly useful because they give students a sense of the community they live in (issues, concerns, and the spectrum of opinion), they are easily…

The library can assist in grounding college student writing in reading and inquiry rather than in the mere retrieval of information Fundamental rhetorical goals can best by met by getting students into the library to ask questions, analyze sources, and evaluate claims so they can react to and incorporate the work of other writers into their own…

Research suggests that culturally distinctive first-language rhetorical patterns influence second language composing skills. Frequently, however, these patterns have never been taught formally and are not refined, leaving first-language composing largely underdeveloped. Teaching second language learners to compose often requires attending to the…

A study compared the results of a 1986 survey on the opinions of preservice teachers with those of a survey conducted in 1984 by William Bennett (at that time chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities). Bennett's survey asked respondents to list 30 works that students should be expected to read before high school graduation.…

Recognizing that writing across the curriculum supports the idea that writing is an integral part of the total learning process, this paper describes the philosophy of the writing program at Blue Ridge Technical College (North Carolina). It begins with some comments and thoughts on what makes writing worthwhile and how to judge good writing.…

The nine teaching activities presented in these six extracted journal columns focus on writing assignments. The first assignment (by Gail Parson) presents a unit in which students compare the techniques used by four respected authors to evoke the world of dreams, and then--using what they learn from reading and talking about these stories--they…

Designed to help students develop efficient and effective study skills, the first of five sections in this booklet discusses the student role, including the overall purpose of a course of study, the student's obligations and responsibilities, ways in which a student is expected to develop, and the importance of organization. The second section…

The emphasis in recent research on the responsibility of college and university business instructors to prepare students for future employment underscores a need to refine the evaluation of student performance. In this article, an agency theory framework is used to understand the trade-offs that may be involved in the selection of various…

This experiment involved training students in self-instruction (specifically, teaching them to verbally cue and instruct themselves through given assignments), as an alternative to the direct intervention method for increasing on-task behavior and decreasing disruptive behavior in the elementary school classroom. Assignment completion rather than…

After describing the development of a listening component in a university study skills curriculum, this paper presents ten assignments on effective listening skills for use as college study skills. The listening assignments are presented in a sequence beginning with focusing attention and following oral instructions precisely and ending with…

THE PURPOSES OF THE PROJECT WERE TO (1) DESIGN A SELF-PACED TEACHING DEVICE FOR THE BLIND WHICH WOULD ALLOW THE EVALUATION OF SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN PREREADING TACTUAL DISCRIMINATION AND BRAILLE CHARACTER DISCRIMINATION AS BOTH RELATE TO SUBSEQUENT ABILITY TO LEARN TO READ BRAILLE SYMBOLS, (2) DESIGN AN ELECTRONIC AUTOMATED DEVICE WHICH ALLOWS THE…

BOOK REPORT ASSIGNMENTS SHOULD BE PART OF A CAREFULLY PLANNED READING PROGRAM TO MOTIVATE STUDENT INTEREST IN LITERATURE. GOOD READING PROGRAMS CAN BE CREATED BY--(1) ASSESSING STUDENT NEEDS, INTERESTS, AND REGIONAL BACKGROUND, (2) APPRAISING THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT'S READING ABILITY AND THE AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE READING REQUIRED IN OTHER COURSES, (3)…