A qualitative analysis of written reflective assignments during a service-learning project at a Southeastern university provide insight into students' learning, as well as a means of assessing the experience for student growth and change. Expectations and concerns of students prior to the project were compared with post-experience reflections to…

This paper reports on the second phase of a project designed to improve students' understanding of assessment demands. In Stage 1, Level 1 students were involved in a range of activities culminating in peer marking. This peer assessment was, itself, marked by the tutors to encourage students to engage positively with the process. Stage 2 of the…

The browser-based software program, Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) developed by the Molecular Science Project enables instructors to create structured writing assignments in which students learn by writing and reading for content. Though the CPR project covers only one experiment in general chemistry, it might provide lab instructors with a method…

This document presents the proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Forum held June 25, 2015, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 21 action research papers: (1) History Lives! The Use of Simulations in a High School Social Studies Classroom (Lydia Adkins); (2) Using Francophone Music in the High…

This paper describes diverse language learners' use of dialogue journaling in an elementary school setting. The author, a teacher researcher, conducted a qualitative research study with eight participants, ranging from fourth to sixth grade; all were learners adding English to their language repertoire. Through an in-depth analysis of student…

An integrated technical writing and design course has been developed at Rowan University. This course was developed using aspects of project-based learning and recent discussions about design education, as well as pedagogical approaches from the write-to-learn and the writing in the disciplines (WID) movements. The result is a course where the…

Teaching about racism creates challenging issues for educators and students alike. Using experiential learning and a public-access curriculum to teach about racism and social inequality, graduate and undergraduate students participated in this elective course. The hybrid "minimester" course focused on affective responses to classroom activities,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate problems and potentials of new technologies in English writing education. The effectiveness of automated writing evaluation (AWE) ("MY Access") and of peer evaluation (PE) was compared. Twenty-two English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Taiwan participated in this study. They submitted…

Speech pathology students readily identify the importance of a sound understanding of anatomical structures central to their intended profession. In contrast, they often do not recognize the relevance of a broader understanding of structure and function. This study aimed to explore students' perceptions of the relevance of anatomy to speech…

Very often, some type of writing assignment is required in college entry-level Human Anatomy and Physiology courses. This assignment can be anything from an essay to a research paper on the literature, focusing on a faculty-approved topic of interest to the student. As educators who teach Human Anatomy and Physiology at an urban community college,…

This study investigating the effectiveness of Calibrated Peer Review (CPR )[TM] in a senior-level biochemistry class had three purposes: to (a) compare the CPR process for feedback with TA-generated feedback in improving students' ability to write scientific abstracts; (b) compare CPR results for males and females; and (c) observe whether CPR…

A writing assignment to increase student understanding of and interest in practical applications of organic chemistry is described. Students were required to study a pharmaceutical or other organic compound and perform a qualitative risk assessment on the chemical. Student perceptions of the benefits of the paper were generally positive. (Contains…

As any instructor knows, the easy availability of internet content has greatly increased student opportunities for work that is less than original. Today, the term plagiarism can range in meaning from using an unattributed phrase or sentence (accidentally or intentionally) to submitting entire purchased works as one's own. The profusion of online…

For the last four semesters my courses in Shakespeare have used QwikiWiki and MediaWiki, two versions of the wiki software, for writing exercises and directed reflection on language--including both by the students about Shakespeare's language, and by the teacher/researcher regarding the students' performance in "Writing to Learn". In experimenting…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' perceptions of a self-study assignment, a requirement for a life-span human development course. A survey assessing attitudes regarding the value of the writing assignment was completed by 278 students. Results suggested that students had an overall positive evaluation of the assignment. The…