Presents a literature review that focuses on undergraduate discussion. Describes a teaching method in which undergraduate sociology students are assigned to create an open-ended question and write a one- to three-page answer every one- to two-weeks. Addresses the positive and negative aspects of the method. (CMK)

Describes how a computerized environment supplemented traditional undergraduate courses in English literature and composition at the University of Florida, and was developed with a grant from IBM. Highlights include the use of MOO (multi-user, object-oriented) space; student assignments; the client-server setting; and student and teacher…

Asserts that well-designed course assignments are a critical component of effective teaching and learning processes. Discusses the Course Assignment Framework, which delineates 10 assignment categories, their rationales, and their advantages for faculty and students. States that the framework promotes combining tasks so that instructors can…

Interviews Irene Huschak, a computer teacher at Altoona Area High School in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Explains "A Digital Journey to Altoona's Past," a project which brings the history of Blair County, Pennsylvania alive for young readers by making them the main characters of historically accurate stories about the area's past. Discusses the…

Provides results of a longitudinal study tracking research behavior of a multi-college undergraduate course in microeconomics from 1996 to 2001. Student term paper bibliographies grew between 1996 and 2000 but included fewer scholarly resources. In 2001, students tended to cite scholarly sources when the professor provided clear and enforceable…

Discusses how fairy tales provide the vehicle by which students become genuinely engaged in reading and writing short fiction. Outlines a three-step process moving students from familiar stories, to variations on traditional tales, finally to new stories. Details how writing, revising, illustrating, and binding a fairy tale engages students. (PM)

Describes a research project designed to take students from personal writing to academic writing requiring research and application of documentation skills. Explains that the project involves choosing a career, is divided into four parts, and is completed over a four- to five-week period. (MG)

Shares an account of efforts by a teacher to try and involve 7- to 11-year-old children in a book investigation which would provide them with investigative strategies applicable to subsequent works. (MG)

Describes how writing fiction helps students to write more effectively, think more critically, and enter difficult territory of complex issues. Illustrates how two students' stories led into discussions of meaning and values. (KEH)

Suggests specific approaches to critiquing A student's paper motivates THE student to produce better papers and to improve writing skills. Warns against overemphasis on the mechanics of writing, and points out steps the instructor may follow to involve students in the editing process. (NL)

Shares how a teacher, librarian, and fourth and fifth grade students collaborated and wrote book reviews for new books in their school library so other students could read about the new acquisitions. (MG)

Examines patterns in college students' text markings using texts from three content areas: history, political science, and sociology. Indicates little differential marking between various text-types. Concludes that students seem to have little idea how to mark text efficiently. (MG)

Describes writing assignments in which students in Pennsylvania, Montana, and South Dakota exchanged writing on BreadNet, an electronic network. Notes that as students wrote within a meaningful and purposeful communication context, they learned to test their stereotypes, to expand their writing skills, and to perceive the computer as an instrument…

Described are the experiences of one teacher with the teaching of writing in college level microbiology, virology, and immunology courses. Assignments, methods, evaluation, and student responses are discussed. (CW)

Discussed is the use of two short writing assignments and a peer review system in an undergraduate agronomy course to improve writing skills and the learning of agronomic principles. Provided is a course description and procedures used in the course. Student evaluation in the course is reviewed. (CW)