Reports a study of students' ability to write argumentative prose. Examines the knowledge students used to judge the quality of seven constructed arguments. Concludes that while older students were more effective in writing arguments, all students' judgments about arguments were similar to adults'. (SR)

Characterizes writing about literature as data-driven and social science writing as conceptually driven. Describes how the difference shows up in professional writing, the confusion students experience in shifting from one kind of writing to another, the strengths and weaknesses of each, and benefits gained from alternating between the two kinds.…

Examines the implications of computerized scoring of placement essays on the theory and practice of writing assessment and writing instruction. Argues that the very feature that makes computerized scoring inexpensive--its universality--undermines its validity. (SR)

Finds main effects for group but not gender. Finds that the combined use of direct and indirect measures appeared most effective in examining the complexities of writing produced by learning-disabled and nonlearning disabled college students. (RS)

Considers the theoretical issues of portfolio approaches to writing evaluation, especially as related to use in a large-scale setting such as a high school. Focuses on several key issues: standardization of portfolio contents, scoring procedures, the authenticity of student writings, and logistics. Describes a pilot study of the feasibility of…

Discusses electronic meeting systems (EMS) technology. Tests the effectiveness of the Groupwriter tool, which allows for group composition of written documents. Concludes that EMS technology significantly improved the quality of policy and procedure documents written in groups but that member satisfaction was not statistically different among the…

Compares the number and type of implanted errors corrected by high school and college subjects working on two different texts under three different conditions. Finds that the biggest stumbling block in correcting errors was not the knowledge of how to correct them, but rather a failure to detect them. (RS)

Reports on research that showed that preformal-operational fourth graders could indeed benefit from classroom writing instruction on the higher-order skill of persuasive writing. (SR)

Describes a set of metadiscourse functions arising from the use of contrastive and non-contrastive expressions in academic argumentation. Describes interpersonal metadiscourse functions of connectives within argumentative essays. Proposes that interpersonal uses of connectives mitigate counterclaims and emphasize claims based on the assumed roles…

Argues that information designers can obtain a better understanding of users by using the contextual inquiry methodology, which involves conducting open-ended conversations with users while they perform their work. Notes that information designers using contextual inquiry depend on context, partnership, and focus to make design decisions. Relates…

Describes a study of journal-keeping to focus business students' attention on their listening behaviors and the need for improvement. Finds that the journal, combined with content analysis procedures, can be used successfully to identify students' listening behavior problems so that a targeted training regimen can be designed to address those…

Describes how professional writers from Bell Northern Research, enrolled in a professional writing program, designed a quick reference guide for in-house use, and then provided a theoretical framework to ground and explain their visual design choices. Offers the instructor's theoretical reflections on how visual design can motivate readers to read…

Investigates effects of training for peer response in freshman composition classes during one semester. States that students in the experimental group were trained via teacher-student conferences where teachers met with students to practice peer response strategies, while students in the control group received no systematic training. Finds that…

Presents results of a German study distinguishing between effects of knowledge on writing and re-effects of writing on knowledge. Reports that knowledge primarily affects the content domain of text, especially topic relatedness and logical structure of text, but not the linguistic domain. Concludes that both oral and written verbalization enables…

Analyzes college writing teachers' dialog learning logs. Finds that groups of teachers developed particular learning foci. Discusses response patterns in log writing and in group interactions. (SR)