Reviews ideas about critical reflection in relation to the student teaching experience and art teacher preparation. Investigates the use of writing as a means for reflection in a study analyzing 19 final reflection essays in order to determine the role of reflection in student teachers' perceptions of their professional development. (CMK)

This note explores the role of contrastive rhetoric in writing pedagogy in the context of a monolingual class, in this case a group of students from the Russian Federation studying at an English medium university in Central Europe. The study compares students' argumentative essays written before and after a short writing course, which aimed to…

This study focuses on comparing the results of self-, peer- and teacher-assessment of student essays, as well as on exploring students' experiences of the self- and peer-assessment processes. Participants were 15 law students. The scoring matrix used in the study made assessment easy, according to both teachers and students alike. Self-assessment…

How do scores from writing samples generated by computerized essay scorers compare to those generated by ''untrained'' human scorers and what combination of scores, if any, is more accurate at placing students in composition courses? This study endeavored to answer this two-part question by evaluating the correspondence between writing sample…

Service-learning pedagogy rests on a stool of three legs: service, learning, and reflection. In this field, much has been written on service and learning, but not much has been written specifically about reflection. Given the critical role reflection plays as a bridge between service and learning, the goal of this article is to offer a brief…

This case explores the genetics and evolution of skin color, using a short story by Kate Chopin called "Desiree's Baby" as a starting point. Students read the story and discuss a series of questions probing the genetics of the family in the tale. Students then read an article about the evolution of skin color and write an essay analyzing the…

This essay contends that there are fundamental connections between a nation's political arrangements and its educational efforts on behalf of youth. Though the common school architects of the nineteenth century recognized these connections, they were profoundly forgotten in a later Darwinian milieu that suggested--our allegiance to democracy…

The programs WordSmith and VocabProfile were used to research lexical differences between essays written in English by Spanish undergraduates and a set of essays independently judged as being of TWE grade 6 standard. The results indicated that writing by this group of students was generally characterised by low lexical variation, a preponderance…

Students more familiar with failure than success can carry inhibiting levels of fear, and mature students are twice as likely to drop out of Higher Education in their first year than younger students. Through its use of conversational and supportive tones, this study guide puts readers at ease assisting the transition to academic study. The author…

New, and yet familiar, hypothetical cases are debated and agonized over by eminent leaders from government, business, science and academia. "Ethics in America II" follows its predecessor by exploring gripping ethical dilemmas using the time-honored Socratic Dialogue format. The programs can be used with a discussion guide to help teachers engage…

This study evaluated a "substantively driven" method for scoring NAEP writing assessments automatically. The study used variations of an existing commercial program, e-rater[R], to compare the performance of three approaches to automated essay scoring: a "brute-empirical" approach in which variables are selected and weighted solely according to…

This study examines the feedback practices of 110 EFL teachers from five different countries (Cyprus, France, Korea, Spain, and Thailand), working in secondary school contexts. All provided feedback on the same student essay. The coding scheme developed to analyse the feedback operates on two axes: the stance the teachers assumed when providing…

Having low domain knowledge is a significant constraint when using the Internet. This study examined the effectiveness of three potential supports for learners with low domain knowledge, including having plenty of time to search the Internet, using notes taken during the search when writing an essay about the topic, and having high levels of…

A model-based approach to rater reliability for essays read by multiple readers is presented. Variation of rater severity (between-rater variation) and rater inconsistency (within-rater variation) is considered in the presence of between-examinee variation. An additive variance component model is posited and the method of moments for its…

Through three semesters of teaching the nonfiction essay, an instructor has come to terms with the fact that she has yet to attempt the type of personal essay that she asks her students to write, essays in which personal experiences with death are shared. However, a reminiscence on death through a recounting of her reactions to and understanding…