Extensive research has been conducted about feedback on writing in both L1 and L2 classrooms. Although much of the research suggests that correcting grammar does not help students make long-term improvements, many teachers continue to believe that they must correct all errors. In addition, students report that they want teachers to mark errors.…

The hypothesis is introduced that 1 source of shift costs is the strengthening of task-related associations occurring whenever an overt response is produced. The authors tested this account by examining shift effects following errors and error compensation processes. The authors predicted that following a specific type of error, called task…

The application range of Cohen's Kappa is extended to the field of sequential observation data, where omission mistakes of an observer may often occur. It is shown how the omission mistakes can be incorporated into the calculation of the Kappa coefficient without violating the statistic it is based on. The enhanced coefficient is termed Kappa…

The present study, using a single subject adapted alternating treatments design, compared the effects of two spelling strategies (cover, copy, compare, and copy-only) used to enhance spelling performance in 2, third-grade students with learning disabilities. The cover, copy compare (CCC) method required the students to say the word, point to the…

Suggests that English teachers need to know that grammar is a difficult subject; know what children know about grammar; know that grammatical error is complex; and know more about language than just grammar. Concludes with the advice of Noam Chomsky--that grammar should be taught for its own intrinsic interest. (RS)

Discussion of student modeling and intelligent tutoring systems focuses on the development of the ASSERT algorithm (Acquiring Stereotypical Student Errors by Refining Theories). Topics include overlay modeling; bug libraries (databases of student misconceptions); dynamic modeling; refinement-based modeling; and experimental results from tests at…

Green and Hecht's (1992, 1993) data are consistent with the Monitor hypothesis, and their findings match Krashen's (1982) report: self-correction (SC) has only a modest overall effect. Their subjects' high accuracy of attempted corrections could be the result of subjects' limiting SC to easily correctable items. (Contains 10 references.) (Author)

A memory-based scaling model--ANCHOR--is proposed and tested. The perceived magnitude of the target stimulus is compared with a set of anchors in memory. Anchor selection is probabilistic and sensitive to similarity, base-level strength, and recency. The winning anchor provides a reference point near the target and thereby converts the global…

It is an eye opening experience for students to find out that even a great mathematician like Leibniz made mistakes, forgot to check carefully his calculations, and was temporarily misled by user-friendly but incorrect formulas. From Leibniz's mishap with the derivation of the rules of differentiation students can learn the importance of spending…

D. Hume (1739/1987) argued that causality is not observable. P. W. Cheng claimed to present "a theoretical solution to the problem of causal induction first posed by Hume more than two and a half centuries ago" (p. 398) in the form of the power PC theory (L. R. Novick & P. W. Cheng). This theory claims that people's goal in causal induction is to…

Secondary schools--be they middle schools or high schools--are reading-rich environments. Secondary schools provide contexts in which students must regularly read and write competently to demonstrate their literacy achievement. In any given semester, there are short stories and novels to read, comprehend, and analyze; civics and science texts…

Free, open, online homework help sites appear to be extremely popular and exist for many school subjects. Students can anonymously post problems at their convenience and receive responses from forum members. This mode of tutoring may be especially critical for school subjects such as calculus that are intrinsically challenging and have high…

The effectiveness and efficiency of two error correction procedures on word reading were compared. Three students with below average reading skills and one student with average reading skills were provided with weekly instruction on sets of 20 unknown words. Students' errors during instruction were followed by either word supply error correction…

Business professionals and instructors often view writing skills as one of the most important qualifications that employees should possess. However, many business employees, including recent college graduates, have serious writing deficiencies, especially in their ability to use standard English. As a result, American businesses spend billions of…

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the publication of Mina Shaughnessy's groundbreaking book, "Errors and Expectations," a roundtable discussion was held at the March 2007 Conference on College Composition and Communication in New York City. This article, based on the earlier discussion, examines the question of CUNY's multiple…