Studies report that U.S. students rank among the lowest in the area of mathematical knowledge of all industrialized countries. Schools in the United States are producing graduates ill-prepared to be successful at jobs which require mathematical competency. To increase mathematical understanding, this study examined the inclusion of writing in…

Writing is the ability to compose text effectively for different purposes and audiences. When many of us reflect on our own school experiences, we recall writing in English and history classes, but not in mathematics. Math classes previously relied on skill-building and conceptual understanding activities. Today, teachers are realizing that…

Seventh-grade history teacher in Hudson, Wisconsin, describes several strategies for motivating students to write daily in their notebooks. Includes description of sentence synthesis, question all-write, outcome sentences, frames (skeletal paragraphs), short statements (such as brief biographies), and video-viewing guides. (PKP)

Describes the process and outcome of including in assignments and examinations some questions requiring written answers along with traditional questions requiring only numerical calculations. Lists questions used in a chemical engineering course on separation processes along with sample responses from students. Student feedback indicates a…

Asserts that traditional composition is only one pattern among many for creating and communicating knowledge and that different kinds of writing are specific to different fields. Argues that for people to communicate and understand one another in the world around them, they must have a clearer understanding of the various ways writing occurs. (PRA)

Presents annotations of 11 conference papers, books, and other material (published between 1988 and 1992) that focus on theoretical, rhetorical, curricular, and classroom issues of professional writing. (RS)

Students learn how to write in English class, but they seem shocked when they are told that they can put those skills to work in science class too, since writing is a huge part of science to communicate ideas, results, conclusions, and opinions to other scientists. The author of this article, a middle school science teacher, describes how he uses…

The progress and effects of a collaborative study group as a method of job-embedded professional development were studied. Eight high school teachers representing a variety of disciplines and the author (a literacy specialist) met monthly as a collaborative group for one school year to investigate materials and methods for literacy strategy…

What are the most effective methods for teaching writing across grade levels and student populations? What kind of training do teachers need to put research-validated methods into practice? This unique volume combines the latest writing research with clear-cut recommendations for designing high-quality professional development efforts. Prominent…

In this study, we analyzed the quality of students' written scientific explanations found in notebooks and explored the link between the quality of the explanations and students' learning. We propose an approach to systematically analyzing and scoring the quality of students' explanations based on three components: claim, evidence to support it,…

This study compared the performance of students using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach and students using a standard or traditional laboratory curriculum on lecture exams and a laboratory practical exam on a specific topic, chemical equilibrium. The SWH helps students do inquiry science laboratory work by structuring the laboratory…

Addresses problems currently faced by writing labs: training staff, incorporating usable word processing, and establishing working relationships with both academic and nonacademic communities. (JAD)

Finds that the use of writing models influences the content and organization of students' research texts. Shows that seeing a proposition in the models increased the likelihood that students would include it in their texts. Finds no systematic benefits from labeling the models or from providing only good models. (SR)

Describes a model for content writing called "Writing as Transformation," which focuses on three facets of writing to learn: writing as intuition, writing as metacognition, and writing as change agent. (SR)

Discusses a method of examining student expository writing that can be used by teachers to evaluate students qualitatively. (MKR)