The legislative process and legislative drafting should be taught in law school as a counterpoint to case analysis and appellate decision making. Practical drafting experience with a lobbyist, legislator, or committee should be required, and rule-making and adjudicating should be included. (MSE)

Describes a program in which industrial supervisors attended training sessions to improve their report writing skills. Training methods were based on case studies and included role plays and simulations. Suggestions for improving the program are included. (CT)

Describes how to set up a science project that concentrates on the language arts skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing as a means of introducing students to the reading and study skills they will need in their content area subjects. (FL)

Contends students evaluating each other's work can help instructors address many higher institutional objectives, especially total quality management of collegiate teaching. Examines student views of a specific peer-review system wherein undergraduates assigned final grades to each other's term papers. Reveals a high degree of comfort with the…

The paper discusses (1) sources of difficulty in comprehending technical writing, (2) distinctions between content structure and text structure, (3) building blocks for expository writing and techniques of text design, (4) contrasts between American and Japanese science and social studies texts, and (5) suggestions for promoting comprehension.…

Review of developments in automating the processes to author technical information and deliver it using microcomputers focuses on projects in the U. S. military. Highlights include problems with printed technical manuals; authoring efficiency; information access; user acceptance; screen formats; and production costs. Several current projects are…

In a Singapore study of the evaluation of engineering students' writing, engineering lecturers and language lecturers marked scripts differently. Analysis showed that engineering lecturers placed more emphasis on students' understanding of a process rather than their expression of that understanding. (Contains 13 references.) (LB)

Describes a project in which engineering students wrote science books for children as part of a technical writing course focusing on how writers adapt to the audience. Discusses children's positive reactions to the books, and notes the engineering students' enthusiasm for the project. (MM)

Varied linguistic and sociopragmatic skills required for effective international research reporting are discussed based on a survey of journal editors in North America and the United Kingdom. Emphasis is on language-related criteria that influence publication decisions, and suggestions are offered for teaching research writing. (17 references)…

Presented is a guide for undergraduate mathematical composition with emphases on explicit and clear definitions, purposeful formatting with regard to technical conventions, and proper style with respect to content and prospective audience. Numerous examples are included, particularly those involving complicated mathematical expressions. (JJK)

Describes a report writing unit that is part of a three-year language/communication course for second language engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. States that the tasks motivated the students to develop their report writing and oral skills. (RS)

A theory of legal seminars is suggested, and procedures for implementing it through student-centered research and writing projects are outlined. The theory's implications for student readings and class discussions and for seminar content are also discussed. (MSE)

A study examined frequency of active, passive verb forms in two astrophysics journal articles, finding "we" plus an active voice occurs at least as frequently as the passive. This pattern typifies a previously unidentified type of research article, the logical argument scientific paper, whose characteristics are detailed. Similar pattern…

The language used in environmental education texts has linguistic features that affect students' comprehension of concepts and their ability to envision solutions to environmental problems. Findings indicate that features of texts such as abstract nouns and lack of explicit agents impede students' full comprehension of complex issues and obscure…

Previous research has indicated that engineering faculty do not follow best practices when commenting on students' technical writing. However, it is unclear whether the faculty prefer to comment in these ineffective ways, or whether they prefer more effective practices but simply do not enact them. This study adapts a well known study of response…