The Patchwork Text has emerged as one of the most influential assessment innovations in Higher Education in recent years. As an assessment strategy with the potential to engage a wide range of learners, the patchwork has enjoyed a rising profile in the range of teaching, learning and assessment methods developed in the context of the widening…

"Welcome to Buckeye City" is an adolescent online community that was maintained by 25 Korean students who attended American schools. On the website, the students engaged in "relay writing"--a writing activity in which each person contributed a portion of an evolving story in a relayed manner. Relay writing offers teachers a new and valuable window…

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…

Merging science and writing to enhance both subjects was the objective of a venture known as "Plant Notes." At first, teacher-written notes served as the inspiration for this writing assignment. Later, eclectic student-written novellas, poems, song lyrics, mnemonic devices, and field trip recollections made their way into "Plant Notes" and stole…

Many students view equations as a series of variables and operators into which numbers should be plugged rather than as representative of a physical process. To solve a problem they may simply look for an equation with the correct variables and assume it meets their needs, rather than selecting an equation that represents the appropriate physical…

In two experiments, undergraduates' evaluation and use of multiple Internet sources during a science inquiry task were examined. In Experiment 1, undergraduates had the task of explaining what caused the eruption of Mt. St. Helens using the results of an Internet search. Multiple regression analyses indicated that source evaluation significantly…

This action research combined qualitative and quantitative techniques to investigate two different types of writing assignments in an introductory undergraduate statistics course. The assignments were written in response to the same set of prompts but in two different ways: homework journal assignments or initial posts to a computer discussion…

Getting through to students in the classroom continues to be one of the great mysteries of an educator's life. What will capture their attention, and, more important, what will transform their thinking? Film industry veteran and educator Barbara Tobolowsky returned to her roots in visual media to find answers. Using video clips to introduce a…

This paper presents a case study of writing tasks in graduate courses at a large, American university. The study investigates writing tasks across the curriculum and draws implications for curriculum design in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Using actual course syllabi for task analysis, the researchers analyzed 200 course syllabi from 20…

Presents four poems of the "self" (poems that represent authors' perceptions of themselves) by secondary school students. Discusses how to assess such poems and students' development in writing poems like them. (SR)

States, universities, and school districts have responded to teacher shortages by designing programs that transition college graduates into teaching careers. The result is an increase in the number of graduate preservice teachers preparing for teaching careers in colleges of education. The purpose of this study is to explore graduate preservice…

The aim of the study was to compare two samples of sixth-grade Spanish primary students on coordination of writing processes measured by online or direct retrospection techniques and writing products. One group was comprised of 81 students with learning disabilities (LD), the other was made up by 80 typically achieving students. The results showed…

Students learn mathematics more effectively and more deeply when reading and writing is directed at learning mathematics. Although reading and writing in mathematics may necessitate more skills and practice to master, the mathematical learning derived from reading and writing mathematics far outweighs the burden it places on teachers and students.…

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…

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…