This study aims to add to the growing research related to the implementation of non-traditional writing tasks in classrooms to encourage science literacy. A secondary reanalysis methodology was employed to review student interviews collected as a part of several individual studies during a ten year research program. This method established an…

This paper discusses reading achievement in mathematics. Suggestions for improving the reading level of students in mathematics, as well as for reading abstract symbols, are given, including: assisting students in developing a mathematics glossary, having students write their own problems, diagnosing reading and writing, having students keep…

In 1991, as an experiment, the Director of the Writing Center at Siena College (a comprehensive college with a Franciscan tradition, located in a suburb of Albany, New York), agreed to team-teach a "Scientific Writing" course with a colleague who is a biologist. As they worked together, it appeared that for the biologist, knowledge was…

Composition studies is a plausible choice for a "potentially liberating influence" for psychology, because it offers a useful place from which to think about and critique the writing practices of the psychology discipline. One area in which psychology can learn from composition is audience. Writing guides for psychologists tend to speak…

This digest presents details of some of the efforts to improve the clarity of written communication in business and the professions. The digest discusses the Plain English movement; writing in professional schools (particularly law and engineering); writing and the medical profesisons; and the public and professional writing. (18 references) (RS)

Seeks to clarify the concept of writing-across-the curriculum by presenting the rationale and the theoretical basis behind it. Provides evidence of the merits of such programs, discusses opposition against them, and examines research efforts which seem to demonstrate positive attributes of such programs. (SR)

Examines some of the reasons why the Bullock Report's recommendations for language instruction across the curriculum have not been fully implemented. Proposes a strategy using the "five languages" as a framework for a curriculum which may be more successful. (ARH)

Argues that historians are revisionists in that personal and cultural conditioning is automatically reflected in their interpretations. Illustrates this point by presenting the contrasting views of Lowell Mason, an influential 19th century musician and music educator. Concludes that by recognizing these conscious and unconscious influences upon…

Presents a model for writing comparison/contrast papers which helps students organize and analyze historical information. States that history offers ample material for such writing assignments and that this model can improve student writing skills. (GEA)

Provides rules to help engineers develop an effective writing style. Wordiness, verb usage (considering direct and buried verbs), the passive voice in scientific writing, sentence length, and the use/misuse of negatives are considered. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate the points being made. (JN)

Reviews how a sophomore class of gifted students selected a subject for their learning logs; tells how to write a learning log; offers ideas on evaluating learning logs; presents student reflections on the use of learning logs. (JK)

Presents a systematic procedure and leading questions to make communication among faculty colleagues in various disciplines more manageable. (HTH)

Describes an approach to composition instruction in which the students are given a body of real or fictional evidence about a particular case and asked to interpret or explain it by means of a closely-reasoned argument. (HTH)

Discusses tasks that students often overlook but need to address when completing "instructor/content-based" writing assignments. (HTH)

Observes that writing students are often confronted with a great many variables that preclude their attention to specific stylistic details. Explores professional journals that suggest that students in content areas also experience the same difficulty when confronted with abstractions or contexts different from those taught in the classroom. (HT)